Wakako Yamauchi, whose plays exploring the Japanese-American experience drew on her own life of relocation, rootlessness, assimilation and internment during World War II, died Aug. 16 at her home in Gardena, California. She was 93.
The death was confirmed by her granddaughter, Alyctra Matsushita.
Yamauchi's plays were produced frequently, especially by the Asian-American troupe East West Players in Los Angeles. She was best known for "And the Soul Shall Dance." East West Players staged it in 1977, a time when Asian-American voices, especially female ones, were rarely heard in theater. The next year a film version was made for PBS.
The play tells the story of two Japanese immigrant families in California working as itinerant farmers during the Depression, one still rooted in the old culture, one trying to assimilate. Yamauchi herself was nisei-a first-generation child of Japanese immigrants. Her experiences were the heart of the work.
She was born Wakako Nakamura on Oct. 25, 1924, in Westmorland, California. Her parents, Yasaku and Hama Nakamura, had emigrated from Japan. In the United States, they were itinerant farmers and also lived in a wartime internment camp.
"Her leading characters were women," he added, "and gave many opportunities to Asian-American actresses playing strong roles that were nonstereotypical. Her legacy lives on, as her stories are frequently produced at Asian-American theaters around the country."