Powerful Discussions on Democracy, Politics, and the Future of Museums

On March 14, 2025, JANM’s Democracy Center welcomed the Smithsonian’s Lonnie G. Bunch III and Lisa Sasaki as special guest speakers for its inaugural Irene Hirano Inouye Distinguished Lecture Series. Bunch is the fourteenth secretary of the Smithsonian and is devoted to enhancing diversity in the museum field. Sasaki is the deputy under secretary for Special Projects at the Smithsonian. She elevates the stories of women and Asian American communities and their impact around the world. Their life work and careers embody the essence of leadership, collaboration, inclusivity, and diversity that Inouye represented. She was JANM’s inaugural executive director and its president and CEO.

“Irene understood the importance of the lessons of history and how relevant and urgent they are in contemporary America.”

— Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO

“It was that spring in her step that propelled the museum forward. She understood, before it was widely recognized, that memory and history are not static artifacts of the past but powerful contemporary lessons, acts of resilience, and acts of resistance which are now more important than ever before. Irene understood the importance of the lessons of history and how relevant and urgent they are in contemporary America,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO.

As Inouye steered JANM from a dream without funding or a site to an official affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, she led with the vision to empower communities, uplift women, and build bridges between the US and Japan. Bunch and Sasaki, both dear friends and colleagues of Inouye, reflected on Inouye’s leadership and insights into the museum field.

“Museums force people to engage with each other and encounter real learning and real barriers being broken.”

— Lonnie G. Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

“Irene made all of us believe that museums could be more than things that looked towards yesterday. They could be places that are central to today and tomorrow. In essence, what good museums are are really tools or weapons to fight for democracy, weapons to make a country better, weapons to make people understand that it’s important to give people not just what they want but what they need to know. Museums force people to engage with each other and encounter real learning and real barriers being broken. They remind us that America at its best is aspirational and that we must fight the good fight to make sure that those stories aren’t erased,” said Bunch.

Featured photograph: The Smithsonian’s Lonnie G. Bunch III speaks at the Democracy Center’s inaugural Irene Hirano Inouye Distinguished Lecture Series. Photo by Mike Palma.

On March 18, 2025, JANM participated in a press conference organized by Nikkei Progressives condemning the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to enforce mass deportations of Venezuelan men accused of being Tren de Aragua gang members. The press conference was held in front of the Historic Building, the Museum’s oldest and largest artifact. Built in 1925, the former Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple was a site of grave injustice for the bustling Little Tokyo neighborhood.

“On the corner of First and Central behind me is where Japanese Americans boarded buses to be taken to camps. This place serves as a reminder that this dark chapter remains one of the most egregious violations of civil liberties in American history, later condemned by Congress and acknowledged as a grave mistake. We must not repeat it,” said Kenyon Mayeda of JANM.

Today, the Historic Building is hallowed ground—a site of conscience and a gathering place for civic engagement and social justice. The press conference also included speakers from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, the Manzanar Committee, National Japanese American Citizens League, Nikkei Progressives, and Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition.

“This place serves as a reminder that this dark chapter remains one of the most egregious violations of civil liberties in American history, later condemned by Congress and acknowledged as a grave mistake. We must not repeat it.”

— Kenyon Mayeda, JANM Chief Impact Officer

“Immigrants helped build this nation and contribute daily, not only to our economy, but to society at large. They are our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors, and our family members. Nikkei Progressives will continue to stand in support of immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and all people whose rights are being violated and who are under attack by the Trump administration,” said Hope Nakamura of Nikkei Progressives.

“The Tuna Canyon Coalition’s mission is to preserve the stories so it doesn’t happen again. We are here to uncover unknown diaries, letters, or like June Berk, interviewing the children and great grandchildren of the detained. Clearly the separation of the family was horrible then, and still [is] today,” said Kyoko Nancy Oda of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition.

“The Manzanar Committee will continue to challenge the lies being told about immigrants and refugees. We will not stand by and watch while other communities are attacked like we were. We will remind America of what can happen when our Constitution is tossed aside or where the rule of law no longer matters. Our story tells us our country is stronger, our democracy more vibrant, when the Constitutional rights of all people—immigrants and citizens alike—are protected and that the rule of law prevails,” said Bruce Embrey of the Manzanar Committee.

