Do you know who Cherry Parker is? Volunteers in a Japanese town built a commemorative bench for the couple

Junior-high school students in Hiroshima re-discovered the story of Cherry Parker, the first Japanese war bride to come to Australia, as part of their local history research project. That was the start of the locally-driven crowd-funding project to build a commemorative bench in a local park.

"When the students started their research, what they found were all sad stories due to the war. Then they found the story of this Japanese lady and Australian man who overcame difficulties for their love. Students loved it. Students even made a play out of it," Mr Tadashi Wakamoto, the organizer of the crowdfunding project, said.

"We thought this story of Nobuko Sakuramoto (Cherry Parker) and Gordon Parker should be known to more people. Then the idea of setting up a bench came about."

The crowdfunding project for the bench started mid December last year and successfully finished at the end of January. 24 thousand yen was donated, which exceeded the goal.

In the audio, Mr Wakamoto and Ms Alli Parker, a granddaughter of Cherry Parker, talk about the project and their involvement.

Lonely young women like Cherry Parker, far from home, had to jump through all kinds of hoops. Source: SBS

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