NVC Foundation Japanese American Memorial Wall

Walter Tsuneo Fukuyama was born June 28th, 1925 in Juneau, Alaska to Walter Hikohachi Fukuyama and Mume Iida Fukuyama. He is the 3rd child, with older sisters Mary and Ethel (Terashita) and younger brother Tom. Growing up in Juneau he enjoyed skiing, hunting, fishing, basketball and baseball. In Juneau his father owned and ran Juneau Laundry on Franklin St. When his family was interned to Minadoka his sister Ethel wrote to their father (who was sent to a POW camp in Lordsburg, NM) that Walter and his brother Tom were a bit reluctant to start school in camp as there were too many Japanese! Juneau had 2 Japanese families and a handful of single Japanese men.

Walter served during WWII in the Army MIS and was sent to Japan where he met his future wife, Emiko Futori. They married in 1947 and Emiko came to Seattle in 1948. After being discharged from the Army, Walter started school at the University of Washington and got his degree in economics. He soon decided that he needed a more practical degree and went to Seattle University and received his engineering degree. He was hired by the Boeing Company and worked there as a design engineer for 33 years. He worked on many projects, including the first lunar orbiter, the SST, and other military contract work. He retired in December 1985 as a principal engineer.

After retiring from Boeing he and Emiko moved to Portland, OR so that he could study for a year at Multnomah Bible College. They then joined the Japanese Evangelical Band and spent 3 years in Kobe, Japan as missionaries. There they met and became great friends with people from around the world who came through the mission headquarters where Walter and Emiko lived.

Today, Walter and Emiko are very active in their church, Faith Bible, in Seattle. Walter has been an elder of the church, an assistant to the Pastor and has led a men’s bible study group for many years. This group meets once a week for fellowship, laughter, and doughnuts! He still enjoys watching all the Seattle professional and college sports teams, especially the Mariners and Huskies. Because of TV Japan, he also enjoys Sumo. And of course he is also a supporter of all his grandchildren’s endeavors.

Walter and Emiko have two daughters Nancy Albright (Mark) and Joy Uomoto (Mike), and five grandchildren, Todd, David Albright, and Kyle, Stephanie, Connor Uomoto.