Tag: Day of Remembrance

2025 Day of Remembrance

Helen Yoshida Leave a comment

Each year on or around February 19, Japanese American communities and allies across the US commemorate the Day of Remembrance (DOR). On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which directed the US military to uproot 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast and incarcerate them without due process in America’s concentration camps during World War II. Each year, DOR programs around the country highlight the lessons of incarceration to ensure that the American public understands the consequences of failed leadership and injustice when those lessons are disregarded.

As JANM renovates its Pavilion, the Museum is bringing its programs to the people in communities throughout California, across the US, and in Japan with JANM on the Go. This year, JANM was a part of DOR programs in Los Angeles; Washington, DC; and Omaha, Nebraska.

Los Angeles DOR

On February 15, 2025, JANM partnered with the Los Angeles DOR Committee to host this year’s commemoration with the theme, A Legacy of Courage: Nikkei Women Persevering Through Incarceration and Beyond, at the Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. The program celebrated Nikkei women’s stories, their determination to rebuild and thrive after World War II, and their contributions to community and culture.

People carrying camp banners.
Concentration camp survivors and descendants carry banners representing ten concentration camps, Tuna Canyon temporary detention center, Crystal City Department of Justice internment camp, and the 100th/442nd/MIS. Photo by Evan Kodani.

The Los Angeles DOR Committee is a coalition of organizations that includes Go For Broke National Education Center, Japanese American Citizens League—Pacific Southwest District, Japanese American National Museum, Little Tokyo Service Center, Manzanar Committee, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress, Nikkei Progressives, and Organization of Chinese Americans–Greater Los Angeles.

The program opened with Girl Scouts, concentration camp survivors, and descendants carrying banners representing ten concentration camps, Tuna Canyon temporary detention center, Crystal City Department of Justice internment camp, and the 100th/442nd/MIS.

“Each year we’re reminded of the need to honor the enduring legacies and stories of those who experienced America’s concentration camps during World War II,” said Matthew Weisbly of the Japanese American Citizens League.

“In the camp roll call we honor those of Japanese ancestry who were impacted by Executive Order 9066 and forcibly removed from the West Coast and taken to one of ten War Relocation Authority concentration camps or thirty Department of Justice and INS camps,” said Elizabeth Morikawa of JANM.

Six people who are part of the Los Angeles Day of Remembrance multigenerational panel discussion.
Dr. Kelsey Iino moderates A Legacy of Courage: Nikkei Women Persevering Through Incarceration and Beyond with Sarah Omura, Yesenia Cardenas, Nobuko Miyamoto, Karen Magaña, and traci kato-kiriyama. Photo by Evan Kodani.

The roll call was followed by a moving and multigenerational panel discussion moderated by Dr. Kelsey Iino with Yesenia Cardenas, a paralegal in the Air Force National Guard; traci kato-kiriyama, poet and multi-and transdisciplinary artist; Karen Magaña, UCLA PhD candidate in Education with a focus on the family separation and reunification experiences of Central American immigrant students; Nobuko Miyamoto, songwriter, dancer, and theater artist; and Sarah Omura, a senior at Whitney High School who is active in the Japanese American community. Together they talked about the generational impact of unjust incarceration and parallels between Japanese American and Japanese Latin Americans’ experiences and that of today’s immigrant communities.

“I really saw camp from the view of my mother who had stories, who had anger, and felt so helpless, but she also wanted to protect me. I’m a songwriter and I want to present stories through video and music. They want to erase us from here but we’re still here. We have become storytellers. We have become poets. We have become filmmakers. We have written books to tell and keep these stories alive. We bring people together like this every year. It’s very important what we’re doing now,” said Miyamoto.

“What strikes me the most is the ongoing legacy of state violence against immigrant families, how the US government has repeatedly justified forced separation, displacement, and incarceration in the name of national security. The Kudo family was forcibly removed from their home in Peru, incarcerated in a US concentration camp, and stripped of their legal rights. Unfortunately, that story is not just a historical tragedy. It is a pattern that continues today. Immigrant families are experiencing the same state-sanctioned violence in the form of deportations, incarceration, and family separations,” said Magaña.

