In commemoration of Day of Remembrance 2026, join us for a reading and discussion with David Neiwert, journalist and author of the book Strawberry Days: How Internment Destroyed a Japanese American Community. 

David Neiwert's Strawberry Days shares local knowledge about the creation and WWII-era eradication of Bellevue's once-vibrant Japanese American community. With compelling storytelling, firsthand interviews, and analysis of previously suppressed documents, Neiwert vividly presents the history of our Eastside community and the racist schemes that prevented families from returning or reclaiming their land after being wrongfully incarcerated by our government. Strawberry Days invites us to think about the kind of community we want to belong to, and ways to help ensure it is a place where all of us are respected.

GVJCI DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: Then and Now: From WWII Incarceration to Today's ICE Raids - Justice Demands Our Voice
SAT, FEB 28, 2-4PM
GVJCI Main Hall

GVJCI will hold its annual Day of Remembrance event in commemoration of the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII.  DOR commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066, which caused the mass removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. 

This year’s program will feature the film Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp, followed by a panel discussion which contextualizes the historical events and examines the parallels with present day events involving ICE raids on immigrant communities.

This program is free to attend. RSVP not required.  For more  information, please visit the GVJCI website. 

Saturdays, February - March
11:30 AM - 1 PM
Begins at Wing Luke Museum
Approximately 1 mile of walking distance

In the early 1900s, Seattle’s Japantown — Nihonmachi — stretched from 4th Avenue South to 23rd Avenue South, a bustling enclave of family homes and independently owned shops, grocery stores, and entertainment venues. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor came Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which forced all persons of Japanese ancestry into concentration camps – Nihonmachi never fully recovered. This walking tour takes visitors through the past and present Japantown/Nihonmachi.

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts in honored to collaborate with the Japanese American Citizens League’s Mt. