“Enemy Alien”: How Chicago photojournalist Jun Fujita avoided Japanese internment camps

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture, Education, Public, Chicago, Arts, City, Radio, Curious, Investigation

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jun Fujita is the Japanese-American photographer behind some of the most recognizable photographs taken in Chicago in the 20th century, including his shots of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929, the Eastland passenger boat disaster of 1915, and the 1919 Chicago race riots. Fujita was also a published poet and something of a regional celebrity, known for socializing with William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. Fujita’s foreign identity also made him the subject of government inquiry and suspicion on multiple occasions — during both World War I and World War II — according to Graham Lee, Fujita’s great-nephew and the author of a new Fujita biography, “Jun Fujita: Behind the Camera.” After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Fujita’s assets were frozen, his business was shuttered, his cameras were taken away, and he constrained himself to Chicago to avoid possible internment, Lee said. How did Fujita navigate this perilous time for an immigrant in Chicago? We sat down with Lee to discuss how Fujita, a “supremely confident person,” came to rely on both the support of his community and his wits.

Transcript

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0:30.3	What's up, Chicago? I'm Erin Allen, and this is Curious City.
0:35.1	As you heard in our last episode, immigrants have been targeted many times in Chicago's history.
0:41.6	Today we're going to look back at the story of one particular Chicago immigrant, who was targeted
0:47.0	for his Japanese heritage during World War II.
0:50.7	A big part of his story involves personal resourcefulness, audacity, and a community in Chicago that was really supportive.
0:59.0	He relied on his wits, asked for help, and got it.
1:03.4	I'm talking about June Fujita.
1:05.8	He was an adventurous guy. He was out there doing stuff.
1:08.9	He's the fanciest looking photographer I've ever seen.
1:11.5	And the person here to talk about him is his great nephew and biographer, Graham Lee.
1:17.1	His life seems to be divided into photography, poetry, naturalistic stuff. And when he was in the city,
1:24.8	he was, oh gosh, he was dressed to the nines.
1:27.9	You know, he just had a silk cape, a red-lined cape going to the symphony.
1:33.1	You know, it's like, this is a guy who is just like, I'm not hiding.
1:37.3	I am just going out there and I'm being me.
1:40.0	Now, if you don't know the name, June Fujita, you probably know of his work, which is a great introduction to who he is.
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