Densho Digital Archive - Henry Fukuhara Interview II

<Begin Segment 1>

MN: December 1, 2009. We're with Henry Fukuhara at Brighton Gardens, a skilled nursing home in Yorba Linda. We have in the room Tani Ikeda videotaping, and Dr. Don Hata and Mary Higuchi, and your wife Yoshiko in the room. Henry, you were born on April 25, 1913, to Ichisuke and Ume Sakamoto Fukuhara, both from Hiroshima. Is that correct?

HF: What was the question?

MN: Oh, I'm gonna repeat some of the basics that I have of your life, and if it's not correct, let me know.

HF: All right.

MN: Okay? Now, you were born on April 25, 1913?

HF: Yeah.

MN: To Ichisuke and Ume Sakamoto Fukuhara.

HF: Yes.

MN: They were both from Hiroshima?

HF: Yes.

MN: You believe your father's family were farmers in Hiroshima.

HF: Yes.

MN: Your mother worked at a millinery store in Hiroshima.

HF: Yes.

MN: They were married through a baishakunin.

HF: Well, the wedding was, the get together was arranged by a baishakunin.

MN: Okay.

HF: As far as the wedding, I don't know who did the wedding.

MN: Okay. Now, your father first came to the United States as a bachelor with friends in 1897. Is that the correct year?

HF: Yes.

MN: He did domestic work, and he worked in the fruit orchards in Fresno.

HF: Yes.

MN: Then he probably went back San Francisco, and you said you have a picture of your father in a white coat, like he was working in a hospital or waiting tables.

HF: Yeah.

MN: Then your father came down to southern California, and he grew flowers.

HF: That came after the wedding. After he, his wife came with him to America.

MN: Okay. So did he go to Fruitland?

HF: Who?

MN: Your father as a bachelor.

HF: Yes. He went to Fruitland and he set himself up with a acreage and got, there was a house there, so he took the house and he that got all ready for his wife to come back. When she came back, when she came to the United States, she had a place to go to.

MN: And she came to Fruitland.

HF: Huh? Yes.

MN: And where is that?

HF: Fruitland, there's no place called Fruitland today. At that time, Fruitland was just the name of a place, and it's still Huntington Park.

MN: Okay.

HF: And Huntington Park is a suburb of Los Angeles.

<Begin Segment 2>

MN: Okay, we're gonna go back on the videotape. Now, Henry, you were delivered by a sanbasan, and her name was Mukai-san.

HF: Yes.

MN: And all your siblings were delivered by Mukai-san.

HF: Yes.

MN: I'm gonna go down the list of your siblings starting with you, and tell me if I'm wrong. Henry, you're the oldest, you were born in Fruitland. Then Frank, also born in Fruitland, then Tomiko, also born in Fruitland, Jimmy, also born in Fruitland, George, born in Mandeville Canyon, Lily, born in Pacific Palisades, and Willie, born in Santa Monica. Is that correct?

HF: Yes.

MN: And then on average, was everybody about two years apart?

HF: Approximately, yes.

MN: Henry, what was your birth name?

HF: Kazuo.

MN: And how did you get that name?

HF: Well, parents put it there.

MN: Are you named after a grandparent?

HF: Not that I know of.

MN: How did you get the name "Henry"?

HF: The name Henry was on the end of one of my father's dictionary. That's how I picked up the name Henry, but I don't know when that happened.

MN: So you were very young when you got the name Henry. Did your parents call you Kazuo or Henry?

HF: Kazuo.

MN: Now, growing up, it sounds like you had a typical farm life. You lived in a cottage in Fruitland. There was another building that had a square ofuro, and then another building that was a outhouse.

HF: Yeah.

MN: And that was just basically a hole in the ground, the outhouse was.

HF: Yeah.

MN: You ate gohan, rice, every day?

HF: Yes.

MN: And even for breakfast you had ochazuke with tsukemono?

HF: Yeah.

MN: And lunch was usually onigiri with umeboshi or tsukemono?

HF: Yeah.

<Begin Segment 3>

MN: Now, in Fruitland, your father, so he quit farming and became a bookkeeper at the Central Market in downtown Los Angeles, is that correct?

