sunday - september 26
Tashme Haiku Reading Event
(pre-registration required)
1pm ht / 3pm akt / 4pm pt / 7pm et
Courtesy of Word Vancouver with organization partners Historic Joy Kogawa House Society; Sunshine Valley Tashme Museum; Vancouver Japanese Language School
Featuring the Japanese Canadian theatre artist Julie Tamiko Manning (“The Tashme Project: The Living Archives”), Word Vancouver presents the Tashme Haiku reading event on Sunday Sept. 26. Julie will recite haiku her grandfather wrote as a member of the Tashme Haiku Club while interned in the Tashme Internment Camp during World War II. Reading from Montreal, Julie with be joined by author Isabella Mori and Laura Saimoto (reciting Japanese) in Vancouver. The event is part of the commemorations of the fifth anniversary of Tashme Museum, located in the Sunshine Valley outside Hope.
Tashme was the largest Japanese Canadian internment camp, housing 2600 residents from 1942-46. Jacqueline Pearce, Jean-Pierre Antonio and Michiko Kihira have been leading a massive translation project to translate half of the 600 haiku written by the young Tashme Haiku Club members into English haiku form. These haiku capture the deep emotional moments of beauty and hardship of internment life.
Join us for this unique exploration merging literature, culture, and history.
Internment Archaeology Digital Archive
Courtesy of Stacey Camp | 7 min
Our Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) Grant from the National Park Service involves creating an interactive website featuring artifacts and documents associated with two of Idaho’s incarceration facilities: Minidoka War Relocation Center and the Kooskia Internment Camp. Part of this process involves analyzing, cataloging, and creating 3D scans of artifacts from these two sites. Here is a glimpse into the artifacts and workflow of this project, which is being overseen by Dr. Stacey Camp and Dr. Ethan Watrall of Michigan State University. The videos feature Dr. Camp and Ph.D. students and research assistants Ben Akey and Grace Gerloff. More information can be found by contacting Dr. Camp at campstac@msu.edu.
Why 6,500 Japanese were expelled from santos, Brazil during WWII/Por que 6.500 japoneses foram expulsos da cidade de Santos em 1943 durante a 2ª Guerra Mundial?
Courtesy of Mario Okuhara | 30 min
Mario Jun Okuhara, the Japanese Brazilian director of the documentary, “Yami no ichinichi (One Dark Day) – the crime that shook up the Japanese community in Brazil” (2012), speaks about the largely unknown story of Japanese Brazilians who were expelled within 48 hours from the coastal city of Santos, Brazil during World War II. His crusade to obtain an apology from the Brazil government continues today, and the parallels between the American and Brazilian experience are eerily similar, from the reasons for the discrimination to the reactions within the local Japanese community and the Brazilian authorities.
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Mario Jun Okuhara, o diretor nipo-brasileiro do documentário “Yami no ichinich - O crime que abalou a colônia japonesa no Brasil” (2012), fala sobre desconhecida história dos japoneses e nipo-brasileiros que foram expulsos em 48 horas da cidade de Santos, litoral de São Paulo, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Sua luta para obter um pedido de desculpas do governo brasileiro continua até hoje. Os paralelos entre a experiência americana e brasileira são assustadoramente semelhantes, desde os motivos da discriminação até as reações dentro da comunidade japonesa local e das autoridades brasileiras.
Reparations Then! Reparations Now! - CWRIC 40th & H.R. 40
Courtesy of NCRR and Nikkei Progressives | 2 hrs
CWRIC 40th anniversary event in support of H.R. 40.
monday - september 27
Inland Empire Incarceration Experiences
The program will include reflections on the incarceration experience from descendants of incarcerees who lived in Southern California’s Inland Empire, as well as reference to primary sources describing the experience, which are held in Inland Empire institutions.
Digging in the Archive: The Harada House Collection at the Museum of Riverside
Taka, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Riverside will discuss and analyze his internship at the Museum of Riverside where he has spent the past 9 months cataloging the Harada House collection. He will unpack the complexities of Japanese American individual and communal identity through an analysis of some of his preliminary findings that will inform his forthcoming dissertation.
