Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/599/

Different learning style in Japan and the United States

I went to SC (University of South California) evening school to learn English, because I’ve been away for 4, 5 years. In Japan, you never can ask a question. But when I went to SC, the teachers say, “Any questions? Any questions?” and I had so many questions that I could ask. I thought, “Oh this is America”. I was so happy that I could ask questions and be close to the teacher.

But in Japan, it’s different. Very different. You have to learn by watching and they said…it’s bad, but they said, “You have to toru”. “Toru” means “steal,” you know, toru. But that’s how you learn. And so the teacher…you do one thing today but the next day, he does different. And you have to know what different he did. And so sometime his make-up is different. So we have to say, “You’re make-up was different” and that’s why we have to write down in the paper what was different from yesterday.

So we have to be very…and then when practicing, we have to know what the other party…7…you have to know what they’re doing over there. You can’t just learn your part. You have to know the whole what’s going on. So I have to know what you’re thinking. I have to know what he’s thinking. I have to know…that’s kokoro no kukan. “Through the air, you have to feel it.” So that’s what I learned so that when I was in the camp, I could pour my feelings to the audience. And then the response that I get I think is just wonderful. That’s what I think I learned in Japan.


arts dance imprisonment incarceration World War II

Date: November 30, 2004

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Nancy Araki and John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Madame Fujima Kansuma was born Sumako Hamaguchi in San Francisco, California. At the age of nine, she began to study kabuki in Los Angeles and attended exchange programs in Hawai`i. Instead of returning to Los Angeles, she moved to Japan to learn kabuki from the legendary master, Onoe Kikugoro VI. Later master Kikugoro introduced Madame Kansuma to his teacher, Fujima Kanjuro from whom she learned the basic Fujima style. She learned not only Japanese dance but also learned how to play the shamisen, tsuzumi, acting, and make-up. Madame Kansuma earned her natori (master’s licence with stage name), Fujima Kansuma, in 1938. She then returned to the United States and opened a dance studio at the Los Angeles hotel owned by her father.

During World War II, Madame Kansuma and her family were incarcerated at Rohwer, Arkansas. After some time, the government authorities allowed Madame Kansuma to travel to other camps to perform and teach Japanese dance. After the war, she returned to Los Angeles and resumed teaching and performances. Throughout her career, Madame Kansuma has taught more than 2,000 students. Forty-three of her students have achieved natori status.

In 1985, the Government of Japan awarded Madame Kansuma the Order of the Precious Crown, Apricot. The National Endowment also deemed her a National Heritage Fellow for the Arts in 1987. In 2004, she was given the Japanese American National Museum’s Cultural Ambassador Award.

She passed away in February 2023 at age 104. (June 2023)

Emi,Frank
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Emi,Frank

Loyalty questionnaire

(1916-2010) draft resister, helped form the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee

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Emi,Frank
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Emi,Frank

Speaking out in camp

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Kim,Young O.
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Kim,Young O.

Resisting transfer from Jerome

(1919 - 2006) World War II and Korean War veteran

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Emi,Frank
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Emi,Frank

Would do the same again

(1916-2010) draft resister, helped form the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee

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A visit to Jerome after OCS

(1919 - 2006) World War II and Korean War veteran

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Shigekawa,Sakaye
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Shigekawa, Sakaye

Traumatic experiences before camp

(1913-2013) Doctor specializing in obstetrics in Southern California

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“Everybody went in like sheep”

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Hohri,William

Going to camp with the Terminal Island people

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Hohri,William

Outhouses and showers at camp

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Hohri,William
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Hohri,William

Interned at age fifteen, I saw camp as an adventure

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Schneider,Harry
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Reception of Hamako by family

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Nakamura,Grace Aiko
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Nakamura,Grace Aiko

Always drawing

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Janzen,Terry
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Janzen,Terry

Memories of Poston

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Janzen,Terry
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Janzen,Terry

Arriving at Poston

(b. 1930) Half Japanese and grew up in both Japan and the United States.

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Westdale,Virgil
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Westdale,Virgil

522nd and Dachau

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