{"id":"Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger (film)","doctype":"articles","links":{"html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/Yae%20Wada:%2045%20Years%20of%20Anger%20(film)/","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/articles/Yae%20Wada:%2045%20Years%20of%20Anger%20(film)/"},"title_sort":"yaewada45yearsofangerfilm","description":"Video documentary produced by \"What Does It Mean To Be American?\" as part of the Mineta Legacy Project, which features an interview with former Japanese American incarceree,\n \n Yae Wada\n \n .\n \n\n [1]\n \n\n At the age of 99, Wada recounts her memories of being placed in concentration camps during World War II, and how she overcame her anger towards the experience.","rg_rgmediatype":["films"],"mediatype_label":"Films and Video","mediatype_icon":"fa-film","rg_interestlevel":["Grades 6-8","Grades 7-8","Grades 9-12","Adult"],"rg_genre":["Documentary"],"rg_theme":["Immigrant experience","Injustice","Power of the past"],"rg_availability":["Widely available"],"categories":[{"title":"Arts"}],"topics":[],"authors":[{"title":"Michelle M. Okawa","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/authors/Michelle%20M.%20Okawa/","html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/authors/Michelle%20M.%20Okawa/"}],"sources":[],"title":"Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger (film)","published_rg":true,"modified":"2025-10-08T18:57:33","databoxes":{"rgdatabox-Core":{"rgmediatype":["films"],"title":["Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger"],"creators":["What Does It Mean To Be American?"],"interestlevel":["Grades 6-8","Grades 7-8","Grades 9-12","Adult"],"readinglevel":[],"guidedreadinglevel":[],"lexile":[],"theme":["Immigrant experience","Injustice","Power of the past"],"genre":["Documentary"],"pov":["Japanese American woman","Japanese American former incarcerees"],"relatedevents":[],"availability":["Widely available"],"freewebversion":["Yes"],"primarysecondary":[],"hasteachingaids":["Yes"],"warnings":[],"denshotopic":["World War II-Department of Justice camps [82]"],"geography":[],"chronology":["2019"],"facility":["Tanforan (detention facility)","Topaz (concentration camp)"]},"databox-Films":{"title":["Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger"],"date":["2019"],"genre":["Documentary"],"released":[],"director":[],"producer":[],"writer":[],"screenplay":[],"story":[],"basedon":[],"narrator":[],"starring":["Yae Wada"],"music":[],"cinematography":[],"editing":[],"studio":[],"distributor":["What Does It Mean To Be American?"],"runtime":["9 minutes"],"country":[],"language":[],"budget":[],"gross":[],"imdblink":[],"trailerlink":[]}},"rg_title":["Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger"],"rg_creators":["What Does It Mean To Be American?"],"rg_pov":["Japanese American woman","Japanese American former incarcerees"],"rg_freewebversion":["Yes"],"rg_chronology":["2019"],"rg_hasteachingaids":["Yes"],"body":"
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\n Title:Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger;\nDate:2019; \nGenre:Documentary;\nReleased:;\nDirector:;\nProducer:;\nWriter:;\nScreenplay:;\nStory:;\nBasedOn:;\nNarrator:;\nStarring:Yae Wada;\nMusic:;\nCinematography:;\nEditing:;\nStudio:;\nDistributor:What Does It Mean To Be American?;\nRuntime:9 minutes;\nCountry:;\nLanguage:;\nBudget:;\nGross:;\nIMDBLink:;\nTrailerLink:;\n

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\n RGMediaType:films;\nTitle:Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger;\nCreators:What Does It Mean To Be American?;\nInterestLevel:Grades 6-8; Grades 7-8; Grades 9-12; Adult;\nReadingLevel:;\nGuidedReadingLevel:;\nLexile:;\nTheme:Immigrant experience; Injustice; Power of the past;\nGenre:Documentary;\nPoV:Japanese American woman; Japanese American former incarcerees;\nRelatedEvents:;\nAvailability:Widely available;\nFreeWebVersion:Yes;\nPrimarySecondary:;\nHasTeachingAids:Yes;\nWarnings:;\nDenshoTopic:World War II-Department of Justice camps [82];\nGeography:;\nChronology:2019;\nFacility:Tanforan (detention facility); Topaz (concentration camp);\n

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\n Video documentary produced by \"What Does It Mean To Be American?\" as part of the Mineta Legacy Project, which features an interview with former Japanese American incarceree,\n \n Yae Wada\n \n .\n \n \n [1]\n \n \n At the age of 99, Wada recounts her memories of being placed in concentration camps during World War II, and how she overcame her anger towards the experience.\n

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\n Following the\n \n bombing of Pearl Harbor\n \n , Wada was initially concerned for the\n \n Issei\n \n generation who were not allowed to become citizens by law, but was shocked to discover that she herself would also be incarcerated, despite being an American citizen. The treatment that included living in horse stalls at\n \n Tanforan Assembly Center\n \n and imprisonment at a\n \n concentration camp in Topaz\n \n , Utah, made Wada angry from the beginning. Before the end of the war, Wada's family was allowed to leave Topaz and relocate to Cleveland, Ohio, where she continued facing discrimination by people she encountered.\n

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\n 43 years after the end of World War II, the\n \n Civil Liberties Act of 1988\n \n granted redress of $20,000 and a formal presidential apology to every surviving U.S. citizen or legal resident immigrant of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II. Wada recalls that receiving reparations and a formal apology had allowed her to move forward from her past anger. At the video's conclusion, Wada states that she wants people to remember to always have hope and never give up.\n

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\n This video primarily features a 2019 interview with Yae Wada edited with archival photos. This video was produced as part of a teaching curriculum on the topic of Justice & Reconciliation that examines the Japanese American Redress Movement. Yae Wada passed away on February 24, 2023, at the age of 103-years-old.\n \n \n [2]\n \n \n

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\n \n Authored by\n \n Michelle M. Okawa\n \n \n
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\n Okawa, Michelle\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 Justice Now! Reparations Now!\n \n \n (1988/2002);\n \n \n Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice\n \n \n (1993)\n

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\n \n For More Information\n \n

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\n Streaming link(s):\n \n Internet Archive Database\n \n &\n \n Densho Digital Repository\n \n

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\n Teaching Resource:\n \n \"Justice & Reconciliation\"\n \n What Does It Mean To Be American?, Accessed July 27, 2025.\n

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\n Additional Sources:\nNiiya, Brian and Jonathan van Harmelen.\n \n \"Horse Stall Housing, Spoiled Ham, and Other Stories of Life in Tanforan.\"\n \n Densho, August 25, 2022. Accessed July 27, 2025.\n

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\n Niiya, Brian.\n \n \"Ten Little Known Stories About Topaz Concentration Camp\"\n \n Densho, September 11, 2019. Accessed July 27, 2025.\n

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\n Wada, Yae.\n \n \"Yae Wada Interview\"\n \n By Patricia Wakida. Densho, April 12, 2019.\n

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  1. \n \n \n ↑\n \n \n \n \"About,\" What Does It Mean To Be America?,\n \n https://www.whatdoesitmeantobeanamerican.com/about\n \n , accessed Jul. 27, 2025.\n \n
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  2. \n \n \n ↑\n \n \n \n \"Yaeko “Yae” Wada,\"\n \n Nichi Bei News\n \n ,\n \n https://www.nichibei.org/2023/03/obituary-yaeko-yae-wada/\n \n , accessed Jul. 27, 2025.\n \n
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