Hisako Hibi
Japanese-born American painter (1907-1991)
Hisako Shimizu Hibi (May 14, 1907 – October 25, 1991) was a Japanese-born American Issei painter and printmaker. Hibi attended the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California, where she garnered experience and recognition in the fine arts and community art-exhibition. Here, she met her husband George Matsusaburo Hibi, with whom she raised two children, Satoshi "Tommy" Hibi and Ibuki Hibi.
Well-known for the large collection of paintings she created during her internment (1942-1946) at the American internment camps Tanforan and Topaz, Hibi assisted in founding and teaching art schools for interned children. Her work adds to a small collection of images from within the internment camps, as a consequence of censorship codes in the Executive Order 9066 that severely limited what images could be shown to the American public.
After internment, Hibi moved to New York City, where she obtained U.S. citizenship and pursued further education by enrolling in courses at the Museum of Modern Art. On June 30, 1947, Hibi's husband, George Matsusaburo, died from cancer shortly after his sixty-fifth birthday. Subsequently, Hibi returned to San Francisco, where she continued to exhibit her work in galleries, garnered recognition, and explored various alternative art styles before her eventual passing in 1991.
Early years (1907–1941)
Hisako Hibi was born on May 14, 1907, in Torihama, a farming village located in the Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Hibi was born into a Buddhist family.
“Hisako Hibi” enters the record as japanese-born American painter (1907-1991). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hisako, Hibi and Japanese-born can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q20988932. VIAF identifies the subject as 15974882. The Library of Congress control number is n2004008115. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1907, 1991, 1942 and 1946.
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