Koto Music and Film with Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto

Enjoy a musical performance by koto virtuoso Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto, and view a documentary about how koto and other Japanese cultural arts were preserved in American concentration camps during World War II.

Muramoto will perform for us on this traditional stringed instrument, accompanied by her son and fellow musician Brian Mitsuhiro Wong. Shirley will also share her acclaimed documentary, “Preserving Culture Under Pressure: Japanese Americans Fight for Identity in Internment Camps.”

Muramoto learned to play the koto from her mother, Barbara Hori (aka Kazuko Muramoto), who was incarcerated at 9 years old with her family, yet still learned to play the ancient instrument from fellow internees at Topaz and Tule Lake prison camps. Today, Shirley is a koto composer, teacher, and performer who has shared her music around the world.

This free event received funding support from the Friends of the Menlo Park Library.

ONE BOOK, ONE COAST:

Throughout the months of April and May, Menlo Park is partnering with LA County library and nearly 200 library systems across California, Washington, and Oregon for One Book, One Coast, a shared community reading program that celebrates literacy, learning, community, and civil discourse. Join us for two months of special programming bringing Japanese American history and culture to life.

3/22-5/17
Exhibition: Am I An American or Am I Not?
Fred Korematsu challenged the mass imprisonment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

4/8
A Wartime Journey
Yoshiko Kanazawa talks about being forced to relocate to an incarceration camp as a child.

4/10
Japanese Storytime
Ages 2-5 with adult: high-energy storytime full of Japanese culture—all in Japanese

4/14
Draw Manga Moods
Age 8-Adult: draw expressive faces using the unique visual language of Japanese comics

4/20
Sacramento's Lost Japantown
Live virtual event with California Museum

4/21
Teen Book Group (Ages 12-17)
They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei

5/2
Koto Performance and Film
Musician Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto on preserving culture in the "camps"

5/4
Americans Behind Barbed Wire
Meet people who lived through mass incarceration, & their family members

5/17
Japanese Taiko Drumming
Drummer Kristy "Aki" Oshiro shares Japanese language, culture, and history

5/31
Author Talk with George Takei
One Book, One Coast wraps up with a special visit from They Called Us Enemy author George Takei, livestreamed from the East Los Angeles Library.

More free events with Menlo Park Library

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