{"id":"Fujikawa (film)","doctype":"articles","links":{"html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/Fujikawa%20(film)/","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/articles/Fujikawa%20(film)/"},"title_sort":"fujikawafilm","description":"Documentary film that profiles second generation fisherman Fred Fujikawa through the eyes of his nineteen-year-old nephew Michael Shiroishi. Narrated in Shiroishi's first-person voice, it is his first time accompanying his uncle. Over the course of the voyage, we learn about Fujikawa's family, who were among the Japanese Americans who settled on\n \n Terminal Island\n \n prior to World War II, along with the history of Japanese Americans in the fishing industry, while also getting a glimpse of life aboard a fishing boat and of Fujikawa and his brother building and launching a new boat. There is a brief segment on the internment of Terminal Island fishermen—including Shiroishi's grandfather—and the subsequent destruction of the Japanese American community there. \"It's a sad deal,\" recalls Fujikawa.","rg_rgmediatype":["films"],"mediatype_label":"Films and Video","mediatype_icon":"fa-film","rg_interestlevel":["Grades 7-8","Grades 9-12","Adult"],"rg_genre":["Documentary"],"rg_theme":["Beauty of simplicity","Man against nature","Wisdom of experience"],"rg_availability":["Limited availability"],"categories":[{"title":"Arts"}],"topics":[],"authors":[{"title":"Brian Niiya","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/authors/Brian%20Niiya/","html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/authors/Brian%20Niiya/"}],"sources":[],"title":"Fujikawa (film)","published_rg":true,"modified":"2025-07-03T16:06:52","databoxes":{"rgdatabox-Core":{"rgmediatype":["films"],"title":["Fujikawa"],"creators":[],"interestlevel":["Grades 7-8","Grades 9-12","Adult"],"readinglevel":[],"guidedreadinglevel":[],"lexile":[],"theme":["Beauty of simplicity","Man against nature","Wisdom of experience"],"genre":["Documentary"],"pov":["Nisei fisherman of the 1970s"],"relatedevents":[],"availability":["Limited availability"],"freewebversion":["No"],"primarysecondary":[],"hasteachingaids":["No"],"warnings":[],"denshotopic":["Industry and employment-Fishing and canneries [10]"],"geography":["Los Angeles"],"chronology":["1970s"],"facility":[]},"databox-Films":{"title":["Fujikawa"],"date":["1979"],"genre":[],"released":[],"director":["Frank Nesbitt","Michael Toshiyuki Uno"],"producer":["Michael Toshiyuki Uno"],"writer":["Michael Toshiyuki Uno"],"screenplay":[],"story":[],"basedon":[],"narrator":[],"starring":[],"music":["Dan Kuramoto"],"cinematography":["Frank Nesbitt","John W. Wong"],"editing":["Michael Toshiyuki Uno"],"studio":["Educational Film Center"],"distributor":[],"runtime":["28 minutes"],"country":[],"language":[],"budget":[],"gross":[],"imdblink":[],"trailerlink":[]}},"rg_title":["Fujikawa"],"rg_pov":["Nisei fisherman of the 1970s"],"rg_freewebversion":["No"],"rg_geography":["Los Angeles"],"rg_chronology":["1970s"],"rg_hasteachingaids":["No"],"body":"
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\n Title:Fujikawa;\nDate:1979; \nGenre:;\nReleased:;\nDirector:Frank Nesbitt; Michael Toshiyuki Uno;\nProducer:Michael Toshiyuki Uno;\nWriter:Michael Toshiyuki Uno;\nScreenplay:;\nStory:;\nBasedOn:;\nNarrator:;\nStarring:;\nMusic:Dan Kuramoto;\nCinematography:Frank Nesbitt; John W. Wong;\nEditing:Michael Toshiyuki Uno;\nStudio:Educational Film Center;\nDistributor:;\nRuntime:28 minutes;\nCountry:;\nLanguage:;\nBudget:;\nGross:;\nIMDBLink:;\nTrailerLink:;\n

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\n RGMediaType:films;\nTitle:Fujikawa;\nCreators:;\nInterestLevel:Grades 7-8; Grades 9-12; Adult;\nReadingLevel:;\nGuidedReadingLevel:;\nLexile:;\nTheme:Beauty of simplicity; Man against nature; Wisdom of experience;\nGenre:Documentary;\nPoV:Nisei fisherman of the 1970s;\nRelatedEvents:;\nAvailability:Limited availability;\nFreeWebVersion:No;\nPrimarySecondary:;\nHasTeachingAids:No;\nWarnings:;\nDenshoTopic:Industry and employment-Fishing and canneries [10];\nGeography:Los Angeles;\nChronology:1970s;\nFacility:;\n

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\n Documentary film that profiles second generation fisherman Fred Fujikawa through the eyes of his nineteen-year-old nephew Michael Shiroishi. Narrated in Shiroishi's first-person voice, it is his first time accompanying his uncle. Over the course of the voyage, we learn about Fujikawa's family, who were among the Japanese Americans who settled on\n \n Terminal Island\n \n prior to World War II, along with the history of Japanese Americans in the fishing industry, while also getting a glimpse of life aboard a fishing boat and of Fujikawa and his brother building and launching a new boat. There is a brief segment on the internment of Terminal Island fishermen—including Shiroishi's grandfather—and the subsequent destruction of the Japanese American community there. \"It's a sad deal,\" recalls Fujikawa.\n

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\n \n Fujikawa\n \n —along with\n \n \n Emi\n \n \n , a film by the same creative team about a Nisei woman's return to Manzanar and Terminal Island—was produced as part of a pioneering Asian American film series titled\n \n Pearls\n \n by the Educational Film Center and funded by a grant via the Office of Education Emergency School Assistance Act.\n

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\n \n Authored by\n \n Brian Niiya\n \n , Densho\n \n
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\n Niiya, Brian\n
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\n Might also like\n \n \n The Lost Village of Terminal Island\n \n \n (2007);\n \n \n A Time Remembered: The Terminal Island Story\n \n \n (1994);\n \n \n Manzanar Fishing Club\n \n \n (2012)\n

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\n \n For More Information\n \n

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\n Shiki, Joe. \"Oscar Nomination to Open Doors for Sansei.\"\n \n Rafu Shimpo\n \n , Apr. 13, 1983, 1.\n

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