New digital tour honors the work of Japanese American artist incarcerated at Minidoka during WWII

The work and story of Japanese American painter Takuichi Fujii is now available via a digital tour produced by Friends of Minidoka — a nonprofit built to partner with the Minidoka National Historic Site where Fujii was incarcerated during World War II.

The tour, titled Transcendent: The Life and Work of Artist Takuichi Fujii and available online, incorporates Fujii’s paintings along with historic photographs and oral histories as it traces Fujii’s journey from Japan to Seattle to Minidoka and beyond.

Fujii’s work has been exhibited across the West Coast, and was featured in the First National Exhibition of American Art in New York City.

Fujii’s numerous paintings are the centerpiece of the tour, including sketches and drafts of early work along with final pieces. Much of the artwork is from the personal collection of art historian Sandy Kita, Fujii’s grandson. Kita also features in video elements of the digital tour.

The tour also highlights the experience of Fujii and his family as they were forcibly relocated during World War II because of their Japanese heritage. Fujii and his family were originally moved to horse stables at a temporary camp in Washington state before being moved to Minidoka in Idaho. First arriving in 1942, Fujii remained there until 1945.

The tour describes Fujii as achieving an artistic breakthrough during this time as he reckoned with the role of perspective in his painting.

“At its heart, this beautiful digital tour is about the power of art to affirm humanity,” said Robyn Achilles, executive director of Friends of Minidoka. “Fujii’s work reminds us that creativity can be an act of resistance, but also an act of preservation, compassion, and hope.”

The tour is part of the larger “Beyond the Barbed Wire: Japanese American Stories of the Pacific Northwest” initiative which highlights the experiences and legacies of Japanese Americans through World War II and beyond.

Friends of Minidoka plans to expand its digital tour offerings in partnership with Beyond the Barbed Wire, according to a May press release. The organization also expects to publish Minidoka XX, Fujii’s wartime journal to provide further understanding of Fujii’s life and painting during his time at Minidoka.