In May of 2018 I first visited Japan with my wife, Margaret, and four family members to see the first exhibit of my father’s photographs at the 3/11 Community Center in Sendai, Japan. This was the first time these photographs were exhibited in Japan and we were welcomed warmly by many people from the region. Sendai and the Ishinomaki region nearby were some of the hardest hit areas by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region in 2011. Many people had never seen photographs of the region from the 1950s. On both journeys to Japan we met people who had never seen photos of themselves or their relatives. It was a heartwarming experience. I was so busy I never sketched until we left the Miyagi region of northern Japan and visited Tokyo, Nara, and hiked on the ancient pilgrimage trail in the Kii Peninsula region.
