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115 articles
442: For the Future (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Role of men, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Limited availability
Docu-drama by Patricia Kinaga that tells the story of the Japanese American World War II experience with a focus on the exploits of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team , through the experiences of four characters.
"Wase Time!": A Teen's Memoir of Gila River Internment Camp (book)
- Books
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Memoir
- Family – blessing or curse, Importance of community, Role of men
- Limited availability
First person memoir by Kenneth A. Tashiro of his and his family's forced removal and incarceration at the Gila River , Arizona, concentration camp. After a brief introduction that introduces Tashiro's family, the story begins on Pearl Harbor day when Kenneth—nicknamed "Iggy"—hears about the start of the war after exiting an Abbott and Costello movie. He and his family move from Los Angeles to Del Rey in an attempt to avoid incarceration, but they are eventually removed from Sanger to Gila in August of 1942. His father, Kenji Tashiro, is a journalist, who becomes the editor of the camp newspaper , before leaving to join the army at age 37. His mother, eight months pregnant at the time of the removal, stays behind for a time, rejoining the family later with the baby girl. Twelve when he entered the camp, Tashiro's perspective is purely that of an active teenager, so …
A Circle of Freedom: Lost and Restored (exhibition)
- Museum Exhibitions
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- History
- Evils of racism, Importance of community
- Limited availability
Exhibition at the History Museum of Hood River County on the Japanese American experience in Hood River, Oregon. Instigated by Museum Coordinator Connie Nice once she learned of the of the wartime incarceration of local Japanese Americans and the particularly virulent opposition to their postwar return, the exhibition has the support of the local community. The small exhibition included four sections: "Our Lives Before," "Our Lives Removed," " Our Lives in Camp," and "Our Lives in Service." Included in the exhibition are documents from the local American Legion chapter, which made national headlines in 1944 when it removed the names of Nisei soldiers from a local "roll of honor." The exhibition subsequently became a semi-permanent part of the museum.
After Silence: Civil Rights and the Japanese American Experience (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Injustice, Patriotism - complications, Fear of other, Power of the past
- Limited availability
Documentary film that focuses on the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island, Washington , as recounted through the perspective of Dr. Frank Kitamoto, who was a child during World War II. The story is told through interaction between Kitamoto and a small group of high school students from Bainbridge High School as they develop archival photographs from the incarceration and discuss its relevance to post 9/11 America. The film ends with the 2002 dedication of a memorial and plaque marking the site of the Bainbridge Islanders' departure. After Silence was produced by the Bainbridge Island Historical Society as part of an exhibition on the community's World War II experience, with funding from the Washington State Civil Liberties Public Education Program and the Charles W. Gaugl Foundation.
America's Betrayal (book)
- Books
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Grades 7-8
- Fiction, History
- Coming of age, Companionship as salvation, Everlasting love, Evils of racism, Female roles, Losing hope, Will to survive
- Limited availability
Young adult novel by Jodi Icenoggle written in the first person voice of Margaret Yamaguchi, a high school sophomore and aspiring writer in Valle Verde in coastal California. Her father runs a successful orchard and oversees a happy family that includes Margaret's mother, an older brother Robert, and younger brother Timmy. She has also started going steady with John Wilson, star athlete of Valle Verde High. But her happy life is slowly torn apart by the outbreak of war. As anti-Japanese sentiment rises after the attack on Pearl Harbor, so do tensions at the high school, particularly for an interracial couple like John and Margaret. Inevitably, the Yamaguchis get sent first to the Salinas Assembly Center , then to Poston , while John gets drafted. As family tragedies ensue, Margaret comes of age in the concentration camp, starting a camp newspaper and waiting for John to come back. But will …
And Then a Rainbow (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Memoir
- Evils of racism, Role of women, Will to survive, Working class struggles
- Limited availability
Memoir by a Nisei woman who renounces her citizenship at Tule Lake and lives in Japan for thirteen years before returning to the U.S.
A Question of Loyalty/The Betrayed (play)
- Plays
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Fiction
- Limited availability
Play authored by Nisei playwright Hiroshi Kashiwagi set in Tule Lake and centered on the dilemmas brought on by the loyalty questionnaire . The main characters are Tak Fujimoto, a country boy loosely based on the playwright, and Grace Tamura, a sophisticated city girl from Seattle, who fall in love in the concentration camp. But they are divided by the loyalty questions and go their separate ways. The play's second act is set forty years later, when Grace, a widowed redress activist from Chicago, visits Tak, a divorced farmer in Fresno, prior to a camp reunion.
