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

Do my best as a professional dancer

Everyone is trying their best. So the man that plays the drum is…“I’m ready to play the drum” and you could see the ocean. Don, don, don…and you could feel that. And I’m feeling that oh, Urashima Taro is under the sea, you know. And he’s doing his best hitting the drum. And I’m coming with…but the weather is so cold. It’s so cold that I can’t breathe because the smoke starts coming off my mouth and my nose. So I have to turn the other way and go “Hhh” and then when I face the audience, I have to stop my breathing. I have to dance without breathing because if I didn’t, it’s a mess. They won’t even see my face, so I…oh, it was very difficult. But I could see the audience. I could see the tears because it shines and I know they really appreciate it.

arts dance Japan kabuki performing arts theater

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)