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.
Teaching Civic Education Through Japanese American History
Civic education isn’t just about the past — it’s about understanding how history shapes our present and future. The incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII provides a critical lens for...
Photo Essay: Activating Our History on the Day of Remembrance
Earlier this month, we joined the Puyallup Valley JACL for a Day of Remembrance at the site of the former Puyallup Assembly Center on the Washington State Fairgrounds. This event...
The Day of Remembrance Is a Critical Act of Collective Memory
We reflect today on the signing of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which led to the forced removal and incarceration of over 125,000 Japanese Americans. As we honor the memory...Upcoming Events
Schooling in the Camps: The Effects of Wartime Incarceration on Japanese American Youth
Join Densho and the Localized History Project for a virtual workshop exploring the histories and stories of young Japanese Americans impacted by wartime incarceration. This professional development workshop for educators will share histories of schooling and resistance during Japanese American incarceration, the enduring legacies of this history in New York State, and how Densho utilizes oral histories to preserve, share and pass on this history.
The Localized History Project is a New York State funded youth participatory action research project investigating the extent to which AANHPI history is taught in K-12 history classrooms in NY State, and presenting youth driven curriculum alternatives to test driven curricula.
Stay Informed: Join The Mailing List
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.