Ancestry is Not a Crime: The Internment of People of Japanese Descent During World War II (curricula)
- Curricula
- Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12
- Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Rights - individual or societal, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Limited availability
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Hawai'i state legislature funded the development of Ancestry is Not a Crime , focused on the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. The 192-page curriculum aims to engage elementary through high school students with this complex history, to wrestle with the meaning of democratic principles, and to think critically about civil liberties and the responsibilities of a democratic citizenry.
California Generation (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Fiction
- Coming of age, Identity crisis
- Limited availability
Popular 1970 novel by Jacqueline Briskin that follows a group of students from the class of 1960 at fictitious California High—one of them a Sansei born in Topaz —through the touchstone events of the turbulent decade. Though a first novel, California Generation was widely promoted and launched Briskin's career as a best-selling novelist.
Calling Tokyo: Japanese American Radio Broadcasters During World War II (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Adult
- Documentary
- Patriotism - complications, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Limited availability
Documentary film directed by Gary T. Ono that tells the story of a small group of Japanese Americans recruited out of the concentration camps to work for the British Political Warfare Mission (BPWM) and Office of War Information (OWI) as translators and broadcasters of propaganda aimed at Japan. The small group—eight who worked for the OWI and four for the BPWM—were mostly Kibei and worked out of a Denver studio. Both groups translated American news reports that were made into radio scripts and broadcasts transmitted by shortwave radio. The operation later moved to San Francisco in February 1945, when Japanese Americans were allowed to return to the West Coast.
Burma Rifles: A Story of Merrill's Marauders (book)
- Books
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Historical Fiction, Children's
- Heroism – real and perceived, Injustice, Vulnerability of the strong, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Limited availability
Book for young readers by Frank Bonham centering on a Nisei intelligence soldier in Burma during World War II. Published in 1960, it is among the first children's books to depict the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Changing Season: On the Masumoto Family Farm (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Circle of life, Family – blessing or curse, Man against nature, Wisdom of experience
- Limited availability
Documentary film that follows a Japanese American farm family over the course of a year at their Central California farm.
Conversations: Before the War/After the War (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Drama
- Injustice, Power of the past
- Limited availability
A 1986 dramatic film by Robert Nakamura that is based on the play "Truth of the Matter" by Karen L. Ishizuka. In Conversations , three characters discuss their life experiences, feelings and the facts of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans, exploring the changes in their lives and long term effects of their wartime experiences. Though taking the form of oral history interviews, the three characters were nonprofessional actors playing composite characters based on their own experiences and that of others. The cast included Kimiko Nakamura—the mother of director Nakamura—along with Warren Furutani , playing a role based on his father, and Grace Ino, playing the part of a younger Nisei . in a 2009 interview, Nakamra said that the film "was experimental in that we used the experiences of the non-actors themselves reading transcripts of interviews, and a little bit of coaching." [1]
Crafting History: Arts and Crafts from America's Concentration Camps (exhibition)
- Museum Exhibitions
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Art, History
- Expression through art, Desire to escape
- Limited availability
2002 exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). Crafting History highlighted some 400 objects from JANM's collection made by Japanese Americans held in American concentration camps during World War II, ranging from a five foot tall Buddhist altar carved in Heart Mountain to bird pins, clothing and other textiles, and furniture. Curated by Kristine Kim, the exhibition opened on November 16, 2002. A full slate of public programs took place during the six-month run of the exhibition, including many crafting workshops. Craft items from the camps were also the subject of The Art of Gaman , a lavishly illustrated book published in 2005 and an exhibition that traveled around the country and in Japan starting in 2010.
Crossroads in Nihonmachi (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Displacement, Importance of community, Rebirth
- Limited availability
A 2006 documentary film by Adrianne Anderson and Tony Sondag about the redevelopment struggle in San Francisco's Japantown. As in other cities on the West Coast, plans for urban renewal disproportionately affected ethnic minorities including Japanese Americans, destroying or diminishing historical Japantowns after World War II. The film traces the history of San Francisco's Nihonmachi, focusing on the eviction of Japanese American residents of San Francisco's Nihonmachi starting in the 1960s—drawing parallels with the 1942 eviction of Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066 —and 1970s efforts by community members to halt evictions and preserve and reclaim the community and its history. The film covers the 100th anniversary celebration of the community in 2006, while also noting the continuing threats it faces.
