57 pages • 1 hour read
Yoshiko UchidaPicture Bride
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1987A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
In November 1917, Hana Omiya sails from Japan to America. Hana is a 21-year-old woman who has been married off to a 31-year-old Japanese man in Oakland, California, named Taro Takeda.
Through a flashback, the reader learns of Hana and Taro’s courtship. One day, Hana’s uncle lamented that Taro—the son of a family friend—was living alone after emigrating to America. Hana volunteered to marry Taro, hoping to avoid ordinary village life. Hana and Taro began sending each other letters and photos. Hana noted that Taro’s writing was unemotional, and she struggled to fully characterize him. Still, the two agreed to marry each other without meeting in person.
Before arriving in California, Hana spends several days at a checkpoint called Angel Island. Immigrant officers question her and give her medical tests. Taro meets Hana at the San Francisco port. Hana is surprised to find that he is older and more unattractive than she was led to believe. The pair travels by boat from San Francisco to Oakland. While she is not yet fully at ease with Taro, she begins to feel more excited about the prospect of marriage and a new life in America.
Chapter 2 Summary
As they sail to Oakland, Hana feels out of place on the boat. Her traditional Japanese kimono stands out in a crowd of modern American clothing. Because Hana and Taro are not yet married, he arranges for Hana to stay with his friends, Henry and Kiku Toda. Kiku comforts Hana and makes her feel at home. Kiku, Hana learns, was a picture bride herself. She arrived in Oakland five years earlier to marry Henry.
As Kiku prepares tea and dinner, Hana mentally notes how quickly Kiku has assimilated into American social habits. Henry arrives home and congratulates Hana and Taro on their partnership. Before leaving for the evening, Taro promises to take Hana to his church and a nearby park in the coming days.
Chapter 3 Summary
Kiku dresses Hana in American clothing for her first Christian church service. During his sermon, Reverend Okada asks God to protect Japanese immigrants as they face hardship and discrimination. This concerns Hana, as she had not considered that immigrants would be met with contempt. Hana glances over the church and its congregation; as she looks at the men in the room, she makes brief eye contact with a man, whom she later learns is Taro’s friend, Kiyoshi Yamaka. When they are introduced, Hana notices Yamaka’s handsomeness and charisma. She is also introduced to Sojiro Kaneda, a doctor and major donor to the church. As Hana speaks with the churchgoers, she learns more about the financial hardship that many of them face. Hana learns that Taro’s shop is located near the church, and she insists on seeing it. Yamaka drives Hana and Taro to the shop. As they approach, Hana notes the dinginess of the street and surrounding buildings.
Chapter 4 Summary
The chapter begins with Kiku’s perspective. Instead of going to church, Kiku and Henry relax in bed on Sundays. This Sunday, however, memories overtake Kiku’s focus. Hana’s arrival reminds Kiku of her own experience as a picture bride. She remembers the disappointment of her first few months in America. She also wonders about the potential success of Hana and Taro’s marriage. Hana is educated and assertive; she may not be satisfied with Taro as her husband. Having agreed to help plan Hana and Taro’s wedding, Kiku reflects upon the necessary arrangements such as flowers, food, and Hana’s dress.
In the evening, Hana, Taro, and Yamaka visit the Todas after stopping by Taro’s shop. When they are alone, Hana expresses her disappointment in the shop to Kiku. Hana found Taro’s shop to be ill-kept, dirty, and smelly. Kiku tells Hana to adjust her expectations for life in America. When Kiku details her wedding plans, Hana realizes that even though she is not yet married to Taro, it would be nearly impossible for her to cancel the engagement. Hana thinks of her life in Oka Village with nostalgia and considers that her decision to travel to America may have been misguided. Before she goes to bed, Hana prays to Buddha as she had in the temples of her village.
Chapter 5 Summary
The church excitedly prepares for Hana and Taro’s wedding. Dressed in expensive clothing and jewelry on her wedding day, Hana barely recognizes herself.
During the ceremony, Hana is tense, anxious, and dissociative. Nevertheless, she and Taro are married. Her feelings persist as the reception begins at the Todas’ house. Dr. Kaneda recognizes Hana’s discomfort and attempts to comfort her, telling her that his own wife had uncertainties about emigrating to America.
Yamaka helps the newly wedded couple move to Taro’s apartment, located above his shop. Although Hana has spent several days cleaning the apartment, its shabbiness still distracts her. Hana, nervous about spending the night alone with Taro, asks Yamaka to stay, but he refuses. Ignoring Hana’s attempts at conversation, Taro forces her into the bedroom, and they have sex for the first time.
Chapter 6 Summary
Following the wedding, Hana dedicates herself to cleaning up Taro’s shop. As the days go by, she feels more at ease with him. Business improves after Hana’s arrival, and though she is happy to help with the shop, she is uncomfortable being there alone. Some local men sometimes linger in the shop and make lewd comments toward her.
