Arya News - Fourth-generation Japanese American Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson, 53, wrote the book based on the experiences of her grandfather, Shigeki Fujimoto. Interned at the Honouliuli Internment Camp on Oahu, Fujimoto collected small seashells to help him endure the harsh conditions there.
LOS ANGELES – A picture book depicting a Japanese American man’s life at an internment camp in Hawaii during World War II is drawing attention in the United States.
Fourth-generation Japanese American Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson, 53, wrote “Shell Song” based on the experiences of her grandfather Shigeki Fujimoto. Interned at the Honouliuli Internment Camp on Oahu, Fujimoto collected small seashells to help him endure the harsh conditions there.
Fujimoto-Johnson, who lives in California, said she wants to pass on the history and story of Hawaii’s largest internment camp to future generations.
Shigeki Fujimoto. PHOTO COURTESY OF SHARON FUJIMOTO-JOHNSON/THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Taken away from his family, Shigeki spent many long, lonely days searching for tiny seashells at the island prison, according to the book’s introduction. He collected the shells, labeled them and saved them with care. His collection has been passed down to his children and grandchildren.
“Shell Song” is based on the story of Shigeki’s wife Kikue and her autobiography. Fujimoto-Johnson’s illustrations effectively convey the texture of the seashells and Kikue’s kimono to create a sense of warmth.
When “Shell Song” was released by a major U.S. publisher in April last year, it received much praise from prominent U.S. authors and others as a perfect book for learning about a tragedy in U.S. history.
A second-generation Japanese American born in Hawaii, Shigeki took over his Japan-born father’s trading company, which handled Japanese products. In 1942, the year after the Imperial Japanese Navy’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Shigeki was arrested by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation as an “enemy alien.”
Then 29, he was sent to the Honouliuli Internment Camp located in a mountain valley that was once called “Jigoku Dani,” or hell valley, due to its harsh living environment of high temperatures, humidity and swarms of mosquitoes.
The Honouliuli Internment Camp in the mid-1940s. PHOTO: R.H. LODGE/HAWAII’S PLANTATION VILLAGE/THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
The camp was operated from 1943 to 1946. More than 4,000 people, including prisoners of war and Japanese Americans, were interned there, according to the U.S. National Park Service.
Unlike the U.S. mainland, where Japanese Americans were sent to camps across the board along with their families, influential figures such as Japanese-language teachers and politicians were arbitrarily chosen and sent to the camp in Hawaii.
According to Fujimoto-Johnson, Shigeki picked up seashells during his free time between forced labor shifts at the camp. Some of them were rough and spiky, while others had lines or were shaped like flower petals. Shigeki stored the shells in a matchbox with paper on which he wrote the names of the species.
When Shigeki returned to his family in 1945, he was suffering from respiratory and mental health problems. He lived quietly and passed away in 1963 at the age of 49.
For children
Fujimoto-Johnson learned about her late grandfather when she was about 10 years old. Her father gave her the seashells her grandfather collected at the internment camp. Fujimoto-Johnson said she immediately thought they were precious and treasured them.
Having learned about the history of her grandfather and many other Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps and read Kikue’s autobiography, which was written in Japanese, Fujimoto-Johnson wanted to share his story with others in the future.
Kikue died in 2014 at the age of 96. Fujimoto-Johnson read it as a college student and said she was moved by the autobiography’s tender description of Kikue’s memories with Shigeki.
Fujimoto-Johnson worked as a magazine editor, married and raised two daughters. She decided in her 40s, after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, to preserve Shigeki’s story in a picture book so that children can read it. An editor who liked her idea helped her publish the book, she said.
Camp tour
Last year marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, and Fujimoto-Johnson was invited to visit the camp as a family member of Shigeki by the National Park Service, which manages the site. She toured the area with her daughter, Lauren, 12.
Fujimoto-Johnson said she was overwhelmed by the intense sunlight and the surrounding mountains, and was deeply moved as she realized her grandfather had been there.
Interest in the camp also is growing in the United States. The site was discovered in 2002 and designated as a U.S. national monument in 2015.
In July, the National Park Service began offering tours of the site. Held once a month until December, the tours are so popular there is a waiting list of about 1,400 people.
About 125,000 Japanese Americans were interned in the United States during World War II, primarily on the West Coast. Each of those people has a story, Fujimoto-Johnson said, and she wants her daughters and future generations to know about that. The author is considering publishing a Japanese-language version of the picture book as well.