Interviews
Keeping Japanese Performance Arts Alive in the Camps
My mother made friends with a lot of artists, who were dancers and teachers, and so that’s when I began to take Japanese odori, playing the shamisen, doing nagauta, I guess, and I loved it. I mean, I really enjoyed it. I think that if it weren’t for those camp days, I wouldn’t have been interested in the arts or acting. What I really loved was doing kabuki plays. I didn’t understand a word that I was saying, my mother would tell me what the words were, what they meant, and then I would just memorize it. I could read it in katakana, so she would write out the words in katakana, and my favorite was playing Hichidameno Okaru. Well, I remember one line, and it still gives me pleasure because it’s different. It would be “ura-san ka, watasha omae ni moritsubu-sare,” you know, very overly dramatic.
Date: November 8, 2018
Location: California, US
Interviewer: June Berk
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Mother taught him how to play the ukulele
(b. 1934) Ukulele player from Hawaii
Inspired to play ukulele after hearing Eddie Kamae
(b. 1934) Ukulele player from Hawaii
Camouflage Net Weaving in Manzanar
Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)
Developing Art Skills in Camp
Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)
Return to Los Angeles
Japanese American animator for Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera (1925-2007)
Grandfather's interrogations during World War II
(b. 1952) Former banking executive, born in Hawaii
Grandparents were incarcerated in Jerome, Arkansas
(b. 1952) Former banking executive, born in Hawaii
Grandfather helping administration in camp
(b. 1952) Former banking executive, born in Hawaii
Leaving Topaz
(1914–2015) Nisei YMCA and Japanese American community leader
Leaving a camp to attend college
(1914–2015) Nisei YMCA and Japanese American community leader