Japanese heritage check?

I'm interested in finding out information on my japanese heritage. I've been able to find only names and descendants of the names... but no further information until I reach my grandpa who died when I was 12. Actually... I couldn't find any info on my grandma, who's still alive and none of my siblings or myself were listed either (though my mom was and she's American).
The main reason why I'm interested is because my great aunt's name was Fumiko Hayashi, and we don't know much about her except that she wrote a book that we received when I was a baby (it was a 2-D clay illustrated book for children and the Japanese version of the Three Little Bears). I know there's a famous author who has the same name... and I was curious if my great aunt was the same woman. The chances are really low, I realize... but perhaps possible?
As far as I know, my great aunt is a half sister of my grandpa, and didn't move to America.

I suggest that you search the offerings at www.abebooks.com. Search by her name. when I did so, it looked as though it might be the same person. There is a Fumiko Hayashi who contributed with others to an anthology of children's stories who seemed to be writing in the same period as a Fumiko Hayashi who wrote adult fiction. Confusingly, there is also a writer of the same name who wrote about ATM and debit card transactions, who is obviously not the same person. My wife, who is Japanese, has been attempting to find out more about her family also. Her sister in Japan says that in addition to the loss of records during WW II, the government has taken a stance that records indicating relative social positions of families are not public records any longer. This was apparently done to prevent searching of family histories to turn up 'Eta' families when couples are thinking of marrying. I don't know if this is absolutely true, but in any case genealogical searches are seemingly now more difficult now than they used to be. But, I hope your search is successful.

Yea, i was hoping that there was a record search I could do for free. I know Hayashi is a very common name and doesn't have many royal or important families in the past. There's websites that I could pay a monthly subscription (or just one time) to search information on my ancestors... but I'm scarred that I'll come up with just a name and no bio despite the money I paid.
If anyone already has a membership to these websites and is willing to do a search on my family please let me know. I'd be very grateful.

thank you tay! I forgot to mention (i'm pretty exhausted at the moment, forgive my spastic replies. I did a search like you recommended and I came up with Floating Clouds, which is her most famous book in the West I believe.
But about the children's books... was the Three Little Bears part of the children's series in your search?
I don't think it was a very popular book and it probably was circulated only in Japan. I wish i knew where my copy was so I could find the publishing date.

Fumiko Hayashi was a child born outside of the marriage. Her mother was Kiku Hayashi�i—уLƒN�j, who ran onsen ryokan in Kagoshima. Her father was Asataro Miyata (‹{“c–ƒ‘¾˜Y) from Shikoku and later went to Sakurajima Island to sell papers.

Kiku, her mother, later got married to Kisaburo Sawai (‘òˆäŠìŽO˜Y) and they moved from one place after another in Kyushu for business.

Fumiko Hayashi once served as a war reporter and went to China and Vietnum during the war.

...this is what I gathered from my google search. So far I didn't reach the info about Three Little Bears.

The house where Fumiko Hayashi used to live is open to the public as a museum. You may inquire them about her works.

Hayashi Fumiko Museum
2-20-1 Nakai, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 161-0035
Tel : 03-5996-9207

I think that's a good idea. I'll bet the museum would have a list of all of her works. No, the 3 bears wasn't specifically mentioned, but I thought that the fact that a Fumiko Hayashi contributed to a children's stories anthology would be a good clue, but it certainly doesn't confirm that she's your Fumiko. You may also want to Google her; I found a bunch of information concerning her. Among other things that there is a statue of her in Shinjuku, and one of the sites has a photo of her! Also that there seem to be a number of versions of her early life, one of which states that she was the daughter of a geisha. In any case, she seems to have lived a life of poverty early. One entry stated that although most of her works concern social issues of the down-trodden, she had one period in which she wrote more "proletarian" works, and if she is indeed your Fumiko Hayashi that may have been when she wrote children's stories.

unfortunately I've lost the address to the site that listed my ancestor's names and descendants. But, my grandpa's name was Mitsuru and he died in Tacoma in 1996. He also joined the army during WWII (to get out of camp and prove his loyalty) and earned a purple heart. He might have been in the 442nd infantry... but i'm not sure. If not, a subdivision most definitely.
Are there Japanese heritage websites? Or are they not as interested as people of a melting pot are? (My Japanese reading isn't so great btw)

I'm a bit confused about some items you have written, you say you can't find any information on your grandma, but she's still alive? So why not ask her?

What I meant was that in my recent genealogy search of my grandpa and Fumiko, my grandma didn't show up as his spouse in the list of relatives. So I was wondering why my grandpa was listed with his children but no wife/mother, yet my dad was shown being married to my mom and their children weren't listed.
I am in touch with my grandma and she might have knowledge of it (I can call her tomorrow), but i do somehow doubt it. I have no clue how my great-grandpa came to have 5 children with my great-grandma and then two children (i think two) with another woman.
The reason why i doubt she might not know is that I have a feeling that my grandpa didn't know Fumiko that well since he was born in America and (from what I know, which is very little) Fumiko was born in Japan. My dad never made contact with her... and neither did his siblings I believe.
Despite this i should ask my grandma just in case.

I found some more info on the author (it's really hard to find a decent biography in english sites). Does this site sound accurate?
http://german.imdb.com/title/tt0056081/combined

ok, to anyone who was curious and wanted a follow up... i just talked to my grandma who tells me that my Fumiko Hayashi is still alive and well and lives in Tokyo. She does illustrations and makes fashionable clothes out of paper...
Since she's still alive, she cannot be the Fumiko Hayashi I was thinking about, unfortunately. But this Monday, I'm going to Japan for my study abroad and will be living in Tokyo. So maybe I can meet with the great aunt who doesn't know I exist. :-D