Product Details

used The Cats of Mirikitani (Arts Alliance America, 2006) Mirikitani is a artist, first name Tsutomo (nickname Jimmy), whose cats are among his most popular pictures. At 81, he's living on the street in Soho where he's befriended by filmmaker Linda Hattendorf, who offers him blankets and other assistance, all of which he cordially declines. He's doing fine, he says. When the World Trade Center is destroyed on 9/11, however, he accepts her offer of a place to stay, away from noxious dust and deserted streets. As their friendship develops, she learns his remarkable story of growing up in Hiroshima, then returning to California, where he was born, only to be thrown into an internment camp for 3 1/2 years until World War II ended with the annihilation of Hiroshima and much of his family with it. After all that, he's a remarkably kind, good-natured man whose company you will enjoy for a couple of hours (including the extra scenes on the DVD).