Official Web site of the Los Angeles-based Manzanar Committee, sponsor of the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since 1969.
Playwright Soji Kashiwagi, who is active with the Tule Lake Committee, recently wrote a letter to President Barack Obama, criticizing him for signing the National Defense Authorization Act on December 31, 2011. Kashiwagi, who writes from Pasadena, California, has graciously permitted us to repint it here. January 10, 2012 The Honorable Barack Obama President of... Continue Reading →
Editor’s Note: The following piece by Jenni Kuida, a tribute to former Manzanar Committee member Grace Harada, was originally published in January 2002, in the Rafu Shimpo. She posted a link to her story on Facebook on January 18, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Harada’s passing. We thought it would be a fitting tribute to... Continue Reading →
Editor’s Note: On December 9, 2011, the New York Times published a review of the new museum at the Heart Mountain National Historic Landmark, which opened on August 20, 2011. But it was clear that the author failed to do thorough research. In fact, he was careless, sloppy, and as a journalist, his work was... Continue Reading →
Editor’s Note: On occasion, the Manzanar Committee receives questions about Manzanar, along with the Japanese American Incarceration experience, from students and teachers from all levels, from K-12 schools, and from colleges and universities across the United States and even from other countries. The Manzanar Committee encourages those with questions to feel free to contact us.... Continue Reading →
by Joyce OkazakiLOS ANGELES — Mako Nakagawa of Seattle, the primary author of the Power Of Words resolution that called for use of accurate, non-euphemistic language to be used to describe the wartime experience of Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents, along with the camps used to incarcerate them, spoke at an event entitled, Let’s... Continue Reading →
Editor’s Note: UCLA Nikkei Student Union and UCLA Kyodo Taiko member Yoshimi Kawashima participated in her second Manzanar Pilgrimage this past April, at the 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage. She shares her thoughts about her experiences with us below. The dust stirred gently in the opaque light of the rising sun, drifting along the near empty... Continue Reading →
Editor’s Note: After the 41st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, UCLA undergraduate Jaymie Takeshita reflected on her experiences at her first Manzanar Pilgrimage and Manzanar At Dusk program in a piece that has received rave reviews from readers, 41st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage: A Letter To Obaa-chan. Takeshita’s involvement last year inspired her to become more deeply involved... Continue Reading →
Playwright Soji Kashiwagi, who is active with the Tule Lake Committee, has even more reason to be proud of father, Hiroshi Kashiwagi, also a playwright and a “No-No Boy,” who was recently invited to an event at the White House, where he got a chance to meet President Obama and the First Lady. He recently... Continue Reading →
Patrick Alvarado volunteered, along with his father-in-law, Henry Nishi, who was imprisoned at Manzanar during World War II, to build a replica of the historic bridge that connected the pond at Merritt Park to the rest of the garden. He details his family’s experience during the first phase of the construction in the following story.... Continue Reading →
Manzanar Committee 