In the summer of 1969, Beverly Nakamura had only been married a few weeks when she read about Joan Itoh, a fellow American living with a Japanese husband in Niigata Prefecture. Itoh had written in to The Japan Times' popular columnist Jean Pearce, hoping to connect with others in similar situations.

Beverly Nakamura
Beverly Nakamura

This was in an era where overseas travel was still an expensive luxury for the majority of people, and not all households in Japan even had a phone yet.