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 Densho offers these irreplaceable firsthand accounts, coupled with historical images, historical documents, and teacher resources, to explore principles of democracy and promote equal justice for all.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.

419 Collections
Kimiko Fujii Kitayama Collection (ddr-densho-433)
Collection Kimiko Fujii Kitayama Collection (ddr-densho-433)
The Kimiko Fujii Kitayama Collection consists of materials related to the Fujii family's incarceration at Topaz Concentration Camp, Kimiko's time in college, her work as a florist and with various community organizations, and diaries from later in her life. The collection is in large part made up of meeting notes and other materials related to her …
William Shinji Tsuchida Collection (ddr-densho-434)
Collection William Shinji Tsuchida Collection (ddr-densho-434)
William Shinji Tsuchida was the husband of Martha Takahashi and brother-in-law of Tomoye Takahashi. Collection includes materials concerning his military service.
Gerald L. Beppu Collection (ddr-densho-435)
Collection Gerald L. Beppu Collection (ddr-densho-435)
This collection consists of one interview conducted by author Josh Tuininga. The interview is not a full life history, focusing instead on Gerald L. Beppu's family's experiences during and after World War II, including the establishment of their family business, Linc's Tackle Shop. This interview was supported, in part, by a grant from 4Culture.
James Seigo Miwa Family Collection (ddr-densho-437)
Collection James Seigo Miwa Family Collection (ddr-densho-437)
The collection contains materials from James Seigo Miwa's family, with a focus on James Seigo Miwa's arrest and detainment during World War II, and his son Lawrence Miwa's lawsuit against the Office of Alien Property to recoup the family's properties and business assists seized by the US government during World War II.
Dell Uchida Collection (ddr-densho-439)
Collection Dell Uchida Collection (ddr-densho-439)
Collection of 17 photographs of the Minidoka and Tule Lake concentration camps.
Roy Takai Collection (ddr-densho-440)
Collection Roy Takai Collection (ddr-densho-440)
The Roy Takai collection contains 2 photographs, one of the Santa Fe Detention Center's Broadcast Section circa 1944, one of a farewell party in Seattle circa 1939, and a letter explaining the two photographs.
Hirokichi
Collection Hirokichi "Harry" Hayashi Family Collection (ddr-densho-441)
Collection of documents and photographs related to the Hayashi family and their nursery business in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Wakaichi
Collection Wakaichi "Buck" Ohashi Family Collection (ddr-densho-442)
Wakaichi "Buck" Ohashi Family Collection is a photo album of the Ohashi family. The album primarily contains photographs of the Ohashi family and the Japanese American community in Ketchikan, Alaska prior to WWII. Jasomatsu "George" Ohashi (1872-1934) immigrated to Ketchikan, Alaska around 1900 with his wife Shika, leaving his young son Wakaichi “Buck” in Japan. He …
Wakako Domoto Collection (ddr-densho-443)
Collection Wakako Domoto Collection (ddr-densho-443)
Collection consists of a photo album kept by Wakako Domoto of her travels, her friends, siblings, nieces and nephews, and documents from her time at Amache.
Kris Domoto Marubayashi Collection (ddr-densho-444)
Collection Kris Domoto Marubayashi Collection (ddr-densho-444)
Newsletters, pamphlets and documents related to the organizing work of the Anti-Bakke Coalition and other student organizations opposing the 1978 Bakke Decision, 1979 Sears Lawsuit and other anti-affirmative action legislation. Collection includes copies of student newsletters from Asian Student Unions at various California universities.
Ai Chih and Ryo (Morikawa) Tsai Family Collection (ddr-densho-446)
Collection Ai Chih and Ryo (Morikawa) Tsai Family Collection (ddr-densho-446)
The Ai Chih and Ryo (Morikawa) Tsai Collection consists of materials compiled by Rev. Ai Chih Tsai and his wife, Ryo (Morikawa) Tsai, along with other documents pertaining to the Tsai and Morikawa families. Contained are correspondence, photographs, narratives, and other documents depicting the Tsai family’s experiences prior to, during, and immediately following World War II. …
Dodson Collection (ddr-densho-449)
Collection Dodson Collection (ddr-densho-449)
The Dodson Collection consists of two reunion booklets, one from the Hunt High School 1983 reunion and the other from the 2003 Minidoka Remembered event.