Washington, DC DOR

On February 18, 2025, JANM and the The Irei Project commemorated DOR in Washington, DC by launching the national tour of The Ireichō and partnering with the Japanese American Citizens League, JACL-DC Chapter, National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, National Archives Foundation, and the National Museum of American History for the panel discussion, The Ireichō: Day of Remembrance, at the US Navy Memorial, directly across the street from the National Archives, which houses the original Executive Order 9066.

“Side by side, these two artifacts tell a story of loss and resilience of exclusion and remembrance. One represents the machinery of state-sanctioned injustice, and the other the power of a community that refuses to let its history be erased,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO. “Today, as we launch the national tour of the Ireichō, we reaffirm our responsibility to ensure that remembrance is not passive but that it’s an active force for justice and that it’s an active force for the social good.”

The Ireichō: Day of Remembrance was moderated by Dr. Anthea M. Hartig, the Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and featured Burroughs, Duncan Ryuken Williams, the director and founder of The Irei Project, and Shirley Ann Higuchi, the chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.

Four people who are part of the Washington, DC Day of Remembrance panel discussion.
Dr. Anthea M. Hartig moderates The Ireichō: Day of Remembrance with Duncan Williams, Shirley Ann Higuchi, and Ann Burroughs during the 2025 Day of Remembrance in Washington, DC. The poster of Bob Matsumoto’s iconic work, Remembrance, is on the right. Photo by Jenn Vu.

“It’s not just about consoling the spirits of those who’ve passed on but it’s about the spirits of those who remain and that idea has been at the heart of what we’ve been doing at The Irei Project,” said Williams.

“The reason why this project is so important is because for us—the descendants and current survivors—it gives us the opportunity to step into the shoes of our parents and grandparents and say that we are here. We were here, and we matter, and that’s why this research is so important,” said Higuchi.

“[The Ireichō] challenges us to think about what we choose to commemorate, who we choose to honor, and whose names we refuse to forget. In so doing we’re challenged to take responsibility for ensuring that history is told fully and truthfully, and that its lessons endure,” said Burroughs.

Visitors also got the opportunity to stamp the book at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History from February 19–21, 2025. Now the Ireichō is traveling on a national tour with stops in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawai’i, Idaho, Illinois, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming through July 2026. At the close of the tour in August 2026, The Irei Project will gift the Ireichō to JANM, where it will remain as part of the Museum’s permanent collection and a lasting monument to the formidable strength of the Japanese American community.

“The book will touch the ground of those incarceration sites but it will not return as a relic but as a living Monument, as an act of repair not only for individuals and families but for the nation itself,” said Burroughs. “Each name stamped is an answer to the questions: What do we carry forward? What do we refuse to forget? What is our obligation to history? Because in the end, monuments are not just about the past they’re about the future we choose to shape.”

After the event, Burroughs gave posters of artist Bob Matsumoto’s iconic work, Remembrance, to Hartig, Williams, and Higuchi on behalf of Matsumoto. An advertising art director and a Manzanar survivor, Matsumoto created this image to honor those who were incarcerated in the ten concentration camps after the signing of Executive Order 9066. His advertising work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art and his artwork was recently accessioned into the Smithsonian.

Omaha DOR

On February 19, 2025, JANM’s Director of Collections Management & Access and Curator, Kristen Hayashi, spoke at the DOR event co-hosted by the Omaha chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and Creighton University in conjunction with the exhibition All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art 1840 – 1955 at the Joslyn Art Museum.

Woman gives presentation at Omaha Day of Remembrance.
Kristen Hayashi gives her presentation, Art as Agency through the Henry Sugimoto Collection, at the Day of Remembrance event in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Kristen Hayashi.

