It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of long time OCO member and friend Richard Yutaka Fukuhara.

Richard was born on August 20, 1944, at Camp Minidoka, Idaho. In September 1945, like the thousands of internees, the Fukuhara family of five returned to Los Angeles with two suitcases. Fukuhara’s dad found housing in one of the mini trailers previously occupied by military personnel in Long Beach. His father managed to resume his gardening business and later opened M’Hara Nursery in Long Beach.

Fukuhara attended Long Beach Poly High School, and majored in photo journalism at Long Beach City College. He was a part-time sports photographer for the Long Beach Press Telegram and part-time photographer for Memorial Hospital of Long Beach while being a full-time student.

In 1966, Fukuhara was drafted into the U.S. Army and was a staff photographer at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, before being transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington, to join the 75thEngineers Battalion as a unit photographer. Because of logistical equipment problems the 75th never deployed to Vietnam and stayed stateside.

After his military obligation, Fukuhara attended UCLA and the Art Center School of Design. In 1970 he opened Fukuhara, Inc. Photography studio in Signal Hill. His client list included Toyota, Nissan, IBM, Exxon, Occidental Petroleum, Hunt Wesson Foods, Baskin-Robbins, and Bumble Bee, to name a few.

For the past 25 years Fukuhara has devoted his time to community service and art. He credits his parents as role models for his community involvement. His father, Henry Kiysoshi Fukuhara, received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Silver Rays, from the emperor of Japan in 1991. His mother, Mary Sadako Fukuhara, was recognized as the 1987 Long Beach Woman of the Year.

Fukuhara’s community involvement includes: El Toro Young Marines, Orange County Junior Orchestra, Long Beach Japanese Cultural Center, Orange County Optimists, Kokoro Taiko of Long Beach, Nikkei Games, “Games for the Generations” Love to Nippon, Los Angeles Tanabata Festival, and Los Angeles Nagoya Sister City Affiliation. He was an active member of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors for six years, serving as co-chair and recognized as the “Irvine Ambassador of the Year” for three consecutive years. Fukuhara was an advisor to the USC Institute for Genetic Medicine Art Gallery, and president of the Nanka Yamaguchi Kenjinkai for three years, currently serving as an advisor. He is a contributing writer/photographer for Rafu Shimpo.

As an artist, Fukuhara has had many solo and group exhibitions locally, and two solo exhibitions in Japan. His current project, “Shadows for Peace, for the Sake of the Children, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Experience” through forums, artwork, and dance has been presented at colleges throughout the southland. In March 2015, it was hosted by the Japanese American National Museum and presented by Orange County Optimists to recognize the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb. Fukuhara enjoys learning, creating, and educating. His greatest joy is hearing the laughter of happy children, “our most important treasures.”

He is the proud father of Julia, 36, a children’s oncology nurse at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, and Derek, 35, a professional skateboarder and photographer.

Hello to all of Richards friends,

Remembrance for Richard Yutaka Fukuhara

Viewing 
Fukui Mortuary
707 E. Temple Street
Los Angeles CA 90012
Thursday, December 13, 2018
6-8pm

Service 
Grace First Presbyterian Church
3955 N. Studebaker Road 
Long Beach CA 90808
Friday, December 14, 2018
10:00am

Interment
Green Hills Memorial Park
27501 S Western Ave
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
United States
Friday, December 14, 2018
1:30pm

Lunch to follow

Robert M. Horsting
Producer
Shadows For Peace: 
The Hiroshima & Nagasaki Experience

818-913-0640
natto41@sbcglobal.net
Shadowsforpeace.com