1936-1943
Growing up in California: The Untold Journey of Shizuko “Skeets” Kayashima
Shizuko “Skeets” Kayashima (1923-1977) was a young Japanese-American woman who grew up in California. Shortly after graduating from high school, she was interned at the Poston War Relocation Center. While there, she met her future husband, fellow internee George K. Hasegawa; the couple married in Detroit in 1944. After Hasegawa served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946, the couple settled in St. Louis, where they became notable members of the Japanese-American community.
The limited information we have about her is related to her husband and family. However, from her album, we learn more about Skeets’s journey growing up in California before her marriage and before the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. The images in her album feature various friends and also document Japanese-American women getting their education, vacationing, and participating in leisure activities.
Top: Terra Bella Union Grammar School
Center: Baseball 1st Team and Substitutes
Bottom: Track Teams (A, B, C, and D)
MC317 Shizuko Kayashima Photograph Album.
Top two photographs: Shizuko (Skeets) Kayashima
Bottom right: Phoebe Oba-Earlimart
Bottom left: Kazuko Oda, Sally Kayashima
MC317 Shizuko Kayashima Photograph Album.
Top left: Aiko and Shizuko Kayashima
Top center: Edith Higuchi, Harbor City, California
Top Right: Shizuko Kayashima, Nobuko Ikeuye
Bottom left: Nobuko Ikeyue, Sally Kayashima, Lily Nagatani, Shizuko Kayashima, Tommy Nagatani.
Bottom center: Delano Japanese Y.M.A.
Bottom right: Nobuko Ikeuye, Sally Kayashima, Lily Nagatani, Shizuko Kayashima, Tommy Nagatani.
MC317 Shizuko Kayashima Photograph Album.
Bottom left: Aiko (Kayashima)
Center: Sally – Skeets (Kayashima)
Top right: Skeets
Bottom right: Yoshiko Nakamura – Lomita
MC317 Shizuko Kayashima Photograph Album.
MC317 Shizuko Kayashima Photograph Album.
Right: Two portraits dedicated to Skeets from friends. One from Ross Iwanaga- Lomita, California, the other from Fumi Sano – Delano, California
MC317 Shizuko Kayashima Photograph Album.
Although Skeets is primarily documenting her experiences in the photograph album, various young people are also included. These photographs document rare and valuable pieces of the journeys of young Japanese-American men and women in central California before the internment period. She captures the importance of unity and friendship in the Japanese-American community and reveals more about what she values in turn.