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Japanese American musicians across generations draw identity from incarceration
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In February of 1942, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government issued an executive order to incarcerate people of Japanese descent. That legacy has become a defining story of Japanese American identity. In this episode, B.A. Parker and producer Jess Kung explore how incarceration has influenced Japanese American music — from the camps to today. Musicians across generations turn to that story as a way to explore and express identity, including Mary Nomura, known as "the songbird of Manzanar," Erin Aoyama, a 4th generation descendant of incarceration, and Kishi Bashi, the descendant of more recent Japanese American immigrants who is influenced by that history.
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