Interviews
Growing up in a Japanese American community
I was born in Southern California and my family moved to Santa Barbara when I was in junior high school. And my father was Jewish and my mother was from the Dutch Reform Church so when we were looking for a place to worship, we chose Bethany Congregational Church, which was an all-Japanese congregation and it really became our home and the congregation became very close family friends and we had sushi before it was trendy and we were the first hakujin family to become members. So it was a very influential place for me growing up and when I moved to Los Angeles to go to the Art Center College of Design the very first day of the very first class, I chose to sit next to Sandra Higashi because she felt like a sister to me.
Date: January 16, 2006
Location: California, US
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Her early life in Canada
(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931
Difficulty responding to the question "What are you?"
(b. 1965) filmmaker and artist
Peru Shimpo for the Nikkei community (Spanish)
(b. 1937) Professional journalist
Japanese community in Mission
(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952
Interest in Japanese migration studies (Japanese)
Tsuda College President, researcher of Nikkei history
A wrong ethnic assumption
Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.
Taiko as self-expression
Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko