Drawing Sugamo Prison: The Artwork of Tobita Tokio and Fujiki Fumio in the James Heindel Collection

Following World War II, the Allied occupation of Japan repurposed sites like Sugamo Prison into spaces where justice, collective memory, and cultural exchange intersected in unexpected ways. On September 11, 1945, one week after Japan’s formal surrender, General Douglas MacArthur ordered the arrest of thirty-nine Class-A suspected war criminals, primarily senior political and military leaders from Japan’s wartime government. These individuals, along with thousands of Class B and Class C war crime suspects, were subsequently incarcerated at Sugamo Prison.

A Young American at Sugamo

James Heindel, an American from Kaukauna, Wisconsin, enlisted in the U.S. Army after observing World War II veterans. He was subsequently assigned to Sugamo Prison as a jailer from 1946 to 1948.

Many guards stationed at Sugamo were young recruits rather than combat veterans, partly due to concerns among military officials that experienced veterans might harbor resentment toward Japanese prisoners.

In his role as jailer, Heindel supervised inmates, distributed food, and maintained order within the prison. Over time, he developed relationships with several prisoners, including Fujiki Fumio and Tobita Tokio, both of whom produced sketches and drawings that they gave to him. These artworks, exchanged within a context defined by occupation, imprisonment, and uncertainty regarding the outcomes of war crime trials, illuminate the complex interpersonal dynamics that developed within Sugamo Prison.

Tobita Tokio

Conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army in 1938, Tobita served multiple tours in China before returning to Japan in 1943. The following year, he was assigned to Shinagawa Army Hospital, which served the Omori Prisoner of War camp.

Following Japan’s surrender, Allied occupation authorities broadcast Tobita’s name over the radio as a person of interest. Tobita voluntarily surrendered and was transferred to Sugamo Prison in 1945 as a Class C war criminal. He was sentenced to thirty years of hard labor for mistreating Allied prisoners of war through physical abuse, forced labor, and withholding of rations. The conviction was based largely on an affidavit from an American serviceman and oral testimony from two British former prisoners. Although sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment, Tobita ultimately served 10 years before his release.

During his incarceration, Tobita was assigned to care for several prominent prisoners, including the severely injured Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and Prince Nashimoto. Before Nashimoto’s release in April 1946, he requested that Tobita prepare a commemorative keepsake. The commission marked Tobita’s first formal artistic project while imprisoned and initiated a practice that would continue throughout confinement.

Tobita began creating illustrations and depictions of daily prison life, exchanging his artwork with both Japanese and American personnel in return for cigarettes, Western magazines, and less demanding work assignments. These drawings now offer rare visual insight into the lived experiences within Sugamo Prison during the Allied occupation.

Fujiki Fumio

Fujiki Fumio also emerged as a significant artistic figure from Sugamo Prison and was described as a close friend of James Heindel. Originally from Osaka, Fujiki attended private schools and received English tutoring prior to his military service. As a non-commissioned officer who attained the rank of sergeant on August 1, 1945, Fujiki was charged with violating the laws and customs of war at the Notogawa Prisoner of War camp.

The accusations against him included the unlawful appropriation of Red Cross supplies and the physical mistreatment of prisoners of war. He was subsequently sentenced to six years of hard labor.

Although Fujiki had no formal artistic training, he developed a strong interest in drawing during his incarceration. American guards provided him with caricature and cartooning manuals, which he studied extensively. These experiences informed his first published work, Nakiwarai Sugamo nikki (Laughing While Crying: The Sugamo Prison Diary), released in 1953. The memoir and its accompanying illustrations present a deeply personal perspective on imprisonment, memory, and survival in postwar Japan.

Preserving the History of Sugamo

James Heindel collected numerous drawings from both Fujiki and Tobita, frequently mailing them home with personal letters written on the reverse. In addition to these artworks, he photographed daily life at Sugamo Prison, creating a substantial visual archive of the prison from 1946 to 1948.

Heindel was not the only individual to preserve these materials. Currently, artwork created by Fujiki, Tobita, and other prisoners is held in various repositories and museum collections. Scholars at multiple universities continue to study these works as significant artifacts of postwar memory, while exhibitions dedicated to Sugamo Prison art examine how creativity persisted within spaces of incarceration and political reckoning.

The National Museum of the Pacific War currently houses the James Heindel Collection, an archival resource documenting life inside Sugamo Prison during the Allied occupation. The collection contains numerous artworks by Fujiki Fumio and Tobita Tokio, as well as photographs taken by Heindel during his tenure as a jailer. Among these images are rare photographs of prisoners at Sugamo, including former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Collectively, these materials offer valuable insight into the interactions, artistic expression, and historical memory that developed within one of Japan’s most significant postwar incarceration sites.

Sources:

Document 35-1726; Fumio Fujiki; Volume 3

Escaping Sugamo Prison with a no. 2 pencil: the drawings of Japanese war criminal Tobita Tokio by Lindsey Powell and Chunmei Du

The Fumio Fujiki and Tokio Tobita Collection of Manga, Part II