Joh Sekiguchi Collection (ddr-densho-450)
Collection Joh Sekiguchi Collection (ddr-densho-450)
The Joh Sekiguchi Collection consists of one binder of research documents. Joh compiled the information for a presentation on the incarceration given in 1994. The research includes copies of the Inyo Museums Newsletter, maps, and other documents related to Manzanar.
Makoto Mimaki Collection (ddr-densho-451)
Collection Makoto Mimaki Collection (ddr-densho-451)
The Makoto Mimaki Collection consists of photographs of Makoto's military service, primarily in Europe.
Emil Sandquist Family Collection (ddr-densho-452)
Collection Emil Sandquist Family Collection (ddr-densho-452)
The Sandquist collection consists of a portrait of Emil Sandquist, a board game with two sets of instructions, and a letter written in both English and Japanese. The letter is from Emil Sandquist to his son, Robert "Bobby" Sandquist, from the Portland Assembly Center.
Masaki Kinoshita Poetry Collection (ddr-densho-453)
Collection Masaki Kinoshita Poetry Collection (ddr-densho-453)
Collections includes three notebooks of Japanese poetry composed by various poets and scribed by Masaki Kinoshita, two at the Portland Assembly Center, one at Minidoka. And one small booklet of Japanese poetry. The books have been translated by Shelley Baker-Gard, Michael Frieling, and Satsuki Takikawa, and will be published in May of 2023 as: They Never …
Yoshiye (Handa) Yasuda Collection (ddr-densho-454)
Collection Yoshiye (Handa) Yasuda Collection (ddr-densho-454)
Yoshiye (Handa) Yasuda Collection contains two photographs of 3rd grade classes, honeymoon plans for Tetsu and Yoshiye Yasuda, and a magazine containing images of the great Alaskan earthquake in 1964. Yoshiye's husband, Tetsu, built one of the only surviving piers in the earthquake and was called on to help redesign the pier.
Benjamin Gosney Collection (ddr-densho-455)
Collection Benjamin Gosney Collection (ddr-densho-455)
Letter to Benjamin Coleman Gosney from Tomio Itabashi who describes his time at the Pinedale Assembly Center and his move to Tule Lake. Itabashi was a former co-worker of Gosney's and attended high school with Gosney's daughter.
Shigaki Family Collection (ddr-densho-456)
Collection Shigaki Family Collection (ddr-densho-456)
Photos of Shigaki and Kawakami family in camp and immediately after returning to Seattle. Includes a set of photos of making mochi.
Morooka Family Collection (ddr-densho-457)
Collection Morooka Family Collection (ddr-densho-457)
The Morooka Family Collection consists primarily of letters from three siblings, Amy, John, and Martha, to close family friend Violet Sell. The Morooka siblings write to Violet regularly with updates on their experiences at Tulare Assembly Center, Gila River, and after leaving camp. They keep Violet posted on their efforts to participate in the small church …
Naomi Higaki Family Collection (ddr-densho-458)
Collection Naomi Higaki Family Collection (ddr-densho-458)
108 photographs documenting the Higaki family. Naomi Higaki grew up in Redwood City, California where he attended school and graduated from Sequoia Union High School in 1942. When World War II started the family (except for Naomi's father Nobuo who had been sent to a detention camp) moved to Kimberly, Idaho in April 1942 where they …
Haruko Nagaishi Collection (ddr-densho-459)
Collection Haruko Nagaishi Collection (ddr-densho-459)
11 photographs depicting life of the Nagaishi family before, during, and after WWII. Most photos show Hasuko Nagaishi.
Hiroshi Eguchi Collection (ddr-densho-460)
Collection Hiroshi Eguchi Collection (ddr-densho-460)
1 photograph containing an image of Asian American students at a conference in front of UW building.
Tommy Howard Collection (ddr-densho-461)
Collection Tommy Howard Collection (ddr-densho-461)
Copy of surrender documents from Japanese government surrender to Allied forces