Picture Bride

Assimilation refers to the integration of people into dominant social and cultural norms. In Picture Bride, Japanese characters assimilate into the norms of white America. To avoid being an outsider, many Japanese American characters repress their Japanese roots in pursuit of a typical American lifestyle. In the novel, assimilation does not occur due to active pressure from any one person but from an implicit set of norms built into the fabric of American society.

Hana’s assimilation begins immediately after she arrives in America. On the way to Oakland, Hana notices the contrast between her Japanese kimono and American clothing. “My clothes are not right,” she tells Taro, “I feel very much out of place” (8). Hana’s clothing, and by extension, her Japanese identity, make her out of place in America. Taro understands her plight and acquires some American clothing for her. Additionally, he takes her to his Christian church. This initiates a transition in Hana’s spiritual life from Buddhism (the religion practiced in her village) to Christianity (the primary religion in America). While Taro is not ashamed to be Japanese, he is the primary figure advancing Hana’s assimilation. Taro wants their wedding to be an “American-style, Christian wedding” that avoids the “stiff formality of a Japanese wedding” and the “ritual of a Shinto ceremony” (22).