{"id":"Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience (film)","doctype":"articles","links":{"html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/Namba:%20A%20Japanese%20American's%20Incarceration%20and%20Life%20of%20Resilience%20(film)/","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/articles/Namba:%20A%20Japanese%20American's%20Incarceration%20and%20Life%20of%20Resilience%20(film)/"},"title_sort":"nambaajapaneseamericansincarcerationandlifeofresiliencefilm","description":"Documentary profile of Nisei activist May Namba told through interviews, narration by her granddaughter, Miyako Namba, and comments by scholars and colleagues she worked with in Seattle. One of the Nikkei Seattle school employees forced to resign in 1942, Namba saw her father interned before she and her family were forcibly removed and held at\n \n Puyallup\n \n and\n \n Minidoka\n \n . Years later, she was a key figure in the movement for\n \n redress for the school employees\n \n and in Minidoka Pilgrimages and the establishment of the Minidoka National Historic Site, while being a frequent speaker at schools and events in her later years.","rg_rgmediatype":["films"],"mediatype_label":"Films and Video","mediatype_icon":"fa-film","rg_interestlevel":["Grades 9-12","Adult"],"rg_genre":["Documentary"],"rg_theme":["Empowerment","Heroism – real and perceived","Power of the past","Role of women"],"rg_availability":["Available"],"categories":[{"title":"Chroniclers"},{"title":"Arts"}],"topics":[],"authors":[{"title":"Brian Niiya","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/authors/Brian%20Niiya/","html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/authors/Brian%20Niiya/"}],"sources":[],"title":"Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience (film)","published_rg":true,"modified":"2023-10-17T20:04:11","databoxes":{"rgdatabox-Core":{"rgmediatype":["films"],"title":["Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience"],"creators":[],"interestlevel":["Grades 9-12","Adult"],"readinglevel":[],"guidedreadinglevel":[],"lexile":[],"theme":["Empowerment","Heroism – real and perceived","Power of the past","Role of women"],"genre":["Documentary"],"pov":["Told from perspective of Nisei May Namba and her friends and family"],"relatedevents":[],"availability":["Available"],"freewebversion":["No"],"primarysecondary":[],"hasteachingaids":["No"],"warnings":[],"denshotopic":["Redress and reparations [110]","Reflections on the past-Camp pilgrimages [81]"],"geography":["Seattle"],"chronology":["1930s to 2010s"],"facility":["Puyallup (Camp Harmony) [11] - Puyallup, Washington","Minidoka [8] - Hunt, Idaho"]},"databox-Films":{"title":["Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience"],"date":["2022"],"genre":["Documentary"],"released":[],"director":["Emily Hanako Momohara"],"producer":["Emily Hanako Momohara"],"writer":[],"screenplay":[],"story":[],"basedon":[],"narrator":["Miyako Namba"],"starring":["May Namba (interviewee)","Bill Tashima (interviewee)","Bif Brigman (interviewee)","Aaren Purcell (interviewee)","Tetsuden Kashima (interviewee)","Anna Hostica Tamura (interviewee)","Jim Namba (interviewee)","Neil King (interviewee)","Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong (interviewee)"],"music":["Simon Tam"],"cinematography":[],"editing":["Emily Hanako Momohara","Mika Yatsuhashi"],"studio":[],"distributor":[],"runtime":["45 minutes"],"country":[],"language":[],"budget":[],"gross":[],"imdblink":["https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21375374/"],"trailerlink":[]}},"rg_title":["Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience"],"rg_pov":["Told from perspective of Nisei May Namba and her friends and family"],"rg_freewebversion":["No"],"rg_geography":["Seattle"],"rg_chronology":["1930s to 2010s"],"rg_hasteachingaids":["No"],"body":"
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\n Title:Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience;\nDate:2022; \nGenre:Documentary;\nReleased:;\nDirector:Emily Hanako Momohara;\nProducer:Emily Hanako Momohara;\nWriter:;\nScreenplay:;\nStory:;\nBasedOn:;\nNarrator:Miyako Namba;\nStarring:May Namba (interviewee); Bill Tashima (interviewee); Bif Brigman (interviewee); Aaren Purcell (interviewee); Tetsuden Kashima (interviewee); Anna Hostica Tamura (interviewee); Jim Namba (interviewee); Neil King (interviewee); Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong (interviewee);\nMusic:Simon Tam;\nCinematography:;\nEditing:Emily Hanako Momohara; Mika Yatsuhashi;\nStudio:;\nDistributor:;\nRuntime:45 minutes;\nCountry:;\nLanguage:;\nBudget:;\nGross:;\nIMDBLink:\n \n https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21375374/\n \n ;\nTrailerLink:;\n