Day of Remembrance (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Dangers of ignorance, Facing darkness, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
- Limited availability
Documentary film by Cynthia Gates Fujikawa consisting of highlights from 2003 Day of Remembrance (DoR) commemorations in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Honolulu, all of which highlight the parallels between what happened to Japanese Americans in 1942 and what was then happening to Arab and Muslim Americans in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The film also includes brief interviews with some of the event organizers and excerpts from press conferences organized in reaction to remarks defending the roundup and imprisonment of Japanese Americans by North Carolina Congressman Howard Coble two weeks prior to the DoRs. Highlighted speakers include Hakim Oaunsafi, Muslim Association of Hawai'i; Nadine Hamoui, whose family in the Seattle area were imprisoned by the INS in 2002; Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council; legal scholar Chris Iijima; Congressman Mike Honda ; and civil rights attorney Dale Minami . Day of …
Day of Remembrance: The First National Ceremony (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Injustice, Power of the past
- Limited availability
Documentary film of the first national Day of Remembrance commemoration, held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in 1998. The national ceremony was hosted by George Takei and Tamlyn Tomita and included guest speakers Gordon Hirabayashi , Fred Korematsu , Norman Mineta , Joan Bernstein , Mitsuye Yamada , Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga , and Robert Matsui .
Dear Miss Breed (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12
- Documentary
- Injustice, importance of community
- Limited availability
A 2000 short documentary film by Veronica Ko about San Diego children's librarian Clara Breed , whose wartime correspondence with Japanese American youth she had befriended before the war became an unlikely source of hope and courage when the children were sent to American concentration camps. The film, which is hosted by actor Marcus Toji, includes excerpts from some of the 250 letters Miss Breed received from the Japanese American children. The film was created and produced in conjunction with an exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum of the same title. The film was recognized with numerous awards including the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film & Digital Media, Council on Foundations, 2002; the 34th Annual Worldfest Houston, Grand Prize nomination, Special Gold Jury Award, Historical, 2001; and the Columbus International Film & Video Festival, Honorable Mention, 2000.
Double Solitaire (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Literary Fiction
- Limited availability
A 1997 documentary film that uses the motif of games to examine how the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans affected the lives of two "ordinary" people, the filmmaker's Sansei uncles Norm and Stan. Described as "all American" guys who lived in the Amache concentration camp as children, they don't believe that the experience affected them much. However, subsequent conversations and reflections reveal otherwise. Winner of the SECA Award in the Media Arts and King Hu Award, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival in 1998. Directed, produced and written by Corey Ohama.
Eagle Against the Sun (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Drama
- Loss of innocence, Coming of age, Evils of racism
- Limited availability
A dramatic short film by John Akahoshi centering on a 17-year-old Japanese American high school girl and the impact the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has on her life.
Emi (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Power of the past, Injustice, Importance of community
- Limited availability
Documentary film about a Nisei woman returning to Manzanar and to her prewar community on Bainbridge Island , Washington, for the first time some thirty-five years after being forcibly removed.
Enemy Alien (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Memoir
- Displacement, Evils of racism
- Limited availability
Bilingual memoir by Kiyo Hirano of her World War II experiences as an "enemy alien" is a rare example of an Issei woman's first-person perspective of the American concentration camps. Enemy Alien (Japanese title: Tekikoku gaijin) was translated into English by George Hirano and Yuri Kageyama and published by Japantown Arts and Media Workshop (JAM) Publications in 1983. Hirano's Japanese-English biographical account of her incarceration at the Merced Assembly Center and Amache and of her resettlement was originally written as an assignment for a creative writing class at the Japantown Arts and Media Workshop in San Francisco, and eventually published by the organization.
Farewell to Manzanar Educational Kit (curricula)
- Curricula
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Memoir, Drama, History
- Coming of age, Displacement, Evils of racism, Family - blessing or curse, Growing up - pain or pleasure, Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Power of the past
- Limited availability
In 2003, the Farewell to Manzanar Education Initiative distributed 10,000 copies of the Farewell to Manzanar Educational Kit to California public schools and public libraries. The kit consists of the book, Farewell to Manzanar and Related Readings (1998), a teaching guide for the book (1998), a VHS cassette of the Farewell to Manzanar made-for-television movie (1976) with an additional 35-minute classroom version, and a video study guide (2002). Separate elements of the kit are available for purchase (except for the video study guide).
The Fence at Minidoka (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Injustice, Displacement
- Limited availability
Early documentary film on the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans from the Seattle, Washington, area that may have been the first such film to be produced by a local television station. Barbara J. Tanabe, a young reporter for KOMO in Seattle instigated, wrote, and reported on the program, which first aired on December 7, 1971.
Fifty Years of Silence: The Untold Story of Japanese American Soldiers in the Pacific Theater, 1941-1952 (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Heroism - real or perceived, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Limited availability
Documentary film that tells the story of Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) during World War II and during the occupation of Japan through archival footage and interviews. Produced by the Military Intelligence Service Association of Northern California and the National Japanese American Historical Society, the 60-minute documentary was directed by Sheryl K. Narahara and released in 1992. In addition to providing an overview of the MIS story from training to the battlefield and occupation of Japan, Fifty Years of Silence also includes a section on Richard Sakakida , a Nisei who did intelligence work in the Philippines as part of the Counter Intelligence Corps.