NJAHS

2021 Spring Raffle Winners
2021-06-26 01:00 - 2021-06-27 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Grand Prize: Airfare for 2 to Hawaii – Sherie Ann Hashimoto
Second Prize: Transcontinental Airfare for 2 – Juli Kodani
Third Prize: 2-Night Hotel Voucher (U.S.) – Jani Iwamoto
Fourth Prize: $1000 Cash – Mary Ishisaki
Thank you all for participate in our 2021 spring raffle!

Free Online Workshop for Elementary Teachers
2021-06-23 02:00 - 2021-06-26 05:30
We Are All Americans
Select one workshop

Wednesday June 23

Saturday June 26 – 09:00 to 12:30 Pacific Time

Stipend of $150
Full Resource Packet
Space Limited
Apply by June 21, 2021
How did the experience of being forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated affect the choices made by people of Japanese ancestry as they responded to the government’s call for loyalty?
Mark your calendar for workshop–We Are All Americans. We Are All Americans is a multi-media inquiry curricula for teachers of grades 4 to 5. Our goal is to provide curricula that prompts students to ask questions, to discern how and use evidence to support claims, and to immerse themselves in the practice of historical thinking as they learn independently and through collaborations with their peers. We want students to explore the decisions faced by people of Japanese ancestry including the youth when confined in the WRA Centers and DOJ internment camps.
Join your colleagues for open-ended inquiry into what it means to be American – then and now. Why did some individuals believe civil rights should be restored before service, while others were committed to proving themselves to gain back civil rights?
Please join us in a teacher workshop either on Wednesday, June 23 or Saturday June 26 for a 3 hour and 30 minutes interactive workshops live online. See page 3 for more details.
The project was funded in part, by the California Civil Liberties Act.
Download the registration form and flyer here

Join Us @ AMACHE -Virtually!
2021-06-11 01:00 - 2021-06-12 10:00
Dear Folks,
Three exciting things happening with the Amache incarceration site near Granada, CO. We encourage families to assist their elders in participating in all 3 engagements.

Join the Amache 2021 virtual Pilgrimage – all are welcome!
(www.jampilgrimages.com/2021-amache-virtual-pilgrimage)
Special Topic Discussion Groups (Saturday June 12, 5 PM MDT) and Intergenerational Conversations (Sunday June 13, 3PM MDT). Anyone can participate in any session.

Submit Public Comment by June 30 on the Amache Special Resource Study. This is super important!
Amache Presentation of the Study. & brochure (Download it here)
Online (preferred): online comment portal
Support the legislation. A bi-partisan bill has been introduced to make Amache a National Historic Site!
=> Write to your Congressperson: https://p2a.co/nyx7cij
=> Preserve Amache Now (National Parks Conservation Association)
https://www.npca.org/advocacy/92-preserve-the-history-of-amache

=> Watch Amachean Bob Fuchigami on News broadcast: shorturl.at/irARW

AMACHE RESOURCE STUDY
The purpose of a special resource study is to evaluate Amache’s eligibility for designation as a new unit of the national park system. Iideas you share help the NPS better understand what the public values most about Amache, how much support exists for preservation, public use and potential designation, and what the public envisions for Amache’s future. Comments also help identify any issues or concerns which the NPS should understand during the study process. Feedback is welcome and encouraged from any member of the public.
Submit Comments:
Email: Amache_study@nps.gov (NPS Study Team)
Mail: Amache Special Resource Study
National Park Service
12795 West Alameda Parkway
PO Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225-0287

Past NJAHS Events on YouTube
2021-06-10 01:00 - 2022-06-01 10:00
Past NJAHS Events
The Suitcase Project in the Age of COVID-19 Click here to watch
NJAHS Annual Members Meeting 2020 Click here to watch
NJAHS Annual Awards Tribute 2020 – Reflecting Back, Moving Forward Click here to watch
50 Objects: Ibuki’s Doll Click here to watch
50 Objects: The Mihara Braille Board Click here to watch
Sat. Apr. 10, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Japanese Voices of Angel Island – A virtual book talk feat. Prof. Charles Egan. Click here to watch
Sat. Apr. 17, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile from Hawai’i – A virtual book talk feat. Prof. Emerita Gail Okawa. Click here to watch
Sat. May 15, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Natsukashii: Writings on the Nisei Experience – Instructor Naomi Shibata and her Nisei storytellers share stories about growing up in Hayward, CA. in the ’40’s – ’50’s. Click here to watch
50 Objects: Kiyoshi Ina’s Toy Tank Click here to watch
50 Objects: Takato Hamai’s Crutches Click here to watch
Bay Area Day of Remembrance 2021 Click here to watch
John Tateishi, Author of REDRESS: A Behind-the-Scenes Perspective Click here to watch
Sat. May 22, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Finding Your Roots: Introduction to JA Genealogy and NJAHS Digital Archives. Click here to watch
Fri. June 4, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Bay Area Go for Broke Forever Stamp Tribute. Click here to watch
Saturday. June 26, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – NJAHS Annual Members Meeting 2021. Click here to watch
Saturday. June 26, 2 – Search for Koseki: Family Registry in Japan. Click here to watch
January 8 to February 28, 2022- Oshogatsu Poster Retrospective 1977-1999. Click here to watch
March 15 to May 7, 2022 -Sansei Life: The Art of Rich Tokeshi Click here to watch
NJAHS 40th Anniversary Celebration Click here to watch

Virtual Broadcast: Bay Area Go for Broke Forever Stamp Tribute
2021-06-04 11:00 - 12:00
Click here to watch
Bay Area Go For Broke Forever Stamp Tribute
Friday, June 4, 2021 6PM PST

SF Japantown United Against Hate PSA (Public Service Announcement)
2021-06-02 01:00 - 2021-06-04 10:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTv_MBOOR8

San Francisco Japantown United Against Hate, a project of the San Francisco Nihonmachi Community Coalition, stands united against anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander hate.

