All Posts
View Other Categories
Japanese American WWII Incarceration: Not a Precedent for Proposed Muslim Registry
It’s been a week since Carl Higbie came under fire for citing Japanese American incarceration as a precedent for Donald Trump’s proposed Muslim registry. Densho staffers joined the chorus of voices…
The Lessons of WWII Japanese American Incarceration are Needed Now More than Ever
Throughout this year of 20th anniversary celebrations, we have been invigorated by the accolades and warmth we felt from our community. But we know we have a lot of work to…
In the wake of the presidential election, let’s be upstanders not bystanders
We are deeply concerned about the state of our nation. In the aftermath of the presidential election, there has been a spike in hate crimes against people of color, Muslim…
Nisei Veterans of World War II: Photo Essay and Resource List
“No loyal citizen of the United States should be denied the democratic right to exercise the responsibilities of his citizenship, regardless of his ancestry….Americanism is not, and never was, a…
Exiled: The Anti-Immigrant Roots of Mass Deportation in Mexican and Japanese American Repatriation
Following a blueprint laid out by the Depression-era Mexican Repatriation, Japanese Americans were subjected to deportation during WWII as a punitive measure for their supposed disloyalty. This practice has been…
Densho’s First Annual Scholars Roundtable
This weekend, a group of scholars working on World War II Japanese American incarceration history convened in Seattle for a roundtable event hosted by Densho and co-convened by Eric Muller,…
Minoru Yasui: Celebrating a Legacy of Civil Rights Activism
Minoru “Min” Yasui was one of four Japanese Americans who fought the legality of exclusion and/or detention during World War II all the way to the Supreme Court. While he…
Japanese Americans Incarcerated During WWII Could Still Vote, Kind Of
This article was co-published at PRI.org. During World War II,120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were stripped of their rights and property under the guise of national security. They were packed…
Notable Niseis and Allies Who Would’ve Celebrated Their 100th Birthdays in 2016
By Brian Niiya, Densho Content Director I had intended to contribute to this blog a lot more, and one of the types of pieces I hoped to do were essays on…
Remembering Uncle Bob and Charlie
This weekend, Seattle lost two pioneering figures in the city’s civil rights history, Robert Santos and Charles Z. Smith. Densho Executive Director Tom Ikeda pays tribute to them both. What…
10 Documentaries about Japanese American Incarceration you can Watch Online for Free Right Now
There are now literally a couple of hundred documentary films about some aspect of the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Unfortunately, many of them…
What “Back to School” Looked Like in World War II Concentration Camps
“Nineteen forty-two, how full of events it has been. So many turning points, crisises [sic], days of anxiety and disappointment, yet some happy moments, too. It was like a goodbye to…
Tom Ikeda: “Why Densho Matters to Me”
Twenty years ago when Densho started, I began interviewing Japanese Americans about what it was like being incarcerated during World War II. To help me become a better interviewer I…
Family Detention, Then and Now
As the 2016 election cycle ramps up – with a Republican nominee who has described Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and a Democrat who supports deporting child migrants…
Views of Post-WWII Hiroshima: A Japanese American Woman Documents Life in Occupied Japan
Shiuko Sakai was twenty three years old when she decided to join a friend to work for the Department of the Army in Occupied Japan. At the time of this…
Over More than a Hundred Years of Farm Labor History, Japanese and Mexican Americans Have Been Both Allies and Adversaries
Berry season is in full swing, with farmer’s markets and produce departments across the country overflowing with these quintessential summer fruits. But the story isn’t always so sweet for the migrant…
Stranded: Nisei in Japan Before, During, and After World War II
The story of the “strandees”—the period term for Nisei trapped in Japan when passage back to the U.S. was effectively cut off from late 1941 until a year two after…
Dispatch from the Minidoka Pilgrimage: Honoring the Legacy of Hunt High School Principal Jerome T. Light
In this special report from the annual pilgrimage to the site of the Minidoka concentration camp, Dr. Eugene H. Freund writes about a presentation on Hunt High School principal Jerome T. Light….
Photo Essay: Bon Festivals
This weekend, cities along the west coast will hold their annual Bon festivals. Bon Odori communal folk dances are a central part of the bon festival, a Buddhist summer ceremony in which the spirits of…
A “doubly strange and bewildering day:” Views of July 4th From Behind Barbed Wire
Ah, the Fourth of July, that special day when we celebrate the wealthy colonialists and slaveowners who birthed our nation by drinking several tons of “America” and making stuff go…
Common Myths of WWII Incarceration: “More Than Half Were Children”
The surge of children’s books, school curricula, films, websites, plays, and exhibitions about the wartime forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans has, for the most part, been a good thing….
Do You Have a Relative Who Was Interviewed by Densho?
Twenty years ago, we set out with the goal of recording and preserving stories of World War II incarceration so that future generations could learn from them. That mission is…
On Yuri Kochiyama’s 95th Birthday, 5 Enduring Quotes to Celebrate With
Happy birthday, Yuri! Yuri Kochiyama, who passed away in 2014, would have celebrated her 95th birthday today. (I’d like to imagine the K-Bears are throwing her a party somewhere, but…
Teaching with Primary Sources: Summer 2016 Demonstration Project
We are pleased to announce that we will be launching a new and improved version of our online course later this summer! Watch this space for an announcement in the coming…