Densho
@denshoproject.bsky.social
Preserves and shares history of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans to promote equity and justice today.
For many Japanese American incarcerees, Thanksgiving day was not just a time for eating but also a chance to gather the community for festive activities. From wrestling tournaments to dances, incarcerees created joy and community even within detention camps.
November 27, 2025 at 3:45 PM
For many Japanese American incarcerees, Thanksgiving day was not just a time for eating but also a chance to gather the community for festive activities. From wrestling tournaments to dances, incarcerees created joy and community even within detention camps.
Gene Akutsu remembers family life pre-World War II shaped by his family’s closeness. Many of those moments were centered around the dinner table accompanied by meals and long conversations.
November 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Gene Akutsu remembers family life pre-World War II shaped by his family’s closeness. Many of those moments were centered around the dinner table accompanied by meals and long conversations.
This past year, we launched a new training program with Minidoka National Historic Site to support NPS park rangers and interns using Densho’s archival materials and educational resources. We’re eager to continue this program with other National Historic Sites.
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
This past year, we launched a new training program with Minidoka National Historic Site to support NPS park rangers and interns using Densho’s archival materials and educational resources. We’re eager to continue this program with other National Historic Sites.
With ongoing staffing and funding cuts across the National Park Service (NPS), Densho is stepping in to make sure educators can continue telling the full, accurate story of WWII incarceration. That’s why we’re aiming to expand our educational programming for NPS staff and other public educators.
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
With ongoing staffing and funding cuts across the National Park Service (NPS), Densho is stepping in to make sure educators can continue telling the full, accurate story of WWII incarceration. That’s why we’re aiming to expand our educational programming for NPS staff and other public educators.
We’re officially one week out from #GivingTuesday, and we’re already halfway to our $10,000 goal!
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
We’re officially one week out from #GivingTuesday, and we’re already halfway to our $10,000 goal!
The gathering honored those imprisoned at Crystal City, a Department of Justice (DOJ) and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) facility, including Japanese Latin Americans who were forcibly taken from their homes and who, to this day, have not received redress.
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The gathering honored those imprisoned at Crystal City, a Department of Justice (DOJ) and Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) facility, including Japanese Latin Americans who were forcibly taken from their homes and who, to this day, have not received redress.
Read the newest Catalyst article: “Neighbors Not Enemies.”
Last month, Densho’s Courtney Wai, Caitlin Oiye Coon, and Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura joined survivors, descendants, and community members at the 2025 Crystal City Pilgrimage in San Antonio, Texas.
Last month, Densho’s Courtney Wai, Caitlin Oiye Coon, and Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura joined survivors, descendants, and community members at the 2025 Crystal City Pilgrimage in San Antonio, Texas.
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Read the newest Catalyst article: “Neighbors Not Enemies.”
Last month, Densho’s Courtney Wai, Caitlin Oiye Coon, and Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura joined survivors, descendants, and community members at the 2025 Crystal City Pilgrimage in San Antonio, Texas.
Last month, Densho’s Courtney Wai, Caitlin Oiye Coon, and Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura joined survivors, descendants, and community members at the 2025 Crystal City Pilgrimage in San Antonio, Texas.
If you sign up now before the end of the year, we’ll send you a special thank-you gift: a custom sticker set designed by artist Kiku Hughes, featuring all ten War Relocation Authority camps where Japanese Americans were incarcerated.
November 21, 2025 at 5:10 PM
If you sign up now before the end of the year, we’ll send you a special thank-you gift: a custom sticker set designed by artist Kiku Hughes, featuring all ten War Relocation Authority camps where Japanese Americans were incarcerated.
Aiko Tengan Tokunaga discusses her family’s experiences during and after the Jūjū Kūshū, the first major bombing of Okinawa on October 10, 1944. She explains that during this period, her hometown of Naha was largely destroyed, forcing civilians to flee on foot toward Shuri.
November 21, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Aiko Tengan Tokunaga discusses her family’s experiences during and after the Jūjū Kūshū, the first major bombing of Okinawa on October 10, 1944. She explains that during this period, her hometown of Naha was largely destroyed, forcing civilians to flee on foot toward Shuri.
We’re Hiring!
Position: Assistant Editor/Editorial Projects Manager (Remote or hybrid)
Help coordinate and manage editorial projects that advances Densho’s mission to preserve and share the history of WWII incarceration.
Position: Assistant Editor/Editorial Projects Manager (Remote or hybrid)
Help coordinate and manage editorial projects that advances Densho’s mission to preserve and share the history of WWII incarceration.
November 19, 2025 at 8:18 PM
We’re Hiring!
Position: Assistant Editor/Editorial Projects Manager (Remote or hybrid)
Help coordinate and manage editorial projects that advances Densho’s mission to preserve and share the history of WWII incarceration.
Position: Assistant Editor/Editorial Projects Manager (Remote or hybrid)
Help coordinate and manage editorial projects that advances Densho’s mission to preserve and share the history of WWII incarceration.