Given the rash of anti-AAPI hate incidents plaguing the country, San Francisco Japantown organizations came together to express solidarity with victims of hate, vigilance against such racist attacks, and to encourage the Japanese and Japanese American community to report incidents of hate.

If you have questions, contact API Legal Outreach for free hate violence legal services. 415 567 6255 (Japanese and 11 other API languages)
無料でヘイトクライムに関する法的なサービスを受けることができます。質問はAPI Legal Outreach (415-567-6255)へ、日本語でも対応しております。

Report incidents of hate to: https://stopaapihate.org/

ヘイトクライムの報告はこちらから: https://stopaapihate.org

S.F. NIHONMACHI COMMUNITY COALITION

Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach

Japanese American Citizens League, NorCal Regional Office

Japanese American Religious Federation

Japantown Community Benefit District

Japanese Community Youth Council

Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California

Japantown for Justice

Japantown Merchants Association

Japantown Task Force

Kimochi, Inc.

National Japanese American Historical Society

Nichi Bei Foundation

Nihonmachi Little Friends

San Francisco Japanese American Citizens League
San Francisco Japantown Foundation

SF Japantown United Against Hate Video:

Directed by Kenji G. Taguma

Edited by Greg Viloria

Graphic by Len Kori

Produced by Nichi Bei Foundation / nichibei.org

Finding Your Roots: An Introduction to JA Genealogy & NJAHS' Digital Archives
2021-05-22 04:00 - 05:00
Click here to watch
Research At Home with Executive Director Rosalyn Tonai and Collections Manager Max Nihei
Sat. May 22, 2021, 11AM to 12 Noon PST/1PM-2PM CT/2PM-3PM ET/12PM-1PM MT via Zoom. Sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society
This popular series continues with an introduction to conducting Japanese American Genealogical Research from the comforts of your home. Executive Director Rosalyn Tonai shows you a step by step process on how to get started on your family records search on-line. And there’s more than meets the eye, as Collection Manager shows you the latest features in NJAHS Digital Archives and how-to conduct your research using finding aids, all free and publicly accessible.
SPEAKERS
Rosalyn Tonai MA Public Administration, USF and has a certificate in museum management from the Getty Leadership Institute. She has recently completed on-line coursework in genealogy from Boston University and conducted her own family research.

Max Nihei is NJAHS Exhibition and Collections Manager and holds a masters in Museum Studies from the University of San Francisco. He’s familiar with NJAHS’ extensive archives and collections for the past ten years.

Click here to watch

Natsukashii: Writings on the Nisei Experience
2021-05-15 04:00 - 05:00
Click here to watch
Natsukashi: Writings on the Nisei Experience with Instructor Naomi Shibata and her Nisei storytellers.
Sat. May 15, 11 AM to 12 Noon via Zoom. Co-sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society and the Hayward Area Historical Society

Grab your morning buns and tea and join us for some literary delights of selected short stories with writing instructor, and author Naomi Shibata of Bend With the Wind and her Nisei writing enthusiasts. Journey into past, as they share stories growing up in Hayward, California in the 1940s and 1950s.

Naomi Shibata is conducts writing workshops for Nisei seniors sponsored by the Hayward Area Historical Society and NJAHS. She is the author/editor of Bend With the Wind, the Life, Family and Writings of Grace Eto Shibata (2014).

Facing the Mountain- Virtual book launch event
2021-05-11 10:00 - 11:30
Densho is hosting the official book launch for Facing the Mountain, a new book about WWII incarceration and the 442nd RCT by Daniel James Brown, NY Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat. The May 11, 2021 virtual event will feature a conversation between Brown and Densho Executive Director Tom Ikeda, who has conducted previous oral histories with many of the men highlighted in the book. Facing the Mountain grew out of conversations Brown had with Ikeda in 2015. In his foreword to the book, Ikeda writes:
“Facing the Mountain comes to us during a time of deep unrest, a time when our empathy for others is so needed to guide the choices we will make. This book will open hearts.”
Facing the Mountain is an unforgettable chronicle of war-time America and the battlefields of Eu rope. Based on Brown’s extensive interviews with the families of the protagonists as well as deep archival research, it portrays the kaleidoscopic journey of four Japanese American families and their sons. While some fought on battlefields as members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, others fought to defend the constitutional rights of a community. Regardless of where their battles played out, these individuals were exemplifying American patriotism under extreme duress by striving, resisting, standing on principle, and enduring.
Facing the Mountain exemplifies the sort of far-reaching creative work that we dreamed would be possible when Densho was founded 25 years ago. The book draws upon the stories and words of Japanese American elders and ancestors to tell this history in a way that can reach vast audiences.
Find out more information about the event and register at densho.org/mountain.

