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{ "url_title": "Kitaro Uetsuji", "title_sort": "uetsujikitaro", "links": { "json": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Kitaro%20Uetsuji/?format=api", "html": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Kitaro%20Uetsuji?format=api" }, "modified": "2022-07-27T14:34:48", "title": "Kitaro Uetsuji", "body": "<div class=\"mw-parser-output\">\n <div id=\"databox-PeopleDisplay\">\n <table class=\"infobox\" width=\"200px;\">\n <tbody>\n <tr>\n <th scope=\"row\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\n Name\n </th>\n <td style=\"text-align:left;\">\n Kitaro Uetsuji\n </td>\n </tr>\n <tr>\n <th scope=\"row\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\n Born\n </th>\n <td style=\"text-align:left;\">\n January 17 1899\n </td>\n </tr>\n <tr>\n <th scope=\"row\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\n Birth Location\n </th>\n <td style=\"text-align:left;\">\n Japan\n </td>\n </tr>\n <tr>\n <th scope=\"row\" style=\"text-align:left;\">\n Generational Identifier\n </th>\n <td style=\"text-align:left;\">\n <p>\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Issei/\" title=\"Issei\">\n Issei\n </a>\n </p>\n </td>\n </tr>\n </tbody>\n </table>\n </div>\n <div id=\"databox-People\" style=\"display:none;\">\n <p>\n FirstName:Kitaro;\nLastName:Uetsuji;\nDisplayName:Kitaro Uetsuji;\nBirthDate:1899-01-17;\nDeathDate:;\nBirthLocation:Japan;\nGender:Male;\nEthnicity:JA;\nGenerationIdentifier:Issei;\nNationality:;\nExternalResourceLink:;\nPrimaryGeography:;\nReligion:;\n </p>\n </div>\n <p>\n <i>\n Issei\n </i>\n artist Kitaro Uetsuji (aka Uetsugi or Uetsuzi) was an accomplished oil and watercolor painter and illustrator who studied at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and exhibited his work prewar to critical acclaim.\n </p>\n <p>\n Although Uetsuji's birthplace is unknown, immigration records show that he came to the United States from Southern Honshu, Japan, in 1913. He immediately settled in Los Angeles, California, and was actively exhibiting his watercolor and oil paintings and illustrations by the 1920s and 1930s. From 1924-27, he enrolled at the Otis Art Institute of the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art, studying design and commercial art, in the company of fellow Japanese American artists\n <i>\n Hideo Date\n </i>\n and\n <i>\n Benji Okubo\n </i>\n . An article in the\n <i>\n Los Angeles Times\n </i>\n from June 19, 1926 reported \"Uetsugi\" as the recipient of a Bivouac Art Club prize of $25.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref1_1-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref1-1\">\n [1]\n </a>\n </sup>\n According to an article in the\n <i>\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Rafu_Shimpo_(newspaper)/\" title=\"Rafu Shimpo (newspaper)\">\n Rafu Shimpo\n </a>\n </i>\n newspaper from 1927, he had also studied art in Japan, stating that \"he enrolled at the Otis Art Institute three years ago with the hopes of learning the American methods in order to combine the two vastly different techniques (Occidental and Oriental). That he has met with much success is indicated by the fact that he has won several prizes at the Institute and is rapidly winning recognition.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref2_2-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref2-2\">\n [2]\n </a>\n </sup>\n He exhibited his painting, \"The Letter,\" in the 1926 Modern Art Workers show held at the Los Angeles Museum, which was mentioned in a 1930 article in the\n <i>\n Los Angeles Times\n </i>\n as \"amusing\" and \"One of the few that carries on in the Japanese manner.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref3_3-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref3-3\">\n [3]\n </a>\n </sup>\n In 1929, he was included in an exhibit of twenty-four Japanese artists (sponsored by the\n <i>\n Japanese-American Daily News\n </i>\n ) held at 219 North San Pedro Street, which was again reviewed in the\n <i>\n Los Angeles Times\n </i>\n , which proclaimed, \"The best things in the exhibition deserve to be shown to a wider audience at the Los Angeles Museum and we confidently predict such a showing.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref4_4-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref4-4\">\n [4]\n </a>\n </sup>\n In 1930, Uetsuji's paintings were included in the Second Annual Japanese Artists of Los Angeles show, held in Little Tokyo, which included other Issei artists\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Tokio_Ueyama/\" title=\"Tokio Ueyama\">\n Tokio Ueyama\n </a>\n , Torajiro Watanabe, Hideo Date, and Yotoku Miyagi.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref5_5-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref5-5\">\n [5]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <p>\n Following the passage of\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Executive_Order_9066/\" title=\"Executive Order 9066\">\n Executive Order 9066\n </a>\n , which authorized the mass incarceration of all Japanese living on the West Coast, Uetsuji was incarcerated at\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Manzanar/\" title=\"Manzanar\">\n Manzanar\n </a>\n in California.\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/War_Relocation_Authority/\" title=\"War Relocation Authority\">\n War Relocation Authority\n </a>\n records list him as a widower and his profession as a decorator and window dresser. While in camp, he taught art classes at Manzanar's Art Institute, and in August 1942, helped organize a student exhibition that included woodcraft, wood etchings, pencil sketches and twenty-two art posters, painted by his students.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref6_6-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref6-6\">\n [6]\n </a>\n </sup>\n Uetsuji also exhibited a series of over one hundred humorous pictures, depicting the everyday life of Manzanar residents, which was reported in the\n <i>\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Manzanar_Free_Press_(newspaper)/\" title=\"Manzanar Free Press (newspaper)\">\n Manzanar Free Press\n </a>\n </i>\n as \"Contradicting the fallacy that the Japanese are devoid of humor.