On Saturday, October 19, the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) will hold an Arigato Event to honor June Kuramoto, koto artist and 2024 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Heritage Fellow. Kuramoto and fellowship recipients were recently honored at events at the White House, Library of Congress, and Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Since 1982, the NEA fellowship is the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts and includes a $25,000 award. Fellowship recipients are nominated by the public, often by members of their own communities, and then judged by a panel of experts. Kuramoto is best known for being a cofounder and koto musician for the Grammy nominated band, Hiroshima.

Representative Judy Chu (D-San Gabriel), who presented the NEA Fellowship medal to Kuramoto, said, “I’ve been a fan of this band for decades. Its unique sounds have captivated so many of us in the Los Angeles area. June’s music bridges different cultures, sounds, and traditions into one beautiful composition.”

The JANM Arigato event will celebrate Kuramoto’s legacy and community. Kuramoto said, “Team Kotomoto originally wanted to do something to honor me, to thank me from the community.” She added, “In return, I feel I want to also thank the community as well.” The event will be jointly sponsored by Kuramoto, JANM, Team Kotomoto, and  UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

Team Kotomoto is a small group of Kuramoto’s longtime koto player friends that she meets with regularly for lunch. They occasionally play together. They recently received a grant to lead a koto workshop at the Nishi Hongwanji Temple in Los Angeles, where both new and experienced koto players shared resources and performed together.

“I feel koto music is the beauty of the long instrument, the resonance. It keeps you grounded,” said Kuramoto. She fell in love with the 13-stringed koto at age 7, after hearing it at an event. She had immigrated to the US from Japan at age 5½ with her mother and three siblings. She felt homesick and the koto was a comforting connection to Japan. She begged her mother to let her take lessons.

Her teacher and mentor, Madame Kazue Kudo, was a virtuoso koto player from the Miyagi School of Koto in Tokyo, Japan. Kudo Sensei recognized her musical talent and was “very strict,” a characteristic that Kuramoto maintains in her own teaching. She laughs, “I’m the meanest teacher around!” She has a classical koto degree (natori) from the Miyagi School and has been teaching for 50 years.

The transition to the US was especially rocky for June, the oldest girl. Unlike her older brother, she was expected to help watch her younger siblings and help with the household work. She started school in first grade not knowing any English or how to read. She struggled in school and fell far behind in her classes.

She describes her mother as very wise, kind, and generous. Her mother brought 4 children, ages 2–7, on the boat from Japan by herself. Though their family was poor, she always fed visitors. “We always had an extra pot of rice. We could make more beans,” said Kuramoto. She credits her with having an openness about other races.

Her mother worked nights doing piece work or ironing. She took classes and learned to become a seamstress. She made clothes not only for her children, but sometimes for their friends. She learned to drive and with the help of their uncle, eventually bought her own car and house.

Kuramoto’s father was a Nisei who was born and raised in Orange County. He was sent to Japan for his education and had a good job there. During the war, he was drafted by the Japanese navy and forced to serve. He met her mother after the war while working at the officers club in Yokohama, which served both American and Japanese officers.

Her father wanted his children to be educated in the US, but couldn’t return right away because his citizenship papers had been lost during the war. He also wanted to stay in Japan because of his good job. It would be around 6 years before he joined his family in Los Angeles. It was a rocky adjustment for June and her siblings who were now teenagers. Her father had trouble finding work before finally getting into real estate, a job he loved.

Growing up in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles, Kuramoto loved the music of the sixties, including R&B, soul, and artists such as the Temptations and Smokey Robinson. As a teenager, she found it hurtful to be teased by friends for playing “grandma’s music.” She asked her koto teacher if there was a way to play a contemporary song, “Duke of Earl,” but was told it wasn’t allowed.

Kuramoto thought that if her friends could see the koto in a contemporary setting, that they would appreciate it. During the late sixties and early seventies there would be dance bands that would play cover tunes of groups like the Temptations. In school she became aware of both western music and orchestras, although there was no koto in school orchestra.

As a college student, Kuramoto became involved with the Asian American movement. At the time, protests against the Vietnam War were sweeping college campuses. She was involved with the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and became a volunteer for the Japanese American Community Services (JACS). She helped organize a health fair for senior citizens and attended the first Manzanar pilgrimage.