ABOUT DENSHO
Founded in 1996, Densho is a trailblazer in the use of digital technology to preserve and share the first-person story. Today, Densho hosts the largest online archive of oral histories and family collections on the Japanese American experience, in addition to a wealth of educational resources to help every American know the history and understand the lessons of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Call to Action: Amache As An National Historic Site
2021-04-23 07:30 - 11:00
Internment camp survivor wants NPS to preserve his past
Rob Hotakainen, E&E News reporter
Published: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Bob Fuchigami was only 11 years old in 1942 when the military ordered his family living in California to report to the local train depot.
Eventually, he said, they ended up at Camp Amache in Granada, Colo., where more than 7,000 Japanese-Americans were imprisoned during World War II.
“I did not understand what was happening,” Fuchigami, who’s now 90, told a House Natural Resources panel during a virtual hearing yesterday.
“I was told to leave my rabbits, say goodbye to our dog, and get on a truck with the rest of the family with a small suitcase my older sister had packed for me. I never saw my dog or rabbits again.”
Fuchigami, a former special education teacher from Evergreen, Colo., and a Navy veteran who served in the Korean War, told lawmakers the site of the incarceration camp should become part of the National Park Service. He said that would help local high school students who keep watch over the cemetery and the land.
“They cannot do it alone. They need the National Park Service’s help to ensure this place is protected, preserved and interpreted for future generations,” Fuchigami told the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
Fuchigami shared his story as the subcommittee heard testimony on H.R. 2497, the “Amache National Historic Site Act,” which would put NPS in charge of the site.
The legislation, sponsored by two Coloradans — the panel’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse, and Republican Rep. Ken Buck — was one of four park-related bills considered by the subcommittee, though no votes were taken.
Neguse cited the Amache bill as an example of how Congress can help the park service tell the stories of more Americans.
He said the nation’s park sites historically have reflected only a “narrow slice” of the country’s history and haven’t reflected its full diversity.
“All in all, Amache tells a very important story, and we stand ready to make sure that that story is protected and shared for many generations,” Neguse told his colleagues.
Camp Amache is one of 10 incarceration sites for Japanese-Americans who were forcibly removed from the West Coast. They were created by the War Relocation Authority under President Franklin Roosevelt.
The park service has already been studying the site as a possible addition. Congress ordered a “special resource study” in 2019 as part of its John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act, a legislative package that included more than 100 bills.
Under that process, NPS would issue a report to the Interior secretary, who would then make a recommendation to Congress.
‘A traumatic subject’
The camp, also known as the Granada War Relocation Center, is now a national historic landmark.
Fuchigami said the foundations of the site have been preserved, and the guard tower, the water tower and a replica of one of the barracks have been reconstructed. But he said the site needs more resources from the park service.
Camp Amache survivor Bob Fuchigami providing video testimony. Natural Resources Committee/YouTube
“A visitors center is needed to explain what happened to these 7,500 Americans during wartime,” Fuchigami told the panel.
“Along with many other survivors and descendants, I have long advocated for Amache to be protected and preserved as a national park site so that this history can no longer be ignored, forgotten or remain invisible,” Fuchigami added.
Fuchigami called the incarceration camp “a traumatic subject” and said it’s “very personal to me and has been for most of my life.”
He recalled how his family had to leave their fruit and vegetable farm with little explanation. “No reason given except two vague words: ‘military necessity,'” he said.
“No charges were leveled against us. No trial. No hearings. We were loyal, patriotic, law-abiding citizens who had never done anything wrong. Why were we treated this way? Forty years later, a congressional commission determined that ‘military necessity’ was false, and we should have never been evicted and incarcerated.”
At the camp, Fuchigami said, his family of 10 members was assigned to two rooms — each 20 by 20 feet.
“Each room held five canvas cots, a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, no running water or toilet, and a potbellied stove for heat,” Fuchigami said.
“No furniture. The walls and windows were so poorly constructed, they left a gap allowing dust and snow to blow in. Temperatures ranged from below zero in winter to well above 100 degrees in summer. Dust storms were frequent. Mess halls, toilets, showers were communal. No privacy.”
He added, “The camp was surrounded by barbed wire, with eight guard towers manned by military police on duty 24 hours a day. They had orders to shoot anyone trying to escape.”
During their three-year incarceration, Fuchigami said, his mother had a stroke, and his father suffered a debilitating spine injury after falling off a work truck, and neither recovered.
“While in Amache, we lost everything: home, furnishings, land, farm equipment — everything,” he said.
Fuchigami said the Amache story “is not over,” with Asians still suffering today from hate crimes and discrimination.
But he said his parents, first-generation immigrants to the United States, would be pleased to know that there’s now a bill in Congress to make Amache part of the park service, and he’s hoping members will approve it quickly.
“I have been waiting for this to happen for a long, long time,” he said.
Call to Action! Amache Nat’l Historic Site
Friday, April 23 2:30PT/ 3:30 MT/ 4:30 CT/ 5:30 ET Amache virtual community roundtable
Please join us for a virtual community roundtable discussion with U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), and U.S. Representative Ken Buck (R-Colo.) about the Amache National Historic Site Act, legislation to establish Amache, a former Japanese American incarceration facility near Granada, Colorado, as part of the National Park System. You will also hear from community leaders and Amache descendants about what this legislation means to them personally as well as to the future of our nation.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81421679524?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Or One tap mobile :
US: +16699009128,,81421679524#,,,,*[REDACTED]# or +12532158782,,81421679524#,,,,*[REDACTED]#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799
Webinar ID: 814 2167 9524

Remembering Our Grandfathers' Exile - from Hawaii
2021-04-17 06:00 - 07:00
Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile: The Imprisonment of Hawai`i’s Japanese in World War II, a book talk presented by Gail Okawa.
Sat. April 17, 1 to 2 p.m. via Zoom. Co-sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Join us for an illustrated talk and a live Q and A by Gail Okawa, who was inspired by her grandfather Reverend Tamasaku Watanabe’s arrest and internment by the Department of Justice to embark on an 18-year journey to research the story of the over 600 Japanese internees from Hawai`i sent to the U.S. continent. Her story presents their arrest in Hawai`i, arrival at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, and odyssey of detention across the American West. Okawa uses poetry, letters, and photographs to show the ordeals these men lived through, including loss of sons in the U.S. Army. Author and scholar Gary Okihiro calls the book “remarkable and moving.”
Gail Y. Okawa is professor emerita of English at Youngstown State University, Ohio, and a visiting scholar at the Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Buy book with 20% off Coupon code PACS21

Japanese Voices of Angel Island
2021-04-10 04:00 - 05:00
Japanese Inscriptions and Poetry from Angel Island, a book talk presented by Professor Charles Egan.

