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# Finding Mrs. Apcar: An Assyrian Family’s Journey Through Japan
- URL: https://www.assyriapost.com/finding-mrs-apcar-an-assyrian-familys-journey-through-japan/
- Published: 2026-11-01T20:10:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-01T20:10:49.000Z
- Description: An Assyrian family travels to Japan in search of Mrs. Apcar, uncovering the story of an extraordinary Assyrian woman whose life connects the Assyrian diaspora with Japan’s history. A journey into a little-known chapter of Assyrian heritage and global history.
- Author: The Assyria Post
- Tags: Curated stories

****Editor's pick**   
This post is part of hand-picked stories from across the web, curated by the editors of the Assyria Post. 

"Hallisy’s discovery connected with a search that [Mesropyan](https://mirrorspectator.com/2026/01/15/meline-mesropyan-armenian-traces-in-japanese-archives-and-new-discoveries-about-diana-apcars-life/?ref=assyriapost.com) had been pursuing from the other direction. During years of researching Diana Apcar, Mesropyan had come across scattered references to Assyrians in Apcar’s writings and surviving correspondence. Some showed that Apcar had helped Assyrian refugees in Japan but often revealed little about who they were or what happened to them. Mesropyan had spent years trying to find descendants of refugees Apcar had helped, finding several Armenian families but never a descendant of one of the Assyrians. That changed when Mimi Malayan, Apcar’s great-granddaughter and Mesropyan’s longtime collaborator and friend, forwarded Hallisy’s email to her. Hallisy had initially learned of passenger records identifying perhaps fifty Assyrians who had passed through Japan, but Mesropyan had already encountered evidence suggesting that the number was higher. She pointed Hallisy toward passenger records where more might be found. Hallisy’s subsequent search identified 403 Assyrian passengers who departed Japan for North America, primarily for San Francisco and Seattle, with a smaller number traveling to Canada. The finding revealed a much larger, previously little-known movement of Assyrians through Japan in the years surrounding World War I."

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[Finding Mrs. Apcar: An Assyrian Family’s Journey Through Japan - The Armenian Mirror-SpectatorBy Julia Hallisy and Meline Mesropyan In 2020, just as quarantines were being lifted during the global pandemic, Dr. Julia Hallisy discovered that she was one generation removed from genocide. \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/icon/favicon-16x16-8190ae3e-ac65-4c55-bfd2-3ebbe76e72ad.png)The Armenian Mirror-SpectatorThe Armenian Mirror-Spectator![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/f5/5df5a6c1-1f57-4975-951e-ddd33d31dec7/content/images/thumbnail/ApcarianKalian-9-e1761842176826-538f9b8c-031e-45c5-a82b-436fd3c0daaf.jpg)](https://mirrorspectator.com/2026/10/15/finding-mrs-apcar-an-assyrian-familys-journey-through-japan/?ref=assyriapost.com)