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Message from Densho’s New Technical Director

This is my first entry to densho.blog as the newest member of the Densho staff, having taken over as Technical Director when Geoff departed after 8 years with Densho. Coming…

Day of Remembrance 2009

Another February 19 brings another Day of Remembrance. We Japanese Americans and friends of civil liberties observe the anniversary of FDR’s signing of Executive Order 9066 every year. And every…

Densho Remodel

In recent months, Densho headquarters have been getting a much-needed facelift. With the help of generous donors and contractors, our humble abode is becoming more presentable. We rent an annex…

A New Chapter

In a few days, I will leave my position as Director of Technology and Information at Densho to move on to another nonprofit organization. For many people, a job is…

A newspaper ends but photos live on

Sad news from Seattle: One of our major daily newspapers is succumbing to the sea change in the media market and the swamping of the economy. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has…

The Beginnings of a Speech

I am preparing a speech I will be making this Saturday for the Seattle JACL Installation dinner. The theme of the event is “Our Nisei, Okage sama de,” or, we…

Washington DC meetings

Over the weekend I traveled to Washington DC and met and talked with the Consuls-Generals from 13 different cities. (In the photo I am having lunch seated between Mitsunori Namba,…

Teachers on Board

On Saturday we held the first of two meetings with a dozen (plus a few) teachers who will help Densho test our civil liberties curriculum units in their classrooms this…

Bridge of Technology

Densho is receiving more web hits and comments from Japan these days. The connections continue to grow between Densho’s work with Japanese American history and contemporary relations with the land…

New Densho Archive Interviews

To cap off a successful year of interviewing in 2008, we have added thirteen new interviews to the Densho Digital Archive (listed below). Thank you once again to our community…

End of Year Storm

Those Densho staff members who haven’t flown home for the holidays find themselves snowbound by the Seattle winter storm of 2008–a heavier snowfall than we’ve had in decades. My backyard…

Our Favorite Japanese American Artists

Densho conducts a monthly poll of its faithful eNews readers (why not sign up for a free subscription?). In December we asked about people’s most cherished Japanese American artists. The…

Saving Tapes of the Redress Hearings

I’ve been watching recently salvaged video files from the 1981 hearings held in Seattle by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). After hearing testimonies around the…

Tule Lake, National Monument at last

We received welcome news this Friday before Pearl Harbor Day: a White House press release announces that the Tule Lake Segregation Center site in California will become part of the…

40 years ago: Vice President Inouye?

Audio tapes from President Johnson’s last months in office were released yesterday. These tapes confirm conversations I’ve had with Senator Inouye about the serious discussions that were taking place to…

Watsonville Interviews: Second Trip

Dana Hoshide and I returned to Watsonville to interview 4 people the week before Thanksgiving. We left cold and drizzly Seattle and traveled to foggy mornings/sunny afternoons Watsonville to interview…

Minneapolis Travel

Ten days ago (I know, I know, I am behind in posting!) I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota to present at the Twin Cities JACL Installation Banquet. Minneapolis is historically significant…

Sushi & Sake Fest: See the Fun

Our event photographer has posted a big batch of photos from Densho’s 7th annual Sushi & Sake Fest that you can view or purchase. If you attended the event and…

Sushi + Sake = Bliss

Sushi addicts (you know who you are) will achieve bliss at the perfect culinary event for nigiri fans and Japanophiles. Our hugely popular annual Sushi & Sake Fest takes place…

New Interviews in the Densho Digital Archive

We recently added eleven new interviews to the Densho Digital Archive (listed below). This includes a new collection, the Watsonville – Santa Cruz JACL Collection, which is comprised of interviews…

Metadata in Pittsburgh

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending four days in the beautiful city of Pittsburgh for the annual Oral History Association conference. This year’s theme, “A Convergence of Interests:…

Densho on Japanese TV

When the Densho staff opened our Monday morning email, we found multiple messages from Japan. People were writing to thank us for our work, register for the Digital Archive, and…

Moving Into the HD Era

The Background At Densho, we’ve been shooting our oral histories with digital video since the early days of the technology. Back in 1997, after experimenting with several analog and digital…

Sushi & Sake Festival Auction Items

This past week the auction team has been procuring some great items for our November 5th Sushi & Sake Festival at the Seattle Westin. Courtesy of Oki Golf we have…