Densho
Site: https://densho.org
Densho documents the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II before their memories are extinguished. Densho offers these irreplaceable firsthand accounts, coupled with historical images, historical documents, and teacher resources, to explore principles of democracy and promote equal justice for all.
Densho's collections contain oral histories and primary sources that document the Japanese American experience from immigration starting in the late 1800s through redress in the 1980s, with a strong focus on World War II incarceration. The archives are growing as Densho continues to record oral histories and digitize historical materials.
376 Collections
Collection
Inyo County Free Library Collection (ddr-densho-342)
The Inyo County Free Library Collection consists primarily of documents published by the War Relocation Authority. The collection also contains the transcripts of several speeches given by personnel from the Manzanar concentration camp, California, and correspondence regarding establishing a library at Manzanar.
Collection
Ralph P. Merritt Collection (ddr-densho-343)
The Ralph P. Merritt Collection is a part of the Eastern California Museum holdings. This portion of the collection consists of photographs from an album belonging to Josephine Hawes, Chief Nurse at Manzanar concentration camp. The photographs document the lives of the staff and Japanese American incarcerees at Cow Creek and Manzanar. Topics included: hospital staff, …
Collection
Frank Sato Collection (ddr-densho-345)
The Frank Sato collection is composed of photographs and documents belonging to Frank Sato, former Inspector General for the both Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During his post-federal career, Frank Sato played an active role in the redress movement, serving as the President of the Japanese American Citizen League from 1984-1986. …
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Paul Bannai Collection (ddr-densho-346)
The Paul Bannai Collection consists of a photograph album of documenting the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings. Images include meetings of the Seattle committee and scenes from the Seattle, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles hearings.
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Matsuzawa Collection (ddr-densho-347)
The Matsuzawa Collection consists of one panoramic photograph showing the August 10,1930 dedication of the Bellevue Community Center in Bellevue, Washington.
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Mary and Victor Ikeda Collection (ddr-densho-348)
The Mary and Victor Ikeda Collection consists of photographs mainly from the Ikeda and Kinoshita families' time at Minidoka concentration camp. Topics include baseball and basketball in camp, employment in the Administration Building, and Francis "Bako" Kinoshita's funeral after being killed in action while fighting in Italy with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
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Kosai-Takemoto Collection (ddr-densho-349)
The Kosai-Takemoto Collection includes photos from the Kosai family and Japanese American community in Tacoma, Washington before the war. There are several photos of Eiko and Ken at Tule Lake, including their wedding. Redress and reparations documents to the descendants of Masa Kosai are included.
Collection
Shizuko and Shigenori Oiye Collection (ddr-densho-350)
The Shizuko and Shigenori Oiye Collection consists of photographs, works of art, correspondence, and documents related to the Oiye's life in Tacoma, Washington before the war, their removal to Tule Lake concentration camp, and their return to Seattle, Washington post-war. Included are drawings and paintings done by Shigenori Oiye while he was at Tule Lake, some …
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Takagishi Family Collection (ddr-densho-351)
The Takagishi Family Collection, circa 1920-1930s, includes photographs of an Atlas Cafe sponsored picnic, a parade in downtown Seattle, Washington, portraits of individuals, and several letters in Japanese.
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Sasha Hohri Collection (ddr-densho-352)
The Sasha Horhi Collection is comprised of paper documents related to the activities of the East Coast Japanese Americans for Redress, the National Council for Japanese American Redress, and the Redress movement broadly. Among the documents are personal testimonies that were presented to the Congressional Commission on the Wartime Internment and Relocation of Civilians, planning documents …
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Nippon Kan Heritage Association Collection (ddr-densho-353)
The Nippon Kan Heritage Association (NKHA) was a nonprofit organization founded in Seattle, Washington in the 1980s, after the Nippon Kan theater was restored. NKHA was not directly associated with the theater but did produce content that was put on there. This collection documents an exhibit put on by the NKHA: "The Way It Was: Northwest …
Collection
Kubota Garden Foundation Collection (ddr-densho-354)
The Kubota Garden Foundation Photograph Collection documents the history of Kubota Garden, a commercial nursery and display garden established in 1927 by Fujitaro Kubota and owned by the City of Seattle since 1987. The collection contains photographs of the Garden, the Kubota family, the work of the Kubota Gardening Company, and of the activities of the …
Collection
Gentaro Takahashi Collection (ddr-densho-355)
The Gentaro Takahashi Collection consists of photos, documents and ephemera from the time of Gentaro Takahashi’s arrival in the United States in 1907 to the 1970’s. The collection includes family photos in the U.S. and Japan, photos of Takahashi's travels in the U.S. including Duluth, Minnesota and Yellowstone National Park, correspondence and academic work from Boston …
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Yuriko Domoto Tsukada Collection (ddr-densho-356)
This collection consists of Yuriko Tsukada (nee Domoto)’s photographs, correspondences, personal records, diaries, and Granada (Amache) Camp Administrative Records related to the Social Welfare Department.
