And she said something about, “Your people,” and I shuddered inside – “your people?” and I had to kind of calm myself, and I had to tell myself, “There is no ‘your people’ or ‘my people,’ because you come – part of you comes from me.” And so I asked her mother for permission – because they were divorced at the time, my son and his wife, to take her to Japan. And I took her and introduced her to the relatives in Hiroshima. I thought it was important for her to know there is no “Your people, my—” you’re part Japanese. That was – that was a shock when she said that. You know, but I’m not with her all the time, she doesn’t see me all the time, but I – I thought, “Did she not…” I never asked her. Did she not notice I looked different from her?

grandchildren granddaughters hapa identity racially mixed people

Date: Nov 8, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: June Berk

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Takayo Fischer, born in November 1932, is a Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress. During World War II, as a young child, she and her family were forcibly evacuated from the West Coast and spent time in the Fresno Assembly Center before being relocated to Jerome and Rohwer concentration camps. Fischer later lived in Chicago, Illinois, where, as a young adult, she won the crown of “Miss Nisei Queen.” She has appeared in dozens of major Hollywood films, including Moneyball (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). She also appeared in the stage production of The World of Suzie Wong in New York in 1958 and many productions with East West Players in Los Angeles. (June 2018)

Explore More Videos

Interviewee

Tag

Keywords

Interview language

James Hirabayashi

Nickname

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

James Hirabayashi

Not bringing shame to family

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

James Hirabayashi

Context affects meaning

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

James Hirabayashi

Testing assumptions of Japanese scholars

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

Steve Kaji

FOB's

Hawaii born Nikkei living in Japan. English Teacher at YMCA.

Eric Morton

Addressing multiracial identity can be difficult

Starred at wide receiver for Dartmouth College, now a patent attorney. Brother of Johnnie and Chad Morton.

Johnnie Morton

Gained appreciation of his multiracial heritage through participation in Nisei Relays

(b.1971) Professional football player.

Ann K. Nakamura

Image of Americans

Sansei from Hawaii living in Japan. Teacher and businesswoman.