Browse > Availabilty > Limited availability

119 articles

1
2
3
4
5

The Legacy of a Cemetery (short story)

Short Stories
Grades 9-12, Adult
Memoir
Reunion, Wisdom of experience
Limited availability

First person reflections on a trip back to his hometown of Los Angeles by a man who had settled in New Jersey after leaving the Jerome , Arkansas, concentration camps some thirty years earlier. A visit to Evergreen Cemetery east of downtown Los Angeles brings back memories of his forced removal in 1942, remembrances of Nisei soldiers he knew who are buried there, and memories of his deceased family members.

A Letter (short story)

Short Stories
Grades 9-12, Adult
Fiction
Communication – verbal and nonverbal, Facing darkness, Isolation, Power of words
Limited availability

Short story by Sasabune Sasaki about a group of Issei internees at an unspecified internment camp in the first days of their detention. Though the men write letters to their families, few have received any letters in return, due to, they believe, delays caused by censorship of the letters and their being moved from camp to camp. One day, the narrator sees a letter in its envelope tacked on a bulletin board at the camp post office and copies it down. It is an anonymously authored letter by a Nisei in English that expresses concern and support for the internees. When the narrator reads it to a group of internees, they are greatly moved.

Little Tokyo U.S.A. (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Thrillers
Evils of racism, Fear of other
Limited availability

Notorious 1942 Hollywood movie that depicts Japanese American leaders in Los Angeles as being part of a Japanese spy ring and that actively advocates the expulsion and incarceration of Japanese Americans using actual documentary footage.

Manzanar Rites (book)

Books
Grades 9-12, Adult
Fiction, History
Coming of age, Evils of racism, Rights - individual or societal, Vulnerability of the strong
Limited availability

Coming of age novel by William Hohri about two teenage boys from West Los Angeles who end up at Manzanar with their families.

Matsumi Kanemitsu: A Japanese American Artist (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Expression through art
Limited availability

Short profile of artist Matsumi "Mike" Kanemitsu that includes his own thoughts about his techniques and goals as an artist. Narrator Amy Hill provides a brief outline of his life and work accompanied by many photographs and the music of Miles Davis. His World War II experience as a Kibei in the U.S. Army is largely passed over to focus on his postwar art career.

Meeting at Tule Lake (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Power of the past, Evils of racism, Injustice
Limited availability

Documentary film produced and directed by Scott T. Tsuchitani that features interviews with seven former Tule Lake inmates talking about life in the camp, the "loyalty questionnaire" and segregation, and the importance of remembering, intercut with footage of poet Hiroshi Kashiwagi reading the title poem and of a Tule Lake Pilgrimage. Meeting at Tule Lake was produced by the Tule Lake Committee for the 1994 Tule Lake Pilgrimage.

Memories of the Camps (film)

Films and Video
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Circle of life, Power of the past, Injustice
Limited availability

Locally produced documentary by Los Angeles TV station KABC that provides an overview of the concentration camps and community efforts to remember them on their fiftieth anniversary. Hosted by KABC news anchor Joanne Ishimine, the program begins at Heart Mountain where former inmate and camp historian Bacon Sakatani gives a tour of the camp and talks about his experience and the larger impact of incarceration. The next segment is on Manzanar , focusing on Toyo Miyatake and his photographs, featuring an interview with his son Archie. The last segments focus on the commemoration of the camps: a visit to a UCLA class that Sakatani speaks to and interviews with the students; some of those same students at the 50th anniversary Manzanar Pilgrimage ; and visits to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. A copy of the …

Mission in Manila: The Sakakida Story (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Facing darkness, Forgiveness, Heroism – real and perceived, Will to survive
Limited availability

Documentary film that tells the story of Richard Sakakida , a Nisei intelligence agent in the Philippines who is captured and tortured by the Japanese during World War II and who confronts—and forgives—his torturers after the war. The film is based almost entirely on an interview with Sakakida, augmented by narrator Jerry Kay, archival footage and family photographs, and illustrations by Roberta Twidwell. The 28-minute film was produced by the Military Intelligence Service and the National Japanese American Historical Society for the Military Intelligence Service Fellowship Program.