Photo of Kenyon Mayeda taken by Doug Mukai.

Alex M. Johnson moderated a panel with Mario Fedelin, Cielo Castro, and James E. Herr at the Democracy Center. Photo by Doug Mukai.

On March 28, 2025, JANM and the Democracy Center once again hosted the Smithsonian’s National Conversation on Race. During the inaugural Conversation in December 2023, panelists and guests alike established a strong foundation around the intersection of race with issues of wealth, health, and the arts.

“Our work for the reckoning with our Racial Past initiative is to support and amplify the work of organizations like JANM, like the Chinese American Museum, like LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. These were the first institutions we reached out to to launch our national work, because they’re such exemplary models—not only in what they do and how they do it, but in collaborating with each other,” said Deborah Mack, associate director for strategic partnerships at the National African American Museum of History and Culture.

“How do we support young people? We listen. We trust, we act with urgency and not caution, and we get out of the way and make room and space for those coming behind.”

— Alex M. Johnson, California Wellness Foundation Vice President of Public Affairs

When the Los Angeles wildfires devastated the cities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades, this year’s Conversation examined the urgent contemporary forces shaping the issues. With a focus on youth empowerment and the role of creative practice in equitable natural disaster recovery, this year’s panels illuminated pathways toward systemic change.

“When people ask me the question, how do we support young people? Right now, my answer is clear. We listen. We trust, we act with urgency and not caution, and we get out of the way and make room and space for those coming behind,” said Alex M. Johnson, the vice president of Public Affairs for the California Wellness Foundation.

Johnson moderated a panel with Mario Fedelin, CEO of Changeist; Cielo Castro, chief officer of policy and programs at California Community Foundation; and James E. Herr, director of the Democracy Center. Together they explored ways to give young people opportunities to make the positive changes that they envision for the nation’s future.

“Hope is so important, especially for our young people right now. If we’re going to hold space, it’s one of the spaces we need to hold for them, because we need to find moments of joy in this world today.”

— James E. Herr, Democracy Center Director

“I’m glad that you talked about hope, because I think hope is so important, especially for our young people right now. If we’re going to hold space, it’s one of the spaces we need to hold for them, because we need to find moments of joy in this world today,” said Herr.

“It really is grounding myself in the long arc of moral history. The long arc of justice, remembering that we’ve been as a country through so much worse, how we have grit ourselves up, right, to make sure that we brace ourselves for the impact and protect young people from having to bear so much of it themselves,” said Castro.

“What I found to be some of the best strategies during this time is just holding space without prescription, holding space without some sort of mastery or some sort of intervention,” said Fedelin. “Give them the room to say whatever the hell they want. And then as the adult in the room, do the thing that I think my parents struggled to do for me, which was tell me it’s going to be okay and allow them to believe me. And then act in a way that shows them this is going to be okay because I got you.”

“Arts recovery projects can address the impacts of disasters on democracy by promoting empathy, connection, and agency in affected communities.”

— Anna Kennedy-Borissow, Keynote Speaker

The Democracy Center also welcomed Anna Kennedy-Borissow from the University of Melbourne as the keynote speaker. A leading voice on the intersection of creative practice and disaster recovery, Kennedy-Borissow talked about her extensive research on wildfires that have devastated Australia over the past two decades and how her research is transferable to the LA wildfires.

During her presentation, she discussed how arts recovery projects can contribute to a culture of democracy. Creative projects can be cathartic for disaster-affected individuals and communities. They promote partnerships, build trust, and strengthen connections. Most importantly, they can foster a sense of hope for the future and be calming places where individuals and communities can fully express themselves.

“Ultimately, arts recovery projects can address the impacts of disasters on democracy by promoting empathy, connection, and agency in affected communities. But for this to occur, it is essential that both the arts, emergency management, public and private sectors recognize the value of these initiatives and resource arts-based recovery projects, artists, community and cultural organizations accordingly,” said Kennedy-Borissow.

“I really see the fires as a metaphor for this opportunity that we have to move forward, to build the world that we want to live in.”

