Densho Digital Archive - Yoshino Grace Fukuhara Niwa Interview (denshovh-nyoshino-01-0010)

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AL: So did you go to Manzanar again anytime after 1969, do you recall going back?

YN: Yes, we've been back a few times. My husband liked to fish, and we've been to Crowley Lake a few times. And I know that we had gone to a pilgrimage, one of the earlier pilgrimages, and we met my father, Al Sutton brought my father there one year, and we met him there. We have since been there for pilgrimages after he built the interpretive center, but never for the workshop.

AL: What was it like going on your first pilgrimage? Do you know about what year that was?

YN: I don't remember.

AL: But did you see it differently as a result from being on the pilgrimage than just going there on your own?

YN: Oh, yes.

AL: In what way?

YN: The interest and the... there was just so many people who had come. To me it was quite a long way to come.

AL: Did you know Sue Embrey? Had you ever met her?

YN: I had met her, but I really didn't know her.

AL: So when... you were just mentioning your father, you mentioned Al Sutton. Could you tell us a little bit about who Al Sutton is and how he and your father met?

YN: I really don't know how they met. I think Al was an artist at that time. He was... I don't know what his title was at UCLA. And they befriended each other, and Al helped my father tremendously as my father's heath became frail. And Al has been the instrumental force in continuing the Henry Fukuhara workshops at Manzanar, and we're truly indebted to him.

AL: So you said you've never been on one of the workshops.

YN: No, I'm not an artist. But now I regret not having done it.

AL: Do you know if your sister Helen ever went to any of them?

YN: Yes, she did. She did. She wanted to go, and my uncle Jimmy said that he would take her, and so, and Auntie Tomi went with them one year.

AL: Did you see the work she produced at Manzanar?

YN: No, she didn't do any.

AL: Oh, she just attended.

YN: She just attended, observed.

AL: You know what was interesting, this year I was working on... I don't normally work on Sunday, but I was working this Sunday at the workshop. And in introducing the movie in our theater, of course, your father is one of the voices on the soundtrack. And because we had so many of the artists there, we always introduce the film and say, you know, "These are real people, these are their stories, there's not a script, there's not actors, these are really people who were here." And so I pointed out, "You're going to hear the voice of Henry Fukuhara." And it was interesting to me that it was almost like, for the artists, this collective, almost like gasp. People... and I had commented to another ranger at the time that just how connected people felt to him, even though many of them had never met him. It seemed like the legacy that he has through that workshop is so much bigger than just someone who used to teach watercolor there, and the connection that people make to him. And I know to you, he's your dad. But what do you think when you go to Manzanar and you hear his voice, or you see the watercolor workshops? How is that for you? What is that like?

YN: I've heard many people who attended the workshop say they really feel that he's there. And people talk about him, they're always talking about him. And I really appreciate Manzanar being supportive of the workshop and having the show each spring during the pilgrimage and through the workshops and wonderful space you have their now to show the paintings. It's just... I don't know.

AL: Did your mother ever go to the workshops?

YN: I don't know if she ever did.

AL: I remember her saying to Richard Potashin and I several years ago that he was too old, that he wouldn't be doing any more, and then every year he would be there. [Laughs] Tell us about your mom in her older years. I mean, I know your dad is so well-known for his work and for his workshops, but tell us about your mom, what her life was like after she came back to California.

YN: Well, they only brought one car, and so Dad had first dibs on the car. So I think she really slowed down after she moved here. I say "here," in Santa Monica, in California. But she had learned to play bridge, and that was a connection. And, of course, her church was very important. They joined the Santa Monica Presbyterian Church, and she was active there. Both of them were active. But not really... she was always there at the receptions, she was always there supporting Dad.