Photographs in this collection are of the Domoto and Tsukada families before 1941.
The correspondences are to Yuriko Tsukada (nee Domoto) from friends and family while she was held in Merced …
Collection
Terakawa Collection (ddr-densho-357)
The Terakawa Collection consists of four photograph albums created by Hanako Terakawa. Hanako's parents, Tadaichi and Yoni Yoshioka, immigrated from Japan and settled in Hayward, California in the early 1900's. In Hayward, they started a family and had five children. They owned a nursery and maintained several greenhouses built around 1913. The earliest photograph album primarily …
Collection
Harano Collection (ddr-densho-358)
The Harano Collection consists of 18 editions of Japanese American community publications: The Nisei Weekender, The Vanguard, and Crossroads. Also included are a number of oversize prints documenting the Japanese American Christian community in California pre-war and two Young People's Christian Conferences from the 1930s.
Collection
Okano Family Collection (ddr-densho-359)
The Okano Family Collection is comprised of photographs, letters, and ephemera from the personal family collection of Pam Okano. The photographs depict the lives of the of the Kawamotos, Okanos, and Otsukas prewar in Japan and Western Washington, as well as during the war when the family was granted leave to work in Caldwell, Idaho, and …
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Nobuko Omoto Collection (ddr-densho-361)
The Nobuko Omoto Collection consists of a scrapbook kept by Nobuko Sakai Omoto to remember the Bainbridge Island Japanese American community and their removal during World War II. Nobuko's scrapbook includes newspaper clippings from the local Seattle newspapers which were sent by her friend Phyllis Waltz Jones while Nobuko was incarcerated in Manzanar. Other content in …
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Konishi Family Collection (ddr-densho-362)
Photographs of Konishi family while incarcerated at Heart Mountain concentration camp. The Konishi family consists of Frank Masao Konishi, Shizue Konishi, Tom Konishi, and Marie Michiko (Konishi) Coon. The family's address while at Heart Mountain concentration camp was 12-11 C. Tom Konishi was separated from his parents and sister when he answered "no" on questions 27 …
Collection
Kuwahara Family Collection (ddr-densho-363)
Photograph of the wedding party at Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto's wedding. The photograph was taken by Frank C. Hirahara. To view more photographs of the Sakamoto wedding and other photographs taken by Frank C. Hirahara please visit the Japanese American Museum of Oregon's Frank C. Hirahara Collection.
Heart Mountain photographs concentrating on Kimi Kuwahara …
Collection
Takeharu Inouye Collection (ddr-densho-365)
At the age of thirteen, Takeharu Inouye and his immediate family experienced forced relocation to the Sacramento Assembly Center (Walerga), and were subsequently moved to the Tule Lake concentration camp. They remained at Tule Lake for the duration of WWII due to their "disloyal" sentiments. Takeharu recorded his experiences at Tule Lake in three diaries, which …
Collection
Mary Mon Toy Theatrical Collection (ddr-densho-367)
The Mary Mon Toy Theatrical Collection includes photographs, playbills, clippings of reviews, programs and scripts from Mary Mon Toy's performance career as a singer and actress in nightclub and Broadway productions. The scrapbooks include personal messages from admirers and fellow performers.
Collection
Iino Family Collection (ddr-densho-368)
Accession 1: This collection contains selections from two photo albums. One album of photographs and other materials associated with Corporal William Iino's military service with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy and France between 1944 and 1945. The second album contains photographs and other materials associated with the 50th reunion of the 442nd RCT in …
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Donna Ayako Tsufura Collection (ddr-densho-370)
Draft script of play "Origami" by Donna Ayako Tsufura, and advertising ephemera.