— Karen Mack, LA Commons Executive Director

She was then joined by a panel of local experts to explore how Los Angeles could adapt and implement these models to enhance its own recovery initiatives. The panel was moderated by Leticia Rhi Buckley, CEO of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, and also included Karen Mack, executive director of LA Commons, and Alvaro D. Marquez, program officer for Arts and Culture at the California Community Foundation.

“I really see the fires as a metaphor for this opportunity that we have to move forward, to build the world that we want to live in. One of the things that we were focused on is giving artists the resources to do what they do best, which is to imagine, dream, world build. And that’s the moment that we’re in. As painful as it is, we are building a new world for ourselves,” said Mack.

“The arts is every single funding area that we do. It is economic development. It is youth development, it is health, it is housing. It is all of those things,” said Marquez. “One of the things I want to invite us to think about is to get outside of Eurocentric conceptions of art, which involve a gallery and a white cube, and to think about cultural expression writ large and in an expansive sense. We need to learn from our indigenous neighbors and cousins that land stewardship is a form of cultural practice that can teach us how to respond to these crises and hopefully prevent the next one.”

Clockwise from top: Alvaro D. Marquez, Leticia Rhi Buckley, Anna Kennedy-Borissow and Karen Mack. Photos by Doug Mukai.

JANM Debuts Its New Podcast

JANM is excited to release its new podcast, Japanese America, today. Coinciding with the annual Day of Remembrance, the Museum’s new podcast explores unique experiences, challenges, and triumphs of Japanese Americans and illuminates their contributions to the mosaic of American life.

From historical milestones to contemporary perspectives, cohosts Michelle MaliZaki and Koji Sakai will take listeners on an insightful journey through JANM’s collection that showcases a diverse community that shapes the American story in extraordinary ways.

In the first episode, learn how Yuri Kochiyama’s concentration camp experiences transformed her into a civil rights icon. Listen and subscribe at your favorite podcast app!

Norm Mineta’s Legacy

On January 26, 2024, JANM ushered in a new era for its campus by naming its plaza after the late JANM Board of Trustees Chair and Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and hosting the namesake distinguished lecture at the Daniel K. Inouye National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (Democracy Center). On Friday afternoon, guests gathered at the Museum to witness the unveiling of the new sign as the sun began to set behind the buildings of Little Tokyo and downtown LA. The Norman Y. Mineta Democracy Plaza connects the Museum’s Pavilion, Historic Building, and Democracy Center together. It’s a place that creates a sense of transparency and access between all buildings on campus and is a reminder that democracy is shaped through the involvement and engagement of individuals.

“We all feel Norm’s presence here. This is hallowed ground, a place where American families were taken to concentration camps,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO. She described how Mineta used his imprisonment experiences at the Santa Anita temporary detention center (about fifteen miles away from the Museum) and the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming to lead the US in Congress and the White House. “Few better understand that this union could be more perfect than Norm and few worked as hard to make it so.”

“Norm lived his life for the democracy of his country,” said Deni Mineta, widow of the late Secretary. “It is important for the community at large to understand these lessons and pass them on. I see memories, love, and compassion, and I am so grateful that you’re here.”

Mayor Karen Bass described her mother’s experience of seeing her classmates’ empty chairs when she was going to school in Los Angeles and emphasized the importance of acknowledging the darker periods of US history to create a more inclusive democracy. “This is our shared history of folks of color,” she said. LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis added, “He’s a beacon of hope for us, and a reminder for why we’ve been fighting for all voices around the world.”

The newly named plaza brings Mineta’s values and vision for democracy to new generations and reflects the evolution of the Japanese American community. His extraordinary legacy, lifelong commitment to democracy, and profound impact on the Museum was also recognized with the inaugural Norman Y. Mineta Distinguished Lecture Friday evening. The lecture is a signature series of the Democracy Center focusing on Mineta’s leadership values and principles, including his commitment to public service, social justice, and strengthening US-Japan relations.

