Vibrant Portrait of a Watercolorist

On a page in one of Henry Fukuhara’s sketchbooks is the sentence: “Nothing is too late if you love it.”

For the man who painted his first watercolor in the Japanese internment camp at Manzanar and didn’t resume his art until his 60s, the phrase is especially poignant. Today, at 79, Fukuhara is a master watercolorist listed in “Who’s Who in American Art.” But he is much more. He volunteers his time to teach students to, in his words, come alive and sparkle.

His students, like him, have reached a point in their lives at which getting older translates into freedom--the kind that allows artistic expression without the burden of having to make a living from it.

“Selling wasn’t my goal,” Fukuhara said. “I was following what I wanted to do.”

But Fukuhara’s ability to adapt and accept has brought him to this productive time in his life. He was born and raised in Santa Monica and, after several decades in New York, once again lives in the house where he grew up.

“My father was in the nursery business, and while all of the Japanese we knew wanted to make money and go back to Japan, my father bought property and farmed. And then, in 1942, life went into suspension. We had just paid off my father’s debts and we were sent to a camp,” he said.

Fukuhara was already married with one child when his family, including his parents and brother and sister-in-law, were evacuated.

“We were not abused or harmed. To this day, I am not bitter, because it’s part of war. After all, so many young men didn’t return,” he said.

Life in the camp was quite simple, he said. The family was asked to go to work but it was not mandatory. But to keep from boredom, everyone did something. Fukuhara was in the drafting department.

“I would go out with a survey crew, and we’d survey a plot to dig a grave. Seemed like a joke, but that’s what we did,” he said. At one time the family of six adults and one child lived in one room. When a labor shortage developed in the Midwest, farmers came to the camps and recruited internees to harvest crops. Fukuhara and his brother went to Idaho to pick sugar beets, and when they returned to Manzanar they were told that they could leave the camp if they wanted to go east, but that they couldn’t return to the West Coast.

Henry Fukuhara and his family started their long trip across the United States, finally settling in New York, where he went into the wholesale florist business. Thirty year, later he began to study and paint again.

In 1987, Fukuhara and his wife, Fugiko, retired to Santa Monica. For him, “taking it easy” includes teaching in the Emeritus College Distinguished Scholars Series at Santa Monica College. He also works with students at the Venice Japanese Senior Community Center.

Fukuhara’s work is collected all over the United States and can be seen locally at Santa Monica College and UCLA.

Bulletin Board

Senior Talent Show--West Hollywood/Fairfax area senior citizens will show their talent; Fairfax Senior Citizens Center, 7929 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; 1:30 p.m. today; information: (213) 851-8202 (donation of one canned food item required).

Retired Teachers--The Santa Monica Bay Area division of California Retired Teachers will hold a luncheon meeting; First United Methodist Church, 1008 11th St., Santa Monica; 12:30 p.m. Tuesday; information: (310) 450-7808 ($7).

Legal Aid--A legal team from Bet Tzedek, House of Justice, will offer legal advice to needy senior citizens; Felicia Mahood Senior Multipurpose Center, 11338 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles; Tuesday; appointments required; information: (310) 479-4119 (free).

Medicare Coverage--Wise Senior Services will present attorney Cynthia Reich of the Medicare Advocacy Project, speaking on “Medicare Coverage in Nursing Homes”; Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th St., Santa Monica; 1 p.m. Tuesday; reservations required; information: (310) 394-9871 (free).