When I was a Kid: Collecting and Preserving Family Memories
All families have precious memories, which are shared at family gatherings. But when someone passes on, they take their memories with them, if they are not shared and remembered. Professional storyteller, Alton Takiyama-Chung will offer some practical tips on how to collect family stories and preserve family memories for future generations. He will perform THE GREAT RUBBER BAND WAR and share the story of how he collected that oral history and preserved his own treasured family memory in a story. Takiyama-Chung has almost 20 years of experience weaving together history and personal narrative and performs in storytelling festivals nationally and internationally. Join us to learn some simple DIY ways of gathering and passing on family stories.
A Comparison of WWII Camps vs Today's Camps for Immigrant Families
Courtesy of Sam Mihara | 27 min
Join former Heart Mountain incarceree, Sam Mihara as he discusses the similarities between the Japanese American Concentration camps of WWII and the migrant camps in the United States today.
Fort Sill Protest
Courtesy of Tsuru for Solidarity | 19 min
Tsuru For Solidarity, in collaboration with Nikkei Progressives, joined many other organizations and individuals at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on June, 22, 2019 to protest the planned incarceration of 1,400 Latino immigrant children.
For more information:
tuesday - september 28
Nikkei Spaces On College Campuses
Courtesy of JCCCNC
Cultural organizations across college campuses provide a space for students to find community through cultural connection. These organizations serve many purposes; social groups, practice for cultural traditions, language resources, advocacy, professional development, etc. Whether a Nikkei Student Union, Japan Student Association, Asian American Student Union, cultural performance groups, etc., what roles do these organizations play on college campuses? How are they similar, how do they differ? Who joins a cultural organization? Join the community as we discuss Nikkei spaces on college campuses.
Resilience: A Sansei Sense of Legacy
Join curators Gail Enns and Jerry Takigawa as they discuss the upcoming traveling exhibition, “Resilience: A Sansei Sense of Legacy” featuring the artwork of Reiko Fuji, Wendy Maruyama, Lydia Nakashima Degarrod, Tom Nakashima, Roger Shimomura, Judy Shintani, Jerry Takigawa, and Kristine Aono. The artworks in "Resilience" address issues of the US concentration camps and their lingering after effects through the varied media and experiences of these eight Sansei artists. Moderator: Kristine Aono (Tadaima! 2020 presenting artist).
Juneau, Alaska’s Empty Chair Project: The Next Generation
In May 1942, the seniors at Juneau High School left an empty chair during their graduation ceremony to underscore the absence of their Japanese-American Valedictorian, John Tanaka who had been forcibly removed by the U.S. government with his family to Minidoka, Idaho with over 200 Alaskan Japanese and Native Americans during World War II. Seventy two years later, in July of 2014, a two-year grass-roots fundraising and memorial project in Juneau, Alaska called The Empty Chair Project, led by Margie (Alstead) Shackelford and sister Karleen (Alstead) Grummett, came to fruition. With the support of members of the Juneau High School Class of 1958, their friends, and the support of the Juneau community, they fundraised for a bronze memorial and education programming on this dark chapter of Juneau history. The Empty Chair Memorial represents the void the people of Juneau felt for their friends and neighbors impacted by this injustice and stands as a reminder that this injustice happened and should not be repeated. By extension, the Empty Chair honors all of the Japanese American families in Juneau who were uprooted from their homes and communities. The names of those incarcerated are etched on the bronze floor. In this Tadaima program, seven years after the unveiling of the bronze memorial, some descendants of those who were commemorated will speak about the significance of this memorial today and for the future covering issues of identity, stewardship, inclusivity, community, colonialism, ancestry, healing and more. Speakers: Julie (Tanaka) Abo (Mary Tanaka's daughter), Eddy Tanaka (John Tanaka's son), Hope Kito (Sam Kito's daughter), Shō Tanaka (Bill Tanaka's grandson), David Albright (Walter Fukuyama's grandson).
Born Free and Equal: Ansel Adams at Manzanar
Courtesy of National Park Service | 22 min
Manzanar's Team Lead for Interpretation and Visitor Services Alisa Lynch highlights Ansel Adams (1902-1984) visits to the camp in 1943-44. While Adams is most famous for his landscape photographs, in Manzanar he took portraits and captured daily life, agricultural scenes, and sports and leisure activities. When offering the collection to the Library of Congress in 1965, Adams wrote, "The purpose of my work was to show how these people, suffering under a great injustice, and loss of property, businesses and professions, had overcome the sense of defeat and dispair [sic] by building for themselves a vital community in an arid (but magnificent) environment....All in all, I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document, and I trust it can be put to good use." Adams published many of the images in his 1944 book "Born Free and Equal." This short video includes interviews with Adams' son Michael, as well as Bob Miyatake and Joyce Nakamura Okazaki whose families were photographed by Ansel Adams.
