Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1668/

Passing Time in the Camps with Baton Twirling

I was also – I knew how to twirl a baton in camp. So I brought my – you know, you could only take what you could carry. I carried my baton, and I twirled in camp, and I ordered boots from the catalogue. I think it was either Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward catalogue, and I don’t remember which one I got it from, but I had major boots, and I had a little outfit, and I just had a little book also, and I would watch, you know, when I would see other people, a parade or something. And I basically taught myself how to twirl. It was pleasurable and it was – because it was something you had to do by yourself, you know? Hour after hour, so that was a nice thing to have.


baton twirling drum majorettes World War II camps

Date: November 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)

Mike Shinoda
en
ja
es
pt
Shinoda,Mike

Insights from family on Japanese American internment

(b. 1977) Musician, Producer, Artist

en
ja
es
pt
Mas Kodani
en
ja
es
pt
Kodani,Mas

Fun at concentration camp

Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Embarrassed to talk about camp

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

The birth of a novel through a conversation with her nephew

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Documenting family history for future generations

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Not a "camp story" but a human story

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Family separated in the camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Feeling imprisoned at camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Institutionalization as a bad aspect of camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Dale Minami
en
ja
es
pt
Minami,Dale

Reasons for conformity and competitiveness in Gardena, California

(b. 1946) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Dale Minami
en
ja
es
pt
Minami,Dale

Not fully understanding parents' World War II incarceration while growing up

(b. 1946) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Dale Minami
en
ja
es
pt
Minami,Dale

Role of the redress movement in helping Nisei to open up about their wartime experiences

(b. 1946) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Nakagawa,Mako

Not recognizing father after reunion at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt
George Yamada
en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,George

Encountering a train full of Japanese Americans being transported to a concentration camp

(b. 1923) Chick sexer

en
ja
es
pt
George Abe
en
ja
es
pt
Abe,George

Realizing Importance of Birthplace

(b. 1944) taiko and flute performer

en
ja
es
pt