Sat. April 10, 11 a.m. to 12 noon via Zoom. Co-sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
You’re invited to a book talk and live Q and A by Professor Charles Egan, who for almost twenty years has researched writings left behind by detainees on Angel Island. The island housed a U.S. immigration station from 1910 to 1940. Egan documented Japanese and other languages which are still visible on the barracks walls in his new book Voices of Angel Island. The Japanese writing includes that left behind by immigrants, World War II “enemy aliens” from the U.S., and prisoners of war from Japan. Egan also documented works published in the Nichibei Shimbun, including poetry and extensive prose including a suicide note from a picture bride.
Charles Egan is Professor of Chinese and chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literature at San Francisco State University.

Click here to purchase the book with 35% off promo GLR TW6

Past NJAHS Events 2021 on YouTube
2021-04-08 04:00 - 2021-06-04 10:00
Past NJAHS Events 2021
Sat. Apr. 10, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Japanese Voices of Angel Island – A virtual book talk feat. Prof. Charles Egan. Click here to watch
Sat. Apr. 17, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile from Hawai’i – A virtual book talk feat. Prof. Emerita Gail Okawa. Click here to watch
Sat. May 15, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Natsukashii: Writings on the Nisei Experience – Instructor Naomi Shibata and her Nisei storytellers share stories about growing up in Hayward, CA. in the ’40’s – ’50’s. Click here to watch
Sat. May 22, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Finding Your Roots: Introduction to JA Genealogy and NJAHS Digital Archives. Click here to watch
Fri. June 4, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Bay Area Go for Broke Forever Stamp Tribute. Video Coming Soon

Virtual Broadcast: Bay Area Day of Remembrance 2021
2021-02-19 10:00 - 11:30
A Virtual ZOOM Event
All are welcome! ON-LINE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
PROGRAM : Keynote Speaker: Rev. Arnold Townsend . Associate Minister, Church Without Walls , Vice President, San Francisco NAACP
Emcees: Dianne Fukami, Award-winning filmmaker & Hillary Nakano, Attorney and activist
Clifford I. Uyeda Peace & Humanitarian Awardee: Campaign for Justice: Redress NOW for Japanese Latin Americans! represented by Bekki Shibayama
Virtual Candle-lighting Ceremony
Performance: Ito Yosakoi
Interfaith Benediction: Japanese American Religious Federation (JARF)
DOR FUNDERS: San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Japanese American Citizens League, San Francisco Chapter – In memory of Greg Marutani, Union Bank,
San Francisco Branch members of the National Japanese American Historical Society and BA DOR Consortium
For more info: (415) 921-5007 • grace@njahs.org

Download Flyer.

Virtual Broadcast: Mihara’s Braille Board program
2021-01-23 03:00 - 04:00
50 Objects and NJAHS invite you to “Mihara’s Braille Board”
Date & Time: Sat. Jan. 23, 11 a.m. to 12 noon PST
Guests: Sam Mihara, Nob Mihara and Linda Mihara with Nancy Ukai, 50 Objects, and Melissa Bailey, NJAHS

Join us for slides and a live Q and A about Tokinobu Mihara, who arrived in the U.S. in 1920 and worked as a journalist in San Francisco at the Shin Sekai (“New World”) newspaper before the family was expelled from California in 1942. He became blind while confined at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and invented his own Braille code which was engraved on a handcrafted board he commissioned at the camp. His sons, Sam and Nob Mihara, who were nine and 11 years when they entered the camp, and Tokinobu’s granddaughter, origami artist Linda Mihara, will be our guests. See you then!

Read the related story, “Mihara’s Braille Board,” to be posted Jan. 19, on the 50 Objects website

Click here to watch

John Tateishi, Author of REDRESS, A Behind-the Scenes Perspective
2020-12-19 03:00 - 04:00
Date & Time: December 19, 2020 from 11am – 12 noon.
A leader in the JACL Redress campaign, John Tateishi shares his intimate knowledge of the behind-the-scenes fight for redress, beginning with an acutely divided community, internal discord, and an American public largely unaware of concentration camps on US soil. His latest book has lessons learned with powerful implications as the idea of black reparations shapes our national discourse.
Author’s Signed copies available: $28 retail. 10% discount for ZOOM attendees. NJAHS Members Discount 20% (NJAHS Members please email tim@njahs.org for the discount code). Shipping fees apply
Click here to purchase the book

Race & Resilence: the Story of Buffalo Soldiers and Nisei Solders in Beyond Pearl Harbor, a virtual Event
2020-12-06 04:00 - 06:00
LIVE Virtual Event: Race & Resilience: the Story of Buffalo Soldiers and Nisei Solders in Beyond Pearl Harbor LIVE Sessions
Sunday, December 6, 2020
10AM HST, 12 PST, 2 MST, 3 EST

Please Join Us For

this LIVE broadcast with NJAHS @ the Presidio LIVE with NPS Ranger emeritus Rik Penn, Buffalo Soldiers, and NJAHS’ Executive Director Rosalyn Tonai on MIS Nisei Soldiers – part of the Beyond Pearl Harbor Live Stream Broadcasts.