That’s why this #GivingTuesday, we’re fundraising to sustain and expand our educational programming for National Park Service staff and other public educators.
November 18, 2025 at 6:09 PM
That’s why this #GivingTuesday, we’re fundraising to sustain and expand our educational programming for National Park Service staff and other public educators.
As the National Park Service (NPS) continues to face staffing and funding cuts, as well as pressure to censor and take down historical signs, Densho remains committed to supporting NPS staff in telling an inclusive and accurate story of the WWII incarceration.
November 18, 2025 at 6:09 PM
As the National Park Service (NPS) continues to face staffing and funding cuts, as well as pressure to censor and take down historical signs, Densho remains committed to supporting NPS staff in telling an inclusive and accurate story of the WWII incarceration.
Grounded in community collaboration, these approaches ensure that when taught with care, context, and community at the center, this history becomes more than a lesson about the past—remembrance is an act of repair and a call to responsibility in the present.
November 17, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Grounded in community collaboration, these approaches ensure that when taught with care, context, and community at the center, this history becomes more than a lesson about the past—remembrance is an act of repair and a call to responsibility in the present.
This article highlights five interconnected approaches: teaching with primary sources, inquiry-based teaching, teaching with care, an Ethnic Studies lens, and accessibility.
November 17, 2025 at 9:12 PM
This article highlights five interconnected approaches: teaching with primary sources, inquiry-based teaching, teaching with care, an Ethnic Studies lens, and accessibility.
Our three-part series on teaching with the Densho Digital Repository concludes with Densho’s pedagogical approach to teaching Japanese American incarceration.
November 17, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Our three-part series on teaching with the Densho Digital Repository concludes with Densho’s pedagogical approach to teaching Japanese American incarceration.
When the FBI took her father away in 1942, fourteen-year-old Marion Tsutakawa Kanemoto didn’t know how to make sense of it—and neither did her classmates. “It’s interesting how when it’s an awkward position, there are people who just stay away,” she recalled. “They don’t know how to comfort you.”
November 14, 2025 at 4:50 PM
When the FBI took her father away in 1942, fourteen-year-old Marion Tsutakawa Kanemoto didn’t know how to make sense of it—and neither did her classmates. “It’s interesting how when it’s an awkward position, there are people who just stay away,” she recalled. “They don’t know how to comfort you.”
We are deeply saddened by the recent passing of professor and historian Art Hansen.
November 12, 2025 at 5:34 PM
We are deeply saddened by the recent passing of professor and historian Art Hansen.
As the number of Nisei veterans dwindles, we are deeply grateful to the many veterans and families who have entrusted their personal collections, photographs, and oral histories to Densho’s digital archives—ensuring their stories of courage, sacrifice, and resilience endure.
November 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
As the number of Nisei veterans dwindles, we are deeply grateful to the many veterans and families who have entrusted their personal collections, photographs, and oral histories to Densho’s digital archives—ensuring their stories of courage, sacrifice, and resilience endure.
Their service revealed the deep contradictions of American democracy during World War II—fighting for freedom abroad while their own rights were denied at home—and reshaped the postwar Japanese American community for generations to come.
November 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Their service revealed the deep contradictions of American democracy during World War II—fighting for freedom abroad while their own rights were denied at home—and reshaped the postwar Japanese American community for generations to come.
Nisei women also broke barriers, serving as nurses, doctors, and linguists in the Army Nurse Corps and Women’s Army Corps.
November 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Nisei women also broke barriers, serving as nurses, doctors, and linguists in the Army Nurse Corps and Women’s Army Corps.
With courage and conviction, they served in the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team (which became among the most decorated units of its size and length of service in U.S. history), and in the Military Intelligence Service, where linguists and translators played vital roles.
November 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
With courage and conviction, they served in the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team (which became among the most decorated units of its size and length of service in U.S. history), and in the Military Intelligence Service, where linguists and translators played vital roles.
Even as their families and communities were unjustly incarcerated, about 33,000 Nisei—second-generation Japanese Americans—served in the U.S. military during WWII.
November 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Even as their families and communities were unjustly incarcerated, about 33,000 Nisei—second-generation Japanese Americans—served in the U.S. military during WWII.
This Veterans Day, we honor all who have served, especially the Japanese Americans who served in World War II.
November 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
This Veterans Day, we honor all who have served, especially the Japanese Americans who served in World War II.
Christian-Joseph Macahilig is an Outreach Coordinator with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center’s Foundations and Futures AAPI digital textbook project.
November 10, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Christian-Joseph Macahilig is an Outreach Coordinator with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center’s Foundations and Futures AAPI digital textbook project.
Together, we’re keeping the stories, voices, and values of our community alive. By safeguarding the history of Japanese American incarceration, which includes the decades-long fight for Redress, we ensure that these lessons of resistance, resilience, and justice are passed on for generations to come
November 10, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Together, we’re keeping the stories, voices, and values of our community alive. By safeguarding the history of Japanese American incarceration, which includes the decades-long fight for Redress, we ensure that these lessons of resistance, resilience, and justice are passed on for generations to come