Karen's Pages

How was this missed? In my humble opinion, the 50 Objects article was not about researching the origin of the Okajima pedigree, but more about telling an interesting story that would support an existing narrative around Bette in the most detailed manner to date. I’m not trying to put down this article since it helped fuel my interest in the Okajima Pedigree (and their article was about “one object” out of 24 in their larger history project). The research I pursued was never supporting in nature, and I tried to follow the research in whatever direction it took me. I think that was the difference between prior attempts and mine. I also did a ton of research. I actually showed a small fraction of what I found in my video. But the video was an hour long already and I was concerned that no one would want to watch it.

Thank you so much! I will let my husband know you said hi. He'll appreciate it for sure.

Hi BanjerD. I tried to research the spelling of the family name, including the translation of the Japanese Kanji to Romaji. This was rather difficult, and my husband and I even reached out to his relatives in Japan to ask. But I think they had a difficult time understanding what we were trying to ask. One interesting observation that I’ve come across – if you look up Okajima, it seems like the Kanji is different for males (岡島) versus females (岡嶋). Ultimately, I did not present this because I don’t fully understand it – I just hinted at it in the video. I like what you said about the romanization, it definitely seems plausible.

Thank you so much, MB1952. I still get emotional when I watch the photo montage at the end, too.

Thank you so much, Rick. I'm glad you took a chance on my long video. I was worried that most people would not watch it because of the length.

Hi Professor K! adamstrange also asked the same question above your post. I answered this question when I replied back to his comment about a half hour ago. I also saw your private message. I will get back to you soon. Thanks for watching the video! I'm so glad you liked it.

Thank you, adamstrange. From what I gathered so far, I believe Mitsuru did not have children, but both Happy and Jayne had children. I contemplated reaching out to them, but thought it would be best to put this video out first since interviewing them was not absolutely critical for establishing the true collectors' identities. I might try to reach out to them someday, but I struggle with this sometimes. I think about what Alan Bahr said about Bette's relatives and that they were very private. While this may be a different side of the family, I'm sensitive to this type of thing and want to be as respectful as possible. I see other posters' comments. Thank you so much. I'll comment on the rest later today.

For those interested in the Okajima Pedigree, I posted a video today on my YouTube channel, Karen’s Pages. I’ve researched this pedigree for the past couple of months and I believe I have discovered whom these comic books belong to. Also, I believe I answer a lot of the questions/mysteries that have been posted in this thread. The information that everyone has posted in this thread over the last decade was extremely helpful, especially images of the Okajima Pedigree books. I sincerely hope you enjoy the video and I appreciate any comments. Thank you. ~Karen