One day, Taro leaves for the day for a missionary trip and asks Yamaka to check in on Hana during the workday. Alone for the first time, Hana and Yamaka share lunch. They acknowledge their mutual affection for each other, wishing that they had met in Japan and started a life together there. Yamaka describes his and Taro’s early days in America. He admits that Taro is more financially responsible than himself; despite his inherent charm, Yamaka has never been able to keep a steady job. As Hana talks with Yamaka, she feels completely at ease and “free at last to feel truly alive” (40). They hold hands, and Hana momentarily forgets about Taro.
Chapter 7 Summary
Hana wakes up on New Year’s Day, 1918. She prays to both Buddha and the Christian God for a good year. Hana and Taro host a traditional Japanese breakfast for the Todas, Dr. Kaneda, and Yamaka in honor of the holiday. Hana proudly wears her kimono for the occasion, though she is initially cautious of seeming “too Japanese” (43). After a bountiful meal, the group drinks sake and swaps stories. Yamaka tells a humorous story, and Hana laughs flirtatiously and touches him on the arm. Hana realizes that everyone—except Taro—seems to notice her flirtation. Hoping to disrupt the awkwardness, Kiku casually convinces everyone to retire for the evening. After everyone leaves, Taro tells Hana that he wants to have a child.
Chapters 1-7 Analysis
The first chapter of Picture Bride orients the reader within the novel’s historical context. Arranged marriages through “picture brides” were a common avenue of Japanese immigration in the 1800s and early 1900s. Hana and Taro’s correspondence emphasizes the disconnect between arranged fiancées, amplified when Hana arrives and realizes Taro is older than he led her to believe. The description of Hana’s journey from Japan to Angel Island, then San Francisco, and finally Oakland illustrates the scale of early 20th-century immigration.
Hana’s decision to move to America and marry Taro might first seem difficult to decipher. However, several early character details inform her reasoning. The narrator notes that Hana attended the Women’s High School in Kyoto before the events of the novel. Because she is more educated than her sisters, Hana has a greater desire for independence from her community’s social norms. Education also contributes to a spirit of adventure and a desire for travel. Throughout the novel, Hana will prove to be more independent and vocal than other Japanese women.
Still, Hana’s emigration is a staggering experience. Almost immediately upon her arrival in San Francisco, she becomes self-conscious of her Japanese identity. She never forgoes her identity completely, but she does become cautious about the Japanese language, clothing, food, and social habits. Taro, who has already lived in America for years, assimilates Hana into American norms, and religion is a major aspect of her assimilation. While Christianity was practiced in Japan during the early 20th century, it is largely unknown to Hana at the time of her immigration. Rather than follow traditional Japanese religions such as Buddhism or Shinto, Taro is a strict Christian because it is an essential aspect of American identity. Taro specifically requests that his and Hana’s wedding be “American-style Christian” instead of having “the stiff formality of a Japanese wedding” or “the ritual of the Shinto ceremony” (22). Religious tension is salient for Hana, who begins praying to both Buddha and the Christian God. These religious and social factors contribute to the theme of The Burden of Assimilation.
When Hana agrees to move to America, she believes that life there will be prosperous and comfortable. However, she quickly learns that an idyllic life is difficult to accomplish, especially for Japanese immigrants. Many members of the Japanese community struggle to pay bills and work laborious jobs as shopkeepers and housekeepers. Characters such as Yamaka yearn to return to the familiarity of Japan. Uchida contrasts the idealistic expectations of early 20th-century immigrants with the harsh reality that awaited them. The disconnect between expectations and reality and comments about discrimination foreshadow the characters’ later difficulties while imprisoned in concentration camps.
Even though Hana becomes assimilated into American society, she holds onto aspects of her Japanese identity. Traditional Japanese cuisine operates as a symbol of Japanese identity throughout the novel. Hana’s New Year’s Eve breakfast features numerous traditional Japanese dishes. Food also serves as an expression of intimacy. Hana cannot show physical affection for Yamaka, but she can feel connected to him through food. While everyone eats her feast, she silently states that feeding Yamaka is “her greatest pleasure” (45).
These early chapters develop sexual tension between Hana and Yamaka. Hana’s attraction to Yamaka makes her feel even more disconnected from Taro. Even as Hana becomes more comfortable with Taro, the marriage feels constraining for her. She misses life in Japan and imagines a life with Yamaka instead. Taro’s proposal that he and Hana have a child—which occurs after Hana flirts with Yamaka—amplifies the inescapability of Hana’s situation. While a child could offer a new beginning for the couple, it would further cement Hana’s place within Taro’s American home.
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