Fujihara History
Fujihara Family History
Jun Bokuhuku was born on April 5, 1909, in Kunsun, Korea (South Korea). She attended the primary school and Merry Bowellton Junior High School (American missionary school) in Kunsun, Korea. She then went on to study at Senshin High School for Women (Buddhist School of Shingon-sect, connected with Koyasan) in Osaka, Japan. After graduating from high school, she attended Japan Women’s College in Tokyo, where she majored in Home Economics. In that time period, it was extremely out of the ordinary for a woman to attend college, and even more so for a Korean woman in a Japanese college, due to the prejudices between the Japanese and Koreans.
While attending college she met Katsuji Fujihara, a Japanese surgeon and sculptor. He was attracted to Jun’s beauty and her determination. Although Katsuji’s middle-class (Samuri) family did not approve of his relationship with a Korean woman, the relationship continued, which eventually led to marriage. Jun and Katsuji had two children, Hinako (March 28, 1932) and Sunako (October 31, 1933). Unfortunately, Katsuji was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died just ten months after the birth of Sunako. With little or no support from Katsuji’s family, Jun was tasked with raising two young girls without the help of a father.
In Japan at that time, a widowed woman with children was considered a doomed woman. No man would think of establishing a relationship with a woman in this situation; therefore, it was up to Jun alone to provide for her daughters. Jun started to sew for a living to support the family using the little knowledge of dressmaking she learned from college. During World War II there was a massive food shortage, and the Japanese government allowed communities to harvest the mountain potato fields. Jun and Sunako would get up early to walk an hour to the fields (carrying hoes and wearing straw sandals) to dig potatoes most of the day, just to bring home the necessary food to survive. Hinako would occasionally participate (mainly during sweet potato season) but would remain at home and write poetry and practice her singing.
The family was very poor, and during wartime, there were occasional air bombing alarms, and everyone would need to scramble to their assigned shelters. There were many daily obstacles that added to the difficult life; however, the two girls still did very well in school. Both girls attended school at Minoh Jiyu Gakuen, Minoujugakuen Elementary School, and Baika Jogakuin High School. Hinako was the more sociable of the two daughters, whereas Sunako was the more intelligent. These traits would very much contribute to their success in the future.
Jun did eventually remarry and had another daughter, Ahiko. Jun’s first two daughters would refer to their stepfather as “Otosan” (respectful and affectionate term for father). Hinako remembered that after school, she (carrying baby Ahiko on her back) and Sunako would go and buy “street vendor” treats (considered poor children’s junk food); they very much craved these cheap delicacies.
The three went through very rough times during World War II, but their lives would gradually change due to their dedication, education, and love for art.
Jun Fujihara
Jun Bokuhuku was born on April 5, 1909, in Kunsun, Korea (South Korea). She attended Primary School and Merry Bowellton Junior High School (American Missionary School) in Kunsun, Korea. She then went on to study at Senshin High School for Women (Buddhist School of Shingon-sect, connected with Koyasan) in Osaka, Japan. After graduating from High School, she attended Japan Women’s College in Tokyo, Japan where she majored in Home Economics. In those days and location, it was out of the ordinary for a woman to attend college, and even more so a Korean woman in a Japanese college, due to the prejudices between the Japanese and Koreans at that time.
While attending college she met Katsuji Fujihara, a Japanese surgeon and sculptor. He was attracted to Jun’s beauty and her determination. Although Katsuji’s family did not approve of his relationship with a Korean woman, the relationship continued, which eventually led to marriage. Jun and Katsuji had two children, Hinako (1932) and Sunako (1933). Unfortunately, Katsuji was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died just 10 months after the birth of Sunako. With little or no support from Katsuji’s family, Jun was tasked with raising two young girls without the help of a father.
