But everything changed for this 23-year-old woman from Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province, when she met Shutaro Kawamoto, a 33-year-old Japanese man who had met her during a business trip to Vietnam two years ago. two years ago.
The couple’s wedding earlier this month, fully attended by Shutaro’s family, erased Tam’s sadness.
During the ceremony, the bride’s father, Hoang Van Tinh, slowly led his daughter down the aisle. At the altar, he hugged his daughter and son-in-law.
“I finally found my happiness and now my parents don’t have to worry about my love life,” says Tam.
Their love story began unexpectedly in late 2021. Tam was a university student working at a shopping mall in Hanoi where Shutaro first saw her.
“I thought she was also Japanese because of her small size, her looks and her style of dress,” says Shutaro.
Shutaro was intrigued enough by Tam to go to his store to buy him a jar of bath salts that he didn’t want or need. He then asked her for her phone number.
They started texting each other in English using translation tools. From there, they got to know each other and later started dating at popular places in Hanoi. “He’s very nice, kind and doesn’t joke around,” Tam says of his partner.
 |
|
Minh Tam and her husband during a yearbook photo shoot at her university, 2022. Photo courtesy of Minh Tam |
Although her English is not great and there have been many miscommunications between the lovebirds, Tam says Shutaro is always patient with her and helps her correct her mistakes and learn more English.
“I can be patient with her because I like Minh Tam’s personality,” Shutaro says. “She is direct and energetic, and she is always happy and carefree.”
But as their feelings for each other deepened, Tam was able to avoid the worries that plagued his mind. His father and an uncle were born deaf and mute, the result of his grandfather’s Agent Orange poisoning on the battlefield.
From a young age, Tam was bullied and ostracized for being the daughter of a deaf and mute man. People in his neighborhood called his father’s barbershop “the deaf store” or “the deaf store in Tinh.”
Minh Tam is proud of her resilient father, but she couldn’t avoid problems related to prejudice about her condition when she found a husband. She had several relationships, but they all fell apart when the boyfriend’s family discovered that her father was suffering from the after-effects of Agent Orange.
“It’s because many of my relationships have failed for this reason that I wanted to be upfront with Shutaro from the start, to avoid the possibility that we would both go further and end up disappointed,” she says .
She told Shutaro about her family with her limited English. Contrary to what Tam had imagined, he hugged her with tears in his eyes.
“People should have admired your father for his ability to help his family become prosperous even with his disability,” Shutaro told him. After knowing her story, he decided he wanted to do his best to protect Tam and his family.
Minh Tam’s mother, Vu Thi Thanh, 49, says she has always worried about how difficult it would be for her daughter to start a family in the future.
“Tam and I always told the truth about our family after knowing a man for 2-3 days. Every time I saw that he wouldn’t be able to accept the truth, I advised him to break up with him, because even if they tried to be together, they wouldn’t be happy,” says Thanh.
But the moment her daughter brought Shutaro home, Thanh knew Tam had found her lifelong partner. “Not only did Shu accept her, but her family also supported her, so we were all very excited,” Thanh says.
She says it’s hard to predict the future, but she thought that right now Tam was really happy, especially when she saw how much Shutaro loved and doted on her daughter. Additionally, her concerns were eased when it became clear that her family was open-minded.
 |
|
The groom’s family in uniform during the wedding. Photo courtesy of Minh Tam |
At the wedding, guests had tears in their eyes as the bride’s father walked her down the aisle. But they were also pleasantly surprised by the performance of the groom’s family. Eight people, including Shutaro’s parents, took the stage wearing matching shirts with a photo of the couple and performed a charming song and dance choreography.
Shutaro and Tam are currently enjoying their honeymoon in his hometown in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. After that, they plan to settle in Vietnam for the long term.