Shoko “Seina” Shiraishi

I started studying singing in New York in 1989. My first lesson was in an apartment, “The Whitby” located on West 45th Street. Doris Day’s big hit, SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY was born, which was loved by many soldiers during the war.

I was born and raised in the Kanmon area. When I was fourteen, I saw the film The Glenn Miller Story. When it ended and “Little Brown Jug” started to play, I began to cry. It was as if something had touched my soul. Since then, American popular songs from the 1930s and 1940s have captured my heart. In 1989, when I was twenty, I went to New York.

In 1996, I started singing as a vocalist of Sol Yaged‘s band at a club named ” RED BLAZER, TOO”, which was a club playing Swing, Dixie, and Bigband Jazz. Sol Yaged served as a consultant on Benny Goodman’s musical style for the 1956 film, THE BENNY GOODMAN STORY.

In 1999, my first project, ” I Have a Dream…Seina / The Songs For Nursing Homes In The U.S.,”  which was a gift of the songs of the WWII era for 3500 nursing homes in the United States, was successful.

Through the project, I met an old Marine G.I., Mr. Donald Versaw, who served in the Pacific War and the Korean War. He was taken as a prisoner of war in the Philippines and worked coal mine in Fukuoka until the end of the war as a POW. He entered Japan at the Mojiko port at Kanmon. This encounter led me to know the history rarely told in my hometown, Kamon.

I promised him to build a Memorial but it was not realized.

On the other hand, there is the “Memorial Cross” in Kokura. Built to relieve the souls of fallen Korean War soldiers, it has been largely forgotten by Americans. I wondered why it was built. I tried to raise awareness of the memorial among Americans. Then, I met Ms. Monica Lewis, a famous singer and actress from the 1940s and 1950s. She had been posting about the Korean War Memorial Project on Facebook. She was the voice of the Chiquita Banana animated ad campaign. During the war, she visited the battlefield with the famous actor Danny Kaye.

Meanwhile, the researching the “Memorial Cross”, I contacted the Veterans Association of the 24th Infantry Division then I met Mr. David Valley, an ex-honor guard of Douglas MacArthur. I visited San Diego to see him.

Wars, especially those between the U.S. and Japan, are difficult topics for us. However, through Angels Swing’s projects and music, I have learned about love, light, and friendship.

The forgotten story of the POWs and the Korean War Memorial in Kanmon is one that I want to share with people from the U.S. It may be a promise to the souls of those I encountered in my life.

I have traveled to countries and lived in the U.S and Cuba. Each experience and encounter has made me grow and is in my heart.

Now I’m back home. My SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY is over.

Please, come to see me!
I’LL BE SEEING YOU at Kanmon.

Seina

More about me and my projects, please visit my website.