In Japan at that time, a widowed woman with children was considered a doomed woman. No man would think of establishing a relationship with a woman in this situation, therefore it was up to Jun to provide for her daughters. Jun started to sew for a living to support the family using the little knowledge of dress making she learned from college. Times were very tough in those days, the Japanese government owned yam fields and would allow communities to harvest and bring home some of the yams. Jun and her two girls would get up early to walk the few miles to the yam fields and bring home the necessary food to survive. They were very poor, however the two girls did very well in school and supported their mother. Hinako was the more sociable of the two daughters, whereas Sunako the more intelligent.
Jun did eventually remarry and had another daughter Aiko. Jun’s first two daughters would refer to their stepfather as “Otosan” (respectful and affectionate term for father). Hinako remembered that after school, she (carrying baby Aiko on her back) and Sunako would go and buy “street vendor” treats (considered poor children junk food), but they very much craved these cheap delicacies. Their grade school years coincided with World War II, therefore occasionally air raid sirens would sound, and all would need to take cover in shelters. These were very tough times but would only create a stronger family bond and strengthen the will to survive.
The Art of Jun Fujihara
Hinako Fujihara
“It is my specific intent and desire to promote my husband, Alan Hovhaness’s music, such that his name will be imprinted on the pages of our history of music as the greatest composer of the twentieth century, side by side with Mozart, Beethoven, et. al, i.e., the great composers of the past.”
She was born Hinako Fujihara on March 28, 1932, in Osaka, Japan, daughter of a Japanese father (Katsuji Fujihara) and a Korean mother (Jun Bokuhuku). She attended school at Minoh Jiyu Gakuen, Minoujugakuen Elementary School, and Baika Jogakuin High School. Hinako’s father died of tuberculosis when she was two years old, and her mother raised Hinako and her sister while working as a dressmaker. They lived very poorly and relied on harvesting potatoes from government fields for food, during World War II.
When Hinako was seventeen, she had an interest in Koto (traditional Japanese string instrument), Japanese dance, ballet, vocal music and piano. She was able to establish an internship at the Daiei Film Company in Kyoto, and through this experience she appeared in several advertisements and played in a Japanese movie role. During the Korean War, she performed as a singer performing in a club for American soldiers, where she met the club manager, Peter Holst.
After a long relationship, Hinako and Peter were married in Osaka, and Peter secured an honorable discharge from the army in 1956. They moved to Seattle, Washington, where they started a family of three children (June, Joni, and Bill).
While Hinako cared for the children, she also continued her studies as a singer, where she performed in the Seattle Opera auxiliary chorus, and church soloist. During a piano recital in 1974, she met Alan Hovhaness. After both Hinako and Alan went through divorces, they were married in 1977. Alan once stated, “I always wanted to marry a Japanese girl, and unfortunately earlier in life I always found myself not married to a Japanese girl.” Hinako continued her singing career and also became Alan’s financial manager, so that he could concentrate on composing.
Once married, Hinako established Fujihara Music Company, Inc., which gave them full royalties and control of Alan’s new music. Hinako ran the publishing company and distributed the new music. All of Alan’s schedule and financial decisions were made by Hinako. Later in July of 1980, Fujihara Music Company, Inc., transitioned to Hovhaness-Fujihara Music Company, Inc., with Hinako remaining President of the company.
Alan wrote many works specifically for Hinako’s voice and held recitals to promote her as a singer. Her high singing voice was classified as a “Coloratura Soprano”. In 1979 Alan’s Symphony No. 38 featured Alan as conductor and Hinako as the soprano. His next Symphony No. 31 again showcased Hinako singing and Alan accompanying on the piano. Three additional symphonies followed with this couple performing new songs (Symphonies No. 40, No. 47, and No. 59).