Click & Subscribe to the broadcast here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SHnQeG-UnA&feature=youtu.be

other related programing
https://www.pacifichistoricparks.org/livesessions

Virtual Broadcast: Ibuki's Doll Program
2020-12-05 03:00 - 04:00
50 Objects Sat. Dec 5, 11 am to 12 noon
Guest Ibuki Hibi Lee with Nancy Ukai, 50 Objects, and Melissa Bailey, NJAHS

Join us for an illustrated conversation with Ibuki Hibi Lee, who carried her doll to Tanforan and Topaz in 1942. She still has the doll, which was memorialized in a photograph taken by Dorothea Lange on May 9, 1942, in Hayward, California, during the mass roundup. We also will be joined by Ibuki’s older brother, Satoshi Hibi, for the live Q&A. See you then!
Read the story here

Click here to watch

Tokyo Rose Program- Nov 18
2020-11-18 09:00 - 10:00
The Mistrial of Iva Toguri and the Myth of “Tokyo Rose”
Orphan Ann was a disk jockey on Japanese radio during World War II. She was a real person named Iva Toguri. This is her story. This also the story of “Tokyo Rose,” who was not a real person, but a myth—a press invention, later turned political scapegoat. And this is the story of Iva Toguri’s conviction for treason, following a two and a half month jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. That conviction, as it turned out, was based on perjured testimony extracted by the prosecuting U.S. Attorneys. Finally, and most importantly, this is the ennobling story of a brave and loyal American citizen mistreated by our justice system, and the heroic efforts to defend Iva by lawyers of deep conviction and professional skill working for free to defend an innocent woman.
Please join us for a panel discussion on The Mistrial of Iva Toguri and the Myth of “Tokyo Rose” featuring the Honorable Jon S. Tigar, Professor Charles Wollenberg, attorney Wayne Collins Jr., Professor Naoko Shibusawa, and author Michael Weedall.
Date and Time (Virtual Event): November 18, 2020 @5pm-6pm (PST)
Registration for the event will be FREE, with the option to register for MCLE credit for $20
Click here to register
Program is presented by Northern District and Ninth Circuit Historical Societies in partnership with National Japanese American Historical Society

Virtual Broadcast: VETERANS DAY 2020
2020-11-14 03:00 - 04:00
Happy Veterans Day from NJAHS!!
Join us for a FREE Zoom Broadcast (webinar format) on Saturday, November 14 from 11 -12 NOON as we honor our Nikkei Veterans from past NorCAL and Salt Lake City Congressional Gold Medal ceremonies and other Veteran Day Tribute events all to the music composed by Dr. Anthony Brown and his Asian American Orchestra from his GO FOR BROKE album. Donated CDs will be distributed by drawing or available for sale.

Click here to register
CD available to purchase here

Virtual Broadcast's: Toy Tank at Tule Lake
2020-11-07 03:00 - 04:00
Kiyoshi Ina, a two-year-old boy with chicken pox, was comforted by a handmade toy tank sent to him at Tule Lake, California, by his father. They were in different prison camps, separated by 1,000 miles. Learn about this wartime toy and how its story continues to be told.
This Saturday, Nov. 7, at 11 a.m. – noon, we invite you to meet Kiyoshi and three family members: Satsuki Ina, Michael Ina and Akemi Yamane Ina.
Kiyoshi, Satsuki and Akemi were born in American concentration camps and Michael was born after the war. We will view slides and have a Q and A with the family. The program is co-sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society and 50 Objects.
See you then!
Please read the story here:
Credits
by: Nancy Ukai
art direction: David Izu
banner cover images: David Izu, various unknown photographers courtesy of the National Archives and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Photo illustrations by David Izu
Special thanks to: Kiyoshi Ina, Satsuki Ina, Laura Haendel, Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster, Stuart Wheeler, The Tank Museum (U.K.) American Armory Museum, Pat Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Anthony Hirschel, Rosalyn Tonai, Max Nihei, Melissa Bailey, Tim Chen.

This object/story presented in collaboration with 50 Objects/Stories & National Japanese American Historical Society

Click here to watch

Virtual Broadcasts: Takato Hamai's handmade crutches
2020-10-17 04:00 - 05:00
Date / Time Sat. Oct. 17, 11 a.m. – noon
Those with physical disabilities were not exempt from being imprisoned. These crutches, made by hand at Gila River, Arizona, are testimony to the hardships endured by the maker, Takato Hamai.
This story is the first of four “objects of survival” which 50 Objects will introduce in collaboration with the National Japanese American Historical Society.
The next three artifacts will be a toy tank made for a quarantined child, a girl’s comfort object at Topaz and a Braille Board created in Wyoming.
Each story will be followed by a separate one-hour-long online program hosted by NJAHS on Saturdays during October and November. For dates and time, please check the NJAHS website and 50 Objects Facebook page. We also will keep you posted through these email alerts.
This Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. – noon, we invite you to meet the five children of Takato Hamai. Three were incarcerated at Gila River as children and two were born after the war. We will view slides and have a Q and A.
50 Objects: Takato Hamai’s Crutches
See you then!

