Asian Heritage Issue
May 7, 2018
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 15
Travelling exhibit about the life and work of
Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani now on display in Portland
“Select Works by
Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani”
On view through September 16, 2018
Emerson Street House
1006 N.E. Emerson Street, Portland
The Cats of Mirikitani
Film screenings
May 29 & June 10, 7:00pm
Clinton Street Theater
2522 S.E. Clinton Street, Portland
An exhibit about the life and work of
artist
Jimmy
Tsutomu
Mirikitani
(1920-2012) has opened at Emerson Street
House in northeast Portland. Curated by
Roger Shimomura and produced by
Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum of the Asian
Pacific American Experience, “Select
Works by Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani” is a
poignant exploration of the lasting
impacts of war and discrimination and the
healing power of creativity.
Mirikitani, who was interned by the
U.S. government during World War II,
was selling his art on the streets of New
York City when he became the subject of a
documentary, The Cats of Mirikitani, by
filmmaker Linda Hattendorf. After the
2001 terrorist attacks in New York,
Hattendorf invited her documentary
subject, the homeless, Sacramento-born,
Hiroshima-raised Mirikitani, into her
small apartment, and joined him on his
road to healing.
After living in Japan during his youth,
Mirikitani moved back to the United
States at age 18 to pursue a career in art
and escape growing militarism in Japan.
He was living with his sister Kazuko and
her family in Seattle when the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Executive Order 9066 forced Jimmy and
his sister to leave their home and move to
separate internment camps hundreds of
miles apart. Kazuko was sent to Minidoka
in Idaho while Jimmy was sent to Tule
Lake in northern California.
When
the
government
required
internees to take a loyalty test, Tule Lake
became a segregation center where those
deemed “disloyal” were congregated.
Thousands there renounced their U.S.
citizenship in protest, including Mr.
Mirikitani. A lawyer worked for decades to
help Jimmy and 5,000 other renunciants
reclaim the citizenship they had given up
under duress.
Mirikitani arrived in New York City in
the early 1950s to try to resume his art
career. When an art professor found him
sleeping in Columbia University’s library,
he was referred to the New York Buddhist
Church, where he was provided room,
board, and training as a cook. For years he
performed seasonal work in resorts,
summer camps, and country clubs on the
east coast. While cooking at a restaurant
on Long Island, he met Jackson Pollock.
Jimmy’s U.S. citizenship was finally
restored in 1959, but he had moved so often
that the government’s letter to inform him
was never received. Eventually, he became
a live-in cook on Park Avenue. When his
employer died in the late 1980s, though,
Jimmy became homeless and unemployed.
Within a year, he was living in
Washington Square Park in New York
City’s Greenwich Village, selling his
artwork to survive. In 2001, he met
filmmaker Hattendorf.
Screenings of Hattendorf’s The Cats of
Mirikitani documentary are scheduled at
the Clinton Street Theater, located at 2522
S.E. Clinton Street in Portland, on May 29
and June 10 at 7:00pm.
The display at Emerson Street House
features about 30 pieces of Jimmy’s art,
including works titled “Hiroshima Peace
Memorial,” “Bamboo,” “Crab,” “Cat with
Still Life,” “Korean Tiger,” and “World
Trade Center.”
A book written by Loriene Honda fea-
turing Mirikitani’s artwork, The Cat who
Chose to Dream, was published in 2014 by
READ ABOUT THE ASIAN REPORTER
FOUNDATION’S 2018 AWARD RECIPIENTS!
Our special banquet issue recognizing the efforts and
accomplishments of area Asian Americans will be available
online May 21, 2018 at <www.asianreporter.com>.
RECEIVE A FREE
$
5
JIMMY’S JOURNEY. An exhibit about the
life and work of artist Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani
(1920-2012) has opened at Emerson Street House in
northeast Portland. “Select Works by Jimmy Tsutomu
Mirikitani,” a poignant exploration of the lasting im-
pacts of war and discrimination and the healing power
of creativity, was curated by Roger Shimomura and
produced by Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum of the
Asian Pacific American Experience. (Photo/Masa
Yoshikawa, courtesy of the Independent Television
Service)
Martin Pearl Publishing. The book shares
the story of a cat’s choice to be incarcerated
at a World War II prison camp as a gesture
of loving support to the Japanese-
American family to whom he belongs.
Readers witness through the cat’s eyes the
devastating condition of the camp and the
sense of injustice witnessing his family go
through such a demoralizing experience.
The book also includes therapeutic
relaxation and visualization techniques
that allow young readers to share in the
cat’s triumph over feelings of hopelessness
and anger while seeing the cat’s use of
breathing and visualization exercises.
Several copies of The Cat who Chose to
Dream are available for purchase when
viewing the art display (while supplies
last).
“Select Works by Jimmy Tsutomu
Mirikitani” is on view through September
16, 2018 at Emerson Street House, located
at 1006 N.E. Emerson Street in Portland.
The exhibit is open to the public
Wednesday through Sunday from 1:00pm
to 4:00pm and by appointment. To learn
more, call (323) 632-6638 or visit <www.
emersonstreethouse.com>.
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