Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Takayo Tsubouchi Fischer Interview
Narrator: Takayo Tsubouchi Fischer
Interviewer: Sharon Yamato
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: October 25, 2011
Densho ID: denshovh-ftakayo-01-0015

TF: Yeah, and then when I was very young, I think I was fifteen or so, I went to some, one of those local dances and I won a contest. I was Miss Teen Queen. And then I went to another dance, and I was like Nisei Queen. But they just, I happened to be at the dance and then they chose me, and I remember I had a black/red eye, because I threw a baton up in the air, a lady walked in front of me, it was going to hit her, and I tried to move her, and it bounced on her shoulder and then it went into my eye. And so I was surprised when it happened. But it got me a scholarship at a modeling company. And so then I did modeling after that. I took the course, I got a number of jobs modeling, I worked some of the trade fairs.

Oh, I remember when I won the Nisei contest, they had a photographer take pictures, and we did some with a bathing suit that had holes on the side and another one that was like a make believe bikini. I got such hate mail. It was in the newspaper, and terrible letters, terrible. That I was an absolute disgrace to the Japanese community and I should be so ashamed of myself...

SY: And this is from other Japanese.

TF: This is from other Japanese. I got a lot of hate mail.

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