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I was very happy to get your letter and I will try to answer your questions and tell you something about my activities and attitudes concerning the war. [[strikethrough]]Myself[[/strikethrough]]

I was born in the southern part of the main island of Japan in the town of OKAYAMA a long long time ago and I came to America in 1906 as a boy all by myself.

When I was a boy I was very romantic. I wanted to see the world and all its people that I didn't have any idea at that time that I wanted to become an artist. I just came here to U.S. and planned to go home after a few years of studying English. Frankly that was about all I had on my mind when I first came here.

I landed in Seattle and then I went to Los Angeles where I attended Public school. There, one of my teachers urged me to study painting because she thought I was talented - this was how I started my art career - [[?]] by accident. Although I always like to draw and enjoyed seeing pictures I didn't dream of being an artist until that time - nor did I think at that time that was going to stay in America so many years. I am glad and happy that I have stayed and I will stay all my life because this is my home - America gave me everything - taught me the democratic way of life which to me is the real essence of worthwhile living. If I had children I would be very proud of their being American, whether or not they became artists. I am proud to feel myself as an American artist and [[strikethrough]] I am [[/strikethrough]] proud to be generally [?] of in that way. Artists are valuable in a country because they have vision and they add it to its cultural background, which is the one real strength of a democratic nation.