Comments for Leslie Helm

Comment on The charming and artistic CB Bernard by jennifer Felix-Shannon

jennifer Felix-Shannon — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 22:31:00 +0000

Hi. At an estate sale I picked up two drawings entitled matsu shima and kyoto signed by CB Bernard. After reading your article, I can only guess that these were drawn by your grandfather. I thought I would share so you know his art is still being enjoyed and loved.

Comment on Helm History in Photos by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 19:56:05 +0000

In reply to Louise Stockinger Saal. Hi Louise, Sorry it took so long to reply to you. I would love to talk to you. I just sent you email. Hope to talk soon.

Comment on Helm History in Photos by Louise Stockinger Saal

Louise Stockinger Saal — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 00:30:20 +0000

We lived in a Helm house at 78 Nishinoya-Cho Naka-Ku, Yokohama, when it was bombed and totally destroyed by US B-29 bombers on May 29. 1945. I was only a child but have fond memories of the house and the beautiful garden.

I am working on my own life’s journey and came across your book “Yokohama Yankee”.

Comment on Barbara Schinzinger Helm 1924-2017 by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 13:03:27 +0000

In reply to Dean Daily. HI Dean, Thanks so much for writing. Sorry for taking so long to acknowledge your comment. Life has been crazy. I hope to start posting more on this blog.

Comment on Barbara Helm in Japan and the Bay Area by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 13:01:58 +0000

In reply to Doris Sheen.

Hi Doris,
I’ve been quite busy since my mother died and came back to this site for the first time in over a year to see your note. Thanks so much for writing. Do you still see the Harringtons? What do you think of the changes in Yokohama.
I hope you are all well. It was very sweet of you to take the time to make comments on this page. I will start writing again soon as I have decided to retire as editor of my magazine and to spend more time doing the kind of writing I enjoy. I hope you are well. Best, Leslie

Comment on Barbara Helm in Japan and the Bay Area by Doris Sheen

Doris Sheen — Sat, 13 May 2017 17:18:39 +0000

We so love your writings and I share with Alice Harrington. I remember your Mother well from our stay in Yokohama. A lovely lady and always so friendly and kind. You have represented her life beautifully in your writings..
Thank you for sharing your families life story with all of us who knew them only as fellow neighbors and Club members.
She would be so proud of all you have accomplished in life.

Comment on Barbara Schinzinger Helm 1924-2017 by Doris Sheen

Doris Sheen — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 22:13:16 +0000

So enjoyed this wonderfully written piece. Remember well the family and Leslie. Thank you for sharing it.
Yokohama was our home for several years and the many folks that made it special will never be forgotten. YCAC and YIS were the center of our lives for thirteen years.. The Helms Family was a part of the history and so loved.

Comment on Barbara Schinzinger Helm 1924-2017 by Dean Daily

Dean Daily — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 03:49:03 +0000

Leslie:

Please accept my condolences.

I am a son of the late Al Daily, one of your uncle Ray’s longtime friends.

Our mom Mary died last February.

Thanks for the tribute to your mother

Dean

Comment on Barbara Schinzinger Helm 1924-2017 by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 17:06:37 +0000

In reply to ginny. Great to hear from you Ginny! And thanks for that about Mom. I do think she was very special. Of course, I'm biased.

Comment on Barbara Schinzinger Helm 1924-2017 by ginny

ginny — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 16:42:39 +0000

A lovely tribute. She was an original and an extraordinary woman. I know you all will miss her. She was strangely birdlike, always happily chirping!

