Takahashi, Yasue

Yasue Takahashi was born on Maui, the daughter of a sugar plantation laborer. Following her graduation from high school, she left for Japan, where she studied naniwabushi, a type of historical ballad often performed with the accompaniment of a shamisen. She returned to the islands in 1940 under the stage name Teruchiyo Suzuki, performing on Maui and in Honolulu before the war.

Takahashi was among a handful of women who were arrested and then incarcerated at the Honouliuli Internment Camp. The others were Masako Fujimura, Irene Umeno Harada, Helen Shizuko Nakagawa, Haruko Takahashi, and Ryuto Tsuda.