Taka Sisters

Taka Sisters were a traveling vaudeville trio of Japanese-American singers and dancers who billed themselves as "the only Japanese triplets on the stage".^[1]

Early Years

Myrtle (1916-2011), Midi (1914-1936), and Mary (1912-1991) were the daughters of Nisei’s Imahei Takaoka (a Christian minister and founder of the Hollywood Japanese Independent Church) and Kazuko Majime. Imahei died young from tuberculosis, leaving the family destitute and their son Hal Takaoka in charge. In their teens Myrtle got into show business as an extra. She convinced her sisters to go into vaudeville as the Taka Sisters, a risqué act of the time.^[2]

Murder of Midi Taka

The Taka Sisters became nationally recognized but after headlining Harry’s New York Cabaret between 1935-1936 their careers ended abruptly when Midi Taka was murdered by Raymond Johnson, a jilted lover.^[3] Johnson had stabbed William J. Bachand, the other man involved in the love triangle a night before the murder and the police were in pursuit when the second crime was committed. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison.^[4][5] Her death became widely publicized as a racial cautionary tale and influenced the novel China Dolls.^[6][7]

War Years

At the outbreak of war in 1942, Mary Takaoka^[8] was sent to Jerome War Relocation Center while her sister Myrtle^[9] and brother Hal spent time in Manzanar.^[10] In camp, Mary and Conrad Yama fathered V. Vale.

References