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\n RGMediaType:films;\nTitle:Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience;\nCreators:;\nInterestLevel:Grades 9-12; Adult;\nReadingLevel:;\nGuidedReadingLevel:;\nLexile:;\nTheme:Empowerment; Heroism – real and perceived; Power of the past; Role of women;\nGenre:Documentary;\nPoV:Told from perspective of Nisei May Namba and her friends and family;\nRelatedEvents:;\nAvailability:Available;\nFreeWebVersion:No;\nPrimarySecondary:;\nHasTeachingAids:No;\nWarnings:;\nDenshoTopic:Redress and reparations [110]; Reflections on the past-Camp pilgrimages [81];\nGeography:Seattle;\nChronology:1930s to 2010s;\nFacility:Puyallup (Camp Harmony) [11] - Puyallup, Washington; Minidoka [8] - Hunt, Idaho;\n

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\n Documentary profile of Nisei activist May Namba told through interviews, narration by her granddaughter, Miyako Namba, and comments by scholars and colleagues she worked with in Seattle. One of the Nikkei Seattle school employees forced to resign in 1942, Namba saw her father interned before she and her family were forcibly removed and held at\n \n Puyallup\n \n and\n \n Minidoka\n \n . Years later, she was a key figure in the movement for\n \n redress for the school employees\n \n and in Minidoka Pilgrimages and the establishment of the Minidoka National Historic Site, while being a frequent speaker at schools and events in her later years.\n

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\n Filmmaker Emily Hanako Momohara, an artist and art professor based in Cincinnati but originally from Seattle, got to know Namba through her work in organizing the first Minidoka Pilgrimage, and the two women subsequently became close friends despite a fifty plus year age difference. Momohara began filming in 2013, completing the film with funding from a Truth + Reconciliation Grant from Artswave and from the Seattle Chapter of the\n \n Japanese American Citizens League\n \n .\n \n Namba\n \n premiered on July 16, 2022, at the Truth & Inspiration Artist Showcase at the National Underground Freedom Center Harriet Tubman Theater in Cincinnati.\n \n \n [1]\n \n \n

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\n \n Authored by\n \n Brian Niiya\n \n , Densho\n \n
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\n Niiya, Brian\n
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\n Might also like\n \n \n Rebel with a Cause: The Life of Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga\n \n \n (2016);\n \n \n Out of Infamy: Michi Nishiura Weglyn\n \n \n (2010);\n \n \n Words, Weavings and Songs\n \n \n (2002)\n

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\n Official website:\n \n https://namba-movie.com/\n \n

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\n Filmmaker website:\n \n https://ehmomohara.com/front-page\n \n

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  1. \n \n \n ↑\n \n \n \n Emily Momohara website,\n \n https://ehmomohara.com/about\n \n ;\n \n Namba\n \n website,\n \n https://namba-movie.com/\n \n ; \"Next Thing with Jing\" podcast, June 30, 2022,\n \n https://anchor.fm/next-thing-with-jing/episodes/15-A-Life-Story--Film-of-Resilience-EMILY-HANAKO-MOMOHARA-e1klt7g\n \n , all accessed on Mar. 2, 2023.\n \n
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