Photograph by Brian Sato. Included in the exhibition and accompanying catalogue, Gokurōsama: Contemporary Photographs of the Nisei in Hawai‘i which opened at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i and is on display at the Japanese American National Museum from February 14 through May 24, 2009. For more information, visit janm.org/exhibits/gokurosama.

Caption: "I visited a very old church in Wainaku, Hawai‘i that no longer is in service, but whose former members still gather once a year. A Jodo Shu priest in Hilo told me about Ella Fujie, a former member who was the caretaker of the Wainaku Jodo Mission. I chose to photograph her in a totally empty room of the church where light poured in from the outside. I feel that a sense of isolation and melancholy pervades this image." -- Brian Sato