Earlier this year, I wrote a letter to the descendants of Henry Kiyama (author of The Four Immigrants Manga) introducing myself and expressing my gratitude for letting me adapt Henry's work for the stage.
And they wrote back! (Translated by Frederik L. Schodt)
"We are very grateful to what Min-san is doing, and wish him success in his project. We are sure that Yoshitaka's life in America, and the history of Japanese immigrants, are not easy to turn into a musical. But we are very honored that he appreciates Yoshitaka as an artist, and we
would love to meet him and thank him sometime. We cannot speak English, unfortunately, but we would still love to see the Four Immigrants Manga musical some day. Please convey our appreciation to him."
I am very honored to have heard from them and to receive their blessing for this project!
They also sent me some Four Immigrants merchandise used to help promote Kiyama's hometown of Neu!