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.
Densho’s Commitment to Rejecting Censorship and Preserving Truth in the Archives
At Densho, we know what it means to have your history distorted or silenced. Our organization was founded to ensure that the stories of Japanese Americans, especially those forcibly removed...
Women in the Redress Movement and Beyond: A Conversation with Kathy Masaoka
Kathy Nishimoto Masaoka, a child of WWII incarceration survivors, was born and raised in multicultural Boyle Heights, California. She served as a high school teacher for three decades and is...
Educator Spotlight: Kyle Kinoshita
Dr. Kyle Kinoshita is the current co-president of the Seattle Japanese American Citizens League and a lifelong K-12 and University of Washington educator, serving as a teacher and school principal...Upcoming Events
Gathering of the Seattle Japanese American Community
IN-PERSON EVENT: Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church, Seattle
Join Tsuru for Solidarity to connect the history of Japanese American WWII incarceration to the current moment and uniting against mass detention & deportation. Find out how to get involved with local organizations to bring our community together and fight for justice for all targeted people. Co-sponsored by Seattle JACL, Densho, Nikkei Student Union, and the Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee.
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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.