George Takei makes a musical about Japanese Internment

Rachel Udin · Sep 4, 2012

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/01/160264485/george-takei-takes-story-of-internment-to-the-stage

I think it's a really cool story. It covers a lot of ground too. A part of US history that's often shuffled or forgotten.

Kitty Pryde · Sep 4, 2012

Wow, I had no idea he was in an internment camp. I guess i had not realized that he's in his 70s! Sounds like an amazing musical since he's based it on his own childhood experiences and observations.

kuwisdelu · Sep 4, 2012

That's awesome. What he's doing, I mean.

thebloodfiend · Sep 5, 2012

Cynthia Kadohata wrote an MG book, Weedflower, about Japanese internment camps. What I did not know was that the Japanese were held on, or near, Indian reservations.

We never learned about that when we studied WW2 in school. And it was quickly brushed past in APUSH.

patskywriter · Sep 5, 2012

Wow. I distinctly remember watching a 1970s TV movie called "Farewell to Manzanar," which was about the Japanese concentration camps, when I was a teen.

kuwisdelu · Sep 5, 2012

patskywriter said:
Wow. I distinctly remember watching a 1970s TV movie called "Farewell to Manzanar," which was about the Japanese concentration camps, when I was a teen.

We had to read the book in middle school. I didn't much like it at the time. Mostly, I'm not much of a fan of memoirs and "issue" books. (I think I felt the lack of plot.)

However, I love Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, about a Chinese-American boy who falls in love with a Japanese-American girl just as she and her family are sent to the camps. AW member, but I haven't seen him around lately.

kuwisdelu · Sep 5, 2012

thebloodfiend said:
What I did not know was that the Japanese were held on, or near, Indian reservations.

There were a couple near the reservations my group and I were travelling through this summer (see my blog). I wanted to visit one of them, but we had too tight a schedule and I didn't get to

.

Cyia · Sep 5, 2012

thebloodfiend said:
What I did not know was that the Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, anyone who looked "Asian enough" were held on, or near, Indian reservations.

Just an addendum. While the camps were technically only for those whose families came from Japan, the Japanese weren't the only ones sent away. I went to school with a girl whose grandfather was in one, and he was 100% Filipino.

Alessandra Kelley · Sep 5, 2012

Wow. That's an awesome project.

I still get livid about the Japanese internment camps. They were such a betrayal of everything the United States was supposed to be.

I recently found out that Zenna Henderson, author of the poignant "People" stories, was a teacher in a Japanese internment camp.

Ken · Sep 8, 2012

Alessandra Kelley said:
I still get livid about the Japanese internment camps. They were such a betrayal of everything the United States was supposed to be.

... me too :rant:

Making it a little more acceptable, or a little more unacceptable?, is the fact that Germans were also imprisoned here during WW11. Not many, but some. Some Italians were as well. I think only those that were under real, and not fabricated or imagined, suspicion.

I also read FTM. Very good and insightful read.

Satsya · Sep 17, 2012

Just to note, my parents went to see the play last night. They loved it. They say it was an excellent production with a top-notch cast and fascinating take on the subject matter. Downside is that they thought the music was only okay.

So it's gotten off to a good start, sounds like! I'm glad the subject will be getting attention, especially in the country in which the events happened.

LJD · Sep 18, 2012

Satsya said:
Just to note, my parents went to see the play last night. They loved it. They say it was an excellent production with a top-notch cast and fascinating take on the subject matter. Downside is that they thought the music was only okay.

So it's gotten off to a good start, sounds like! I'm glad the subject will be getting attention, especially in the country in which the events happened.

Good to hear!

I like his Facebook page. He often posts funny/interesting things. His "About" makes me smile:

Growing up in California, it was illegal for Asians to marry whites. How times have changed. I married a white DUDE. And an adorable one, too!

George Takei makes a musical about Japanese Internment

Rachel Udin

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

thebloodfiend

Cory

patskywriter

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Alessandra Kelley

Sophipygian

Ken

Satsya

slow and steady

LJD