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Love and Caring: Fred Hoshiyama, YMCA Leader
Fred Hoshiyama was born in 1914 in Livingston, California, where his parents helped to establish a farming community called the Yamato Colony. At the age of eight, he lost his…
Real Friends: Standing by the Japanese Americans
“Everywhere there is community feeling to be mended, vicious legislation to be defeated, many urgent jobs calling for attention from real friends of the real America.”—Letter from Friends of the…
The Manhattan Mosque Controversy through a Japanese American Lens
A recent blog points to a short interview with Scott Kurashige, Associate Professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan. Interviewed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” Kurashige is…
Repealing Birthright Citizenship Wasn’t a Good Idea Back in the Forties Either
On George Mason University’s History News Network (HNN), historian Greg Robinson, author of A Tragedy of Democracy, posted a recent article about lawsuits by nativists during World War II to…
Hello Maggie!: Shig Yabu, Children’s Book Author
As a boy Shig Yabu was taken from his home in San Francisco to the Pomona Assembly Center, California, and the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Wyoming. While in camp,…
Pioneer Generation: Remembering the Issei
“They were early pioneers. And especially on farms it was very difficult for them.” –Kara Kondo
Kooskia Internment Camp Story
This morning Densho staff was surprised to hear one of our interviewees, Tad Sato, included in a local NPR story on the obscure Kooskia internment camp for Issei men. Over…
Distillations: Exhibition of Art by Four Sansei Women
Now and then people send Densho announcements of exhibitions, films, and books pertaining to our mission of preserving Japanese American history and educating the public about the World War II…
Papa San: Pat Morita’s Daughter Remembers
In the Hyphen online magazine about Asian American culture, we came across a candid blog article that Pat Morita’s daughter Aly wrote about her famous father. She talks about her…
Dad was an Internment Camp Commandant
We came across an article worth sharing: “Reconnecting to Father’s ‘Mistake’ as Fort Missoula Commandant,” in the Missoulian newspaper tells how the daughter of the immigration officer in charge of…
Civil Liberties Notes: Art and Law
Over the weekend, a two-day symposium on civil liberties in Twin Falls, Idaho, was presented by the National Park Service, Friends of Minidoka, and College of Southern Idaho. The symposium…
C-SPAN American History Broadcasts Densho Interviews
This weekend C-SPAN 3 will broadcast Densho’s interview with Medal of Honor veteran George “Joe” Sakato. The C-SPAN American History channel has broadcast a half dozen full-length video oral histories…
International Internees: The Family Camp at Crystal City
“The bitterness of the incarceration was there, but they were able to circumvent it somehow and live a pretty decent community family life.” — Mako Nakagawa
A visit to Tokyo by Tom Ikeda
Below are my daily notes from a whirlwind visit to Tokyo a couple of weeks ago. The purpose of the visit was to see some of the people I met…
Blue Skies and Thunder: WWII Nisei Veteran’s Memoir
Densho is bringing World War II veteran Virgil Westdale to Seattle to give a free author talk on Saturday, May 22, at the Densho building (1416 S. Jackson Street) from…
Imposing the Alien Land Laws: New Documents Discovered
A friend sent us this noteworthy article in a February 2010 issue of the Pacific Citizen. “Japanese American residents in San Joaquin County, Calif. had no idea that they were…
Exceptions That Prove the Rule: Interracial Nisei Marriages
“The first generation was, you might say, narrow-minded…The second generation didn’t marry out. But when it came to third generation and fourth, they had more freedom.” –Takashi Matsui
Revered Canadian Architect Is Honored
We learned about a respected Japanese Canadian architect in this column in The Globe & Mail. Raymond Moriyama is one of country’s greatest architects, the genius behind buildings such as…
Japanese TV Drama Filming in Seattle
“A major film is being made in Seattle, but you’ll probably never see it. It’s a 10-hour movie that will be shown only in Japan.” That’s how a KING 5…
Wartime Irony
A friend told us today about an NPR story of interest. At the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, General David Petraeus honored veterans who helped to liberate the Nazi concentration…
Bad Meat and Missing Sugar: Food in the Japanese American Camps
“Americans are being rationed, and these Japs are getting steaks.” — Frank Kikuchi
Sports Illustrated & ESPN Take a Look at the Japanese American Incarceration
There is a good feature story in Sports Illustrated about the Champion Utah basketball team during World War II. It features Wat Misaka, one of the stars of the team…
Internment 101
A recent action of the Texas Board of Education gives me an opportunity to discuss a topic that confuses some people. On March 12, 2010, the Texas Board of Education…
Japanese American Women Remember the World War II Incarceration
In honor of International Women’s Day, we invite you to read Densho’s latest article, on female memories of the incarceration, featuring selections from our digital archive of interviews, photos, and…