Tsutomu Mirikitani

In ethnic American literature we watched the story of Jimmy Mirikitani born Tsutomu Mirikitani who was a Japanese artist living on the streets of New York City for years until being taken in by a filmmaker who took an interest in him and uncovering his story. The story of Jimmy Mirikitani is a story that genuinely touched me. His story was really impacting for a few reason and it was definitely a story that was thought provoking and even made me analyze myself as a person.  

    How many times do you see a homeless person as pass judgment upon them? We sometimes see homeless people and the ugly parts of a characters rare there heads. Sometimes people do not stop to think of others and their stories and there hardships and what they have gone through that has brought them to their current place in life. Jimmy Mirikitani was definitely a lesson for me. Mirikitani was a promising artist who came to America to revolutionize art he had passion for his craft and passion for perfecting it; and for awhile he ran within the art circle. However things definitely changed for him because of world war II and the tension and conflicts going on between America and the Japan at the time the Japanese were unfairly stereotyped. This was the beginning of the injustice of the American system that he experienced.

Jimmy Mirikitani was imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp and his American citizenship was taken away even though he was an American born Japanese. Without a citizenship his growth and success as an artist in America was crippled. To add insult to injury Jimmy Mirikitani was scared by his experiences in the Japanese internment camp. So much that he often depicted that time in his life through his art over and over again. With the help of his filmmaker friend he was able to get the help from the government that he needed and get some closer. At the end of the film Jimmy Mirikitani took a trip back to the internment camp during a reunion ceremony to honor those who had to go through sad part of history.