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Born in California, Fusaye Kazaoka (1930 - 2006) and her family were deported to an internment camp following the attack on Pearl Harbor. When they were released in 1945, they had nothing. Along with 2,000 other internees, they traveled by train across America to work at Charles Seabrook's frozen vegetable business outside of Bridgeton, New Jersey. As a girl in the camps and after, Fusaye learned many traditional arts from her grandmother. She became a master of Japanese doll making and origami and was committed to sharing with others the arts and culture of Japan.



Fusaye Kazaoka, Dollmaker, NJN/State of the Arts, 2005 (5:01)
Fusaye Kazaoka is featured in this story from the State of the Arts episode Tales of Innocence and Experience. She describes how she came to South Jersey after WWII and her desire to keep the Japanese traditions of doll making and origami alive. Produced by Peter Shea & Lynn Walker.

I Remember Life in Seabrook
In this "I remember" memoir, Fusaye Kazaoka recalls her arrival at Seabrook Farms after being interned at a camp in Arizona. She goes on to describe her family's life working at Seabrook Farms, and her job with New Jersey Bell Telephone Company. This memoir was recorded in 1994 as part of The Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center's "I remember" project.
Origami dolls require handling special paper as one would a fabric so that it can be draped and folded into a kimono, or rounded and twisted as in a hairstyle of the Edo period.

In Japanese-American homes, many families construct a special display of dolls for Hina-Matsuri or the Doll Festival. These dolls are often treasured family keepsakes, passed from one generation to the next. Fusaye Kazaoka's family had such a display but lost it, along with everything else they owned, when they were interned during World War II. However, Fusaye and her family later flourished in their new home in South Jersey, both retaining and maintaining their traditions.

Fusaye learned to make origami dolls, and when the specially made Japanese paper called "washi" was not available, she would ingeniously use other types, including the paper that lined the inside of Christmas card envelopes. Another tradition that Fusaye shared with her community and beyond was presenting a thousand paper cranes to a bridal couple to wish them long life and happiness. Her talents in traditional Japanese arts ensured long life for her culture.