HF: Well, he became a bookkeeper. See, he made quite a fortune growing potatoes during World War I. I don't know how much that fortune was, but with that fortune, he was going to take us all back to Japan. And then the time, preparing us to go back to Japan, he worked at the market as a bookkeeper. And we moved from the house we had lived in in Fruitland to another house just kitty corner away. And he bought a dog and a goat. And the goat was for the milk, but we didn't like the milk, so he got rid of the goat and the dog, because the dog was bothering the, the dog was bothering the goat.

MN: Okay. And this was in Mandeville Canyon?

HF: No, no, this was in Fruitland.

MN: Oh, this was still in Fruitland. Okay. But when your father was working as a bookkeeper...

HF: Somebody, somebody thought he needed to make some more money.

MN: So the family did not go back to Hiroshima, stayed...

HF: No. So to make more money... [coughs]

MN: Do you want some water?

HF: ...they suggested growing tomatoes. So he got a piece of land on what is now Riviera Country Club, and he got a piece of land there. He grew tomatoes there. But there was a bad, it was a bad year for tomatoes, so he didn't make any money.

MN: So the tomatoes, were they used for ketchup?

HF: Huh?

MN: Were they used for ketchup?

HF: Most of it was. So from there, while they were growing tomatoes, he asked the family from Japan to come and help him. And then had another family came from San Pedro, and that was Toi, T-O-I, and they helped him. And then after the tomato was finished, they, he sent one to Japan. Their name was Daido.

MN: Daido.

HF: And they had to work for San Pedro, his name was Toi, T-O-I. Well, he moved to, they, he and his wife moved to Tarzana to grow cantaloupe. So they grew cantaloupe in Tarzana. And when we made mochi for New Year's. Parents would ask us to take the mochi over to them in Tarzana. And then we would come back with cantaloupe.

MN: How old were you at this time, about seven or eight?

HF: I must have been about twelve years old, because I was able to drive a car. And we drove from, we drove from... Mandeville Canyon to Tarzana.

MN: How old were you when you started to learn to drive?

HF: Oh, I tell you, I don't remember.

MN: But by twelve years old, you were driving already.

HF: Yeah, twelve years old, you could drive.

<Begin Segment 4>

MN: How long were you at Mandeville Canyon?

HF: Two years.

MN: And then from there you went to Pacific Palisades?

HF: Yes.

MN: And you were saying your father was able to somehow move the house from Mandeville Canyon to Pacific Palisades, is that correct?

HF: Yes.

MN: And your father used to strap lima beans and zucchini onto his Model T touring car, and you would go downtown with him. Is that what you used to do?

HF: Yeah, down to the market.

MN: Now, on the way back from the market, your father found some palm seeds on Wilshire Boulevard. Tell me about that.

HF: Oh, on the way back from the market, I saw this pile of palm tree seed under the palm tree. This is not the palm tree that you used to, palms, this is a, what they call a cocoa palm, and the seeds are about the sides of your thumb. I don't know how many hundreds of seeds there were under the tree. So he went to ask the lady if he could have the seeds, and the lady said, "Yes, you could have the seeds." So we filled up the boxes and brought the seeds home. And then my father planted the seeds in a flat, one next to the other, and I guess it takes about a couple months, and they sprouted. So then my father decided he was gonna quit farming. He was gonna, he was gonna go in the nursery business. So we were able to stay in the Pacific Palisades another about two years. And then he moved the house from the Pacific Palisades down to Chautauqua, along the Pacific Coast Highway, along California Incline, and along Wilshire Boulevard. And then made a sharp turn on Lincoln Boulevard, and went south on Lincoln Boulevard 'til we got to Marine Street. And when we got to Marine Street, we made a left turn and went about two blocks, and we came to the property that my father found that the Japanese had, was growing flowers. And they vacated the property, so my father was able to lease that ground. So he had five acres of ground to start a nursery. So after the palm trees got large enough to transplant, they transplanted them into flats. Then they put them in small pots, then from small pots, they planted into gallon cans. Then from gallon cans, they planted the palm trees in the field. So I don't know how many hundreds of palm trees he planted out in the field, but when the nursery started, got to be a sellable size, it was the Depression. So he would load up the truck with nursery starts and sell them, but he would come home with a full load. So in the meantime, I was... the first thing he did after they moved to, after he got settled, they got settled, they plant azaleas, I mean, asters along the road between the house and Fruitland Avenue. And then that was their first cash crop. And he took the, he got the asters and bunched 'em, and then there was a growth of asparagus fern on the roof. So they must have trimmed them and bunched them, and he took them to the flower market to sell them. He took 'em in a basket, and he came back. (Ed. note: Jimmy Fukuhara said, in this explanation, that his brother was reverting to an earlier time, even before the parents started farming in Fruitland.)

