How the story of Japanese American incarceration is expressed through music : Code Switch : NPR
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How the story of Japanese American incarceration is expressed through music : Code Switch 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 Japanese American musicians across generations turn to that story as a way to explore and express identity. Featuring Kishi Bashi, Erin Aoyama and Mary Nomura.

Code Switch

Japanese American musicians across generations draw identity from incarceration

Japanese American musicians across generations draw identity from incarceration

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Japanese American musicians have turned to the story of World War II incarceration camps to explore and express identity, from more recent immigrants to those who were incarcerated themselves.
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Jackie Lay for NPR
Japanese American musicians have turned to the story of World War II incarceration camps to explore and express identity, from more recent immigrants to those who were incarcerated themselves.
Jackie Lay for NPR

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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This episode was reported by Jess Kung, produced by Christina Cala and edited by Dalia Mortada. Our engineer was Maggie Luthar. Greta Pittenger contributed to the research and fact-checking on this episode.