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This 150 Year Old Bonsai Holds the Incredible History of One Japanese American Family

The Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way, Washington connects people to nature through the living art of bonsai. The Densho communications team recently had the chance to visit the museum…

Photo of Erna Harris smiling and wearing a black beret circa 1970s, over a newspaper background

Meet Erna P. Harris: Writer, Dissident, and Ally

Through stories of remarkable people in Japanese American history, The Unknown Great illuminates the diversity of the Nikkei experience from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day….

Reflections from Densho Artist-in-Residence Matthew Okazaki

In his recent work as one of Densho’s 2022/23 artists-in-residence, Matthew Okazaki used archival photos, sculptural pieces, and excerpts from his grandfather’s post-war diary to capture the resilient spirit reflected…

Black and white photograph of a toddler in a high chair with a large birthday cake with two candles that reads "Happy Birthday Marian"

Meet the Nisei Notables Who Would Have Turned 100 in 2024

As we celebrate the arrival of 2024, it’s time for our annual roundup of prominent Nisei who would have turned one hundred years old in the year to come. We…

With talking stick in hand, UTTC President Leander R. McDonald presides over the ground blessing ceremony for the Snow Country Prison Japanese Internment Memorial.

Memorializing a Shared History Between Native and Japanese American Communities at Fort Lincoln

In September, I had the privilege of attending the ground blessing ceremony for the Snow Country Prison Japanese American Internment Memorial on the campus of United Tribes Technical College (UTTC)…

Print Garden by Kanon Shambora. The artwork features several acrylic plates with laser cut drawings of fruits, vegetables, flowers and fish cultivated and caught by Japanese American agricultural workers prior to World War Two incarceration.

Kanon Shambora on the Making of Print Garden

Artist-in-residence Kanon Shambora used her time at Densho to explore the roots of Japanese American identity. Their culminating Print Garden pays homage to early Issei and Nisei, as well as…

Three Japanese American women and two girls standing behind a fence at Puyallup Assembly Center in 1942.

Justifying the Unjustifiable: Why Japanese Americans Must Stand with Palestine

Guest opinion essay by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. Densho publishes guest opinion essays that draw meaningful connections between the incarceration story and the present, and that promote equity and justice today. Learn…

Barracks at Minidoka concentration camp under construction in 1942

Ask a Historian: When Did America Start Building Its WWII Concentration Camps?

Densho Content Director Brian Niiya answers a question about the origin of the concentration camps where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II.

Paul Kikuchi playing drums

Community Curator Spotlight: Paul Kikuchi on Finding Ancestral Connections through Music

Percussionist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist Paul Kikuchi speaks with Densho Community Curator Erin Shigaki about the influences of his ancestors, identity, and community on his art. Kikuchi shares, “How easily…

Densho staff with speakers and performers at the 2023 virtual fundraiser. They are gathered on a stage in front of a background that reads Our Voices Will Not Be Silenced.

Highlights from Densho’s 2023 Virtual Fundraiser: Our Voices Will Not Be Silenced

Thank you to everyone who tuned in on October 5 for Densho’s 2023 virtual fundraiser, Our Voices Will Not Be Silenced! 

Kaneji Domoto pruning a bonsai

How Kaneji Domoto’s “Compassionate Architecture” Highlights The Contradictions Of Camp

As an intern at Densho, I have spent this past summer and fall processing new additions to the Kaneji and Sally (Fujii) Domoto Collection. During that time, I enjoyed getting…

Page from a photo album with several images of the Fukayama family and extended family

Intern Spotlight: Kelsie Flack on Learning History from Those Who Lived It

Kelsie Flack gained a love of archival work during her undergraduate degree when she worked in special collections at the University of Utah’s J.W. Marriott Library. This experience pushed her…

Japanese American teens gathered around a table reading at Minidoka

15 Books About Japanese American WWII Incarceration For Readers Of All Ages

Looking for some summer reading for the students—and learners of any age—in your life? Densho Content Director Brian Niiya recommends some graphic novels and youth-friendly books with plotlines related to…

Japanese Americans walking in a street between barracks at Heart Mountain concentration camp. Heart Mountain is visible in the distance.

