Interviews
"Harebutai" (Japanese)
(Japanese) This song, yeah, when it first debuted, it seems obvious that it’s a story about my grandmother, but my mother was the one who raised me all by herself, though we didn’t talk very much about Japan, yeah. I’m pretty sure that there were a lot of painful memories. Even knowing that, I’d ask her about it, but she wouldn’t go into any details when she answered. Still, it left me with kind of a lingering sense of how hard it must have been, but even though she had such difficult memories that she held on to—she really threw herself into raising me—it’s why I’m an Enka singer now. I really have her to thank, and I really want to express that in my singing. Yeah.
Date: March 30, 2010
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Interview by Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum. Courtesy of Japanese American Cultural & Community Center
Explore More Videos
Japanese Americans are more aware of their Hapa identity
(b. 1965) filmmaker and artist
Support from the Japanese American community
(b.1971) Professional figure skater and Olympic gold medalist.
Heightened awareness of identity as a Japanese American
(b. 1955) Lawyer
Reasons for conformity and competitiveness in Gardena, California
(b. 1946) Lawyer