Credits
50 Objects Project Director: Nancy Ukai
art direction: David Izu
banner cover design: David Izu
banner cover images: David Izu, the National Archives, and the Hamai family archives
Special thanks to: Ken Hamai, Michiko Matsuura, Takayuki Hamai, Tomio Hamai, Satoshi Hamai, Bernice Hamai, Henry Matsuura, Yi-Shen Loo (Intern), Max Nihei (Broadcast producer), Melissa Bailey & Rosalyn Tonai (Grants & Budget), Tim Chen (Registration), Hiro Edeza (Ads and logo poster designer), Masako Nakada, Malia Okamura, Neil Burmester, Densho
The project was funded in part, National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites program, Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Japantown Foundation, The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation

This object/story presented in collaboration with 50 Objects/Stories & National Japanese American Historical Society

Click here to watch

Virtual Broadcasts: ANNUAL AWARDS TRIBUTE 2020 LIVESTREAM SEPT. 5
2020-09-05 10:00 - 11:00 | Futures Without Violence, 100 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States
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For the first time ever, NJAHS will Livestream the Annual Awards Tribute on Sat. September 5, 2020 at 5PM.
Go to our Givebutter page to WATCH the Annual Awards Tribute and DONATE in real time to contribute to our Event Campaign!
REFLECTING BACK
Moving Forward
JOIN US AS WE HONOR THOSE WHO HAVE FORGED NEW PATHS FOR CHANGE IN THE 1970s, INSPIRED GENERATIONS OF LEADERS, AND REMAINED STEADFAST
IN THEIR BELIEFS TO PROMOTE A JUST AND EQUITABLE WORLD.
WE HONOR OUR CHANGE-MAKERS—WRITERS, ACTIVISTS, SPIRITUAL LEADERS, AND PUBLISHERS—FOR THEIR PERSISTENCE AND POSITIVE VISION FOR THE FUTURE.
The safety of our honorees, guests & volunteers are our top priority. Join us for a Virtual Awards Event that will be most memorable. The new date for our 2020 Annual Dinner is Sat. September 5, 2020 at 5PM. Join us and your family for an evening dedicated to reflecting back and moving forward with John Tateishi, Dr. Reiko True, Rev. Ron Kobata, and Asian American Curriculum Project.
DATE: September 5, 2020
4:00 pm Registration
5:00 pm Program, emcee Jana Katsuyama, FOX-2
6:00 pm Film Previews set in Family Chat Rooms
(415) 921-5007
njahs@njahs.org
2020 SPONSOR LEVELS
As Sponsors, your contribution is 100% tax deductible. You will be fully acknowledged as a sponsor of this broadcast event. The deadline for program broadcast inclusion is Monday, August 31. Your donation will support our Teacher Education Program to teach important lessons of our history.
Legacy Sponsor $25,000 will be named prominently on the MIS Historic Learning Center Donor Wall* with a 12.75” x 6.75” plaque and memento. You will be entitled to have your name and corporate logo published on our website and will appear prominently in broadcasts connected to NJAHS’s Annual Awards Tribute. Your company’s name and logo will appear in the Nikkei Heritage issue and a FULL screen color ad on Zoom and YouTube program. After the program, you are welcome to gather with your invited guests to a VIP family/friends chat room where you can view film previews. We gladly accept pledges.
Commemorative Sponsor $10,000 Same as above, 3”x 19.5” donor plaque.
Patron Sponsor $5,000 Same as above, 3” x 12.75” donor plaque.
Golden Gate Sponsor $3,500 Same as above, 3”x 6” donor plaque.
*DONOR WALL PLAQUE INSTALLATION NOVEMBER 2020
Table of Ten $1,750 will be recognized during the program broadcast, Chat Room of 10 guests.
Individual $175 will be recognized as an Event Donor, admit one person.
JOIN US & DONATE NOW
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Donate by Mail

Virtual Broadcasts: NJAHS Annual Members Meeting
2020-06-27 08:30 - 10:00
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Join us Saturday for a late afternoon broadcast

Date & Time: Sat, June 27, 2020 from 3:30 Pm – 5:00 PM Pacific time (5:30CT, 6:30 ET)
Location: Online broadcast

Annual Members Meeting -Update & Elections

NJAHS Virtual Gallery Tour

Poetry Reading- The Journey Continues- Peter Yamamoto

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NJAHS Members, to register, fill out form and email it back to us
NJAHS Members, to submit PROXY ONLY one, click here
Click here to pre-order Journey Continues books of poems

Virtual Broadcasts: Kayla Isomura of The Suitcase Project - In the Era of Covid-19
2020-05-22 11:00 - 12:00
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SPECIAL ZOOM BROADCAST EVENT

Friday, May 22, at 6PM -7:00PM Pacific
Standard Time

An International Conversation with Yonsei Canadian curator /photographer Kayla Isomura of The Suitcase Project – In the Era of Covid-19. FREE.
Click here to REGISTER for the ZOOM Broadcast

The Suitcase Project, photographed by Kayla Isomura, made its debut in February 16, 2020 at the NJAHS Peace Gallery. With the onset of the Covid19 pandemic and mandatory shelter in place restrictions,,this exhibit takes on deeper universal meaning worldwide. Join us in conservation with curator, photographer Kayla Isomura and her subjects.

This exhibit and programming is made possible by a generous grant from the Henri & Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, the SF Grants for the Arts and matching support from the members of the Nat’l Japanese American Historical Society. While we are still sheltering in place, NJAHS makes the photographs in the current exhibit available on line and presents Kayla Isomura in a curator’s conversation about her work.

-More-
Past meets present in a new exhibit at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, as more than 50 fourth and fifth generation Japanese Canadians and Americans share what they would pack if forcibly removed from their homes today.