<Begin Segment 5>

MN: This is in Santa Monica, and about, is it, were we talking about 1925 that you moved to Santa Monica on Marine Street?

HF: What about Santa Monica?

MN: On Marine? Your father leased five acres on Marine?

HF: Yes.

MN: Is this about 1925?

HF: Yeah, around there.

MN: And you started Santa Monica High School when you moved there, is that correct?

HF: Yes.

MN: And is this also when you started to go to Santa Monica Japanese language school?

HF: Yes.

MN: And you went every day after regular school?

HF: Yes.

MN: On Saturdays, you took kendo for about a year with Yoshizumi-sensei?

HF: Yes.

MN: And you think he may also taught at Daini Gakuen?

HF: Yes.

MN: Your Japanese school teacher was a USC student who was also the bus driver.

HF: That was another one.

MN: Oh, that was a different Japanese school.

HF: Yeah.

MN: Which Japanese school was this at?

HF: It's the same Japanese school.

MN: Oh, but a different teacher.

HF: Yeah.

MN: Okay. And you were also working at a vegetable market stand to help the family on the weekends and summers?

HF: Yes.

MN: Your hours were from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.?

HF: Yeah, it was a long day.

MN: And then you graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1931?

HF: Yes.

MN: Okay.

<Begin Segment 6>

MN: Henry, I'm gonna ask you some questions about your art.

HF: Yeah.

MN: When did you start drawing?

HF: Oh, I don't know when.

MN: Were you in school, grammar school?

HF: Oh, yes. When I was in grammar school, when I was in grammar school at Pacific Palisades, the teacher saw me drawing on a piece of paper. So the teacher said, "You could draw anything you want on the board." So I took the chalk and I don't know, I don't remember what I drew, but the teacher let me draw.

MN: And that's where you started to have a love of drawing?

HF: It could be.

MN: You talked about a high school teacher that encouraged you.

HF: Yes, Mrs. Sheeman-Roberts, when I was in high school. That was my favorite subject. So when I graduated high school, she encouraged me to continue my art.

MN: And when you say "art," were you painting at this time?

HF: What?

MN: Were you painting?

HF: No.

MN: Just drawing.

HF: Yes. I was drawing for myself.

MN: Were you using pencils or charcoal?

HF: It was pencil.

MN: Is this the teacher that encouraged you to enroll in the Otis Art Institute?

HF: No. I enrolled at the Otis Art Institute myself because I was buddies with two other Caucasian boys in high school. They said they were going to go, they were going to become engineers. My father thought I was not engineer material, so he asked me if I wanted to go to art school and I said, "Yeah, I like that." So that's how I happened to enroll at Otis Art Institute.

MN: So your father was supportive of your pursuing art.

HF: Well, not pursuing art, but liking art.

MN: How long were you at the Otis Art Institute?

HF: About two, three weeks. Very short time, because of the Depression. My father said he couldn't afford to send me there.

MN: When did you have your linoleum block exhibit, the one-man show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art?

HF: Well, the first thing happened was in the Westway magazine, that AAA?

MN: Yes.

HF: Had an article about my linoleum block prints. And they, the museum saw that article and they gave me a one-man show at the County Museum in Prospect Park.

MN: How did Westway magazine get your art? Did you send it to them?

HF: No, my... I happened to be, I happened to go to visit my art teacher, and there, a friend of hers was there. He saw the Westway, he saw the prints, and he said, "Let me show these to Westways." And that's how it happened.

MN: What is a linoleum block print? Is that like a woodblock print?

HF: It's similar to a woodblock print, only it's with linoleum. It's a softer material.

MN: And how did you get into linoleum block prints?

HF: Gee, I don't know.

MN: Is this something you picked up at the three weeks at Otis?

HF: What?

MN: Is this something you did at, when you were three weeks at Otis?

HF: No.

MN: Something you were working on earlier?

HF: No. Just something I just happened to pick up to do.

MN: When you had this one-man exhibit, did your parents go and see your work?

HF: I don't recall them going.

MN: How about your brothers and sisters?

HF: I don't think they went.

