Picture Bride (1994)
Yûki Kudô: Riyo
Photos
Quotes
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Riyo : Did you tell the matchmaker about my parents?
Aunt Sode : You mean, how they died? Of course not.
[hands Riyo a picture]
Aunt Sode : Matsuji is such a handsome man. He doesn't look like a sugar cane farmer!
Riyo : [stares at the picture, then grabs the letter next to it and reads] When the mist covers the mountains, I'm reminded of the homeland. Yet, in this South Seas paradise, money is earned with ease, and the eternal fragrance of flowers is but another tropical blessing. In anticipation of your arrival, I'm inspired to write this haiku poem: "Lady Butterfly perfumes her wings by floating over this orchid."
Aunt Sode : I'm worried about you working in the fields, but at least in Hawaii no one will no anything about yur past. That's why it's perfect. Far away, you can leave your past behind and start all over again. Riyo, maybe your luck is changing.
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Kana : The first time I get off the boat, I see Kanzaki. I think, "Ooh! He's so handsome. How I get this kind handsome man? More better than picture!" All the other brides look at us, tell me "Lucky!" He act so nice, so kind. I think I'm in paradise.
Riyo : Why Kanzak-san change?
Kana : [tearfully] I don't know. But my, he get mean.
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Riyo : [after receiving her work payment] This can't be right! There should be more. I worked so hard...
Matsuji : Let's see.
[shuffles through Riyo's money]
Matsuji : No, it's all there. 65 cents a day minus things you buy at the plantation store. That comes to eleven dollars for the month. See, going back to Japan isn't as easy as you thought.
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[last lines]
Riyo : Sometimes, even now, when the winds are blowing real hard I think can hear Kana singing. But the singing is not Kana. It's the voice of my daughter singing her daughter to sleep. But when I close my eyes, I can still see the moon lighting up the cane fields, like the ocean that carried me home... to Hawaii.
