WELCOME
We are excited to announce the return of Tadaima: A Community Virtual Pilgrimage, a transformative online event that will run from October 1st to the 28th. This innovative initiative aims to foster connection, awareness, and understanding within our diverse community by offering a rich tapestry of livestreams, Zoom group discussions, workshops, and thought-provoking pre-recorded videos.
Tadaima will serve as a platform for enlightening conversations on various topics, such as the WWII history of Japanese American incarceration, the challenges and experiences of caring for elderly parents with dementia and Alzheimer's, the profound significance of monuments and memorials in our lives, and the therapeutic power of writing in documenting family histories, self-expression, and processing painful memories and histories.
This month-long virtual pilgrimage promises to be an enlightening and immersive experience, providing a space for shared learning, storytelling, and personal growth. We invite everyone to join us in this remarkable journey of discovery, reflection, and unity.
Tadaima 2023 was made possible by the generous support of the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, Tessaku, and the National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant.
In the summer of 2022, my cousins and I traveled to Topaz, UT, to the site where our family had been incarcerated during WWII. We were meeting with a small group of survivors and descendants to hold a ceremony in honor of those who died while incarcerated at Topaz. We offered incense and read each of their names aloud, a living memorial to ensure they would never be forgotten.
As the minister’s assistant spoke, I noticed a little white butterfly floating about his head. There were no other signs of life in that dry, desolate desert. Just us and the butterfly.
I watched as the butterfly flitted around. It flew from the minister’s assistant, circled around me and toward the small group that had gathered to watch the ceremony. Eventually the butterfly glided past the incense and came to rest on a cross made entirely of white paper flowers, disappearing into the tissue paper.
The cross was made in honor of James Wakasa, who was shot and killed by a camp guard while incarcerated at Topaz. The survivor who handmade the cross was born at Topaz the day after Mr. Wakasa’s tragic death.
To me, the white butterfly was the embodiment of the ancestors we had been calling to, a symbol that our offerings had been accepted, that they were watching over us.
This year’s Tadaima is dedicated to all the ancestors.
Kimiko
