This time on People of Kagoshima, we speak to artist, author, and motivational speaker Barbara Uemura. Sometimes outshone by her famous daughter, singer-songwriter AI, Barbara’s amazing journey will captivate you.
Born in America, she has spent four decades living in Kagoshima. From the lows to the highs, her unique perspective on love and life draws followers and diehard fans.
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Barbara Uemura
Website:
http://barbarauemura.com/
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/barbara_uemura/
https://www.facebook.com/barbarauemura
https://www.youtube.com/@barbara_uemura
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People of Kagoshima
Website:
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/kagopeeps/
https://www.facebook.com/kagopeeps
Tweets by kagopeeps
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Produced by STORi STUDIOS
Kagoshima is home to many famous actors personalities and musicians today we meet the mother of one of Japan’s most famous singers and it is her story one that spans the globe and Decades of history that has gone on to inspire generations of people this time on people of kagoshima My father was around 21 when he was in the internment camp so he lived in America about 3 years while he was in the interment Camp he got a letter from the government saying that you’re drafted into the army and you have to go to war in World for World War II and
Stationed in Italy in Italy my dad uh learned to speak Italian very well and met my mom so when they first met my mom was washing clothes for the soldiers they fell in love immediately and I think it was 1947 that they moved back to America and I was born 1948 in Washington
State when I was living in La I met my husband when I was 31 years old I was working in real estate and he was my boss’s client that’s how he met when I first came to kagoshima I was 36 and pregnant with my second daughter Sachi I
Got off the airplane and we went to uh Sendai satai and it’s beautiful green and sky is blue and flowers and everybody seems so kind and that all feeling lasted it one day why because the next day I realized nobody spoke English my husband was too
Busy to be with me and me and aan she was 2 years old I couldn’t do anything I was just lost and lonely my first year living in kagoshima was the toughest because I didn’t understand the Customs men and women relationships were different from America and uh my husband was always too
Busy going out of town coming home late so me and my daughter aan we had such a hard time I I cried every day and I kept saying I want to go back home I want to go back home I was homesick I was negative I was sick all the time
Catching a cold getting fevers so and my daughter too no matter what I had I was crying or down she was the same so we both I would just stay in my room because I don’t want to go out because I don’t want to hear Japanese and even if
I speak English nobody understands me I go to the market I don’t know which is sugar and which is salt everything’s in in Kani I can’t ask anybody I don’t know how to ask anybody uh so many things happened I made so many mistakes with the Customs going in my neighbor’s house
With shoes on she said put on the slippers I put slippers on into the tummy room that’s no good so everything I did was wrong so I had such a tough time the first year my husband and I when we came to kagoshima he said we’re
Only going to stay one year but that one year became 39 years yes I went into depression and I ended up in the hospital because I was I kept getting fevers and fevers so the doctor checked me but he can’t find what’s wrong with me so they put me in
The hospital and finally the doctor said uh we know what’s wrong with you and I said what he said stress so because of stress I kept getting fevers and I I felt well I was in depression right I made myself sick thinking negative and thinking bad
Things and having the two kids I don’t know how to raise them worrying about that and uh my husband couldn’t help me too busy so anyway that was my Life so it was my mom that helped me pull out of this and the reason why is because I call my mom and I said I got sick I was in the hospital I can’t live here I can’t speak the language it’s too difficult I have the two kids I don’t
Know how what to do and my mom really got mad at me and she said what are you saying you know your life is your responsibility I said I can’t be happy my husband is not home he’s always gone and she said your happiness and your life is your responsibility
So first thing you better study and you better change your thinking change your words your words I can’t it’s too difficult I’m worried I’m tired and she said change it I can do it I love being here I’m happy change your words and she said to me no matter what you have to
Like yourself and she noticed with my conversation you don’t like yourself that’s the most important thing is to like yourself self-esteem is important the number one thing because if you don’t like yourself wherever you go people are not going to like you they have the same feeling that you do the
Kids will not be able to get make friends and they’re not going to like themselves that’s the worst thing so she said you better stop and stop thinking about worrying about yourself and she said I want to give you advice start thinking about other people and doing
Good things for other people she said if you do good things good things come back to you so she said do volunteer work in kagoshima I said I don’t know what to do and she said what you did in La What You Did In America you do it in in in Japan
You can do it so she encouraged me and because you know she came to America when she was 22 she only went to an Italy Elementary School four fourth grade so she had to work at 10 years old Coming to America she couldn’t speak English but she had a good life she made
Her own life my dad too he didn’t speak English but they made their own life they worked hard so she said you can do it I read a lot of books and the reason I read a lot of books was because my mom and dad and my sister and friends send
Me 300 books to kagoshima because they knew there’s no books uh like that kind of positive books in kakoshima I said there’s no English books so they sent me 300 books and it was books about thinking positive about making your goals and dreams come true image training raising kids uh Health
Everything that I need to make my life better so 300 books I read and um one of the main things I noticed that every book I read being thankful is important and another thing is smile smile and Healthy Smile and confident smile and successful and the thing is you have to
