The story of 16-year-old Riyo who journeys to Hawaii in 1918 to marry a man she has never met, except through photographs and letters they have exchanged. Hoping to escape a troubled past and to start anew, Riyo is bitterly disappointed upon her arrival: her husband is twice her age and Hawaii is not the paradise she expected.
What really stands out about this film is the look on the new bride's face. I understand her shock of meeting her husband and finding him to be old, but she maintains this look of shock and despair for quite a while. I would expect a marriage like this to be something you accept if you are going to go into it, but she had clearly not thought it through.
Also, historically, it is interesting to consider the role the Japanese had in Hawaii. Americans who may not know about Hawaiian history or culture might only connect Japan to the Pearl Harbor attack, but it happens to be the case that a great many Japanese had settled on the islands. At the time Hawaii became a state (1959), there may have been more Japanese than Europeans there.
What really stands out about this film is the look on the new bride's face. I understand her shock of meeting her husband and finding him to be old, but she maintains this look of shock and despair for quite a while. I would expect a marriage like this to be something you accept if you are going to go into it, but she had clearly not thought it through.
Also, historically, it is interesting to consider the role the Japanese had in Hawaii. Americans who may not know about Hawaiian history or culture might only connect Japan to the Pearl Harbor attack, but it happens to be the case that a great many Japanese had settled on the islands. At the time Hawaii became a state (1959), there may have been more Japanese than Europeans there.