Due to the accessibility of Hovhaness music in the 1990s, there were a large number of Hovhaness performances and broadcasts. Hinako was responsible for teaming with the Delos label and releasing six Hovhaness CDs from 1993 to 1995, one of which being the best seller Symphony No. 50 Mount St. Helens Symphony. She connected with the Telarc Recording label releasing an additional four Hovhaness CDs from 1995 to 2003. In addition, she established a very close relationship with the head of Naxos Records and released another seven Hovhaness CDs from 2003 to 2018. Not only did she finance these recordings, but she also was the acting Executive Producer on these projects. Hinako provided all the program notes and included paintings by her mother (Jun Fujihara), on the Naxos CD cover artwork.
After Alan’s death in June 2000, Hinako began writing short poems to her husband. Subsequently, her writings transitioned into documenting her travels and experiences with Alan. Within these short stories, they contained historical dates of musical events, conversations and activities behind the scenes of the classical music world.
Hinako hired a trusted musical friend, Dan Shelhamer, to correct her spelling and edit her stories. She allowed Dan to make corrections, however she wanted to retain some of the “orientalness” in her writing, just like many other matters in her life, such as walking the dog with a plastic bag and chopsticks.
Completing this book was Hinako’s final ambition, unfortunately due to health issues she was not able to see it for herself. She passed on December 22, 2022. Her final word, as reported by the on duty nurse the night before she passed, was “sayonara”.
Hinako Fujihara
Sunako Hata
Childhood
Sunako Hata was born in 1933 in Osaka. Her father was a surgeon and a sculptor (he was invited to show in the Nikaten Exhibition while still a student), her mother a painter, and she had a sister one year older than herself. Her father died only ten months after her birth. To understand Sunako Hata, one first needs to know about her upbringing.
“My father died young, and I was brought up in a family of three women. My mother currently lives in New York, where she paints. She always said she would eventually live there and went there on her own around the time I graduated from university. My sister was already living in Seattle taking singing lessons, so I was left alone in Japan. My mother is a unique, open-minded person; we understood each other quite well; she is, in fact, my best friend. According to her, everything I do reminds her of her father – another reason for her to like me so much. I was able to understand a lot about different art movements by being with my mother. This contact has affected my attitude towards Formalism in art, I am sure.”
Encounter with Color
It was during her university years, while “wasting time and not thinking about anything,” that Sunako Hata met Makiko Hata. At the time, women artists and designers were trying to form the Women’s Integrated Art Organization (“Joryu Sogo Bijutsu”), through which Sunako’s mother met Makiko Hata. Makiko Hata was then working on original, radical designs in color and knitwear fashion. Meeting Makiko Hata was to change the course of Sunako’s life, so much so that she became her adopter daughter.
“One day I saw a collection by Mikako Hata. I was fascinated by her expression in color. I felt I’d see color for the first time in my life. I was so impressed that I put my feelings into a poem, “Adriatic Blue,” and sent it to her. She was pleased by it, and that’s how we became acquainted. She was teaching color and design in Osaka at the time, and asked me to model the clothes she designed, in both Osaka and in Tokyo.”
“I was about to graduate from Kobe College, but had no real plans for my future. I simply hadn’t given it too much serious thought. Then my mother left for New York. So, after graduating, I went to Tokyo and became Hata’s assistant; actually, I was really handling such trivial activities as driving, accounting, doing some writing concerning the collections, and the like. After doing this for about a year-and-a-half, she asked if she could adopt me. For the next eight years, I assisted her in color design, and became more and more interested in color. We visited Europe twice for extended periods of about a half-year each. Once was to present her collection in Paris. I helped her in this, including arguing for a couple of months with such top haute couturiers as Jean Barthet, Carita, Lola Prusac, Roger Fare, and Roger Vivier. The collection turned out to be a great success; “Figaro” covered it with the title “poet of Knitwear.” I’ll always remember the dinner in Montmartre I was invited to by some famous colorists from France, Italy and Switzerland. They said they were organizing an International Commission for Fashion and Textile colors, and that Japan would have to be represented, as they felt that on the strength of the collection, Japan’s color standards were obviously very high. Japan joined the association in 1963; Makiko Hata was a board member of the Japan Fashion Color Association.”
