Interviews

1. Dancing in Japan as an American, in the US as Japanese

2. Neighbor took care of hotel business during the World War II

3. Different learning style in Japan and the United States

4. Both Japanese and American identities though Japanese dance

5. Being a man through Kabuki

6. Hardship to be a Kabuki dancer as a woman

7. Do my best as a professional dancer

Kansuma,Fujima

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

Different learning style in Japan and the United States

I went to SC (University of South California) evening school to learn English, because I’ve been away for 4, 5 years. In Japan, you never can ask a question. But when I went to SC, the teachers say, “Any questions? Any questions?” and I had so many questions that I could ask. I thought, “Oh this is America”. I was so happy that I could ask questions and be close to the teacher.

But in Japan, it’s different. Very different. You have to learn by watching and they said…it’s bad, but they said, “You have to toru”. “Toru” means “steal,” you know, toru. But that’s how you learn. And so the teacher…you do one thing today but the next day, he does different. And you have to know what different he did. And so sometime his make-up is different. So we have to say, “You’re make-up was different” and that’s why we have to write down in the paper what was different from yesterday.

So we have to be very…and then when practicing, we have to know what the other party…7…you have to know what they’re doing over there. You can’t just learn your part. You have to know the whole what’s going on. So I have to know what you’re thinking. I have to know what he’s thinking. I have to know…that’s kokoro no kukan. “Through the air, you have to feel it.” So that’s what I learned so that when I was in the camp, I could pour my feelings to the audience. And then the response that I get I think is just wonderful. That’s what I think I learned in Japan.

arts dance imprisonment incarceration World War II

Date: November 30, 2004

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Nancy Araki and John Esaki

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

Interviewee Bio

Madame Fujima Kansuma was born Sumako Hamaguchi in San Francisco, California. At the age of nine, she began to study kabuki in Los Angeles and attended exchange programs in Hawai`i. Instead of returning to Los Angeles, she moved to Japan to learn kabuki from the legendary master, Onoe Kikugoro VI. Later master Kikugoro introduced Madame Kansuma to his teacher, Fujima Kanjuro from whom she learned the basic Fujima style. She learned not only Japanese dance but also learned how to play the shamisen, tsuzumi, acting, and make-up. Madame Kansuma earned her natori (master’s licence with stage name), Fujima Kansuma, in 1938. She then returned to the United States and opened a dance studio at the Los Angeles hotel owned by her father.

During World War II, Madame Kansuma and her family were incarcerated at Rohwer, Arkansas. After some time, the government authorities allowed Madame Kansuma to travel to other camps to perform and teach Japanese dance. After the war, she returned to Los Angeles and resumed teaching and performances. Throughout her career, Madame Kansuma has taught more than 2,000 students. Forty-three of her students have achieved natori status.

In 1985, the Government of Japan awarded Madame Kansuma the Order of the Precious Crown, Apricot. The National Endowment also deemed her a National Heritage Fellow for the Arts in 1987. In 2004, she was given the Japanese American National Museum’s Cultural Ambassador Award.

She passed away in February 2023 at age 104. (June 2023)