Yokohama Yankee: An Ex-Pat’s Story about Life in Japan
Seattle Business magazine editor Leslie Helm pens a family history of mixed heritage.
By Seattle Mag March 29, 2013
This article originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of Seattle magazine.
When reporter Leslie Helm (editor of Seattle mag’s sister publication, Seattle Business) began the process of adopting a Japanese baby in 1991, he had no idea that his quest to have children would lead to an intimate acquaintance with his forebears.
In his new book, Yokohama Yankee: My Family’s Five Generations as Outsiders in Japan (Chin Music Press; $16.95), Helm traces his history back to his German great-grandfather, whose search for a new life landed him in Japan in 1869, where he took the unorthodox step of marrying his Japanese housekeeper. Helm’s extended family has lived in Japan ever since.
With a narrative derived from old letters, diaries and recent interviews, punctuated by lovely vintage photographs, postcards and illustrations, the book offers a highly personal view of the immigrant and ex-pat experience. While the continued intertwining of American, German and Japanese families—links forged through genetics, customs, circumstances, laws and twists of fate—is a running theme, at the heart of the memoir is a story every family can relate to: that of love lost and found, through the generations.
Local appearances:
March 28, 10:20 a.m. on KUOW’s Weekday with Steve Scher
March 30, 2:30 p.m at Magnolia Bookstore
April 3, 6 p.m. at Town Hall
April 26, 7 p.m. at Elliott Bay Books
Follow Us
Studio Sessions: Jo Cosme
The Seattle-based multimedia artist and 2026 Neddy Award winner challenges the postcard version of Puerto Rico and centers the persistence of its people.
Jo Cosme knows how seductive a postcard can be. The Seattle-based Boricua (Puerto Rican) multimedia artist works across photography, installation, video, sound, and interactive elements to examine and pull apart how Puerto Rico is seen, sold, and misunderstood from the outside. Trained in photojournalism, with a BFA in photography from Puerto Rico School of Fine…
Seattle’s Drag Brunch Has History
The city’s Sunday shows started long before the mimosas got bottomless.
There was a time not too long ago, when drag performances—now a mainstay of Seattle’s queer scene—were kept under wraps. And when brunches, complete with singing and dancing queens dressed in dazzling drag as you sipped mimosas, weren’t a Sunday staple. During the 1940s and ‘50s, an era largely shaped by restrictive laws and bias…
Studio Sessions: Sangram Majumdar
Working at the confluence of history, culture, and various painting traditions, UW associate professor Sangram Majumdar is one of this year’s Neddy Artist Award winners.
Discover the art of UW professor Sangram Majumdar, a 2026 Neddy Artist Award winner. Learn about his inspiration and upcoming Seattle exhibition at Cornish.
Rearview Mirror: A Georgian Dinner, Sidewalk Sips, and One-of-a-Kind Clothing
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
A new life for old clothes To celebrate one year in its current studio, the FXRY—a clothing repair service available via in-person appointments, home pickup, or mail-in drop off—is dropping its first collection. A small batch of reworked pieces, Second Mark will feature 13 vintage barn jackets, cropped, chain-stitched, and renewed into a completely unique, one-of-one…