Smile 80% of the day so I want to do it and the most important thing time of the day is in the morning when you wake up so then I started practicing okay every morning I put mirrors all over the house so I could so I could see my face and if I’m
Smiling and I wasn’t smiling I was like this all the time and then I look in the mirror and I said oh my God like this right so anyway I practice practice practice and I read 300 books and every morning I wake up with a smile and and I
Breathe and and that helped me to become positive and a different person so anyway then I started people start asking me to give talks I’ve done over 2,800 talks and not one have I said I want to do it everything is coming to me I give one talk then I get five calls
Later I do another talk I get more calls she okay thank you because I did so many lectures after 10 years of giving lectures I did a talk for high school and Junior High School teachers and it was about 500 people and then it was question and answer time and
One lady asked me what is your dream what is your goal from now and I thought about it and I said I have so many notes so many research about about uh living positive living so I said at that time I want to write a book and because I said
It I have to do it so I I really thought about that after the talk I said yeah I got to write my book you know because reaching people in lectures it’s only like 100 people here or 50 people here or whatever it is but a book is last
Forever and book will reach more people and they can read it over and over again so I thought it’s good for people and it’s good for me because I want to get out all the things that I learned for myself too so I went back to Los Angeles
And I wrote the book in 3 weeks the reason why is because I had notes notes notes notes so I organized my notes into sections positive living confidence this this I separated everything family uh you know community Communications and so then I wrote the book in English in 3 weeks I came back
To Japan and it took 9 months to translate because I cannot read and write Japanese somebody H I have to talk to somebody in Japanese to tell them what I want to say and then to check the book it takes like 10 people to check it
For me to make sure that kanji is right and what I’m saying is right so it took a long time but the first book came out I was so happy then after that the second book but the reason why I wrote the second book is because the first book I wrote people
Still don’t listen they still not positive they’re still not you know uh being you know the way that they should be enjoying their life not worrying so I wrote the second book so strong and like to the teachers to the parents who worry to the kids who who need to be more
Thankful to their parents so everything in the second book is Barbara and it’s a secrets to a happy life so that was a second book then after I wrote the second book I waited about maybe four years and then I thought to myself what’s the most important thing that I
Learned all this time and I said yeah I want to tell people if you just smile and you enjoy life be happy and make it a habit making it a habit is important you know not just smile okay then finish because most people do things three days
And they’re finished so that’s what my uh third book then the fourth book I was in a magazine called Jose jishin and the writer professional writers came to kagoshima and they were with me for a week so so after we did the article in the in the magazine the writer said to
Me I met him in Tokyo and he said I have so much information about you I could write a book and I said yeah let’s do it and he said let’s do it so he went to the top people and presented my uh story and they said okay so every for one year
Every month I went to Tokyo and we did the book together so that’s Happy dictionary my fourth Book by Art is one I love to do it it’s something it’s a new challenge for me and creating art wow you know and it’s like a a child to me when I write it and then I go to sleep the next morning I
Look at what I did and I said oh man that’s good and it inspires me because I could never I could never think of myself as as doing good art well or anything so doing it and then so I put I put the uh colors in it that’s exciting
To me and then I put rhinestones in it and every morning I look and I see the progress and it makes me happy but most of all people who buy it they feel power they feel happiness they feel love because I put the words love happy love
Happy love happy and everything so my theme of of my art exhibition is love and happy so I love it and also another thing is that at the art exhibition I’m always there so everyone who comes in the room I first I give them a hug and
They’re always a surprise oh I give them a hug and then please look and then um well of course they want to buy something so I’m happy about that but it’s a it’s a new adventure for me and uh two years ago I had the goal and dream
To do one in Tokyo so two years ago I did it in Tokyo and this year too in Tokyo and next year I’m not going to do Tokyo but my next goal I’m going to do it in LA so anyway that’s going to be a big
One for me so next year is my challenging year to create really really exciting art and really beautiful art is my goal 39 years ago I was a lady a housewife do that was sad and lonely doing nothing and little by little my life changed because of the people because of of my my family is always supporting me and every time I I every year life gets better and better and better so I don’t
Know where how far I’m going but this year you know I’m 75 but I know my future I’m thinking like maybe until 80 I’ll do lectures and things like that but art I can do forever I think and I’m thinking that I want to do more to help
People you know I write a column that’s hold on column for the newspaper here in an advice column in in koshima but I want to do something more I want to do like I’ve been always thinking about this for many years a talk show in kagoshima I think you know TV there’s
More people that I can help there’s more people I can touch there’s more people I can make happy I just feel like I’m not finished yet I’m not I haven’t reached my potential yet so all this time living that’s why you know I love koshima koshima has given me so
Much to my life if I was living in La I wouldn’t do all these things I know kagoshima has the power kagoshima needed me and I needed Kagoshima Am
2 Comments
美しいです❤
どうもありがとうございました♪😊
Great episode!