Context of the Exhibit. Stemming from the history of Japanese Canadians and Americans during the Second World War, this multimedia exhibit highlights why this history is relevant more than 75 years later.

“What began as a photography project, capturing subjects in their homes, turned into conversations about contemporary issues, whether political or personal,” said Isomura, 25, who identifies as fourth generation Japanese Canadian. “In today’s landscape, Japanese Canadians and Americans don’t necessarily face the same degree of racism and discrimination as our ancestors. However, we remain affected by this history in many ways.”

“Struggling to understand and see ourselves is one aspect of that, as well as recognizing the ongoing displacement and discrimination other minority groups and people of color face today.”

In 1942, approximately 23,000 Japanese Canadians and more than 100,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast were uprooted from their homes and placed in internment camps or incarceration.

Subjects for The Suitcase Project were given 24 to 48 hours notice to assemble their things, similar to what many Japanese Canadians faced in 1942.

“In the Canadian context, Japanese Canadians were not allowed to return home and their possessions were sold by the government or looted,” said Isomura. “If you were going to lose everything—your home, your business, your memories and personal possessions—what would you take outside of things for survival? Or would you focus on your practical needs?”

According to Isomura, Japanese Canadians were limited to weight restrictions while Japanese Americans were limited to only what they could carry.

“I never knew what my grandparents or great grandparents packed with them when they were interned, so I wondered what I could survive with sentimentally and how others would interpret this idea,” she said. “The original idea wasn’t just about what or how people would pack, but also what they are forced to leave behind.”

The Suitcase Project subjects range from infants to 51-year-olds, and they were photographed in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Western Washington.

Kayla hopes to collect more stories and subjects in the US. For more information about the exhibit project contact njahs@njahs.org

Census Day
2020-03-31 - 2020-04-01
TODAY IS CENSUS DAY! For the first time ever, The Census can be completed online at 2020census.gov! Check out our video below on how responding to the Census will benefit your community. Do you need assistance completing your Census questionnaire online? Please contact us at njahs@njahs.org or melissa@njahs.org with your questions. We are here to help.
https://www.njahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Census2020_60s_English_api-leaders_032320_final.mp4
Have you completed your Census yet? It’s easier than ever with online submission. Watch our video below and visit 2020census.gov for more information and to complete your questionnaire! Your response matters for your community.
https://www.njahs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Census2020_60s_Japanese_Kids_032320_final.mp4

THE SUITCASE PROJECT at the NJAHS Peace Gallery- Due to Covid-19 our office is closed
2020-02-01 04:00 - 2020-07-18 10:00 | National Japanese Historical Society, 1684 Post Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
THE SUITCASE PROJECT
By Kayla Isomura
What would you pack if forcibly removed from your home today?
The Suitcase Project is a multimedia exhibition asking yonsei and gosei (fourth and fifth generation) Japanese Canadians and Americans what they would pack if uprooted from their homes in a moment’s notice.
While these descendants of the internment and incarceration may never have to endure the same forced uprooting as their ancestors, Kayla Isomura’s work examines how they, and those descended from families who experienced other forms of discrimination, remain affected by this history today. More than 80 subjects ranging in age and background share their stories from cities in British Columbia, Canada and Washington, US through a series of photographs, short films and interviews.

Click here for more information

Where: National Japanese American Historical Society Peace Gallery 1684 Post Street. San Francisco, CA. 94115
February 1, 2020 – July 18, 2020
Open Monday – Friday, 12:00pm – 5:00pm And First Saturdays of the Month, 12:00pm – 5:00pm

NEW! DISLOCATION & DIVERGENCE: E. O. 9066 at the MIS Historic Learning Center
2020-01-01 04:00 - 2020-12-31 09:00
NEW INSTALLATION- Dislocation & Divergence: Causes & Consequences of E.O. 9066
at the MIS Historic Learning Center
2020
NJAHS presents 3 new wall-installations capturing 5 episodes of World War II: War Clouds Brewing, America Enters the War, Exclusion & Removal, Hidden Truths, Hidden Treasures
This completes a two & a half year exhibition project funded in part by grants from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant program administered by the National Park Service and the JA Community Foundation and CA Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
The period scenarios with artifacts allow for an intimate “walk back in time,” matched with IPAD pro interactive technology which allows for a “deeper” dive into the analysis of what happened and why. There’s a new addition that looks at the discovery of key evidence from the 1980’s coram nobis legal cases of Korematsu, Yasui, & Hirabayashi which revealed suppression of evidence, a cover up, and fraud upon the Supreme Court. Step inside and discover!

9-19-2018: The National Japanese American Historical Society announced the completion of a simulated horse stall barrack for its Dislocation and Divergence new installation at the MIS Historic Learning Center, located at Crissy Field in the Presidio of San Francisco. The mock-up replicates the WWII experience of some 110,000 Japanese Americans forcibly removed from their homes due to military orders pursuant to the signing of Executive Order 9066.
Real Stories
According to project director Rosalyn Tonai, “We decided to introduce audiences to the compelling experiences of two families, one of famed artist and essayist Miné Okubo, and the other of MIS First Class Nisei soldier Tsuneo Gary Kadani.” Miné Okubo, in her illustrated publication Citizen 13660, relays her personal removal and incarceration with painstaking detail to a horse stall at Tanforan “Assembly” Center, in San Bruno, California. “We wanted to replicate the cramped quarters and the sense of humiliation felt by the author, according to Tonai. In addition, the plight of Gary Kadani’s parents are revealed in his oral history excerpts compiled in First Class: Nisei Linguists of World War II, Origins of the Military Intelligence Service Language Program of World War II (David Swift, Jr., NJAHS, 2008).

