<Begin Segment 13>
MN: Let me go back to your odori classes. You're continuing from camp, and when was the busiest time of the year for you folks to perform?
SH: We would be pretty busy... (...) every year (because of) a New Year's performance at Koyasan. And (...) all of us (...) Nisei, Sanseis (...) would have to learn what they (...) call shibais. That's Japanese (...) classical plays. And we would have to learn our lines, and we didn't know what we're saying because (...) in layman's term, (it was like) samurai language. (...) And then you (...) don't have a script (and) you have to perform like you're in a movie. (...) They put this (white) makeup (and) it's just like kabuki. (...) Shibai is like kabuki. (...) We would have to always be women or men. (...) Everybody in the community comes and (...) it was free. (...) They didn't buy tickets, (and) Koyasan Temple would be jam packed. And (...) you'd have your kenjinkai picnics, and then you have other performances, like at Hollywood Bowl and Shriners (...). So they kept us pretty busy, not every month because we're not professional. They would pay something, but not individually. As a group, (we) would perform, (and) had (...) exposure, (...) other than going to school or work. It wasn't like it was our livelihood.
MN: You mentioned the kenjinkai. Did you perform at all the kenjinkai picnics?
SH: No, just certain ones. We would perform at, like the Hiroshima, Okinawa, the big ones. And then my sensei was Mie-ken, (...) and I'm Fukuoka. (...) But then other (students were) performing at other (...) kens too, so we would hit a lot of the picnics at Elysian Park. That's where they had all the kenjinkai picnics. (...) A lot of our summers are tied up (...) performing at picnics.
MN: You mentioned Mr. Tanaka. Who was Mr. Tanaka?
SH: Mr. Tanaka, (...) he was the greatest as far as makeup was concerned. (...) He probably went to school where all these kabuki stars (attended). (...)
MN: Now, how long did you take your odori lessons? For how many years?
SH: I started at about (six or seven) probably around (until) nineteen or twenty years old. (...) I told my mom when, after I, after... well (...) Fujima Kansuma had one of her biggest recitals, (...) "I'm going to quit my Japanese dancing lessons." I went to Japan and I stayed there a year, so that was a good time, and after (I returned), I never went back to my Japanese dancing and (...) concentrated on my work (...) and Japanese dancing lessons on the weekend. (...) It was just too much.
MN: But overall, did you enjoy --
SH: (...) I learned a lot, (...) and we were able to attend (...) places that I probably wouldn't have gone had I not taken lessons, and a (...) exposure to different people and culture. (...)
<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.