The Friendship and History Behind Tajiri’s Early War Paintings

In 2023, I discovered some very early oil paintings on cardboard. A few had pencil dates on the back revealing they were created in 1942, although unfortunately they had no titles. These paintings were made while Shinkichi Tajiri and his family were interned at the Santa Anita Assembly Center during World War II.

One of the paintings, rendered in warm brown and yellow tones, is a self-portrait of a young Tajiri.


Another painting, tinted in blues, depicts a figure holding another body. The third painting, in shades of green, shows a portrait of a figure.


Shinkichi Tajiri, Self portrait, 1942

Shinkichi Tajiri, War/Death, 1942

Shinkichi Tajiri, Alien, 1942

Early oil paintings (1942) by Shinkichi Tajiri

A May 6, 1943 article in Poston Chronicle reviews Tajiri’s very first exhibition at the Poston School Central Library. The article describes how the art-loving community began to recognize young Tajiri as Poston’s artist of the year. The writer was especially moved by Tajiri’s self-portrait, painted in shades of brown with touches of yellow. The article also recounts his time at the Santa Anita Assembly Center, where he studied with Hideo Date, worked alongside several Disney artists, and collaborated with Isamu Noguchi to set up art classes in Poston.

Although I was unable to find more information about these works, we decided to include them in the exhibition Shinkichi Tajiri: The Restless Wanderer because they are important to the story of his early artistic practice in camp.

While exploring another folder, I found a 1947 photo of a young Japanese American girl named Taz Itow. Until recently, I had not come across any references to her until her daughter, Leslie Olsen, reached out. She shared that she had discovered her mother’s archive, filled with personal letters from Tajiri dating from 1941 to 1948. Generously, she sent the entire collection to us. It contained over one hundred letters, photos, and drawings, all beautifully preserved.

Photo of Tazuko Itow (left) with her sister Chicko (right), West Los Angeles, July 1947

Backside photo of Tazuko Itow (left) with her sister Chicko (right), West Los Angeles, July 1947

Photo of Tazuko Itow (left) with her sister Chicko (right), West Los Angeles, July 1947

Tazuko Itow was born in Pasadena on December 19, 1924. Her family was interned at the Gila Relocation Center in Arizona. In their letters, Tajiri and Itow wrote about life in the camps, exchanged thoughts on art and books, discussed Tajiri’s training with the 442nd Regiment Combat Team, his experiences after being wounded, and eventually his self-imposed exile from the United States.

One letter included small prints of his early camp artworks, with notes on the back describing his creative process and titles. To my delight, these matched the paintings we had discovered earlier.

On the back of the print of the self-portrait, Tajiri writes that although it was intended as a self-portrait, he feels it does not resemble him. He worked on it for a couple of hours but was eventually unhappy and finished it in a rough manner. His teacher believed it was scholarship-worthy.


The other work is titled War or Death, but he was unsure which title fit best. He asked Taz for her opinion.


The last print includes information about the portrait of the figure, called Alien. This work was actually made about a month before the family’s evacuation to camp.

The small prints that contain information on the early paintings attached to one of the letters in Itow's archive.

As I continue exploring the archive, I remain amazed that these works, which are over eighty years old, have survived so many moves and so much time. Connecting these pieces with their stories has been a true treasure. Receiving this archive and seeing how carefully it has been preserved has been an incredible gift. It is deeply moving to witness Tajiri at such a young and pivotal moment in his life.

For more information:

Poston Chronicle, May 6, 1943.pdf

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