TADAIMA! A COMMUNITY VIRTUAL PILGRIMAGE

Tadaima! A Community Virtual Pilgrimage is a collaborative online program that was created to replace the annual in-person pilgrimages to Japanese American incarceration sites during World War II when they were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Tadaima!" means "I'm home!" in Japanese and was organized by Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages (JAMP) in partnership with the National Park Service.

What It Includes: The virtual pilgrimage features online exhibits, workshops, performances, lectures, panel discussions, film screenings, a community archive, and more. Rather than being site-specific virtual tours, it brings together many of the unique traditions from each incarceration site with new content.

Purpose and Community: This is a collaborative undertaking involving representatives from many different contingents of the Nikkei community along with scholars, artists, and educators committed to actively memorializing the history of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. The goal is to create accessible and wide-ranging opportunities for learning, sharing stories, and building community.

The program serves both descendants of the camps and the general public, continuing the important educational and community-building work that the physical pilgrimages traditionally provided. It was completely free to participate and includes both live-streamed and pre-recorded content.