Happy Heavenly Birthday Grandma Jingu

 

My sister Jocelyn just reminded me that today is our grandma Miyoshi Jingu’s birthday . She was born July 1, 1893. She led a very full and interesting life. She raised 8 children in San Antonio Texas. Many of you have heard the stories of the Texas Japanese Tea Gardens. If you google Eizo Kimi Jingu (my grandfather)you will see the family history and the part they played in the development of the gardens and the city of San Antonio. . My grandfather died in his mid40’s leaving my grandmother a young widow  to raise the family and run the family tea garden business. She was a strong, resilient woman. After the war the family moved to California. In 1951 life became easier for my grandma. When the family moved to east Los Angeles my grandmother was for the first time in a community of Japanese Americans. She was able to attend church in Little Tokyo, take painting and poetry lessons, flower arrangement lessons and speak Japanese to her Issei (1st generation Japanese American) neighbors. It was in the 1950’s that she answered an ad in the local Japanese newspaper “Rafu Shimpo” to be in a movie. She got the part and that was the beginning of her almost 10 year movie career at around age 63. She became a member of Screen actors guild had an agent (Bessie Loo) and made enough money to buy a ticket to Japan to visit her family whom she had not seen since she first came to America in her early 20’s. She was in movies with Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Rosalind Russell and other memorable stars of the time. We were fortunate that my grandmother learned to speak English out of necessity for the business in Texas. There were few to none that spoke Japanese in her city so my grandmother also out of necessity leaned to speak Spanish. Near the end of her life there was a comical incident where the paramedics came to our house to take my grandma to the hospital. They had to carry her from the 3rd floor of our home to the ambulance. We were on the 2nd level when my grandma told the paramedics “Don’t  drop me I’m a Movie Star!” They looked very puzzled and thought she might be hallucinating. They looked at all of us and we nodded positively and said “She is!”

Happy 133rd Heavenly Birthday Grandma,  a true shining star on the silver screen and in real life!

 

That's grandma on top of the jeep with the goat.  She was not strapped down well she said.  They just tied a rope around her waist. She said it was scary.