JANM lent Henry Sugimoto’s painting, When Can We Go Home?, for the exhibition as a way to talk about the role that the railroad played in the forced removal and mass incarceration of Japanese Americans and their families during World War II. Created in 1943, the painting depicts Sugimoto’s wife, Susie Tagawa Sugimoto, and their daughter on their first day at the Fresno temporary detention center in Fresno, California. Its title stems from the question that his daughter asked that same day after what she believed was a picnic lunch. Hayashi gave a presentation about World War II incarceration through the lens of Sugimoto’s work.

“I learned so much about this rich Japanese American history in Nebraska. It was this wonderful coincidence that this exhibition, which included this Henry Sugimoto artwork, was in Omaha. It was an opportunity to share Henry Sugimoto’s life and career as well as the Japanese American community through his artwork. I think he would be really pleased to know that his artwork continues to educate people about the incarceration experience and the experience of Japanese immigrants,” she said.

Henry Sugimoto's painting
Henry Sugimoto, When Can We Go Home?, 1943, oil on canvas, 33.5 × 24.25 in.
Japanese American National Museum, Gift of Madeleine Sugimoto and Naomi Tagawa, 92.97.3

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

Carol Cheh Leave a comment

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.

2016 Community Day of Remembrance

Mark Robbins 1 Comment

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of participating on the planning committee for the 2016 Los Angeles Day of Remembrance program. I joined representatives from the Japanese American Citizens League (Pacific Southwest District), the Manzanar Committee, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress, and others at JANM to organize the annual event which gathers members of the community to reflect on the enduring legacy of Executive Order 9066. That directive, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II.

JANM-2016-Day-of-Remembrance-MaythaAlhassen-photoBenFuruta
Maytha Alhassen addresses the audience at the 2016 Community Day of Remembrance. Photo by Ben Furuta.

 

The program was held last Saturday before a standing room only crowd at JANM’s Aratani Central Hall. Entitled Is It 1942 Again? Overcoming Our Fears and Upholding Constitutional Rights for All, the program honored the courage and perseverance of the women, men, and children who were incarcerated during World War II, while challenging the audience to apply the lessons of Japanese American history in today’s context. Following recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, American Muslims, Sikhs, South Asians, Arab Americans, and refugees attempting to enter the United States have been the target of hateful acts and caustic rhetoric—a chilling echo of the Japanese American experience during World War II.

A distinguished set of speakers eloquently addressed this year’s theme. They included: event emcees Bruce Embrey (Manzanar Committee) and traci ishigo (Japanese American Citizens League); JANM Vice President of Operations and Art Director Clement Hanami; Anthony Marsh of the American Friends Service Committee, an organization that courageously opposed the World War II incarceration; and Maytha Alhassen, a Syrian Muslim American Provost PhD Fellow in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Congresswoman Judy Chu warned the audience, “Because of the Japanese American camps, we know just how far the country can go if we let hysteria and scapegoating get their way.”  She continued, “Let us make sure that what happened to Japanese Americans never happens to anyone again in this country.”

Congresswoman Judy Chu speaking at the 2016 Community Day of Remembraance
Congresswoman Judy Chu. Photo by Ben Furuta.

 

But no voice was more essential to the program than that of longtime JANM docent and Heart Mountain camp survivor Bill Shishima. Bill recalled his early childhood years spent near Olvera Street in downtown LA, and the grocery store and hotel his father operated there before being forced to leave them behind during World War II. Bill’s vivid description of the years that followed transported the audience to the foul-smelling horse stables of Santa Anita Race Track, where Bill’s grandparents stayed, and to the incessant dust storms of Bill’s eventual home, Heart Mountain camp. One by one, Bill recounted the traumas and indignities of everyday camp life—the degrading lack of privacy, the barbed wire fences and armed guards, the confusing and ominous loyalty questionnaire, and the promising student body president who volunteered for military service to prove his patriotism and was then killed in Europe.