<Begin Segment 7>

MN: Now, when you had to leave Otis Art Institute during the Great Depression to help your family out financially, were you resentful that you had to stop your art career?

HF: No.

MN: Do you think if you weren't the oldest son, you could have stayed in art school?

HF: Probably.

MN: When you quit Otis and you started to work, did you still paint and draw?

HF: Yes, I drew at home.

MN: When you were incarcerated at Manzanar, did you paint in Manzanar?

HF: A little bit.

MN: What did you use as your medium? Was it watercolor?

HF: Watercolor.

MN: How did you get your equipment, your material to paint?

HF: Good question. I don't remember.

MN: Did you bring it with you or did you order it through the Montgomery Ward catalog?

HF: I don't remember.

MN: After you -- well, at Manzanar, what sort of material were you painting? What was your subject?

HF: Just landscape.

MN: Did it include the barbed wires or not guard towers, no guard towers?

HF: No.

MN: Just the landscape.

HF: Yeah. Yes.

<Begin Segment 8>

MN: After you left Manzanar and you restarted your life, how long was it before you were able to return to your art?

HF: [Pauses] I don't remember how long. But over in Cutsarc, Long Island, there was sort of a meeting of artists. A woman by the name of Jacqueline Petty was there, and she knew that I had been doing watercolors. So she came to me, she saw me, and she came to me and said, "I'd like to have you do a demonstration for me." And I says, "I've never done any demonstration, I only did painting for myself." And then the next thing she said, "Well, I want you do a workshop for me at my Red Barn Studio." "Well, I haven't done that either." She says, "Well, you could do it." So I said, "Well, if you think I could do it, I'll try it."

MN: Do you think this was in the 1970s? Is it earlier?

HF: [Pauses] That could have been.

MN: So while you were still doing, growing flowers at Deer Park, you were still painting? Is that the... I'm getting that impression that you still were painting.

HF: When I was... I was in partner with two brothers (George & Willie) at Deer Park. So I did the demonstration in a place called New Suffolk. It's a small marina where they went fishing, boating. And they were, Jackie sat at the table, and some, few people came to observe what I was going to do. I think there was a couple named the Hardys, H-A-R-D-Y-S, Hardys, and they were there, which I was surprised to see. Well, I was not really surprised because she must have told them that I was going to be there. The Hardys, the Long Island Press on Fridays had a listing. It was their art page, and they had a listing of all the different artists that had exhibits.

MN: And the Hardys, were they, they were the reviewers?

HF: The Hardys, they must have checked the paper and came to see who was showing where. And the LA Times... not the LA Times, the New York Times also on Friday had their art page, and they would have the artists that they were having their exhibit at the gallery. But in New York, they had these receptions in New York, but their receptions were patrons' receptions, customers of theirs, that had bought paintings from them. So the Hardys were there, and by opening day... during the, at the reception, everybody was very pleased with what I, what I had done.

<Begin Segment 9>

MN: I have information that in 1972 you started painting with Edgar Whitney's Saturday group. Is that correct?

HF: Yeah, that's correct.

MN: And you also took workshops with Robert E. Wood, George Post, Rex Brandt, but it was Carl Molno who had the greatest influence on you.

HF: That's right.

MN: How did he influence you?

HF: Well, I was painting realistically, and he was an abstract painter. And I got to the point where I was with Ed Whitney, and there must be other ways of painting besides painting realistically. So I pointed it out, and they said, "Why don't you go to Carl Molno?" And so when I was inquiring about that, Carl happened to be standing around. So, "There's Carl over there, why don't you ask him?" So he said, "I'll be starting my classes at my church in Germantown in New York City in the winter." So he says, "I'll let you know." So that's how I got started with Carl Molno.

MN: And that's when you started to do more abstract painting?

HF: Yes.

MN: Did you always work in watercolors or did you work in other...

HF: Yes, yes.

MN: Not... why do you like watercolor?

HF: Huh?

MN: Why do you like watercolor over others?

HF: Well, it was easy to work with, it wasn't messy.

<Begin Segment 10>

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.

<Begin Segment 11>

MN: Okay, now, in 1998, you organized the first Manzanar workshop with twenty-five artists. Was this the first time you returned to Manzanar since the war?

HF: Yes.

MN: What were your thoughts and feelings when you first returned in 1998?

