Never sang Enka outside the family

Transcripts available in the following languages:

Enka was something that I kept within my family. Just because, you know, it’s another type of music and it’s in another language. So even if I let, you know, my friends listen to it, they wouldn’t actually understand it. They wouldn’t…you know, they would always ask me—they would probably ask me, you know—what…what do the words mean. So, you know, at that time I wasn’t able to explain it to them. So…and you know, they might, you know, because…you know…kids are kids and, you know, they might make fun of it. So that was something I didn’t feel the need to express to them.

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

enka hapa identity Japanese culture multiracial music

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