Densho
@denshoproject.bsky.social
Preserves and shares history of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans to promote equity and justice today.
In what ways has Densho impacted you? Has a member of your family contributed their story to Densho? Is there a staff or board member who left a lasting impression? Consider sharing your reflections in a Densho Anniversary Card at densho.org/30th-anniver...!
We are excited to invite you to Densho’s 30th Anniversary Gala. Join us in Seattle on September 26, 2026, 5:00–9:00 PM at the historic Sunset Club.
For this installment of 30 Stories for 30 Years, we are sharing a segment from Yoshimi Matsuura’s oral history interview where he recalls facing racism and housing discrimination when resettling in Minneapolis, Minnesota after being released from Gila River.
Thank you to KPBS San Diego and Midday Edition for inviting our Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura to this vital discussion on the links between the WWII incarceration and current immigration policies and detention we are seeing today. Listen here: www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpb...
What WWII Japanese American incarceration reveals about Trump immigration crackdown
More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were detained and incarcerated during World War II without due process. We discuss the parallels between that period and present-day immigration enforcement, and w...
kpbs.org
If you’re local in San Diego, tune in to @kpbssandiego.bsky.social Midday Edition today at 12PM to hear Densho’s Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura speak on the links between the incarceration and today’s immigration and detention policies. Full episode will be shared after the segment airs.
Tonight at 5:00 pm PT! Join us in an urgent Protect the Archives Webinar, in collaboration with Tsuru for Solidarity and Save Our National Archives: actionnetwork.org/events/prote...
Protect the Archives Webinar
Join us on Tuesday, August 4th from 5-6:30pm PT/7-8:30pm CT for a rapid response community call. The National Archives locations in San Bruno and Chicago are at risk. These sites could begin relocatin...
actionnetwork.org
For this month’s installment of Densho Staff’s 30 Favorite Objects, Communications Manager Diana Tsuchida shared one object that isn’t her “favorite” but one that she always revisits and is particularly impactful for her.
Densho opposes the recently announced plans to close National Archives facilities in Chicago and San Bruno. Densho Archives Director Caitlin Oiye Coon, who visited the San Bruno facility in California to scan and archive material, explains why.
Herded like animals by military police with their guns and billy clubs, Dennis Bambauer remembers getting on a bus in Los Angeles that took him and other orphans to Manzanar Children’s Village – the only orphanage in all of the ten camps.
At the end of June, community activist, educator, and Densho oral history narrator, Ikuko “Iku” Kiriyama, passed away. We are feeling her loss in many ways, as she was instrumental in many community organizations, namely the Japanese American Historical Society of Southern California (JAHSSC).
Today, we’re celebrating what would have been Arnold Maeda’s 100th birthday and his contributions to the Japanese American community.
In honor of this significant Fourth of July, we are exploring some pivotal moments and decisions made behind barbed wire that highlight resistance and challenges to the U.S. government.
Obon season is currently underway at Buddhist temples across the country, where taiko performances are a common feature of the festivities.
For June’s installment of Densho Staff’s 30 Favorite Objects series, we are highlighting a letter that, on the surface, reminds us of summer.
![A censored letter dated July 15, 1945, from Guntaro Kubota to Mrs. Gloria Kubota at Heart Mountain, Wyoming (barrack 30-18-E), bearing a red "CENSORED" stamp. The handwritten text in blue ink reads: “Dear Gloria and Makiko, I am very sorry to Makiko. Last time I was [to] send [a] picture for Hidemaro’s birthday. I know Maki [wanted one], too but I was very busy to draw [a] picture." The lower two-thirds of the letter features a watercolor illustration of a young curly-haired child in red swim trunks standing on a beach, holding a yellow shovel beside a blue bucket, with a red shape in the sand, a small turtle nearby, and a serene coastal landscape with water, hills, and a small sailboat in the background.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:n6w2q7i6q3dsq6rlvi3lviyd/bafkreihsi2kgqdsrh2taeuen6k5xoea2ldgxzv6jelifzco3dcogri6sua)
In the fourteenth installment of 30 Stories for 30 Years, Yukiko Miyake recalls a memory of when she was sick in Minidoka, and an Issei woman brought her otsukemono (pickled vegetables).
We are excited to welcome Diana Tsuchida as Densho’s new Communications Manager!
Known for expanding the boundaries of art in the decades after World War II, Satoru Abe is someone we want to celebrate today on what would’ve been his 100th birthday.
As the World Cup starts today across North America, we wanted to take note of the power of sports to unify people across the world, even during times of global uncertainty.
“And we talked about the long-term effects of the internment, but the pilgrimage really offers a place of healing, a place of solitude. Because it is, my gosh, a desolate place. And we spent a portion of our life, however brief, in that place. And the toll that it took is incalculable.”
“Historic sites must be accessible. And it is important to acknowledge that they weren’t at the time, and in many cases took a long time to become accessible, or continue to be inaccessible.”
Dr. Satsuki Ina is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in community trauma, author of “The Poet and the Silk Girl” (2024), and cofounder of Tsuru for Solidarity.
For this installment of Densho Staff’s 30 Favorite Objects series, we are highlighting two objects that hold special meaning for two of our staff members.
On this Memorial Day, we want to share an oral history interview of decorated World War II veteran and member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Fred Shiosaki, describing the rescue of the "Lost Battalion” in World War II.
We are heartbroken by the passing of Kyoko Nancy Oda, a giant in the Nikkei community and one of our oral history narrators.
“[Author Karen Tei] Yamashita provides a lot of answers, but she also leaves a lot unknown, because it is impossible to know everything.” – Amber Hisatomi
This past February, Densho completed a major milestone with the completion of the Loni Ding Oral History and Film Research Collection grant project.
Save the date and join Densho for a zine-making workshop at the Seattle Public Library, part of their programming for One Book, One Coast.
As Densho celebrates its 30th anniversary, we wanted to speak with the person who helped start it all: founding executive director Tom Ikeda.
In honor of Densho’s 30th anniversary, we wanted to share a special message from our staff. These are 30 words reflecting our mission and symbolically representing our 30 years of existence. This statement captures our commitment to the past, present, and future.
Today, we’re celebrating what would’ve been Mervyn Dymally’s 100th birthday and his contributions to the Japanese American community.