\" The article describes the exhibit, which was displayed in various mess halls as \"enough to tickle anyone's funny bone. There is a caricature of the typical nisei damsel with a 'daikon ashi.' Scenes showing embarrassing shower room sights, intimate barrack room conditions, children's playground activities, are among others depicted in the pictures.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref7_7-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref7-7\">\n [7]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <p>\n According to the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Tule_Lake/\" title=\"Tule Lake\">\n Tule Lake\n </a>\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Final_Accountability_Roster/\" title=\"Final Accountability Roster\">\n Final Accountability Roster\n </a>\n , Uetsuji entered Tule Lake in February 1944 and returned to Japan on December 27, 1945. There are no records that indicate his whereabouts after the war, and his death date and location are also unknown. Other than the painting of Merritt Park that is in the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Manzanar_National_Historic_Site/\" title=\"Manzanar National Historic Site\">\n Manzanar National Historic Site\n </a>\n collection, it is unclear if any of his paintings still exist in the U.S.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref8_8-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref8-8\">\n [8]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <div id=\"authorByline\">\n <b>\n Authored by\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Patricia_Wakida/\" title=\"Patricia Wakida\">\n Patricia Wakida\n </a>\n </b>\n </div>\n <div id=\"citationAuthor\" style=\"display:none;\">\n Wakida, Patricia\n </div>\n <div class=\"section\" id=\"For_More_Information\">\n <h2>\n <span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"For_More_Information\">\n For More Information\n </span>\n </h2>\n <div class=\"section_content\">\n <p>\n Chang, Gordon H., Mark Dean Johnson, and Paul J. Karlstrom, editors.\n <i>\n Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970\n </i>\n . Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2008.\n </p>\n </div>\n </div>\n <div class=\"section\" id=\"Footnotes\">\n <h2>\n <span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"Footnotes\">\n Footnotes\n </span>\n </h2>\n <div class=\"section_content\">\n <div class=\"reflist\" style=\"list-style-type: decimal;\">\n <div class=\"mw-references-wrap\">\n <ol class=\"references\">\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref1-1\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref1_1-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Students in Art School Show Work,\"\n <i>\n Los Angeles Times\n </i>\n , June 19, 1926, 7.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref2-2\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref2_2-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"Japanese Wins Many Prizes at Art School,\"\n <i>\n Rafu Shimpo\n </i>\n , Feb. 21, 1927.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref3-3\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref3_3-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"City's Japanese Show Art.\"\n <i>\n Los Angeles Times\n </i>\n , Dec. 29, 1929, 9.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref4-4\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref4_4-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"Art Talent Among the Local Japanese,\"\n <i>\n Los Angeles Times\n </i>\n , Dec. 21, 1930. 15.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref5-5\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref5_5-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Gordon H. Chang, Mark Dean Johnson, and Paul J. Karlstrom, editors,\n <i>\n Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970\n </i>\n (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2008), 494.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref6-6\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref6_6-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"Art Exhibit in Block 2 Office,\"\n <i>\n Manzanar Free Press\n </i>\n , Aug. 5, 1942, 2.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref7-7\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref7_7-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"Local Artists Show Humor in Sketches,\"\n <i>\n Manzanar Free Press\n </i>\n , Mar. 24, 1943. 5.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref8-8\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref8_8-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"Merritt Park\" painting by K. Uetsuzi, 1943,\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"https://www.nps.gov/places/merritt-park.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n https://www.nps.gov/places/merritt-park.htm\n </a>\n .\n </span>\n </li>\n </ol>\n </div>\n </div>\n <!-- \nNewPP limit report\nCached time: 20230521153711\nCache expiry: 86400\nDynamic content: false\nComplications: []\nCPU time usage: 0.017 seconds\nReal time usage: 0.022 seconds\nPreprocessor visited node count: 231/1000000\nPost‐expand include size: 1767/2097152 bytes\nTemplate argument size: 171/2097152 bytes\nHighest expansion depth: 6/40\nExpensive parser function count: 0/100\nUnstrip recursion depth: 0/20\nUnstrip post‐expand size: 2968/5000000 bytes\nExtLoops count: 0\n-->\n <!--\nTransclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template)\n100.00% 16.946 1 -total\n 37.80% 6.405 1 Template:Databox-People\n 19.16% 3.246 1 Template:Reflist\n 8.37% 1.418 1 Template:AuthorByline\n 7.81% 1.323 1 Template:Published\n-->\n <!-- Saved in parser cache with key encycmw:pcache:idhash:1970-0!canonical and timestamp 20230521153711 and revision id 34684\n -->\n </div>\n </div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"toplink\">\n <a href=\"#top\">\n <i class=\"icon-chevron-up\">\n </i>\n Top\n </a>\n</div>", "categories": [ "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/categories/Arts/?format=api", "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/categories/People/?format=api" ], "sources": [], "coordinates": {}, "authors": [ "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/authors/Patricia%20Wakida/?format=api" ], "ddr_topic_terms": [], "prev_page": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Kinichi%20Nakanishi/?format=api", "next_page": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Kiyoo%20Harry%20Nobuyuki/?format=api" }