Nisei Soldier: Standard Bearer for an Exiled People (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Patriotism - positive side or complications, Injustice, Heroism - real or perceived
Limited availability

Influential documentary film by Loni Ding that was the first of many to specifically focus on the story of Japanese Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II.

The Nisei Farmer (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Short
Communication – verbal and nonverbal, Injustice, Power of the past, Power of the past
Limited availability

Short dramatic film about a Nisei couple, Hank (Steven Kondo) and Aki (Jude Narita), who farm in Northern California. When news of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 spreads, Hank becomes morose and angry, as it triggers boyhood memories of his family's incarceration, which are shown in flashback scenes. He also lashes out at Aki, who did not go to camp, when she suggests they use the money to go on a vacation. But after further thought and reflection on the incarceration and redress, he recognizes the source of his anger and comes around to the idea of going away.

9066 to 9/11: America’s Concentration Camps Then… and Now? (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Dangers of ignorance, Evils of racism, Wisdom of experience
Limited availability

A 2004 documentary film directed by Akira Boch that looks at the World War II expulsion of Japanese Americans into American concentration camps through the contemporary lens of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Immediately following the attacks, there was an instant public backlash against Arab Americans and Muslims. As the United States government fought a "war on terrorism" with no end in sight, its tactics and policies were noticeably reminiscent of the rhetoric and immediate steps taken that led to the mass incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II. The film draws comparisons between the Japanese and Muslim American experiences, provoking questions about immigration, patriotism, equality and the civil rights and liberties of all American citizens, especially during times of national emergency.

Nisei Odyssey: The Camp Years (book)

Books
Memoir
Displacement, Facing reality, Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Rights - individual or societal, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Limited availability

Nisei's recollections of his experiences incarcerated in an assembly center and concentration camp during World War II as well as a recounting of various stories he remembers hearing from others both before and during the war.

Nasakenai (short story)

Short Stories
Grades 9-12, Adult
Historical Fiction
Evils of racism, Facing reality, Will to survive, Working class struggles
Limited availability

Short story about an Issei couple in the San Francisco Bay area in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor . Both work as servants—the husband as a gardener and the wife as a maid—for prominent white families in a wealthy adjacent community and support three children at home, with a son in the army. After the attack, the husband goes to work and is assured by his employer that she will not fire him despite community pressure to do so. But the wife, who has worked for the family of a prominent lawyer for over a decade, is fired, since the lawyer represents a farming organization that supports anti-Japanese actions. An Issei gardener who works for the same family is also fired. Afterwards, the wife visits briefly with the family of the gardener and goes home to work on her garden, vowing that things will be okay.

My Mother's Music (short story)

Short Stories
Grades 9-12, Adult
Fiction
Power of the past, Power of silence, Role of women
Limited availability

Short story by Lydia Yuri Minatoya told from the perspective of a Sansei woman recalling her Kibei mother's various stories—and silences—about the family history. The narrator's mother recalls her Issei mother's banishment from the family after she had an affair with a Filipino immigrant patron of the family-run pool hall and how she never saw her mother again. The mother also recalls her own arranged marriage while in Heart Mountain , but can recall little—or is unwilling to talk about—details of her and her family's wartime incarceration. My Mother's Music appeared in the fifth volume of the Fusion series published by the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University. Minatoya later published a memoir titled Talking to High Monks in the Snow: An Asian-American Odyssey (1989)—which includes "My Mother's Music" as its first chapter—as well as a novel, The Strangeness of Beauty (2001).

Nikkei Style (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Change versus tradition, Importance of community, Power of tradition, Quest for discovery
Limited availability

Personal essay on being Japanese American by Sansei filmmaker Steven Okazaki , narrated in his first person voice. Beginning his journey at a family mochizuki event in Oxnard, California, he explores his family history, taking us to the house he grew up in in Venice, California, and telling us what he knows of his mother's and father's families, including their World War II incarceration (his mother went to Santa Anita , then Amache , his father to Heart Mountain ) and featuring a brief interview with his mother. In search of more information about his father's side, he goes to Japan to visit a distant cousin and to Hawai'i to visit one of his father's old army buddies, from whom he learns much. The film ends with footage from various bon dances in Hawai'i and the continental U.S, which Okazaki cites as a living symbol of being Japanese American. Along …

Personal Justice Denied: An Issue for All Americans (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Convention and rebellion, Evils of racism, Injustice, Power of the past
Limited availability

Video of a February 19, 1998, panel discussion at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History on the topic of the coram nobis cases , featuring presentations by principals Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi and lead attorneys Dale Minami , Peggy Nagae , and Rod Kawakami.

