Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend

Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend

August 28th, 2008  |  Published in Uncle Gunjiro

A TRUE story of forbidden love between a yellow man and a white woman

A duet for storyteller and acoustic bass, Brenda Wong Aoki is accompanied by award winning composer and musician Mark Izu with a haunting original score, multimedia images of Victorian Japanese photos and original yellow peril journalism

A secret family shame is unraveled to reveal an incredible tale of forbidden love. In 1909, Brenda Wong Aoki’s great uncle Gunjiro, son of a legendary samurai, fell in love with Helen Gladys Emery, the daughter of the Archdeacon of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. Their announced engagement triggered a media blitz of yellow peril headlines, provoked public outrage, death threats and culminated in the loss of Ms. Emery’s citizenship. Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend tells the tale of their epic love and its impact on descendants three generations later.

View video clip from “Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend”
View video clip about Gunjiro Aoki from “San Francisco in the ’20’s”

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Upcoming Events

March 18, 2010: Brenda Wong Aoki performs Tales of the Pacific Rim at Performing Arts for Youth, San Mateo. For grades 3 and up. Performances will be held at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. http://www.performingartsforyouth.org/season.html

March 27, 2010: Brenda Wong Aoki performs Tales of the Pacific Rim at the Families Eating and Storytelling Together 3rd Annual Storytelling Festival & Potluck. Walden School, Pasadena. 2PM-8PM.

April 15, 2010: Brenda Wong Aoki performs Legend of the Morning Glory as part of the World Theater Performing Arts Series at California State University of Monterey Bay. Performance is open to the public. 7:30 PM.

September 20-26, 2010: Brenda Wong Aoki performing at the International Storytelling Center, Jonesborough, Tennessee.

October 28, 2010: Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu perform Japanese Ghost Stories for Matcha Night at the Asian Museum, 5-9 PM

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Upcoming Events

  • Thu 3/18/2010: Brenda Wong Aoki performs Tales of the Pacific Rim at Performing Arts for Youth, San Mateo
  • Sat 3/27/2010: Tales of the Pacific Rim at 3rd Annual Storytelling Festival & Potluck
  • Thu 4/1/2010: Mark Izu at Matcha Night
  • Thu 4/15/2010: The Legend of Morning Glory at California State University of Monterey Bay

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Founded by Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu in 1995, the mission of the non-profit First Voice is to create and develop the stories and music of people living between worlds. Critical to this mission is "personal experience" or "voice" as essential to authentic pan-world culture. Please help support First Voice with a donation.

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