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262 articles

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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.

Crossroads: Boyle Heights (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Importance of community, Immigrant experience, Working class struggles, Growing up – pain or pleasure
Widely available

A documentary film compiled from life histories of past and present residents of Boyle Heights, a working-class neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles. From the 1920s-1950s, Boyle Heights was a racially and ethnically diverse home to immigrants from Mexico, Japan, England, Germany, Russia and Armenia as well as people from the east, the south and the southwest portions of the United States who lived, worked and worshiped in the area. The film also explores how the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans and their postwar return affected businesses and friendships. While many Japanese Americans faced hostility in other parts of Los Angeles, residents of Boyle Heights share stories of a deeper empathy with the plight of those incarcerated. Crossroads: Boyle Heights was originally produced to accompany the exhibition Boyle Heights: The Power of Place (2002) at the Japanese American National Museum .

Proof of Loyalty: Kazuo Yamane and the Nisei Soldiers of Hawaii (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary, History
Heroism – real and perceived, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

Documentary film on a Nisei war hero from Hawai'i who served with the Military Intelligence Service during World War II.

Remembering Manzanar (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Injustice, Power of the past
Limited availability

Introductory video at the Manzanar National Historic Site's Visitor Center. Commissioned by the National Park Service and produced by Signature Communications of Huntingtown, Maryland, in 2004, Remembering Manzanar provides a broad overview of the Japanese American wartime forced removal and incarceration based on interviews with a dozen former inmates, along with residents of the area around Manzanar and a teacher at Manzanar. None of the narrators are identified as they talk and none are pictured onscreen. Visuals consists entirely of archival still and moving images, including clips from newsreels and War Relocation Authority films along with home movies shot by inmates; period cartoons and caricatures; period artifacts; and contemporary footage of the Manzanar site. The 22-minute video is shown every half-hour at the Manzanar Visitor Center. No director, editor, or cinematographer is credited.

Resettlement to Redress: Rebirth of the Japanese-American Community (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Injustice, Rebirth
Widely available

Resettlement to Redress was commissioned by KVIE, with station General Manager David Hosley wanting to focus on a part of the Japanese American wartime story that had not been told before. KVIE also produced a viewer's guide to the program that includes lessons to be used with middle school and high school students. Funding for the program was provided by grants from the Henry and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, Adrian and Monica Yeung Arima, and members of KVIE.

Resistance at Tule Lake (film)

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

Documentary film that tells the story of the Tule Lake concentration camp, with a focus on the post-segregation period, through interviews with former inmates, archival images, and scenes from contemporary pilgrimages .

Return to the Valley: Japanese American Experience After WWII (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Injustice, Rebirth, Power of the past
Widely available

Documentary film that tells the story of Japanese Americans returning to the Santa Clara, Salinas and Pajaro Valleys and the Central Coast after World War II. Produced by KTEH, a San Jose public television station, Return to the Valley was the first episode of an anthology series titled Voices of the Valley and debuted in 2003. It received a region Emmy Award in 2004 for "Outstanding Community Program."

Days of Waiting (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Expression through art, love and sacrifice, injustice
Limited availability

An award-winning 1990 documentary film by Steven Okazaki about the life and work of artist Estelle Peck Ishigo , a Caucasian woman who voluntarily entered the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming during World War II with her Japanese American husband. The film won an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject in 1991 and The George Foster Peabody Award.

Oregon's Japanese Americans: Beyond the Wire (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Evils of racism, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Power of the past
Widely available

Documentary film on Japanese Americans in Oregon that largely focuses on the wartime incarceration and aftermath. Part of the Oregon Experience series, it was produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting in partnership with the Oregon Historical Society.

Removed by Force: The Eviction of Hawai`i's Japanese Americans During WWII (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary, History
Empowerment, Injustice, Quest for discovery
Available

Documentary film by Ryan Kawamoto about Japanese Americans in Hawai'i who were excluded or removed from their homes, but not interned, along with the 1990s efforts by the Honolulu Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League to secure redress for this group under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 .

Silent Sacrifice: Stories of Japanese-American Incarceration in Central California and Beyond (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Evils of racism, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Power of the past
Widely available

Sprawling documentary film on the wartime incarceration story of Japanese Americans from Central California, focusing on the experiences at the Fresno , Pinedale , Merced , and Tulare Assembly Centers. In addition to interviews with survivors and descendants, there are many brief silent reenactments of scenes describes by the narrators. The last quarter of the film focuses on Saburo and Marion Masada's pilgrimage to the Jerome and Rohwer sites, where Saburo had been incarcerated with his family as a child.

Stamp Our Story: Honoring America's Nisei Veterans (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Power of the past, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy, Heroism - real and perceived
Available

Documentary film that chronicles the campaign that led to a 2021 postage stamp that pays tribute to Nisei soldiers. The film features the three Nisei women who began the campaign— Fusako "Fusa" Takahashi, Aiko Ogata King, and Chizuko "Chiz" Ohira—along with Sansei Wayne Osako—and includes interviews with Nisei veterans and family members of the women.

80 Years Later (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Circle of life, Power of the past, Wisdom of experience
Widely available

Documentary film by Celine Parreñas Shimizu that explores in the impact of the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans on three generations of family members.

Namba: A Japanese American's Incarceration and Life of Resilience (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Empowerment, Heroism – real and perceived, Power of the past, Role of women
Available

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 Puyallup and Minidoka . Years later, she was a key figure in the movement for redress for the school employees 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.

Nisei Bowl (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Importance of community, Power of the past, Wisdom of experience
Widely available

Documentary about the denizens of a Nisei senior bowling league in Salt Lake City. While the first half is a lighthearted look at the league and the role it plays in the lives of the members, the second half delves into the origins of the league in the context of the Japanese American community in Salt Lake City, many of whom resettled there out of concentration camps, as well as the exclusion of Japanese Americans from American Bowling Congress sponsored leagues after the war.

