"A Far Country: Gaman Birds of Masato Wayne Sumida at the Armory Centerfor the Arts in Pasadena

My friend Jim and I roamed through the Armory Center in Pasadena to view the current exhibitions.  We were most interested in the birds and animals carved and painted by Masato Wayne Sumida while interned at Poston War Relocation Center in La Paz County, Arizona during World War II.  The Relocation Center was located on a reservation three miles east of the Colorado River and was the largest Japanese internment camp, known for its poor sanitation and unsettling relations between the interned Japanese and the Colorado Native Americans who remained on the land.

Sumida's carvings - between 1" and 5' - depict a variety of brightly colored creatures...most of them beautiful birds.  His practice was associated with "gaman," the Japanese Zen Buddhist term that refers to the idea of bearing through suffering with dignity and patience.  After the beginning of the war, ethnic Japanese were notified that they would be relocated within a week and could take only what they could carry.  After working to make the camps more livable, they turned to arts that symbolized their resilience and composure. 

Sumida's granddaughter and her husband found the items stored in a large trash can in her grandparents' garage after their death in 1999.  They began preserving the collection.

Masato Wayne Sumida was born in Hiroshima Prefecture in 1903 and orphaned at an early age.  When he was 14, he took a boat to Mexico, arriving there illegally.  He later swam across the Rio Grande River to enter the US.  He worked as a gardener in Boyle Heights before being interned and later worked as a sign painter in Gardena.