Okinawan Women, Migration and Return: A Critical Reading of Okinawan Women’s Stories of Migration

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51359/3086-4526.2026.270277

Keywords:

Okinawan women, Female migration, Cross-cultural marriages, Return migration, Ageing and migration

Abstract

This critical review examines Johanna O. Zulueta’s Okinawan Women’s Stories of Migration: From War Brides to Issei, highlighting its contribution to studies of migration, gender, identity, the life course, and postwar Okinawa. It is an analytical and interpretive text based on a close reading of the book and its engagement with authors who address war brides, return migration, female agency, stigma, militarization, and the life-course approach. The work engages with scholarship on war brides within the United States–Japan and Okinawa–Philippines contexts, bringing to light women’s trajectories shaped by military occupation, the postwar period, and asymmetries between center and periphery. By recovering the self-designation Issei, the author discusses the significance of memory, agency, and belonging. The book also examines intercultural marriage, return migration, religion, old age, and end-of-life decisions, thereby broadening the field’s analytical scope. It offers a relevant contribution to migration and sociological studies concerning Asian diasporas and women’s participation in the construction and reinterpretation of migratory experiences.

Author Biography

Gustavo Lunardelli Trevisan, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho - IBICT

Gustavo Lunardelli Trevisan is a Brazilian professor, researcher, and science communicator whose work is interdisciplinary across the fields of Information Science, Digital Marketing, and Information Technologies. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science from São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) and a Master’s degree in Information Science from the State University of Londrina (UEL), with research focused on optimizing informational content for scholarly search engines (Scientific SEO and Academic Search Engine Optimization – ASEO), information retrieval, and user experience in digital environments.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with specializations in Human Resource Management and Hospital Administration, and also earned an MBA in Digital Business from the University of São Paulo (USP), with emphasis on digital marketing strategies, digital transformation, and data-driven business models. His academic background brings together foundations of management, digital communication, and information science, with a focus on information mediation, scientific visibility, and the strategic use of digital technologies.

He works as a professor, tutor, and facilitator in higher education institutions and public organizations, with consolidated experience in Distance Education since 2004, teaching courses related to strategic marketing, digital marketing, organizational communication, consumer behavior, strategic planning, the use of evidence for decision-making, and innovation. His teaching practice is characterized by the integration of active methodologies, educational data analysis, and practices oriented toward applied professional training.

He is a researcher affiliated with the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT) and a member of the Think Tank of the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES), contributing to studies and initiatives focused on information, digital technologies, data governance, informational environments, and digital transformation in public and private organizations.

His academic and professional trajectory is marked by methodological rigor, the integration of theory and practice, and a commitment to the ethical, strategic, and socially responsible use of information, in line with contemporary approaches in Information Science, applied Data Science, and evidence-based marketing.

Professional page: [https://linktr.ee/trevisangl]

References

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CRAWFORD, Miki Ward; HAYASHI, Katie Kaori; SUENAGA, Shizuko. Japanese war brides in America: an oral history. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010.

TAMURA, Keiko. Michi's memories: the story of a Japanese war bride. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2011.

WINGENS, Matthias et al. A life-course perspective on migration and integration. Dordrecht: Springer, 2011.

YUH, Ji-Yeon. Beyond the shadow of camptown: Korean military brides in America. New York: New York University Press, 2002.

ZEIGER, Susan. Entangling alliances: foreign war brides and American soldiers in the twentieth century. New York: New York University Press, 2010.

ZULUETA, Johanna. Memory, nostalgia and the creation of “home”: a returnee woman’s journey. Migration Letters, [s. l.], v. 14, n. 2, p. 263-272, 2017.

ZULUETA, Johanna O. Okinawan women’s stories of migration: from war brides to issei. Abingdon; New York: Routledge, 2022.

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Published

2026-07-22

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026): Revista de Estudos da Ásia

Section

Resenhas

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Gustavo Lunardelli Trevisan

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.