HF: I didn't have any thoughts or any feelings.

MN: What was your subject matter?

HF: Manzanar and Alabama Hills.

MN: I know now in your subject you paint guard towers. Back when you were incarcerated in the '40s, you did not paint the guard towers, is that correct?

HF: The guard towers... no, no.

MN: But now you are able to paint the barbed wires and the guard towers.

HF: Yeah.

MN: Now, Henry, you still paint, although you're blind.

HF: Yes.

MN: What were your feelings when you started to lose your eyesight? Did you think this was the end of your painting career?

HF: Sort of.

MN: How did you find the strength to keep painting?

HF: To keep painting?

MN: Yeah, how did you find the strength?

HF: Well, my friends encouraged me.

MN: How has your painting evolved after you lost your eyesight?

HF: Well, I only paint from memory. Memory of things I've seen before.

MN: You have four children with your wife Fujiko Yasutake.

HF: Yes.

MN: Your youngest, Helen, is congenitally blind.

HF: Yes.

MN: But she's also an artist.

HF: Yes, she's somewhat of an artist.

MN: How did she get the inspiration to become an artist?

HF: She got that through going to the Braille Institute.

MN: Did you encourage her?

HF: No.

MN: She just did that on her own?

HF: Yes.

MN: How about your other children. Are they artists?

HF: No. Well, my son, he's going to... he's going to college in Ventura, and he's taking up drawing. So I don't know how long he's going to continue that.

<Begin Segment 12>

MN: For the record, I'm gonna name your children. Joyce Shizuko, born before the war, Grace Yoshino, born in Manzanar, your son is... do you say the, is it Rackham?

HF: Rackham.

MN: Rackham.

HF: He was born in Farmingdale.

MN: How did you get, how did he get that name?

HF: What?

MN: Rackham.

HF: Rackham came from the name Arthur Rackham. Arthur Rackham was an artist.

MN: Does he have a Japanese name?

HF: He has a Japanese name, what is it now? I can't think of it now.

MN: Okay. How about Helen? Does she have a Japanese name?

HF: I think it's Yasuno.

MN: Yasuo?

HF: Yasuno.

MN: Yasudo?

HF: No, N-O.

MN: Oh, Yasuno. For Rackham. How about Helen?

HF: I don't think so, it's just Helen.

MN: Do you and Helen talk about art since both...

HF: No.

MN: No, not at all?

HF: No.

MN: Were you able to see some of her artwork before you lost your eyesight?

HF: You mean mine?

MN: Yes.

HF: Oh, yes.

MN: What do you think about her art?

HF: What?

MN: What do you think about her art?

HF: Well, I think her art has, has a lot in it. When I say a lot in it, there's a lot of feeling, there's a lot of ability.

<Begin Segment 13>

MN: Henry, I'm gonna ask you a few questions about the JACL now.

HF: Go ahead.

MN: Were you a JACL member before the war?

HF: Yes.

MN: What did you think about the JACL and their activities?

HF: Well, the JACL was the only organization that represented the Japanese. I was impressed with it. I was in the Santa Monica district chapter when war broke out.

MN: And George Inagaki was the best man at your wedding.

HF: Yes.

MN: How did you meet him?

HF: Oh, I met him at a JACL meeting.

MN: And he was also president of his chapter.

HF: Yes. That was formed later, yeah.

MN: Were you friends with people like Mike and Joe Masaoka?

HF: Yes. Joe and I were very good friends.

MN: Did they come over to your house?

HF: Oh, yeah, they came often.

<Begin Segment 14>

MN: Now, when you were at Manzanar, Fred Tayama got beaten up. Did Fred or his brother ever tell you or describe what happened?

HF: No, because that fighting was in another part of the camp, and I wasn't in that part of the camp. I was way up towards the end of the camp where the hospital was. See, Fuji was pregnant with Grace, so she was up there with, near the hospital, and so was... my mother had very bad arthritis, so she was up there also near the hospital. So we were living near the hospital, so when all this "riot" and all, fighting took place, I didn't know anything about it.

MN: But later on, did Fred or Tom talk about who they suspected beat Fred up?

HF: What?

MN: Did they, later, after the beating, did Fred or Tom talk about who they suspected beat Fred? Did they have their suspicions on who beat them up?

HF: Who did?

MN: Did they talk about who they suspected beat Fred up?

HF: No. They didn't talk about it. I knew Fred.