“Another process I went through in becoming more involved in colors is relate to the creation of the PCCS (practical Color Co-ordinate System) color representation system. A year before the system was announced, for some reason, a thousand sheets of color plates without codes arrived at Hata’s studio. I was asked to classify them accordingly to hue, brightness and chromaticity.”
“During the eight years I was with Hata, she never tried to teach me anything directly. Nor did she ever ask me to become her successor. Rather, she would say that there was no need for me to do anything as difficult as designing, and that after she died I should go to Europe, because it was a place I liked very much. Then suddenly it was discovered that she had cancer, and ten months later in October 1965, she died. The following night, all of the staff asked me what we were going to do. That night, for the first time, I did some very serious thinking, I realized that what I liked best was color, and that’s what I wanted to work with.”
“At that time there was no such occupation as a “colorist”. Color was considered something abstract; one couldn’t make a living studying and designing with colors. I needed to find a way to express my sense of color. I chose to work with yarn, naturally enough perhaps, having worked with yarn, or knitwear, with Makiko Hata for eight years. And that’s how I came to succeed her.”
On Knitwear and Design
When Sunako Hata took over Makiko Hata’s work, knitwear designers were quite low on the fashion design scale. Their work was thought to require little sophistication, only a few minimal skills. Thus she began by having to challenge the position of knitwear in the fashion world.
“Wanting to change knitwear’s fashion reputation, I suggested we work with plain stitch, a stitch that anyone can easily knit. This was because I believe that all knit fabrics are equal; their value does not depend on the complexity represented by the knitted plane, but on how they are used in a design. I wanted to spread that notion in the knitwear world. And so, I set out to work, and have continued through the years. But to be honest, I don’t know how to knit! I can talk all about knitting – I know the different techniques, and I know what choosing a particular yarn and gauge will result in – but I cannot knit. Of course, some people may say that a knitwear designer should be able to knit, but I don’t agree. Knitting is a process that occurs over time; but designing is the representation of an idea in a single instant. The two are essentially different in nature. Designing requires a greater variety of factors to be taken into account than knitting does, including color, the type of yarn, texture and shape. It requires choosing the right combination of these, of composing and discarding. The ideas are materialized through knitting. I should admit though that the many requests I make of the knitters as a person who cannot knit might be annoying to them.”
On My Collection
In April 1966, six months after Makiko Hata’s death, Sunako Hata introduced her first collection, “The Creation of Color.” Although she had had ten of her designs included in previous Makiko Hata collections, one can imagine the great pressure she must have felt to produce an entirely new collection in six months. Surprisingly, she recalls it as having been a somewhat easy task.
“The urge to create was strong then. I had worked freely and enjoyed knitwear design long enough to have accumulated a great deal of experience and knowledge. Besides, I had no alternative, I just had to produce a collection. It’s tougher now, because I have to come up with something new on an annual basis”.
“I had been in Europe a number of times after launching my collection. But the May 1968 student demonstrations in Paris completely changed my way of thinking; I questioned formerly established notions (and still do). My interest shifted from the Right Bank of haute couture to the Left Bank of pret-a-porter, and then further beyond to the suburbs with their sources in folklore and ethnicity. In short, I came to see that the cultures of all regions are equal. Paris was no longer the center for me. I began to see culture not as something that centralizes, but something that spreads outwards.
“This will be the 25th year of showing my collections. Looking back, I feel that each represented a record of the times and my responses to them. What I thought, what I wanted, what I was interested in. Of course, in such a period, my direction may change, or it may return to an earlier mode of thinking, but each collection is also rooted in time.”
“I express myself, my feelings and ideas in design; design is simply a means of expression. Its possibilities and its limitations are part of the totality that includes an environment, models, a mise-en-scene, lighting, sound, printed matter, and so on. My knitwear is part of this totality.”