2021 Tule Lake Virtual Pilgrimage
Courtesy of Tule Lake Committee | 1 hr, 31 min
The Tule Lake Pilgrimage Committee presents its 2021 Virtual pilgrimage, hosted by Tule Lake descendant Brandon Quan. Featuring a memorial tribute to Tule Lake’s beloved poet laureate Hiroshi Kashiwagi; a brief history of Tule Lake, The Big Lie, excerpted from Emiko Omori’s award-winning film, Rabbit in the Moon; a narrative about the segregation and punishment of thousands of Tule Lake inmates who dared to protest the injustice of their incarceration; concluding with a Q/A with members of the Tule Lake Committee Board.
For more information, please visit https://www.tulelake.org/
wednesday - september 29
WWII Camp Survivor Memorial Flag-Signing Tour with Judge Johnny Gogo and Friends
Courtesy of JCCCNC
Join us for a special speaker’s panel, part of this year’s community-wide Tadaima virtual pilgrimage lineup of daily virtual programs on the Japanese American WWII incarceration with panelists Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Johnny Gogo; Bacon Sakatani, Heart Mountain Survivor; Brad Pearson, author of The Eagles of Heart Mountain; Kiyo Sato-Nunneley, Poston Survivor. Judge Gogo will share with us his personal project to honor the memory of the Japanese American community’s mass incarceration by going on a national tour to bring WWII-era 48-star flags to Japanese American communities and WWII camp sites for camp survivors to sign. The tour will culminate on Fred Korematsu Day on January 30, when the signed flags will be donated to the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.
Judge Gogo will share with the community the inspiration behind his project as well as the connections and bonds he has made with members of the community along the way, including Heart Mountain survivor Bacon Sakatani, Bradford Pearson, author of The Eagles of Heart Mountain: A True Story of Football, Incarceration, and Resistance in World War II America, and Poston survivor Kiyo Sato-Nunneley. Additionally, Judge Gogo will share upcoming tour dates and locations for any camp survivors who would like to sign the flags.
EXPLORING THE KINTSUGI SPIRIT
Poetically translated to “golden repair,” kintsugi is the centuries-old Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.
How can this uniquely Japanese practice be a valuable means to addressing some of the issues we face today? In response to the pandemic, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) commissioned five grant recipients of multiple creative disciplines to interpret this question in their own artistic medium. In this process, each artist explored kintsugi as an approach to individual or collective healing, and will showcase their culminating art through a final video.
In this panel, we will learn more about The Kintsugi Spirit grant, get to know the grant recipients, and hear about their reflections on kintsugi through their art making process. This discussion will serve as a lead up to the Virtual Exhibition, running from October 1-31 at jaccc.org/kintsugi.
2021 Experts at the Cathedral Lecture One: USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor, O‘ahu
Courtesy of Historic Hawai‘i Foundation | 1 hr, 2 min
Almost 60 years have passed since the first Hawai‘i sites were designated as National Historic Landmarks. The federal program calls them “historic places that hold national significance.” The Secretary of the Interior designates these places as “exceptional because of their abilities to illustrate U.S. heritage.” In this lecture, Superintendent Hanako Wakatsuki discusses the USS Arizona Memorial, and Honouliuli National Historic Site.
Gambatte: Legacy of an Enduring Spirit Exhibit Preview with Paul Kitagaki, Jr.
Courtesy of California Museum | 26 min
Photographer Paul Kitagaki shares his exhibit documenting survivors of the WWII Japanese American incarceration camps, on view at the California Museum Aug. 5 - Nov. 7, 2021.
thursday - september 30
Authors in conversation: akemi johnson & elizabeth miki brina
Okinawa. Beautiful, beloved, and… complicated.
We will take a brief dive into the elements surrounding this incredible unique land, people, and culture through the the lenses of authors Akemi Johnson, Night in the American Village, and Elizabeth Miki Brina, Speak, Okinawa, in a conversation moderated by Mariko Middleton of the Ichariba Choodee: Okinawan Voices and Stories Podcast. We’ll talk about identity, inspiration, history, and inquire into the future of Okinawa, concluding with hopes and dreams.