Tsuneo Gary Kadani was an early enlistee into the US Army. A month prior to Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to the top secret US Army intelligence school at the Presidio of San Francisco in preparation for war against Japan. When WWII broke out, he along with 59 other MIS servicemen continued their studies at the Presidio while their families were subjected to curfew and forcibly removed from their home, and incarcerated in makeshift, hastily built barracks and horse stalls in fairgrounds and racetracks. Gary disobeyed curfew, and drove to see his parents at the Salinas fairgrounds. His famous quote at the front of the display recounts his feelings that day “Then came the saddest day of my life…They wouldn’t let me into the camp. My parents were sleeping in a horse stall! It smelled so bad, they couldn’t sleep, so my mother asked me to get all the Clorox I could find.” A vintage 1940’s brown glass Clorox bleach bottle helps depict the circumstances in which many Japanese Americans found themselves.
Real Objects & Evidence
Adding to the overall visitor experience is Miné Okubo’s illustrations from Citizen 13660. The visitor can follow along, seeing Miné’s camp life depictions and reading excerpts of her journal, through digital displays on an iPadPro. Interwoven into the pages of Citizen 13660 are National Archives photographs of life in repurposed horse stalls and barracks of Tanforan, Santa Anita, and Salinas “Assembly Centers.” The iPad also helps guide audiences to explore the stories behind real camp artifacts on display inside the horse stall barrack, many of them, personal items belonging for former inmates. Some featured objects include Ken Nihei’s US Army-issued military green wool blanket laid over a hay-stuffed mattress, personal shaving kit, 4 year old Pat Kimura’s of Maryknoll Children’s Home child’s suitcase, a diaper pail, and a pair of mud- caked hand-carved Japanese wooden clogs (geta).

Supplementing the Horse stall barrack display is a comprehensive Camp Map of where Japanese Americans were incarcerated. The map includes the ten War Relocation Authority centers, the fifteen “Assembly Centers – the temporary detention facilities.as well as the numerous Department of Justice internment camps for Japanese immigrants deemed “enemy aliens.”

Perseverance

“We wanted to show how some inmates coped within the stifling conditions of their confinement,” noted Tonai. While many were subjected to family separations due to the earlier FBI raids, and met with unhealthy conditions of open sewers, others tried to find solace relying on friends and community. Among the few belongings of only what they could carry, many Issei women stashed their vegetable garden seeds into their pockets. In time, little front porch “victory” gardens would sprout along the stoops of barracks. Later, inmates were moved again in six months to the permanent camps in desolate regions of the US. Despite the trauma, children would find time to play, collect and trade marbles. One former incarceree, Toru Saito, rediscovered his prized marbles buried beneath the silt desert floor where the stoop of his barrack once stood. Toru’s marbles and his story of survival are on display.
The horse stall barrack replica of the Dislocation and Divergence new installation is now on display at the Military Intelligence Historic Learning Center, at the Presidio of San Francisco, Building 640, 640 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94129. The interpretative center is open to the public. General admission is $10. Admission is free to veterans, NJAHS members, and children 12 and under. Free education programs are available to teachers. The project has been funded by a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, administered by the California State Library and the JA Community Foundation.
Marye Kimoto
Kaoru Ito
Miho Endo Ohashi

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Genealogy Series 2
2019-12-15 06:00 - 08:00
#2 WWII CAMP RECORDS
Sunday, December 15, 2019, 2- 4PM
NJAHS Gallery
1684 Post Street
San Francisco CA 94115
NJAHS Executive Director Rosalyn Tonai will speak about accessing your family’s Japanese American camp records for War Relocation Authority centers and “Enemy Alien” Internment sites available at the National Archives.
RSVP Online Here

TRIBUTE TO ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICAN VETERANS 2019
2019-11-09 02:00 - 04:00
On behalf of our Veterans Day Event committee, we are writing to you to invite you to “TRIBUTE TO ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICAN VETERANS 2019” our annual Veterans Day weekend ceremony and concert featuring Anthony Brown and Janice Mirikitani. On Saturday, November 9, 2019, 10 – 12 noon, followed by a private lunch reception to celebrate our veterans who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The event is hosted at the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center, Building 640, 640 Mason Street, at Crissy Field, in the Presidio of San Francisco, CA 94129.
As proud descendants of the veterans of these wars, we are honored to share in the tribute of these veterans at the MIS Historic Learning Center! We have a strong connection to this historically significant site, and vow to preserve the legacy of valor and sacrifice for future generations of Americans. As you know, Building 640 is the site of the original US Army language school where Nisei linguist soldiers secretly trained one month prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor on November 1, 1941. From its humble beginnings, the school grew to what is now known as the renowned Defense Language Institute and Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) at the Presidio of Monterey.
Today, we call attention to these men and women who showed through their sacrifice their loyalty to America, in spite of their familys’ incarceration during WWII. A special ceremony will feature the US Honor Guard led by Sgt. Stan Kamiya (RET), keynote speaker DLI Commandant Greg Hausman, with representatives with the National Park Service and The Presidio Trust, followed by a concert. In honoring our very special guests of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service, and our Asian Pacific Islanders veterans who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, please join us in paying tribute to them by attending this Veterans Day event or by making a gift in honor or in memory of your loved one. Gifts can be pledged for our Commemorative Donor Wall. Your support will preserve all of our history in the most meaningful way!
Ceremony is free and Bento is $15 per person. Honored Veteran are FREE. Sponsor can donor toward donor wall
RSVP Online Here
RSVP Card Here
