Discover the History ofWWII Incarceration
120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. Learn about this unprecedented denial of civil liberties and why it still matters today.
Explore Personal Stories
Learn about Japanese American history and the legacy of WWII incarceration by exploring personal stories from those who lived through it.
Promote Equity Today
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Join us in putting the lessons of Japanese American WWII incarceration into action today.
Densho Catalyst: History, Essays, & Opinion
Dive into hidden histories and learn why these stories matter today with the latest essays and opinions from Densho and other community voices.
Educator Spotlight: Christian-Joseph Macahilig
Christian-Joseph Macahilig is an Outreach Coordinator with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center’s Foundations and Futures AAPI digital textbook project. He holds a B.A. in History and Adolescent Education Certification...
Teaching Digital Literacy With Densho: Navigating Truth in the Era of Disinformation
Educators today face an urgent challenge when it comes to helping students navigate rampant misinformation and disinformation, alongside a broader erosion of public trust in history and journalism. Densho is...
Teaching Difficult Histories with Care: What Educators Can Learn from Densho’s Archival Approach
October is American Archives Month, which means it’s a fitting time to explore how educators and students can use Densho’s archive to teach and learn about Japanese American wartime incarceration....Upcoming Events
Remembering Resistance: Sustaining Densho’s Commitment to Community History
Join Densho for our 2025 Virtual Fundraiser, Remembering Resistance: Sustaining Densho's Commitment to Community History. Tune in on November 5th, 5pm PT / 8pm ET for an evening of dialogue, reflection, and visioning as we honor the legacy of the Japanese American Redress Movement and explore its ongoing relevance today.
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Campu: A Podcast
Campu weaves together the voices of survivors to spin narratives out of the seemingly mundane things that gave shape to the incarceration experience: rocks, fences, food, paper. Follow along as hosts Hana and Noah Maruyama move far beyond the standard Japanese American incarceration 101 and into more intimate and lesser-known corners of this history.
Encyclopedia
Thousands of articles about the history of the Japanese American WWII exclusion and incarceration experience. Here are a few to get you started:
Documentary films/videos on incarceration
The following is an attempt at a comprehensive listing of documentary films/videos that include a significant treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II, broken up into several broad categories.
Scene (magazine)
Japanese American pictorial monthly magazine that ran from 1949 to 1955. Largely produced by and for Nisei, Scene magazine highlighted "successful" Japanese Americans as well as Japanese culture.
Owens Valley (detention facility)
The Owens Valley Reception Center—later the Manzanar Reception Center—was the first of the WCCA -administered short-term detention camps to open when the first "volunteers" from the Los Angeles area arrived on March 21, 1942.