Interviews

1. Dancing in Japan as an American, in the US as Japanese

2. Neighbor took care of hotel business during the World War II

3. Different learning style in Japan and the United States

4. Both Japanese and American identities though Japanese dance

5. Being a man through Kabuki

6. Hardship to be a Kabuki dancer as a woman

7. Do my best as a professional dancer

Kansuma,Fujima

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

Hardship to be a Kabuki dancer as a woman

100 pounds, I carried 100-pound sack every day before I put this costume to dance. Or else you can’t manage. It’s that heavy. Try it. It’s heavy. And you have to put the kanzashi – that big kanzashi – geta, and this costume and underneath, you have another costume on. So you have to practice carrying it. That’s Kabuki. That’s why it’s for men. A woman cannot do it. It’s very heavy.

So you have to practice carrying a sack of rice every day and see your power – how you could carry that. And then you have to try this on. And then you have to start thinking about your dance – the weight…there’s a lot of training you have to go through. But this Daiichi-sensei gave me this kimono because he stayed with us and he wanted to repay us back. So he gave us this costume.

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)