Hiroshi Kashiwagi

Hiroshi Kashiwagi (November 8, 1922–October 29, 2019) was a Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) poet, playwright and actor.

Quotes

 * Even at school, we were, as I say, we were separated, and...and friends were Japanese. So, yeah, I think I considered myself Japanese more than Japanese American, though we would hear that we, we were citizens of this country, and so we had certain rights and so forth. But the parents were strangers, outsiders, and they had to kind of maneuver with the, the racism and pressure and so that, yeah, I felt more Japanese, I think.
 * On feeling more Japanese than Japanese American in “Hiroshi Kashiwagi Interview” (Densho Digital Archive; 2004 Jul 3)


 * I wrote it from a standpoint of an actor. Some playwrights, they forget about the actor and they write impossible things, you know, so that you're forced to change your costume in a second -- [laughs] -- because the playwright never thought of that. But as an actor, you think of those things, and I thought I wrote it from the actor's point of view because I also acted in the play, and that's a hard thing to do; to act, concentrate on one part when you, you've written the whole, other parts…
 * On writing his first play from the viewpoint of an actor in “Hiroshi Kashiwagi Interview” (Densho Digital Archive; 2004 Jul 3)


 * Memories are raw materials that he mines. When dealing with memories that are especially painful or unpleasant, I think the writer steps aside to save his sanity: sometimes writing becomes a cathartic experience. Tragic or sad stories are part of life and should be treated equally with happy stories.
 * On confronting tragic and sad stories in any form of writing in “An Interview with Hiroshi Kashiwagi” in The AACP Newsletter (Sep 2005)


 * On stage the interaction with the audience happens while performing. In fact, the actor needs and depends on the audience response. It not only energizes and enhances the actor’s performance but is a source of much satisfaction. When acting in film, you are acting for the camera so you are not dealing directly with the audience…
 * On comparing theater vs. film in “‘Infinity & Chashu Ramen’: Nisei actor Hiroshi Kashiwagi roams the streets of Japantown” in International Examiner (2014 Sep 6)