Comment on The Golden Bird by My Mother, The Golden Bird - Leslie Helm

My Mother, The Golden Bird - Leslie Helm — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 15:24:02 +0000

[…] heal. At an earlier difficult time, when my parents divorced, my grandfather wrote the fable about “The Golden Bird” who wanted to come down from the sky and become human even if it meant experiencing sorrow. […]

Comment on The Photos of Ranso Tsunoda (nee Wolff) by Yokohama Photographs of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake by Ranso Wolff - Leslie Helm

Yokohama Photographs of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake by Ranso Wolff - Leslie Helm — Sun, 20 Nov 2016 04:53:26 +0000

[…] grandfather. Here they are the photographs. This post has more about how I connected with Joji. This post talks more about Joji and his […]

Comment on Book Tour for Japanese Translation Unearths Treasure Trove of old Photographs by Yokohama Photographs of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake by Ranso Wolff - Leslie Helm

Yokohama Photographs of the 1923 Kanto Earthquake by Ranso Wolff - Leslie Helm — Sun, 20 Nov 2016 04:49:58 +0000

[…] father, worked as a manager of the docks for my great grandfather. Here they are the photographs. This post has more about how I connected with Joji. This post talks more about Joji and his […]

Comment on Book Tour for Japanese Translation Unearths Treasure Trove of old Photographs by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Sun, 20 Nov 2016 03:56:00 +0000

In reply to Gloria Bauer Ishida.

Thanks Gloria. Best of luck to you on your research.
Best,
Leslie

Comment on Book Tour for Japanese Translation Unearths Treasure Trove of old Photographs by Gloria Bauer Ishida

Gloria Bauer Ishida — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 08:28:45 +0000

This a great find. Those things have happened to me, too. Keep it up. I did enjoy your book very much.

Comment on July 4th and Fireworks in Japan by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Sun, 10 Apr 2016 02:51:55 +0000

In reply to Sandy Ellis. Thanks Sandy! I hope we get to see you soon!

Comment on Reviews of Yokohama Yankee in Nikkei and Kyodo Touch On History and Mixed Race Identity. by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 06:39:45 +0000

In reply to Gloria Bauer Ishida. Thanks for leaving the message. So glad you enjoyed the book.

Comment on Reviews of Yokohama Yankee in Nikkei and Kyodo Touch On History and Mixed Race Identity. by Gloria Bauer Ishida

Gloria Bauer Ishida — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 07:53:24 +0000

I read your book last year and found it fascinating and meaningful. Even followed up doing some “research” about now because I have close friends in Seattle and sometimes visit.. Thank you for writing it.

Comment on July 4th and Fireworks in Japan by Sandy Ellis

Sandy Ellis — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 23:35:21 +0000

Hi Leslie, I am enjoying your blog. Cheers’ S

Comment on Lost (and Found) in Translation by Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 03:46:22 +0000

This sounds like many hours of REAL work to me.
Way to go Leslie!!!
Jim Webster

Comment on When translating Yokohama Yankee into Japanese, should it be adapted to the sensibilities of the Japanese reader? by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:33:06 +0000

In reply to Yuka.

Wonderful! I should be getting a clean draft in a month or so.
Best,
Lesile

Comment on When translating Yokohama Yankee into Japanese, should it be adapted to the sensibilities of the Japanese reader? by Yuka

Yuka — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 04:18:22 +0000

In reply to Leslie Helm. Yes, I would love to read the draft!

Comment on When translating Yokohama Yankee into Japanese, should it be adapted to the sensibilities of the Japanese reader? by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 03:46:18 +0000

In reply to Yuka. Would you be willing to read the draft of the Japanese translation of Yokohama Yankee?

Comment on When translating Yokohama Yankee into Japanese, should it be adapted to the sensibilities of the Japanese reader? by Yuka

Yuka — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 22:50:06 +0000

I am a Japanese National raised in Yokohama. I currently reside in Boston and came across your book at the local library. I am enjoying the book so far, and do not agree with the translator’s suggestion to adopt the content to the Japanese reader. We, as a nation, loves to read about foreigners’ view of Japan. Passage about abortion and pills may not please Japanese readers, but then again, it is quite interesting to us to learn that’s how you interpreted pills and abortion (resulting in less children up for adoption). We know we are peculiar, and we love to hear it from other people. otherwise the translation will lose its appeal, I think.