Bill concluded his remarks by reminding the audience of the “fragility of civil liberties in a time of crisis, and the importance of remaining vigilant in protecting the rights and freedoms of all.” He received a well-deserved standing ovation.

JANM-2016-Day-of-Remembrance-BillShishima-photoRichardMurakami
Bill Shishima. Photo by Richard Murakami.

Highlights from the 2014 Community Day of Remembrance at JANM

Esther Shin Leave a comment

Aratani Central Hall

The annual Day of Remembrance commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which enabled the military to forcibly remove and incarcerate 120,000 Japanese American men, women, and children.

Kurt Kuniyoshi reading Nisei Poet, Hiroshi Kashiwagi's redress testimony. Photo by Russell Kitagawa.
Kurt Kuniyoshi reading Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s redress testimony. Photo by Russell Kitagawa.

This devastating experience to the Issei and Nisei continues to impact multigenerational communities today, which is why this year’s 72nd anniversary of DOR featured stories reflecting the impacts of E.O. 9066 on various generations of Japanese Americans.

Performances included Kurt Kuniyoshi reading pieces by Nisei poet Hiroshi Kashiwagi who was unable to attend; Nisei author Dr. Akemi Kikumura Yano; Shin-Nisei author Dr. Velina Hasu Houston; and Yonsei performance artist Sean Miura.

The program, which was emceed by riKu Matsuda and Traci Ishigo, led the audience through a special time of remembrance and reflection.

Here are some photos highlighting this important annual event:

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DOR was co-presented with the Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District, Japanese American National Museum, Manzanar Committee and Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress.

Keep track of all of JANM’s events at janm.org/events, or like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: “Reverberations of Executive Order 9066”

Esther Shin Leave a comment

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 2013.docxWrite an original monologue or short performance piece for a chance to be included in the 2014 “Community Day of Remembrance” on February 15th at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

The 2014 Day of Remembrance (DOR) will mark the 72nd anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 which led to the unlawful forced removal of thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry and the unconstitutional mass incarceration of 120,000 individuals in domestic concentration camps. DOR is co-presented with the JACL Pacific Southwest District, Nikkei for Civil Rights Redress, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Manzanar Committee.

Japanese Americans near trains during Relocation.
Photo: National Archives

To commemorate the Community Day of Remembrance, we’re looking for YOU to submit monologues or short performance works that tell the story of how Executive Order 9066 (E.O. 9066) has affected you, your family, your generation, and/or your community. The pieces can be happy, sad, touching, funny, or all of the above! They can be fictional or non-fictional!

Winning pieces will be selected by the DOR committee; winning authors will receive a small honorarium and the opportunity to present their pieces at the Community Day of Remembrance on February 15, 2014.

Entries must be emailed to losangelesdor@gmail.com as file attachments (.DOC, .PDF, .TXT, or .RTF file types accepted; email above if alternate file type is preferred). Please include your name, your generation (if applicable), and a telephone number where you can be reached. There is NO FEE to enter. You will receive an emailed confirmation of your submission.

RULES:

  1. Entries must be received by no later than 5PM PST on November 22, 2013 to be considered.
  2. The competition is open to all individuals, amateur or professional.
  3. Entries when performed should be no more than five minutes long in total.
  4. All types and genres of work that can be performed live are eligible, including musical and solo performance pieces. Any instruments, props, or media utilized in a presentation must be provided by and are the sole responsibility of the submitter.
  5. Works will be judged on their originality and quality, as well as their complementarity with other selected works and their relevance to the E.O. 9066.
  6. Winning submitters will be responsible for casting, staging, and directing their own presentations. JANM will provide space for one dress rehearsal before the showcase.
  7. Authors retain all rights to their submissions. However, by submitting, selected authors agree to present their work at the Community Day of Remembrance on February 15, 2014, and to allow presentations to be taped for archival purposes.

For any inquiries, please email losangelesdor@gmail.com.