Frozen Hair, Work Stoppages, and Other Lesser-Known Stories from Heart Mountain

Perhaps you know the Heart Mountain, Wyoming, concentration camp for stories of boyhood-friends-turned-congressmen Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson, for the draft resistance of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, for…

A photomontage created by Dean K. Terasaki from two images. One is a detail of the Poston Concentration Camp Monument. The other is a request for inkstone, ink and brushes in a Japanese-language letter sent to T.K. Pharmacy.

Community Curator Spotlight: Dean Terasaki on Memory and Mystery

Erin Shigaki, Seattle-based artist and Densho’s inaugural Community Curator, caught up with photographer Dean Terasaki to learn how he’s turned his lens toward an 80 year old family mystery.

A Japanese American family standing in front of barracks at Minidoka.

Intern Spotlight: Kathleen Singleton on the Power of Archives

Kathleen Singleton is a mixed Yonsei, born and raised in Seattle, Washington. They graduated from Central Washington University with a BA in Professional and Creative Writing with a minor in…

A page in a photo album with several photos of a Japanese American family.

Intern Spotlight: Ron Martin-Dent on Hidden Connections in the Archives

Densho Archives Intern Ron Martin-Dent shares some lessons learned and surprises uncovered during his time adding new collections to the Densho Digital Repository.

Six kibei siblings in Japan. They are standing in a row, one wearing dark colored hakama and haori, another in a western suit, and the four younger siblings in school uniforms.

The Kibei Story Is “The Biggest Unexplored Episode In The History Of Japanese Americans.” Here’s Where To Learn More About It.

A recent episode of NPR’s Code Switch explores an often forgotten chapter of Japanese American history: the Kibei story. Kibei were Japanese Americans who were born in the US to…

Japanese Americans reading in the library at Tanforan Assembly Center.

Counting Down Our Top 5 Most-Read Densho Encyclopedia Articles

Since launching the Densho Encyclopedia in 2012, we’ve published 1,500 articles on Japanese American history written by expert scholars and public historians — making it the go-to resource for many…

A Japanese American teen performing a flag salute during an Independence Day parade at Tule Lake. She has a big smile and is holding a baton and leading the parade.

Ask a Historian: Why Do Some Survivors Say Camp Was “Fun”?

Densho Content Director Brian Niiya responds to a question from a descendant of the camps who wonders why his Nisei father often shared “happy” memories of the wartime incarceration.

Graphic with the cover of Love in the Library superimposed over an aerial photo of the Minidoka concentration camp

Author Maggie Tokuda-Hall Takes a Stand Against Censorship and the “Deeply American Tradition of Racism”

Earlier this month, author Maggie Tokuda-Hall received a troubling offer from publishing giant Scholastic: they would license Love in the Library, her acclaimed children’s book based on her grandparents’ experiences…

Diana Tsuchida as a baby with her father and grandparents. Her grandmother is holding Diana in her lap, sitting at a table next to her grandfather, while her father stands behind them.

Diana Emiko Tsuchida On How Her Grandmother’s Story Helped Her Write Her Own

In this guest post for Women’s History Month, Diana Emiko Tsuchida, creator of the journal and oral history project Tessaku, writes about how her grandmother’s experiences during WWII have shaped…

Two small children walking down a dirt path between barracks at Minidoka.

The Proposed Lava Ridge Wind Farm at Minidoka Is Part of a Larger—and Ongoing—Pattern of Erasing Marginalized Histories

A proposal to build a 76,000-acre wind farm surrounding the former Minidoka concentration camp threatens to erase the site’s historic legacy. The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments…

Collage of photos of Japanese Americans. Right to left: a woman working in an art studio, an elderly couple posing for a portrait, three young men standing with their arms wrapped around each other, a young woman holding a snowball.

#WhoWeRemember: A Collective Memory Project for Day of Remembrance 2023

Last week, Japanese Americans across the country gathered to remember a day that will forever be impressed upon our collective memory. February 19, 1942 — when FDR signed Executive Order…