Fugetsu-Do (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Capitalism – effect on the individual, Change versus tradition, Importance of community
Widely available

Documentary film on the Fugetsu-Do Japanese confectionery shop in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, narrated by third-generation proprietor Brian Kito. Kito discusses the history of the shop that was founded in 1903 by his grandparents, the decision to take over the shop from his Nisei father, his trials and tribulations as the shop owner, the different kinds of manju and mochigashi the store carries, and the hopes for the future of the shop now that his son has expressed a desire to take it over one day. The film also explores the Kito family's wartime incarceration at Heart Mountain and its long-term impact. Filmmaker Kaia Rose shot the film at the shop itself and at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center , sometimes using archival footage against the backdrop of contemporary scenes.

Those Who Helped Us (film)

Films and Video
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Coming of age, Heroism – real and perceived, Rights - individual or societal
Available

Simply animated story set in Minidoka told in the first-person voice of a young Nisei girl named Sumi that highlights the role that key white supporters in and out of the concentration camps played in aiding Japanese Americans. After noting the deprivations Nikkei faced in the early months at Minidoka, Sumi notes the presence of Reverend Andy ( Emery Andrews ), who had come to minister to his flock all the way from Seattle. Later, she highlights the role played by Thomas Bodine of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council and Father Leopold Tibesar in helping Sumi's older sister, Yuri, leave Minidoka to attend college in Philadelphia. The black and white animation turns to color as Yuri leaves camp. After the main story, author Ken Mochizuki provides brief profiles of Andrews, Bodine, and Tibesar, along with Minidoka Education Superintendent Arthur Kleinkopf and Deaconess Margaret Peppers, both of whom are …

Asian Americans, Episode 2: A Question of Loyalty (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Heartbreak of betrayal, Nationalism – complications, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Widely available

The second of five episodes of a landmark documentary on the Asian American experience, A Question of Loyalty focuses on the World War II period, telling the story of three Asian American families, two of whom are Japanese American.

In Search of No-No Boy (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Widely available

Documentary film on the landmark novel No-No Boy and its author John Okada that includes a profile of Okada (including interviews with his widow and children), the background of the loyalty questionnaire and draft resistance , and the book's rediscovery a decade and a half later. The film includes readings of key scenes by poet Lawson Fusao Inada and dramatizations of them by actors.

Fujikawa (film)

Films and Video
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Beauty of simplicity, Man against nature, Wisdom of experience
Limited availability

Documentary film that profiles second generation fisherman Fred Fujikawa through the eyes of his nineteen-year-old nephew Michael Shiroishi. Narrated in Shiroishi's first-person voice, it is his first time accompanying his uncle. Over the course of the voyage, we learn about Fujikawa's family, who were among the Japanese Americans who settled on Terminal Island prior to World War II, along with the history of Japanese Americans in the fishing industry, while also getting a glimpse of life aboard a fishing boat and of Fujikawa and his brother building and launching a new boat. There is a brief segment on the internment of Terminal Island fishermen—including Shiroishi's grandfather—and the subsequent destruction of the Japanese American community there. "It's a sad deal," recalls Fujikawa.

Yonsei Eyes (film)

Films and Video
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Power of the past, Quest for discovery, Wisdom of experience
Widely available

Documentary film that follows young Yonsei siblings Mika & Lee Osaki as they go on a pilgrimage to Tule Lake in 2016, their first trip to the camp in which both of their grandfathers had been held. Mika and Lee's narration of their trip is intercut with interview footage of both grandfathers, Tsukasa Matsueda (1925–2011) and Wayne Osaki (1923–2015).

Hidden Legacy: Japanese Traditional Performing Arts in the WWII Internment Camps (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Destruction of beauty, Expression through art, Power of tradition
Widely available

Documentary film focusing on traditional Japanese performing arts in War Relocation Authority concentration camps during World War II.

Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066 (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Heartbreak of betrayal, Injustice, Manipulation, Power and corruption
Widely available

Documentary film that explores the chain of events that led to Executive Order 9066 and the three Japanese American Supreme Court cases that subsequently challenged the curfew and exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, with a focus on the set of knowingly false claims that proponents of the exclusion used to justify it. Largely following the storyline of Peter Irons ' classic study of the Japanese American Cases, Justice at War: The Story of the Japanese American Internment Cases . , filmmaker Jon Osaki uses interviews—with scholars (including Irons), lawyers and activists involved in the coram nobis cases, and descendants of some of the key figures involved in the decision to forcibly remove Japanese Americans—archival audio and video, and historic photos and documents to tell the story. He uses two college-age Japanese Americans (Mika Osaki, the filmmaker's daughter, and Joseph Tsuboi) as a framing device for the story, …

Speak Out for Justice: The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Los Angeles Hearings, August 4–6, 1981 (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Evils of racism, Injustice, Wisdom of experience
Available

Short compilation of testimony from the Los Angeles hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians includes excerpts from twenty-eight people covering a range of topics including the arrest and internment of Issei , the travails of being incarcerated, the continuing impact on the incarceration, and calls for monetary reparations. A total of 157 people testified at the Los Angeles hearings for over twenty-three hours. Included in the film is footage of anti-redress activist Lillian Baker accosting Jim Kawaminami while he was testifying. The film was produced the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress and Visual Communications and edited by Steve Nagano.

The Japanese American (film)

Films and Video
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Power of tradition, Social mobility
Widely available

Short film produced by Handel Film Corporation in 1974 that provides an overview of the Japanese American experience. Almost entirely focusing on the West Coast experience, much of it is devoted to the wartime removal and incarceration.

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