Mitch Landrieu, former senior advisor to the President and former mayor of New Orleans, was the special guest speaker. From 2010–2018 he served as the 61st Mayor while New Orleans was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and in the midst of the BP oil spill. Similar to Mineta, Landrieu’s father, Moon, championed integration while serving in the Louisiana House of Representatives, as mayor of New Orleans, and as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter. Throughout Moon’s time in office, the Landrieus and Minetas became friends. Like them, Landrieu also dedicated his life to public service. His speech and subsequent conversation with Mineta’s son and JANM Board of Governors member David Mineta discussed their fathers’ friendship, the power of the vote, and why it is important to fight for democracy every day.

“Our fight today starts by reclaiming our democracy and continuing to uplift our ideals in this country. We cannot allow our history to be erased. We cannot shrug our shoulders at the past,” said Landrieu. “When so much has pulled us apart, we must work together to answer the question: Who are we? This is a time for us to come together as patriots. Every generation in America has faced a moment where they had to defend democracy. This is ours. Do not close your eyes to what is happening around you. Do not think for a moment that the fight for democracy is over there. It’s happening right here.”

Photos by Mike Palma

JANM Closed on August 10, 2023

JANM will be closed on August 10, 2023 in observance of the anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. JANM honors this anniversary to acknowledge incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in US concentration camps without due process or evidence of wrongdoing.

On August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued a formal Presidential apology and symbolic payment of financial reparations to surviving Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. The act was the first and only time that the US government publicly apologized for a mistake acknowledging that the forced removal and unconstitutional incarceration was caused by a failure of political leadership, wartime hysteria, and racism.

Click on the following online resources to learn more about the Civil Liberties Act of 1988:

JANM’s Educational Resources

Five Views of Redress: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary

Excerpts from the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

However, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 did not extend to Japanese Latin Americans, Germans, and Italians who were interned and incarcerated in the Department of Justice (DOJ) camps. Japanese Latin Americans continue to fight for redress today and educate the public through annual pilgrimages, like the Crystal City Pilgrimage.

Check out these Discover Nikkei stories to learn more about those who were incarcerated in the DOJ camps.

Pilgrimage to Former Internment Camp Reveals Untold Story of Japanese Latin American Incarceration (From 2020)
Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik covers the 2019 Crystal City Pilgrimage.

The Japanese Peruvian Community of Chicago (From 2016)
Ryan Masaaki Yokota writes about the Japanese Peruvians who built their lives in Chicago after World War II.

Yoshitaro Amano, Canal Zone Resident and Prisoner #203 (From 2010)
In this two-part story, Esther Newman explores the circumstances of her grandfather’s capture, internment, and repatriation.

Photo credits:

Hannah Tomiko Holmes and Doris Sato, Fabric-Framed Photograph Commemorating the Efforts of the National Council for Japanese American Redress, 1987, fabric and paper, Japanese American National Museum, 88.4.1B.

Hannah Tomiko Holmes, Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, Michi Weglyn, William Hohri, Aiko Herzig, and Harry Y. Ueno Dolls, ca. early 1990s, fabric, 16” in height, Japanese American National Museum, gift of Hannah Tomiko Holmes, 88.4.1C.

JANM Commemorates the Civil Liberties Act of 1988

In observance of the anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, JANM will be closed on Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

On August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued a formal presidential apology and symbolic payment of financial reparations to surviving Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. Although many of the first generation Issei had already passed away and did not receive the apology, which occurred more than 40 years later, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was the first and only time that the US government publicly apologized for a mistake acknowledging that the exclusion, forced removal, and mass incarceration was due to a failure of political leadership, war hysteria, and racism.

JANM honors this anniversary to acknowledge the unconstitutional, mass incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in remote US concentration camps without due process or evidence of wrongdoing 80 years ago. While recognizing the apology, JANM is also well aware that other past mistakes by the US government against Blacks and indigenous communities deserve recognition and reparations. 

To learn more about the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, explore these online educational resources from JANM:

Photo: President Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 on August 10, 1988. From left to right, he is flanked by Senator Matsunaga of Hawaii, Representative Mineta of California, Representative Saiki of Hawaii, Senator Wilson of California, Representative Young of Alaska, Representative Matsui of California, Representative Lowery of California, and Harry Kajihara, president of the Japanese American Citizens League. Photo courtesy of The Ronald Reagan Library and National Archives and Records Administration.

