Densho Digital Archive - Henry Fukuhara Interview II (denshovh-fhenry-02-0010)

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MN: So you started to, you were talking about conducting workshops. You were starting to conduct the workshops.

HF: What happened is that I was... [pauses] I was doing a demonstration for different organizations on Long Island. There are a number of organizations on Long Island, and they would have their monthly meeting. For the entertainment for the monthly meeting, they would have somebody come in and do a demonstration for them. So I was asked to do a demonstration almost every month. I would be going from one organization to another doing demonstrations. And some of those demonstrations turned out to be workshops, so I was doing demonstrations and workshops. So I was kept quite busy with doing that.

MN: And when you were doing these demonstrations, were the participants mainly, were the participants mainly Caucasians?

HF: What?

MN: Were the participants at the demonstrations Caucasians?

HF: Oh, yeah. They were all Caucasians.

MN: And did you face any prejudice?

HF: No. I had no prejudice. No prejudice at all.

MN: Now, I understand from '87 to '96, you taught art in Tokyo. Is that correct?

HF: Well, I didn't teach in Tokyo. There was an annual watercolor show of the people in Japan. And one year, Providence, Rhode Island, had a juried show of, juried show of exchanged paintings. So I entered that juried show and I was accepted as one of the participants. So there was another Asian girl in Providence that also was selected. So they had an exhibit there. And I went, I went for the exchanged exhibit. It was held in a little gallery in Ginza. And paintings weren't framed or matted, they were just laid on the floor, tacked up on the wall, and there was an artist name of Matsushibara, who was there to come see the exhibit. And he took me aside and we went to a bar. And he liked to drink, so he asked me if I wanted a drink and I said, "Oh, I don't drink." So we talked, and he invited me to the next annual show. And he asked me to submit two full sized, two full sized paintings, which is 30 x 22. And so I suggested, so I submitted two of those paintings for the, what they call the Rosokai. And it was shown at a museum, but I forgot the name of the museum. They were showing at the museum, the exhibit was at the museum, and he took my two paintings, and he framed 'em, and showed them as two paintings. But he said they were exhibited as exceptional paintings. And two of them were set up aside in the front, and he invited me for ten consecutive years until he died. So that's what everybody says, that I taught in Tokyo in Japan for ten years. I didn't teach in Japan for ten years, but I was invited to show there for ten years.

MN: Okay.

HF: So after the ten years, that ended when he died. Because he talked about having somebody take charge of that show, but he keeps conferring with me, and he says, "I can't find anybody that has the strength in mind to carry this on." But unfortunately, in the meantime, he died after continuing it for ten years. So today, he's been dead about five years now, I haven't heard from them to ask them, so I don't know if that's continuing or not.

MN: Now, when you were having these exchanges...

HF: What?

MN: When you were going to Tokyo, did you also visit your relatives in Hiroshima?

HF: No.

MN: Do you know if your family lost relatives in Hiroshima?

HF: They might, but I did have cousins, but I lost track of them, so I don't know.