MN: So he never talked about how he got beaten up.

HF: No.

MN: Now, Togo Tanaka was also taken out of Manzanar for his protection and other JACLers were also taken out.

HF: Yes.

MN: Did Togo talk to you about getting death threats or threats? Was he frightened for his life?

HF: Well, that I don't know. But I saw Togo in Chicago later on. He had a bitter feeling about it.

MN: Now, Henry, a few years ago, a researcher found a declassified FBI document that lists FBI informants, and many of them are JACL names. What do you think about that?

HF: I don't know if there's that much truth to what they found out.

MN: Are you talking about what the JACL were telling the government, or are you talking about the document?

HF: Truth to government.

MN: So do you think they were getting unreliable information?

HF: Possibly.

MN: Did you ever get threatened for having a lot of JACL friends and also being a JACL member?

HF: No, no.

<Begin Segment 15>

MN: Okay, Henry, I'm gonna go back to your personal life. You married Fujiko Yasutake in 1938 at the age of twenty-five. Can you share with me how you met her?

HF: Well, I met her... she went to a flower arrangement class through the information of the gardener that worked where she worked. And she went to the flower arrangement class, and my sister was at the flower arrangement class and offered to take her home. So she thought that my sister was driving, and then it turned out that my sister... I was the one to come and pick my sister up and take her home. So my sister asked if I would take Fujiko home. And I said, "I could take her home." So that's how I got acquainted with Fujiko.

MN: How long did you know her before you asked her to marry you?

HF: Two years.

MN: Can you tell me about your wedding? Where was it held, what did you wear?

HF: Well, I wore a tuxedo, but the wedding was, wedding was at the Buddhist church.

MN: The Santa Monica Buddhist Church?

HF: No, Second and Central, where the original Japanese American National Museum was.

MN: You're talking about the Nishi Hongwanji.

HF: Yes.

<Begin Segment 16>

MN: Now, I understand on December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor day, you were out for a ride with George Inagaki?

HF: Yes.

MN: When, how did you hear about Pearl Harbor? On the radio, on the car radio?

HF: Car radio.

MN: What did you do once you heard about that?

HF: Well, as soon as we heard about it, Joyce said, "We have to go back, go back home." And then we got the, we got in touch with JACL leaders that they had a meeting.

MN: Were you at this meeting also?

HF: No.

MN: When you started to hear that people were being picked up by the FBI, were you worried that your family would be picked up?

HF: Yeah, I was. But fortunately, my father wasn't picked up.

MN: When you heard that Japanese Americans on the West Coast had to go into camp, did you lose faith in America?

HF: What?

MN: When you heard that Japanese Americans had to go into camp, did you lose faith in America?

HF: No, I didn't lose faith. It's just about to face the war.

MN: How did you dispose of your property, and how did you decide what to bring?

HF: I just... the property was Marine Street in Santa Monica. A friend... the florist, I offered the place to them, and he said, "Yeah, I'll take care of it." So he did take care of it. And it so happened that he was a minister's son, and then the other place we had in Los Angeles, we were real fortunate where it went to, someone came from the east and bought the place in Los Angeles on Third Street and Fairfax. So...

MN: That was your father's store on Third Street and Fairfax.

HF: Well, it wasn't the father's store, it was our store.

MN: Your brothers were also helping out at that time.

HF: Yes.

MN: Okay. So somebody from the east bought that property.

HF: Yeah, somebody, I don't even remember who that was.

MN: And then a friend took care of your Marine Street property.

HF: Yes. But he reneged on it.

MN: Oh, what happened? So you lost the property?

HF: Huh?

MN: Did you lose the Marine property?

HF: No, we didn't lose the Marine property because we left it free and clear. When I say "free and clear," it was ours. All we had to do was pay taxes on it.

<Begin Segment 17>

MN: Did you go into Santa Anita assembly center first?

HF: No, went to Manzanar immediately. We were fortunate.

MN: So were you one of the early Manzanar people?

HF: The first ones.

MN: How did you get to Manzanar?

HF: Oh, the train, I think. Train...

MN: From Union Station?

HF: So we got on the (bus) at Lincoln and Venice Boulevard.

MN: Did a friend drive you to Lincoln and Venice Boulevard?

HF: We walked there.

MN: Now, your wife was pregnant with your second (child) when you went into Manzanar. Was it a very difficult birth for her?