Following the discussion there will be time for audience participation when we open the space up for Q&A with the authors.
sew unexpected: fashioning lives behind barbed wire
Courtesy of Helen Yoshida
Sewing in the World War II incarceration camps.
friday - october 1
"Into the Dark Cold I go, the Rain Gently Falling" - The incarceration of Hawaii's Japanese beyond Honouliuli and Sand Island
During WWII, authorities arrested and incarcerated Japanese on the island of Hawaii due to racist fears. Many scholars skim over the details of the incarceration of residents of Hawaii island and other islands and focus on the larger narrative of Oahu incarceration. Dr. Kelli Nakamura will discuss her research to document and understand the incarceration experience on the neighbor islands and rural areas.
Wyoming's Japanese American Roots
When most people think about Japanese American history in Wyoming, they think about the Heart Mountain WWII concentration camp. Many don't realize that Wyoming had a small, but active, Japanese American community long before the war. In this program, panelists Don Aoki, Dan Lyon, Aura Newlin, and Alan O'Hashi will discuss the deep roots their families have in the Equality State. Dakota Russell, executive director of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, will moderate.
If Only We Dare: From the Harada Story to Ending Asian Hate
Courtesy of Inlandia Institute | 1 hr, 33 min
Crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have spiked since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Similar crimes have a long history in California, in particular, and are a symptom of the country’s wider challenges in the struggle against racism. Building an awareness of this history and providing practical steps to respond effectively to anti-AAPI crime as it is occurring today are the twin purposes of this webinar, grounded in the civil rights message central to the history of Harada House, a National Historic Landmark in Riverside, California. This program will present a series of short presentations followed by a question-and-answer period. The topic is set against the backdrop of the Harada House as a symbol of triumph over racism, perseverance, and social justice. The Museum of Riverside, which is steward for Harada House, is supported by the Harada House Foundation and Inlandia Institute in presenting this free program. In 1916 in Riverside, Japanese immigrant Jukichi Harada was criminally prosecuted in a racially motivated attempt to deny the Harada family their own home. Panelists will consider what motivates discriminatory behavior and hate crimes. They will reflect on differences between past and present crimes, consider the potential role of ethnic studies in battling racism, and offer practical ideas for all who wish to be part of the work to eliminate racism. Panelists confirmed include Kimberly Harada (Elementary education teacher, southern California), David Inoue (CEO, Japanese American Citizens League), Linda Leu (Executive Director, IMPACT Bay Area), Curtis Takada Rooks, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, Loyola Marymount University), Mark Takano (U.S. House of Representatives, California District 41), and Carolee Tran, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, UC-Davis). The panel will be introduced by Riverside City Manager Al Zelinka and moderated by Museum of Riverside Director Robyn Peterson.
saturday - october 2
Hawaii Plantation Era Food: Saimin
Learn from Chef Instructor Alan Tsuchiyama of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific how to make Saimin and Fried Saimin. The word “saimin” is a combination of two Chinese words, sai meaning thin and min which means noodle. The dish dates back to the plantation era in Hawaii. Chef Alan will be available to answer questions you may have after the instructional video.
becoming nisei: japanese american urban lives in prewar tacoma
Courtesy of Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California | 1 hr, 6 min
Authors Dr. Lisa M. Hoffman and Dr. Mary L. Hanneman of the University of Washington, Tacoma are joined by local Tacoma Japanese American community member Greg Tanbara as they discuss their recent research and book covering Tacoma’s vibrant Nihonmachi of the 1920s and '30s. Tacoma, Washington was home to a significant number of first generation Japanese immigrants and their second generation American children, and these families formed tight-knit bonds despite their diverse religious, prefectural, and economic backgrounds. As the city’s Nisei grew up attending the secular Japanese Language School, they absorbed the Meiji-era cultural practices and ethics of the previous generation. At the same time, they positioned themselves in new and dynamic ways, including resisting their parents and pursuing lives that diverged from traditional expectations. Becoming Nisei, based on more than forty interviews, shares stories of growing up in Japanese American Tacoma before the incarceration. Recording these early twentieth-century lives counteracts the structural forgetting and erasure of prewar histories in both Tacoma and many other urban settings after World War II