Activism in reporting
In 2016, I penned an op-ed describing the fear many in the transgender community felt following the election of President Donald Trump. We rushed to process paperwork for gender change requests and...
View ArticleYour historical immigration records are being held hostage. Again.
The USCIS Genealogy Program has proposed an outrageous new fee hike, which will also change how some documents are provided. The fee for initiating an Index Search for an individual will rise from $65...
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David and Goliath battle over Tule Lake
Tule Lake gravesites. photo by Dorey NomiyamaNearly a decade has gone by in the Tule Lake Committee’s fight to stop the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) and the Tulelake community’s plan to...
View ArticleRemembering Roger
The first book I read about Japanese American history was Roger Daniels’ book, “The Politics of Prejudice.” It was 1966, and in my research as a college freshman, it was the rare book on Japanese...
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Sixth annual Nichi Bei Day of Giving fundraiser Sept. 5
Livestream Web-a-thon to feature the best of the ‘Nichi Bei Café,’ staff and board, and moreThe public is invited to join in on the sixth annual Nichi Bei Day of Giving Web-a-thon on Monday, Sept. 5,...
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On memorializing James Wakasa
‘Raising Mr. Wakasa’s Monument’ by Patrick HayashiMr. Wakasa was shot by a guard while walking his dog along the perimeter of the fence at the Topaz, Utah concentration camp. Other prisoners created a...
View ArticleThe Wakasa Monument belongs back home in Japantown, San Francisco
It’s not 1942 anymore; “Shikata ganai” is no longer in my vocabulary. I was four when they put me in that prison camp, Topaz. I’m 84 now. Today I shall fight the injustice/racism before me.Back then,...
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Results of a community dialog about a Japanese American artifact
The original Okei gravestone. photo by Melissa LobachOn a scenic knoll in Gold Hill about 50 miles east of Sacramento lies the singular grave of Okei, the first Japanese woman and immigrant buried on...
View ArticleWakasa Committee asks for professional excavation where monument was unearthed
The Wakasa Memorial Committee has asked the Topaz Museum Board to carry out a professionally-led community archaeology excavation of the site where the Wakasa monument was unearthed by the museum last...
View ArticleTopaz Museum seeks public input to guide preservation and future of Wakasa...
DELTA, Utah — The Topaz Museum Board announces the launch of the Topaz Community Outreach Project, as part of its effort to preserve and interpret a recently discovered stone monument, first erected in...
View ArticlePhase 2 of Japanese American redress has begun
Phase 2 of the historic Japanese American campaign for redress is underway. The signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which many of you supported, (thank you!) gave redress to Japanese Americans...
View ArticleIn praise of J.A. allies
For Japanese Americans, the World War II U.S. concentration camps are part of our heritage and family history, holding a special significance that others have not experienced. Even so, the historical...
View ArticleReport from Topaz
On November 30 and December 1, 2021, an expert National Park Service team was in Delta, Utah at the invitation of the Topaz Museum to conduct a condition evaluation of the Wakasa monument and site....
View ArticleLove and compassion
As I read about the circumstances about the unearthing of the Wakasa monument, I am saddened by some of the inflammatory language of the past four months surrounding the event and the innuendo...
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Remembering Wilma Chan
FILE – Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan speaks at Asian Health Services in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. Chan died Wednesday, Nov. 3 after being hit by a car while walking her dog, her...
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Grandma’s gift
(From left to right): Shinichi Mori (grandfather), Kuni Mori (great grandmother), Shinayo Mori (grandma). photo courtesy of Mori Family Shinayo Mori, my grandma, was born in 1899, outside the city of...
View ArticleStatement from former CANE members on the sale of the Buchanan Hotel in S.F....
The Committee Against Nihonmachi Eviction (CANE) 50th Anniversary Committee formed ten months ago to commemorate CANE’s fight to preserve San Francisco’s Japantown and to share this history with future...
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Statement from the Topaz Museum Board
September 17, 2021 The photo of a Japanese American Citizens League monument that is located at the site was taken in the summer of 2020, Topaz Museum Board President Jane Beckwith said. The sign is...
View ArticleJACS grant update and request for help
The Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant program (Public Law 109-441) was established to preserve and interpret the United States confinement sites where Japanese Americans were...
View ArticlePublic statement by the Japantown community regarding the proposed purchase...
This statement is a demand that the Hotel Buchanan be removed from further consideration of City acquisition. Many have tried to paint this as a Japantown vs. the unhoused issue, or just another...
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