Japan Society of Fairfield County Noboru Uezumi Memorial

During his life Noboru Uezumi served as a vice president of Japan Society of Fairfield and an advisory board member for a number of years working tirelessly to promote local exchanges between the U.S. and Japan. His family and friends have seen fit to donate funds to the Japan Society of Fairfield County to continue Noboru's work. Currently three projects are starting:

1. Harry Sakamaki, JSFC president, has announced that a team has been formed to complete the Kamishibai Noboru started on artist Yeto Genjiro. Unfortunately, Noboru Uezumi was only able to see this Kamishibai project to the storyboarding stage. This story is of particular importance to JSFC as Genjiro worked in Fairfield County. Noboru completed a Japanese TV special on Genjiro with his former employer Kansai TV and has worked with Bush-Holley House in Greenwich where Genjiro lived and worked as an artist. JSFC plans to add this new Kamishibai to our website where it will join another of Noboru's Kamishibai on Junzo Nojima. Team members are:
Diane Barton, JSFC member
Etsuko Fujii, wife of a Greenwich Japanese School teacher
Victoria Hackman, JSFC member
Hiroko Sato, wife of a Greenwich Japanese School teacher
Harry Sakamaki, JSFC member
Yoko Takahashi, wife of a Greenwich Japanese School teacher

2. JSFC has donated $1000 from the Uezumi Fund to The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich to help purchase a painting by Genjiro Eto.

3. We are establishing an Uezumi Award which will be presented annually to recognize a significant activity or individual in the greater Fairfield County area that promotes understanding and good will between Japan and the United States along the same lines the Noboru Uezumi followed during his life here.

Noboru Uezumi

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1931, the fifth of seven children, Noboru Uezumi graduated from Kobe University with a B.A. in Sociology. He taught elementary school for two years before entering the then emerging field of television broadcasting with Kansai Telecasting Corporation where he worked for 35 years until retirement. During his television career, he and his wife Junko, hosted twelve consecutive exchange students from the United States.

In 1992, the couple moved to Watertown, Connecticut where Noboru started the first Japanese language program at the Taft School. He taught until 1997 and then moved to Greenwich. He immediately became active in community events and was soon awarded "Volunteer of the Year" by the Greenwich Historical Society in 1998.

Among his many community activities, he was instrumental in researching Japanese artist Genjiro Yeto who resided in the famed Cos Cob Art Colony located at the present site of the Bush-Holley House. As a result of these research efforts in cooperation with Dr. Susan Larkin, a Japanese television documentary featured Noboru and the Bush-Holley House. Additional local research interests included Junzo Nojima, a-long-time Stamford resident from Japan, famed for planting the many cherry blossoms trees that today still bloom along the Mill River in downtown Stamford. Noboru was also credited with translating Japanese versions of historic site brochures including the Putnam Cottage; starting the Greenwich Library Christmas Tree Origami display which continues to the present time; and teaching Japanese language and arts to local children and adults.

Noboru served as a vice president of Japan Society of Fairfield for a number of years working tirelessly to promote local exchanges between the U.S. and Japan.
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