Comment on CB Bernard’s prints of early Japan by David R Smith

David R Smith — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 12:45:14 +0000

I found this charming print of a watercolour by C B Bernard in your book:
https://app.box.com/s/82yxdxcv99apeunumst4
I carefully scanned and de-screened it, and I wonder: When was this painted? When was that house built? Is it indeed, as I deduce, on the plot number 157? There are today two houses on that plot, but there is still visible, a square outline, which matches the pictured house in size and orientation. The two houses are both much smaller, but are of a similar sort of style.
This is a mosaic of Google Maps of plot 157, the area enclosed by the two sets of steps to what was the beach, now a children’s play area:
https://app.box.com/s/x5wohijy33yg0y1lvn9a
The two houses on the plot are clearly seen, and there is a large square plot, containing them both, with a smaller square imprint, in the larger sqare, which could have been the house, now gone.

Comment on Hachiojiyama by David R Smith

David R Smith — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 23:58:18 +0000

P.S. I forgot to give you the link to some relevant items I have posted,
Please look here: https://app.box.com/s/srsvpn36rooo7l50e1q2

Comment on Hachiojiyama by David R Smith

David R Smith — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 23:55:03 +0000

I ordered a second hand book, ex libris, hoping for a hard cover copy, but got instead a delapidated copy with missing pages. Never mind, it was a charity store, and, due to condition, I felt able to remove pages to better scan images. I have since bought a new copy, actually cheaper! Never mind.
Yes, an excellent read, and parts of it bring to life this scenes hinted at by Norah.
Trying to understand the mystery of Hachojiyama, I scanned several maps, and map-excerpts from the screen, and using Google Translate Free-hand graphical input, managed to transcribe some of the Kanji.
On pages 46 and47, you have a map. Just above the compass rose, the left extremity of the Bluff complex looks like a beast about to eat a biscuit.
Inside the biscuit, you can see Kanji characters upside down. Rotating the page, you can see they are written “八牛屠”. Google gives the phonetic for this as “Hachiushihofu”, which in crude interpretation given is: Eight Cattle Slaughter. So I think the proper name for the hill was “八牛山”, or HachiUshiYama. The pronunciation is very similar to Hachojiyama, and the Mountain of eight princes is much more noble than the hill of eight cows!
The Bretts map labels the formation where the biscuit is about to be eaten as the Juniten Temple, however, your map shows that Juniten is a districk of Honmoku. Another biscuit, just in front of the beast.s nose containa the label: “本牧十二天” followed by a 6th character I could not copy. The first 5 symbols read: HonMokuJuNiTen, and this has no specific referenc to what the Bretts map calls a shrine. Indeed on you picture on pages 86 and 87, the Japanese, reading right to left, here shown left to right, reads: “横濱本牧十二天”. Google translates as: “Yokohama Honmokujuniten”.
Now a question: The picture you use on this site, and the watercolor on page 83 by C R Bernard, The big house seems to be in the area halfway down the cliff, which, when I examine the steps down the cliff, I find they enclose a plot which Brett numbers as 157. The house behind it, to the left then would be on plot number 161. Your map shows this plot to be divided left from right, and the rhs part is labeled HS, with the ‘S’ reversed left to right.
I wondered, was this supposed to be H. Y. for Helm Yulius, ‘J’ in Japanese being pronounced as in English, whereas, in German, it is as an English, or Japanese ‘Y’.
Now I begin to be fairly sure that the house that TRS rented was probably either 153, or 158, or maybe, 152, or 159.
It is not all lost in the modernisation. Much of the hill is still green and tree covered. Most of the elevated land is now the grounds of the Washin Zaka Hospital, so is kept green as fire-break park-land. There still remains some beauty. At least this area has not been overdeveloped.
The original bottom 50 or so steps have been lost into what was the sea, but the step way has been diverted, and what was the beach in your picture is now a children’s play area. It could have been so much worse. Where the sea was, certainly is.

Comment on How a little piece of Miyazaki’s magical, curative forest of the future was recreated in a copper pit in Butte Montanta. by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 04:26:52 +0000

In reply to Sophelia. You are absolutely right Sophelia. Thanks for catching my mistake!