Last Chance to See the Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Original pages of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988

On display only until September 23, time is running out to see two original pages of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed by President Ronald Reagan! Currently on view as part of our Common Ground: The Heart of Community exhibition, these pages will soon return to the National Archives in Washington DC.

This past August marked the 30th anniversary of the Act. JANM commemorated this anniversary by reimagining the final gallery of Common Ground to place an even stronger emphasis on the redress movement, its influences, and its accomplishments. With the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the US government formally apologized for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and paid monetary reparations to surviving victims of America’s concentration camps. This law came about after many years of activism by the Japanese American community.

Seeing a historic document like this in person moves us in a way that even the best-written article or book cannot. The document is a direct connection to the past and seeing it, one can almost feel the emotions, values, and hard work that culminated in the passing of this legislation. Moreover, the Act reminds us that we must remain vigilant in pushing back against a social and political atmosphere that seeks to marginalize people.

Seeing the document and learning about how this legislation was achieved pushes us to recognize that elements of today’s political landscape harken back to the dangerous and racist thinking of the 1940s that allowed for the creation of America’s concentration camps. If allowed to continue unanswered, then over time, the hard-fought battles of 30 years ago erode, and our democracy may be diminished.

If you are in Los Angeles, we hope you’ll find time to visit us while the original pages are still here. For information about all of our current exhibitions, please visit janm.org

Nisei Naysayer: The Memoir of Militant Japanese American Journalist Jimmie Omura

Japanese American journalist James “Jimmie” Matasumoto Omura was one of the most outspoken dissidents against the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. In brash and biting newspaper articles, Omura often criticized leaders in the Nikkei community for what he thought was their complicity concerning the actions of the United States government. While very strident in his criticism of forced incarceration, Omura also often wrote about his ire towards the US government’s decision to draft imprisoned Nisei into military service without addressing the violation of their human rights. As well, Omura was one of the first Japanese Americans to seek government redress for violations of civil liberties after World War II.

In his vividly written memoir scheduled for release on August 28, Nisei Naysayer: The Memoir of Militant Japanese American Journalist Jimmie Omura, he talks about being one of the most vocal Japanese American activists during and after World War II and how his critiques in Japanese American newspapers often meant being shunned by the Nikkei community. The main impetus for writing the memoir, Omura said, was to correct the ”cockeyed history to which Japanese America has been exposed.” He also writes about his early years on Bainbridge Island in Washington, the summers he spent working in the salmon canneries of Alaska, how hard it was to find work during the Great Depression, as well as how his early journalism career took him to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Jimmie Omura on the Liberty Calling program on KLZ radio, Denver, Colorado, October 12, 1947. In the first of two broadcasts on Japanese Americans’ problems in Denver, the Rocky Shimpo editor discussed discrimination faced by Nikkei in employment, education, and housing. In contrast, the second broadcast’s featured speaker, Colorado Times publisher Fred Kaihara, maintained that discrimination in no way hampered Denver’s Japanese American community. Omura Papers, Green Library, Stanford University.

Edited and with an introduction by historian Art Hansen, and with contributions from Asian American activists and writers Frank Chin, Yosh Kuromiya, and Frank Abe, Nisei Naysayer provides an essential, firsthand account of Japanese American wartime resistance.

Omura passed away in 1994, but Hansen, who is also professor emeritus of History and Asian American Studies at California State University, Fullerton, will be at JANM on August 25 at 2 p.m. to discuss the book and Omura’s life and work. Here we share a brief excerpt from a recently published Discover Nikkei article that goes more into detail about Omura.

Jimmie Omura was born in Washington in 1912, and later moved to Los Angeles. As a young man, he chose to pursue a career as a journalist. His star rose quickly in the journalism scene of the early 1930s while editing a variety of Nikkei publications. In these early days, he was not afraid to speak his mind. His publication the New World Daily gained critical acclaim for its elegant writing, but he also incited the ire of Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) supporters by criticizing its leadership. The JACL was already a powerful political influence on the West Coast at the time, and even in this pre-war period, its stature was not to be taken lightly.

