Mary Nomura sings during the Grateful Crane Ensemble’s performance of “The Camp Dance” at Buddhist Church of San Francisco in 2004.
The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) mourns the passing of Mary Kageyama Nomura.
Known as the “Songbird of Manzanar,” she was a JANM charter member and the subject of the Watase Media Arts Center’s 2002 short film “Words, Weavings, and Songs.” In 2020 she joined her granddaughter Erin Nomura Marquez, playwright Wakako Yamauchi’s granddaughter Alyctra Matsushita, and textile artist Momo Nagano’s granddaughter Hana van der Steur for a virtual conversation about the film during JANM’s Digital Film Festival.
Nomura was born in Los Angeles and was the fifth of six children born to Tomitaro and Machi Kageyama, a carpenter and a Japanese dance teacher, respectively. Machi was a gifted musician who encouraged her daughter’s talent in music. When Tomitaro passed away, Machi married Gentaro Fukawa, and together they had a son, Bill. After Machi’s passing, Gentaro made the difficult decision to return to Japan with Bill. Nomura’s older siblings, Frank and Fumi, kept the family together.
Nomura pursued music at the Manzanar concentration camp and found a mentor in the camp’s music teacher, Lou Frizzell. She was an in-demand vocalist at programs, dances, and talent shows, and recorded the songs “I Dream of You” and “The Day After Forever” with Frizzell.
She and her husband, Shiro “Shi” Nomura, met at the camp’s New Year’s Eve dance. After the war, they started Shi’s Fish Mart in Garden Grove, and she raised their family.
As awareness and interest about wartime incarceration grew in the Japanese American community during the 1970s and 1980s, she began to perform more frequently. She continued to be a guest vocalist at community events, including the Manzanar Pilgrimage. She often traveled throughout Southern California and San Francisco, and toured in Japan with The Grateful Crane Ensemble.
“JANM is deeply saddened by the passing of Mary Nomura,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM president and CEO. “Her musical gifts connected young people during challenging times in camp, energized and informed community events, and highlighted the power of music to bring generations together. Her dedication to music and the cultural arts have shaped JANM’s programming and touched all of us. We’ll always treasure her creativity, passion, and the many beautiful performances she gave over the years.”