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.
Ask a Historian: Did Every Camp Have a Fence?
The imagery of barbed wire fences, guard towers, and armed sentries is nearly ubiquitous in popular retellings of the story of Japanese American WWII incarceration. But did you know that...
A Minidoka Descendant Speaks Out to Say Our History Won’t Be Erased
On August 23, people across the country came together for a day of action to Protect Every Park, standing united against attempts to erase marginalized histories like Japanese American WWII...
Educator Spotlight: Jaci Jones
Jaci Jones (she/her) is a Professional Learning Specialist at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA. She holds a B.S. in Secondary Education (Social Studies) from Penn State University and...Upcoming Events
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798: Understanding 1941 and 2025
HYBRID EVENT
This panel—co-sponsored by Densho, the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at UCI, Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), Nikkei Progressives, and the USC Immigration Clinic—will address how the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798 act was applied to and impacted the Japanese American wartime community, ramifications of the current administration’s approaches, the status of the court cases challenging the administration’s use of AEA, and the amicus brief that was filed on behalf of descendants of Issei men who were imprisoned when the AEA was invoked in World War II. The speakers also will discuss how to accurately and effectively speak about the lessons from history when communities, especially those of color, live under the specter and reality of arrest, detention, and deportation.
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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.