Commemorating the Day of Remembrance here and in Hawai'i
Nichi Bei Times - February 2004
Feb. 19 is the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, the authorization by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's on Feb. 19, 1942, that gave the government a green light to imprison more than 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants during World War II.
Growing up in Hawai'i, the Two Japanee Bruddahs weren't akamai (smart) about the internment experience - in fact, knowing very little about it until we were well into our adult years.
Although no members of our families (that we knew of) suffered through the internment experience, Bruddah Kyle learned about it from a book that was lying around his house in Kaneohe on the east side of Oahu. Kyle's mom had gone to college on the Mainland and brought back that book, "Citizen 13660," by Mine Okubo. It wasn't until much later that Kyle realized how much more there was to learn about internment.
He got lesson number one the first time he met Carole Hayashino, his future spouse. "Howzit, my name Kyle," he said to Carole. "Where you wen grow up?"
"French Camp," she said. To which Kyle replied: "Whoa … I tought you wuz too young fo' grow up in da internment camp!"
Although Carole was nice enough to explain to Kyle that French Camp was a town and not an internment camp, she thought Kyle was an idiot. (He has since convinced her that is actually one smart buggah.)
Bruddah Keet wen learn about internment wen he joined the board of the JACL Honolulu chapter. The chapter was planning a local Day of Remembrance, looking for an innovative way to develop an event.
The film adaptation of "Snow Falling On Cedars," the 1995 book by David Guterson, had just finished its run at the Varsity Theater in Mo'ili'ili. Based loosely on the author's community of Bainbridge Island, the story focuses on the trial of a fictional World War II veteran, Kazuo Miyamoto, who is accused of murder. Starring Youki Kudoh, Ethan Hawke, Rick Yune, Max von Sydow, James Cromwell and Sam Shepard, the film portrays the impact of the internment and discrimination on the life of a Japanese American family.
After convincing to bring back "Snow" for a single run, the Day of Remembrance that year featured the film, as well as remarks by prominent Japanese Americans about the meaning of internment in our own lives. The packed theater that day demonstrated how still significant the internment was, even to a community largely unaffected by the experience.
This month, we again commemorate the Day of Remembrance at an event to be held on Sunday, February 22, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Japantown.
Exemplifying this year's theme of "Carrying the Light for Justice - Generation to Generation, People to People," the event will begin at the AMC Kabuki Theatre with the documentary film premiere of Lina Hoshino's "Caught in Between - What to Call Home in Times of War," a variety of cultural and educational presentations, and the annual candle lighting ceremony.
The commemoration will continue with a procession from the theatre to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) where audiences will participate in an interfaith candle lighting and origami crane offering. A reception will follow, featuring music, special exhibits, books and other resources.
The event is organized by the Bay Area Day of Remembrance Consortium, a collaboration of nonprofit organizations. For more detailed information, visit www.dayofremembrance.org.
As the Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities face post-9/11 repression, Hoshino's documentary captures Muslim and Japanese American communities revisiting the dark days of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Interviews with former internees, their children, religious leaders, citizens and immigrants from Japanese and Muslim American communities are woven together to make crucial connections between that period of history and the current "war on terrorism."
"Caught in Between" tells a story about people who have been made the enemy, questions the concept of "freedom" in the United States and captures the power of people standing together to fight for civil liberties and human rights.
The annual candle lighting ceremony has been the heart and soul of the annual Day of Remembrance commemoration in the Bay Area. Eleven individuals are selected by the Bay Area Day of Remembrance Consortium as honored candle lighters for their inspiring work in education, social justice or advocacy, helping to make the Japanese American internment experience and its lessons a critical part of the American consciousness, particularly in the post-9/11 period.
Following the program at the theatre, organizers will join the drummers, members of the Japanese American Religious Federation, candle lighters and children bearing origami crane offerings in a procession to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC).
At the JCCCNC, the Japanese American Religious Federation will lead a brief interfaith community ceremony. Attendees can then enjoy Okinawan music by Gen Yu Kai, browse through books from the Asian American Curriculum Project, and view three historical exhibits: "If they came for me today…" by Community Works California and students of George Washington High School; "Locked In, Locked Out" winning entries from high school students from throughout California; and "The Enemy Alien Files - Hidden Stories of World War II" about the treatment of Japanese, German and Italian aliens in the U.S.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Group rates of $12 per person for 10 or more are available by prior arrangement. Tickets are available by calling the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) at 415-921-5007.
Da Two Japanee Bruddahs encourage you to attend!
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Kama'aina expats Keith Kamisugi and Kyle Tatsumoto are the Two Japanese Bruddahs. Their column appears monthly in the Nichi Bei Times and online at www.twojapaneebruddahs.com. You can also email them at wot@twojapaneebruddahs.com.
Executive
Order 9066