Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Taneyuki Dan Harada Interview
Narrator: Taneyuki Dan Harada
Interviewer: Martha Nakagawa
Location: San Jose, California
Date: November 30, 2010
Densho ID: denshovh-htaneyuki-01-0014

<Begin Segment 14>

MN: Now, did Topaz offer an art school?

TH: Yes.

MN: And where was this art school located?

TH: I don't exactly remember the barrack number, but it was at the corner of camp which was across from the MP building. And right next to the art school there was a guard tower. I painted this MP building, which was situated across the road. Of course, there was a fence in between. I still have that painting. That was the first painting I more or less successfully completed, and so I was very happy with it.

MN: Now, were the same instructors that taught at Topaz teaching at, taught at Tanforan, teaching at the Topaz art school?

TH: No, not all the teachers. Like Mine Okubo, she became, I think she became the editor of the camp magazine, literary magazine, Trek, and she drew some wonderful drawings for the cover of this magazine. And she was also, I understand, editor of the camp paper. And also, all the young kids started going to regular school, so most of the students were adults. I remember there were only a few teachers like Professor Obata, Matsusaburo Hibi and his wife Hisako Hibi, Byron Suzuki, who studied in New York. Maybe there were a couple others, but I can't remember.

MN: Now, you learned oil painting through Matsusaburo Hibi, is that correct?

TH: Yes.

MN: What kind of teacher was he?

TH: He was a, he really admired Paul Cezanne, so he more or less followed Cezanne's footsteps, post-impressionist type of painting. His painting was very masculine, and the technique was very... in a way, his painting's kind of rough looking. But as a teacher, he was a wonderful teacher. Some people didn't like him because he was kind of strict, he would say, yeah, one of my friend was a student of his and he was told that, "What's this? What kind of painting is this?" So he quit. But anyway, he was, I learned the fundamentals from him. Until then, I was... how do you say it? Facile in drawing and painting, kind of superficial. And he detested that superficiality and told me to simplify everything, which was good. I mean, that's the first step I learned about really fine, real art, fine art.

MN: Now, what is it about oil painting that interested you as opposed to watercolor?

TH: Well, that's the thing. Oil painting was real, so they say, real painting. At the beginning it was very difficult, 'cause I was used to watercolor painting, and in Tanforan I attempted to paint the south San Francisco mountain, which was a complete disaster. I messed it up, and I thought, "Oil painting is a really messy medium." Later on, I learned how to handle the paints. This has been my painting medium throughout the camp.

MN: Now, I am going to ask you about Mr. Obata. As the "loyalty questionnaire" came out, he got beaten up. And why did he get beaten up?

TH: Oh, this was in Topaz. It wasn't so much about the "loyalty question," it's just that Mr. Obata was so busy trying to establish an art school, so he had to go outside of camp and meet with the people in the administration. And so some pro-Japan people thought he was an inu, stool pigeon, so I think that's the reason he was beaten up.

MN: And after he was beaten up, did the art school close or did it continue?

TH: The school continued with Mr. Hibi.

MN: And what happened to Mr. Obata?

TH: Well, he was really badly beaten up in the face, so he almost became blind, and he was sent to the hospital in Salt Lake City, recuperated, and eventually he left Topaz, the whole family left Topaz.

MN: How did you feel about this beating?

TH: Oh, I think it's a terrible thing to do to another person, regardless of whether you're pro-Japan or pro-America.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.