Finding Mrs. Apcar: An Assyrian Family’s Journey Through Japan
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.
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"Hallisy’s discovery connected with a search that Mesropyan 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."
In a personal reflection, Assyrian-American student Sabrina Bet-Mansour draws on her family’s history of displacement and migration to examine today’s immigration policies and the growing challenges faced by those fleeing violence and persecution.
On August 7, 2026, Assyrian communities around the world observed the Day of Remembrance for Assyrian Martyrs. On this day, the victims of persecution and mass killings are commemorated, particularly those who perished during the Simele massacre in Iraq in 1933.
The rebuilding of the church in the village of Yardo marks a step toward preserving the region’s Assyrian heritage and renewing hopes of return for its displaced community.
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