HF: No.

MN: Were you able to get enough food for the baby in Manzanar?

HF: Oh, yes. They had a nice hospital there.

<Begin Segment 18>

MN: At Manzanar, you worked on the survey crew.

HF: Yes.

MN: And I understand when you were finished, you were able to sneak out and go fishing.

HF: Yes.

MN: And then you went to Shelley, Idaho, to do some sugar beets?

HF: Yes.

MN: Topping sugar beets?

HF: What?

MN: You topped sugar beets?

HF: Yeah, we thinned sugar beets, we topped sugar beets, and we were there 'til the ground froze, that you couldn't lift the sugar beets anymore. We were there 'til Thanksgiving, then we came back to camp.

MN: What year was this? Was this 1943?

HF: Yeah, '43.

MN: The living conditions at Shelley, Idaho, were they any better than Manzanar?

HF: What do you mean by condition?

MN: Was it like a barrack situation in Shelley, Idaho, also?

HF: Oh, no. We were fortunate that we were able to live in a regular house. Whereas other people that went out there lived in railroad cars. They lived in not a very friendly situation.

MN: I know that working with the sugar beets is very hard work. Tell me about what you have to do to do work with the sugar beets, planting it, thinning it, and topping it.

HF: Well, after you thin it, you wait for it to grow, and then it was time to pull the beets out.

MN: How do you pull them out?

HF: You pull the beets out by the, they have a, I call it a knife with a hook on the end. And you stab the beet with that hook, and you pull it out of the ground.

MN: And you do that all day?

HF: Yeah.

MN: Now, while you were at Shelley, Idaho, did you visit a friend in Ogden, Utah?

HF: I went to visit the friend in Ogden.

MN: Did you get a travel permit to do that?

HF: No.

MN: You were free to go and then come back.

HF: Yeah.

<Begin Segment 19>

MN: Now, after you harvested the sugar beets, you returned to Manzanar.

HF: Yes.

MN: And then you received the leave clearance. What year did you leave Manzanar?

HF: Yes.

MN: Do you remember what year? Was that 1944 that you left Manzanar?

HF: Yes.

MN: You left with a friend to Denver, and you met some "voluntary evacuee" friends in Denver?

HF: Yeah.

MN: And then you left and you went to Chicago.

HF: Yeah.

MN: And then Chicago did not appeal to you.

HF: No.

MN: But you also saw Togo there.

HF: Huh?

MN: You also saw Togo Tanaka at Chicago.

HF: Yes.

MN: From Chicago you went to New York.

HF: Yeah.

MN: And you stayed at the Sloane House.

HF: Yes.

MN: And you went back to Manzanar to get your family to move to Farmingdale, Long Island.

HF: Yeah. After I found the place.

MN: And then you also got three families from Arkansas, the Arkansas camp to help you at Farmingdale.

HF: Yes.

MN: Was this from the Rohwer camp?

HF: I don't know which camp that was. I was not in Arkansas.

MN: But your father wanted to be self-employed, so you found a place in Deer Park, and your family was in the flower business for over forty years.

HF: That's right.

MN: Were there times that you missed the Japanese American community?

HF: There wasn't any.

MN: There wasn't any, so did you miss them?

HF: Huh?

MN: Because there was no Japanese Americans, did you miss Japanese Americans?

HF: In a way. But we were too busy.

MN: How about your parents?

HF: Well, the parents, they didn't stay at Deer Park very long, because Frank, my brother, they decided to go back to Santa Monica (in 1947). So he didn't help, so my parents went back. But my parents were too old, so he asked one of us to go back, and Jimmy went back (in 1950).

MN: And then you came back to Santa Monica in 1987?

HF: Yeah, that's after we were in Deer Park for forty years.

MN: And you sold the business and then you came back here? Is that what happened? What was it like to return to Santa Monica after forty-some years?

HF: Well, it was all right. Why it was all right is my brother had built a home for my parents, so they were living in a comfortable, big house.

MN: Now, Japanese Americans received redress and reparations. Did you ever think that that would ever happen?

HF: What was the question?

MN: The Japanese Americans received redress and reparations. Before that happened, did you ever think that could possibly happen?

HF: No, I didn't think it could happen.

MN: And once the government gave out the apology and the money, what did you think?

HF: Well, I didn't give it too much thought.