When Omura continued to speak his mind into the 1940s, criticism of him began to escalate. The war was raging, and the JACL was no longer an organization that sought to promote the people and culture of varying regions within Japan. The JACL now had the responsibility to represent the entire Japanese American population. Because of this, the JACL became a force that had the ear of the national government. However, the JACL was divided in condemning the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans and did not fully use its voice to help prevent this atrocity.

Read the rest of this article at DiscoverNikkei.org

The discussion with Art Hansen is included with JANM admission but RSVPs are recommended. Reserve your seat now!

Looking Back at the Civil Liberties Act of 1988

President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

August marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. With its passage, the US government formally apologized for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Furthermore, with this formal apology, the law called for monetary reparations to surviving victims of America’s concentration camps. This law came after many, many years of hard-fought battles and activism by the Japanese American community.

To recognize this anniversary, we reimagined the final gallery of our Common Ground: The Heart of Community exhibition to place an even stronger emphasis on the redress movement, its influences, and its accomplishments. Opening to the public on August 4, among the artifacts newly on display is the pen that President Ronald Reagan used to sign the Act, on loan for a year from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Also debuting in the gallery are two original pages of the Act. These include the page bearing President Reagan’s signature, as well as those of Congressmen Spark Matsunaga and, Norman Mineta, who is now Chair of JANM’s Board of Trustees. These pages are on loan to us from the National Archives and Records Administration for only a limited time, through September 23.

The anniversary seems a fitting time to share this excerpt from President Reagan’s speech given at the time of signing the bill into law.

The Members of Congress and distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, we gather here today to right a grave wrong. More than 40 years ago, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living in the United States were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in makeshift internment camps. This action was taken without trial, without jury. It was based solely on race, for these 120,000 were Americans of Japanese descent.

Yes, the nation was then at war, struggling for its survival, and it’s not for us today to pass judgment upon those who may have made mistakes while engaged in that great struggle. Yet we must recognize that the internment of Japanese-Americans was just that: a mistake. For throughout the war, Japanese-Americans in the tens of thousands remained utterly loyal to the United States. Indeed, scores of Japanese-Americans volunteered for our Armed Forces, many stepping forward in the internment camps themselves. The 442d Regimental Combat Team, made up entirely of Japanese-Americans, served with immense distinction to defend this nation, their nation. Yet back at home, the soldiers’ families were being denied the very freedom for which so many of the soldiers themselves were laying down their lives.

Congressman Norman Mineta, with us today, was 10 years old when his family was interned. In the Congressman’s words: “My own family was sent first to Santa Anita Racetrack. We showered in the horse paddocks. Some families lived in converted stables, others in hastily thrown together barracks. We were then moved to Heart Mountain, Wyoming, where our entire family lived in one small room of a rude tar paper barrack.” Like so many tens of thousands of others, the members of the Mineta family lived in those conditions not for a matter of weeks or months but for three long years.

The legislation that I am about to sign provides for a restitution payment to each of the 60,000 surviving Japanese-Americans of the 120,000 who were relocated or detained. Yet no payment can make up for those lost years. So, what is most important in this bill has less to do with property than with honor. For here we admit a wrong; here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law.

You can read a full transcript of Reagan’s speech here. Also, here’s a video of the President’s speech and the signing ceremony at which Norman Mineta (and others), were present:

 

 

There are still a few seats available for this Saturday’s conversation with Mineta and Dr. Mitchell T. Maki, President and CEO of Go For Broke National Education Center and lead author of Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Achieved Redress. Be sure to RSVP here.

This Year’s Day of Remembrance Considers the 30th Anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 by President Ronald Reagan, 1988. Japanese American National Museum. Gift of Norman Y. Mineta.

On Saturday, February 17, JANM will present the 2018 Day of Remembrance in partnership with Go for Broke National Education Center, Japanese American Citizens League-Pacific Southwest District, the Manzanar Committee, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress, Nikkei Progressives, OCA-Greater Los Angeles, and Progressive Asian Network for Action (PANA). This year’s theme is “The Civil Liberties Act of 1988: The Victory and the Unfinished Business.”

