June 12, 2026
Earlier this year, Densho launched the Public Index of Japanese American Collections—the first comprehensive, publicly accessible index of archival materials documenting the wartime incarceration and Japanese American history more broadly. This three-year initiative is supported by and conducted in partnership with the Henri & Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation.
The Public Index will serve as a centralized discovery point for archival materials currently scattered across the country and world, in national repositories, university libraries, religious institutions, community centers, and private family collections. By connecting these fragmented holdings and digitizing high-impact collections, all while engaging community partners, descendants, and advisory groups, the Index will make Japanese American history more discoverable, accessible, and resilient for educators, researchers, descendants, and the general public alike.
A moment of urgency
The launch comes at a moment of growing concern about historical erasure and revisionism. Federal websites and public resources documenting the experiences of Japanese Americans and other marginalized communities have been removed, rewritten, or quietly buried in recent months. At the same time, Japanese American historical collections remain dispersed, undigitized, inconsistently described, or housed in institutions with limited public access, putting irreplaceable primary sources at risk of permanent loss.
“We must act with urgency to structure, contextualize, and share these primary sources responsibly. Without coordinated efforts to identify, describe, and connect these materials, we risk losing a generation of stories, documents, and photographs to neglect, misinterpretation, or decay.” — Densho Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura
This project is designed to meet that urgency head-on. By creating a living, community-centered index, Densho aims to build archival infrastructure capable of withstanding future political and technological threats, ensuring that the full scope of Japanese American history remains visible and accessible to future generations.
About the Index
The Index will catalog collections spanning prewar conditions, wartime removal and incarceration, postwar resettlement, the Redress movement, and intergenerational community memory. Structured metadata will allow users to search by geography, time period, theme, and topics, such as family separation, resistance, and community rebuilding. Each collection will be accompanied by narrative context explaining its content, provenance, and historical significance.
Alongside the index, Densho will pilot the digitization and integration of high-impact collections—including Department of Justice internee cards, Assembly Center family folders, and WRA records—into the Densho Digital Repository and Names Registry. Select materials will also be incorporated into the Densho Encyclopedia, a widely trusted resource for Japanese American history.
While primarily focused on U.S.-based collections, the Index will also seek to identify Japanese American incarceration-related materials held internationally, including in Japan, Canada, and Latin America, offering a transnational lens on this history.
Grounded in community and ethics
The project will be guided by two advisory circles, a Community Advisory Circle and a Scholar Advisory Circle, ensuring the Index reflects both community accountability and rigorous historical scholarship. Additionally, a Community Digitization Partnership program will invite individuals to nominate significant collections and will support smaller organizations in preserving and sharing their materials through technical assistance and shared tools.
Densho’s approach emphasizes informed consent, transparency, and anti-extractive practice. Collections will only be listed with the permission of their stewards, and community organizations will be supported, not supplanted. Our aim is to center community voices and ensure that historically significant but under-resourced collections can become more widely accessible through Densho’s existing digital infrastructure.
Nominate a collection
Densho is actively seeking nominations from individuals, families, community organizations, and institutions holding materials related to the Japanese American wartime incarceration and its legacies. Anyone with knowledge of a significant collection—whether in a formal archive, a community center, or a family home—is encouraged to submit a nomination.
To nominate a collection or materials for inclusion in the Public Index, please click here to complete the submission form.
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For more information, contact us at [email protected].
[Header image: A collage of digital scans of objects from the Densho Digital Repository]