Comment on How a little piece of Miyazaki’s magical, curative forest of the future was recreated in a copper pit in Butte Montanta. by Sophelia

Sophelia — Mon, 19 May 2014 00:42:32 +0000

Sorry to be picky, but I think you mean Miyazaki Hayao (^_^)v

Comment on Margaret (Helm) Stone by Jim Webster

Jim Webster — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 16:37:29 +0000

Thanks Leslie. She was one of my favorite aunts. Didn’t mince words that’s for sure. Even after moving to Tuolumne from Santa Monica we still would see her quite often. All our kids loved her to; in fact, as she didn’t have any children of her own t think she knew more about her various and many distant cousins (“nieces and nephews” of the next generation) than anyone else.

Comment on Margaret (Helm) Stone by Valarie Kusuda-Smick

Valarie Kusuda-Smick — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 06:50:39 +0000

What a precious story!

Comment on Hachiojiyama by Leslie Helm

Leslie Helm — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 17:25:30 +0000

In reply to Connie Ash. Interesting. Do you remember what it was like inside? Did you ever connect with my mother? Hope to connect over the phone soon.

Comment on An Exercise in Trying to Understand Great Grandfather Julius by Lex Quincey

Lex Quincey — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 02:13:30 +0000

Thanks for sharing. I had to learn these history increases. I enjoyed reading.

Comment on Yokohama Yankee Receives Starred Review on Library Journal by Marcus Helm

Marcus Helm — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 05:15:11 +0000

I highly agree with what you have said. This book is probably one of the best books Ive ever read and I am glad I know have a good knowledge of my ancestors. I am glad to have a cousin who has such an amazing writing skill like he has shown in this book. I find that it is a book I couldnt stop putting down and there was never a dull moment for me.

Comment on Hachiojiyama by Connie Ash

Connie Ash — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 00:09:59 +0000

Hello Leslie,

The Honmoku Helm house looks like the one we rented from your Dad in late 50’s or early 60’s. It had a view of the sea and had a dozen different heating arrangements. Many happy memories — birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, and the birth of two of our four children and bringing them back
from Bluff Hospital. The kids used to play on the beach below, and we would have to climb about 100 steps to get back up the hill.

I talked to Andrea (Helm Boyd) because I had her phone number from when we visited with Barbara at their lovely..home. The phone number I have for your Mom does not work, so would appreciate a number at which I can reach her.

Lesley, I so enjoyed your book. My daughter, Mary Beth, sent me a copy and I could hardly put it down. My son, Richard Ash, is reading it now, and then daughters Connie and Jennifer.

.
Connie Ash
1107 N.W. Oak Ave
Corvallis, OR 97330
ihumalong@Yahoo.com

Comment on Family Stories Don’t Just Entertain; They Help Prepare Us For Life by Binki Witherby De Collibus

Binki Witherby De Collibus — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:59:34 +0000

Great article. Every person has a story and each one is important.
I find that most people in the States don’t bother asking a person from another country the important questions about their life before the US. Some of the best stories come from the parents and grandparents of my preschool students. They want to be asked about growing up in a war in Iran, or being in an arranged marriage. An Indian whose family had been in Uganda for six generations fleeing Idi Amin, An escape from Cuba and finding the greatness of freedom even if you were eating butter for dinner.
My own very Yankee family, overly proud (and prejudiced!) littered with n’er do wells!
They are our family stories. We own them and we need to pass them on.

Comment on Identity and Adoption by Julia Anderson

Julia Anderson — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 02:08:19 +0000

Leslie,
This sounds like a wonderful personal story of discovery and growth. I am eager to find your book.

Comment on Yokohama Yankee Arrives From Printer by Burl Willes

Burl Willes — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:57:42 +0000

This is the best book I have read in years! The design is “off the scale!”
I hope the author, designer and publisher receive the awards
this book deserves.

A grateful reader in Berkeley, Calif