Hakone Gardens and Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066 forced the removal of James Sasaki and his family, the caretakers of Hakone Gardens. What happened to the estate while the Sasakis were incarcerated in camp?

About the Director
A native of the Santa Clara Valley, Curt Fukuda remembers riding his bike down King Road, when it was flanked by farms. He grew up as the area morphed from the agricultural Valley of the Heart’s Delight to Silicon Valley.

Curt has worked and collaborated on numerous projects encompassing multi-cultural themes and motifs since 1980. To each project Curt brings his background in filmmaking, photography, research and writing with a focus on narrative. Telling a story and exploring the cultural riches of different societies have been his chief motivators.

Among the books Curt has worked on are: Cuentos de el Día de los Muertos, Collectible G.I. Joe (which sold out in one month after publication), Day of the Dead: When Two Worlds Meet, and San Jose Japantown — A Journey. In addition, Curt had exhibited his photographs nationally and in Germany and Mexico. In 1998, Edward James Olmos invited Curt to participate in the Americanos! exhibition for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

In recent years for the Hidden Histories of San Jose Japantown, Curt created over forty videos on the San Jose Japantown community from a personal archive of interviews and photographs. In addition to videos, he organized and moderated live broadcasts featuring a diverse range of guests representing the Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and African American communities in San Jose Japantown.

Along with his work for the Hidden Histories of San Jose Japantown, Curt archived the Jack Matsuoka collection with Jim Nagareda for the Japanese American Museum of San Jose.

Historian Connie Young Yu invited Curt to create a film to accompany an exhibit at Hakone Gardens. The result is “Hakone Gardens and Executive Order 9066.”

Curt lives in Mountain View, Calif. with his wife, Monica Smith. He has two children, Richard and Eileen.

Plays in

Rooted in History

ROOTED IN HISTORY features three short documentary films focusing on a blooming rose, a Japanese garden and the…