A Personal Matter: Gordon Hirabayashi vs. the United States (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Injustice, Character - destruction, building up, Rights - individual or societal
Limited availability

Documentary film on Gordon Hirabayashi and his legal challenge to the World War II-era measures against Japanese Americans during the war and the revival of that challenge forty years later. John de Graaf directed the 28-minute documentary, which tells his story in a largely chronological manner, ending with the 1980s coram nobis case verdict. In addition to Hirabayashi's own words and contemporary footage of him visiting such key locales as the Federal Court House in Seattle, where he was first tried; the King County Jail, where he was incarcerated; and his alma mater, Auburn High School, the filmmakers tell the story through interviews with two of his brothers, friends, and some of his lawyers (including Arthur Barnett , his friend and lawyer in the 1940s cases). A Personal Matter aired nationally on Public Broadcasting Service stations in 1992. Among the funders of the film are the National Commission on the …

Reunion: The 50th Anniversary Celebration of the 442nd (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Reunion, Power of the past, Circle of life
Limited availability

Television program documenting the week of events that took place in Honolulu, Hawai'i, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team . The hour-long program produced by JN Productions aired on April 29, 1993 on Oceanic Cable in Hawai'i and on May 9, 1993 on KHNL Honolulu.

Half Kenneth (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Drama, Short
Coming of age, Loss of innocence, Family - blessing or curse
Limited availability

Short dramatic film about two mixed race brothers at Manzanar in 1945. A 21-minute short, Half Kenneth was made by Ken Ochiai as a master's thesis film at the American Film Institute.

Hito Hata: Raise the Banner (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Drama
Immigrant experience
Limited availability

Landmark feature film produced by Visual Communications (VC), a Los Angeles based non-profit in 1980. Centering on the life story of an Issei man, Hito Hata was likely the first dramatic feature film about Asian Americans by Asian Americans since the silent film era.

Relics from Camp: A Video Journey (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Expression through art, Power of the past, Evils of racism
Limited availability

Companion film to art installation of the same name produced and directed by artist Kristine Yuko Aono and narrated in her first-person voice. Aono explains the origins of the projects and includes footage of her and her family visiting various former concentration camp sites to collect dirt and artifacts as well as installation of the exhibition in three venues. The film also features three Nisei who contributed objects to the installation talking about the significance of those objects.

Relocation, Arkansas: Aftermath of Incarceration (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Circle of life, Evils of racism, Power of the past, Reunion, Rights - individual or societal
Limited availability

Documentary film by Vivienne Schiffer about the legacy of the Rohwer , Arkansas, concentration camp that focuses on the incarceration's impact on the Sansei and the role of a local mayor in preserving Rohwer's history.

Relocations and Revisions: The Japanese-American Internment Reconsidered (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Art, History
Expression through art, Displacement, Injustice, Evils of Racism
Limited availability

Exhibition at the Long Beach Museum of Art featuring work inspired by the wartime expulsion and incarceration by contemporary Japanese American artists, most of whom were too young to experience the concentration camps firsthand. Opening on May 10, 1992, Relocations and Revisions also included a program of videos and well as a catalog with both print and video components.

Relocations and Revisions: The Japanese-American Internment Reconsidered (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Expression through art, Power of the past
Limited availability

Companion video to the 1992 exhibition of art inspired by the wartime exclusion and incarceration at the Long Beach Museum of Art that features interviews with the mostly Sansei artists featured in the exhibition.

Reluctant Samurai: Memoirs of an Urban Planner (book)

Books
Grades 9-12, Adult
Memoir
Family – blessing or curse, Fulfillment, Importance of community, Progress – real or illusion
Limited availability

Memoir by a Nisei man that recounts his agricultural upbringing, his time in American concentration camps, and his postwar career as an urban planner who was a key figure in the redevelopment of downtown Los Angeles.

1
2
3
4
5