Fun at concentration camp

Fun at concentration camp A wrong ethnic assumption The performing arts not for Nisei Changing the taiko rhythm from Japanese to Afro-Cuban Friction between Sensei and Kinnara in defining taiko American influences on Japanese taiko Appreciating Kinnara Taiko's approach to taiko A Japanese American gardening dance Taiko is a reflection of where you live Playing traditional gagaku while creating an identity

Transcripts available in the following languages:

I was so young that all we did…they just let us play wherever we wanted to do. So that’s what we did. We just roamed all over camp and embarrassed my father. Because he was the fire watch for that block and we set the water tank on fire accidentally, playing with matches. But that’s all I remember -- it was a lot of fun.

I remember eating separately by age and by sex. So that to this day, I think my generation really has trouble eating together as a family. It’s just a habit from that time, you know. We never…my mother never cooked lamb because every Friday was lamb stew – mutton stew – at the cafeteria and it’s that…mutton is that really oily…you know, so she would never. So I didn’t discover lamb until college.

Date: December 3, 2004
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Art Hansen, Sojin Kim
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

camps incarceration internment world war II

Get updates

Sign up for email updates

Journal feed
Events feed
Comments feed

Support this project

Discover Nikkei

Discover Nikkei is a place to connect with others and share the Nikkei experience. To continue to sustain and grow this project, we need your help!

Ways to help >>

A project of the Japanese American National Museum


The Nippon Foundation