Kishi Bashi

(b. 1975) Musician, composer, and songwriter

The origin of name Kishi Bashi His Shin-Issei parents On being Japanese and American On his songfilm Omoiyari The reason for creating the songflim Omoiyari On music

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Kaoru Ishibashi, who performs as Kishi Bashi, is a Shin-Nisei musician, composer, and songwriter, born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. He attended Berklee College of Music and became a renowned violinist.

His film project, Omoiyari (Empathy), led him to places such as Manzanar, Tule Lake, the Japanese American National Museum, and Japan to learn about Japanese American and Japanese World War II history. Omoiyari explores how empathy and the lack of it has played key roles in our modern quest for social equality. (March 2019)

musician name identity migration okinawa parents japanese japanese american music empathy equality omoiyari united states minorities privilege violin

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