In addition to marking the 76th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, an act that led to the forced evacuation and mass incarceration of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II, this year’s Day of Remembrance also commemorates the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the legislation that provided a formal apology from the US government and monetary reparations to survivors of the incarceration. Years in the making, this landmark legislation went a long way toward providing vindication and closure for the Japanese American community. Over 82,500 survivors received the President’s apology and the token monetary compensation provided by the CLA.

Today, however, we again find ourselves living in a climate of fear and scapegoating, in which several different immigrant populations have become vulnerable to unfair targeting. At this year’s event, we hope to strengthen our collective voice as we strive to prevent a repeat of what happened to Japanese Americans 76 years ago. Featured speakers will include Alan Nishio, community activist and founding member of National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (now Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress), who will speak about the importance of the Civil Liberties Act, what it did not accomplish, and its ongoing relevance today. The DOR program will also continue its tradition of paying tribute to the Issei and Nisei generations.

Admission to this event and to the museum are both pay-what-you-wish on this day. Last year’s event drew standing-room-only crowds, so RSVPs for this year’s Day of Remembrance are strongly encouraged. For updates on the day’s program, please visit janm.org or the Facebook event page.

Tule Lake as a Site of Resistance

Residents of Tule Lake Block 42, who refused to sign the “loyalty questionnaire” and were collectively arrested and threatened at gunpoint by Army personnel. Photo courtesy of Mamoru “Mori” and James Tanimoto.

On Saturday, February 10, JANM will host a screening of Resistance at Tule Lake, a new documentary from director/producer Konrad Aderer that tells the long-suppressed story of 12,000 Japanese Americans who dared to resist the US government’s program of mass incarceration during World War II. Branded as “disloyals” and re-imprisoned at Tule Lake Segregation Center, they continued to protest in the face of militarized violence, and thousands renounced their US citizenship. Giving voice to experiences that have been marginalized for over 70 years, the film challenges the nationalist, one-sided ideal of wartime “loyalty.” A panel discussion with the filmmakers will follow the screening.

Tule Lake was one of ten American concentration camps that were hastily built to house the 120,000 persons of Japanese descent who were forcibly removed from their West Coast homes following Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. Located in Modoc County, California, Tule Lake was the most conflict-ridden of the ten camps. In its first year of operation, it was beset by labor unrest, including strikes over a lack of promised goods and salaries and a mess hall workers’ protest. Then, in 1943, it was designated as Tule Lake Segregation Center and essentially became a prison camp for those perceived as “disloyal” to the United States.

Hiroshi Shimizu, who is interviewed in the film, and his father, Iwao Shimizu, stand in Tule Lake Segregation Center, two days before being shipped to Crystal City, Texas, along with some 400 others who had renounced their citizenship. Photo taken on March 18, 1946, by Fusako Shimizu (mother). Courtesy of Hiroshi Shimizu.

Tule Lake was chosen to be a segregation center partially because of its size and capacity, but also because the infamous “loyalty questionnaire”—an awkwardly worded document circulated by the US Army in all 10 camps in an attempt to determine who among the prisoners were patriotic citizens and who were not—was mishandled by authorities at the camp, leading to more unrest, turmoil among the inmates, acts of civil disobedience, and the largest number of presumed “disloyals” of any of the camps.

Tule Lake Segregation Center soon became a maximum-security prison as “disloyals” from other camps were relocated there. The “disloyals” lived alongside original Tule Lake inmates who had answered the questionnaire with “loyalty,” but did not want to be displaced a second time. Home to a deeply divided and disaffected population and constantly beset with strife, the center was for a time ruled by martial law. The emotional fallout from living under such hostile conditions led some inmates to become disillusioned with America and to plan for a return to Japan after the war.

Japanese American members of a pro-Japan group known as the Hoshi Dan honoring brethren who were being purged from Tule Lake and sent to Santa Fe concentration camp before being deported to Japan. Photo courtesy of the Tule Lake Committee.

Come to our screening on February 10 to learn more about this dramatic episode in Japanese American history. JANM members may also attend an exclusive pre-event reception with filmmaker Konrad Aderer. Visit our website for more information and to RSVP.

To learn more about the film, read interviews with Konrad Aderer on Discover Nikkei: