![]() That refusal to blend in made Hiroshima appealing to many Asian Americans, especially in an era when activists successfully fought for Asian American studies programs at universities and pushed for reparations for Japanese Americans who were incarcerated by the U.S. I just wanna be myself for everyone to see. ‘Cause I just wanna be, to look and sound like me There’s a lot inside us we hope to grow and be We could make funny faces but we’re not just what you see In a roomful of mirrors we can pretend who we can beĪ dancer in a top hat or a captain of the sea But in songs like “Thousand Cranes,” about the Japanese tradition of folding paper cranes for a wish to be fulfilled, the lyrics conveyed how the band saw itself. Much of Hiroshima’s music was instrumental. “Any Black band can play funk better than us,” Dan Kuramoto told The Times in 1988. They wanted all their components, from June’s koto to Dan’s saxophone, to stand out yet be a part of the whole. Another wanted them to sound like funk singer Rick James.īut the band members refused to budge. ![]() One executive wanted them to wear Asian conical hats. Record labels tried to force Hiroshima into a box. It was like a combination of jazz and fusion, and it was a different Asian American sound.” “ caught on with a niche of people that would like to hear their music. “We were looking for our own identity,” Manaka said. They grooved to the music in bell-bottomed trousers, wide-lapeled shirts and platform shoes, said Harry Manaka, author of “Chronicles of a Sansei Rocker” and a former owner of the bar. “I wanted to try to reach out and create that voice, that image of who we are.”Īt the Baby Lion Supper Club, the band initially attracted a small crowd but developed a loyal following, with hundreds packing the space. “There’s got to be some way for us to be visible as who we are,” Kuramoto said. Kuramoto quit his job at Cal State Long Beach soon after, and the two, who married and later divorced, became the cornerstones of the band they eventually called Hiroshima - rising “from the ashes” as the Japanese city did after it was hit with a U.S. She took a liking to his “crazy art school band,” which was playing anything from rock to “experimental, naughty stuff,” Kuramoto said. Fans are reflecting on the band’s legacy as a pioneer that helped establish what it means to be Asian American and build connections with other people of color.Īt a large Asian American community picnic in Griffith Park in the early 1970s, Kuramoto spotted June Okida playing the koto, a zither-like instrument that typically has 13 strings. That propelled a decades-long run that includes nearly 20 albums and millions of records sold.Īs part of its “Domo,” or “Thank You,” tour - a “wind down” or hiatus, but perhaps not a final goodbye - Hiroshima is playing Saturday night at the Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo. Larkin Arnold, a Black record executive at Arista Records, took a chance by signing the band to its first recording contract in 1979. It also drew enthusiastic cheers from a mostly Black crowd at Howard University. ![]() Hiroshima had found its footing in the 1970s at places like the Baby Lion Supper Club at the edge of Koreatown - a major part of the nascent Japanese American dance scene. ![]() It featured Japanese instruments like taiko drums and koto yet played jazz and rhythm and blues, laced with pop and funk. The band, led by Japanese American Boyle Heights native Dan Kuramoto, defied simple categorization. Record labels didn’t know what to do with Hiroshima.
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