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Letter from the Federation of Japanese Artists translated by:

Mrs. Ishigaki
Mr. Kuniyoshi

July 1950

Mr. Yasuo Kuniyoshi
President, Artists Equity Association

Dear Mr. Kuniyoshi:

Some time ago we sent you a message through Mr. T. Takamatsu, the correspondent of the MAINICHI Press and we were grateful for your prompt reply to our President, Mr. Yasui. We are delighted to know that you, a native of Japan, hold the honorable position of President of the American Artists Equity Association. Of this we are proud and it is of great encouragement to us who are forced to live in the narrow island of Japan. We are also grateful for the letter and the material sent to us by Mr. Hudson D. Walker. They have been quite helpful in guiding the activities of the Federation of Japanese Artists.

But first I must apologize for not having answered you before. Mr. Walker had written us that AEA would send to Japan photographs of the works done by your members and we decided to reply to your kind offer by sending ours to you. We notified every member to bring in his work. This would have been no trouble at all in the pre-war Japan, but now things have changed and we are having a difficult time collecting them. Some artists completely lost the copies of their paintings during the war. It has been almost impossible to have their work photographed in the past few years and many do not have reproductions of their recent work. At the urgent request of our organization some artists have at last made them. We intended to write you when these copies were sent to America. Please forgive us for the long delay.

It was one year ago that the Japanese Artists Federation was organized. We felt for a long time the need of such an organization, but because of the peculiar traditions of Japan, it was not realized until one year ago. This organization was born only through the great efforts of artists. Naturally we are very happy about it and at the same time feel the responsibility.

In the past, many projects and activities carried out in the Japanese art world have been supported one way or another by outsiders. Our Federation is the exception. With zeal and determination we are carrying on our activities without outside supporters. We are proud of it, but we lack financial support and we have not been able to do as much as we wanted done in the past year.