Oral History Interview with Shigeno Hoka Nishimi
1992-09-22
Issei female, born May 20, 1902 to a farm family. After her basic education, she took up sewing as an art form and also practiced calligraphy. She married Toshihiko Nishimi who worked in an arts and antiques company in Los Angeles. They were married in January 1924, just prior to passage of the Immigration Exclusion Act. By the time the family moved to Sacramento, prior to WWII, Shigeno had credentials to teach ikebana (flower arranging), and was the only teacher in the Sacramento area. In 1942, at the age of forty, Shigeno and her family were evacuated to Walerga Assembly Center, then to Tule Lake, California. Shigeno taught ikebana using available plants, daikon (Japanese radish), carrots, and paper flowers. Her containers were dishes. Arrangements were impaled on upturned nails imbedded in wood (kenzan or frogs) made by carpenters. The family returned to Sacramento in January 1946. Shigeno describes resettlement. Well-known among followers of the Ikebana Society, her given flower name is Hoka. She continued to hone her artistic skills by returning to Kyoto occasionally and regularly attending International Ikebana Conferences in San Francisco. She also held classes in Yuba City, Marysville and Sacramento.
English transcript available at California State University, Sacramento University Library
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