June Okida first met Dan Kuramoto at an Asian American community picnic in Griffith Park in the early 1970s, where she was playing the koto. At the time he was the chair of Asian American Studies at Cal State University in Long Beach (CSULB). She later jammed with his “avant garde” campus band which was experimenting with different types of music. She improvised on the koto for the first time. They cofounded the band, Hiroshima, which combined the koto with keyboards, saxophone, drums, guitar, bass, and vocals, creating a unique Asian American sound.

The 1975 film Cruisin’ J-Town by Duane Kubo profiles musicians Dan and June Kuramoto and drummer Johnny Mori. She said, “I’ve come from a long life of confusion, identity crisis. I didn’t know what I really was.” She added, “ I knew that the Japanese music is a large part of me but yet, it didn’t express the true experiences of here.” The film was added to the 2023 National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

June and Dan married, had a daughter, and later divorced but remain best friends and continue to be a family. They continue to have family dinners and to be involved with their grandchildren, who are 5 and 9 years old.

Hiroshima struggled in its early years, but received early support from the African American community. However, the band took off after its 1979 debut album, also titled Hiroshima. Since then, Hiroshima has earned two Grammy nominations, two gold records, recorded 21 albums, and sold more than 4 million albums worldwide. Their most recent album titled 2020 was released in 2022. They announced that their 2022 Domo or Thank You tour might be their final tour, though they continue to play select concerts.

“I collaborate a lot and I have the best of collaborators,” said Kuramoto. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own.” Among her longtime collaborators are ex-husband Dan Kuramoto, Kimo Cornwell, Derek Nakamoto, and Dave Iwataki.

Kuramoto is grateful for her 40 years with Hiroshima. ”The band has given me the greatest opportunities to create, to finally find a voice for myself to travel all over the world and to have met the most wonderful musicians and people.”

She said, “And I’m blessed and grateful to be able to have done it with the support of all the people of my family, the community, and especially the African American community, the black community who has supported me all the way through right from the downbeat of the first song. They understood what it meant to (be) trying to find your root, (your) identity.”

In 1990, Hiroshima was the opening act for the Miles Davis tour. Kuramoto has performed with musicians and groups such as Ravi Shankar, Manhattan Transfer, A Taste of Honey, Keiko and Kazu Matsui, Nobuko Miyamoto, Daniel Ho, and Kenny Endo.

Kuramoto has many funny stories from her years on the road. Hiroshima played at Yoshi’s in Oakland at least yearly. She went to check on her sister’s tickets at the box office.

“As I was walking towards the box office, a gentleman flagged me. I walked towards him thinking he’s going to tell me that he’s looking forward to the show, or even he really likes our music or something of that sort. When I got to him, he said that his table did not get any chopsticks! Of course, I was flabbergasted but kept my composure and told him that I didn’t work here but I’ll get someone to help him.”

She went across the street to Pier 1 and bought some chopsticks. At the concert that night, she told the story and passed out chopsticks to nearby tables. She asked the audience not to ask her for chopsticks.

After a lifetime on the road, Kuramoto looks forward to being retired, having time to putter around the house, and spend time with her grandchildren. “I had a lot of time to think (during Covid) and I decided that I needed some time off.” She said, “I would come home (from tour) and you realize that everybody has moved on. And I wasn’t able to grow with them.”

Despite retirement, Kuramoto still plays select concerts such as the Yosemite Jazz Train. The Hiroshima trio of Dan, Kimo, and June perform an hour concert in beautiful Yosemite. The concert includes a BBQ lunch and a twenty-minute train ride to the outdoor venue. She said, “It’s like playing to the birds and trees and it’s just gorgeous. It’s such a back to nature, so calming for the soul. I believe the audience feels the same way, too.”

In the early days of the band, Kuramoto didn’t do interviews. She said, “I used to not like to talk. I didn’t like spending time even in the business meetings. I tried not to be involved because I had a daughter and I wanted to spend more time with her. Now I feel as a woman, I have things to say. We all have stories. So I’ve been talking more.” She laughs, “But I didn’t realize I talk so much!”

She posted on her Facebook page that her mother would have been 102 on December 18, 2023. Kuramoto said, “She was just wonderful!” Her mother would always tell her that giving of one’s time and self was more important than giving gifts. Her mother would say, “It’s the every day treating of the person (that) is the best gift of all.” Kuramoto still tries to follow her mother’s advice.

All photos are courtesy of June Kuramoto.

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On October 19, 2024, join the community in expressing gratitude to June Kuramoto in an Arigato event celebrating her legacy and community. The event will be held at JANM. Tickets available here.

© 2024 Edna Horiuchi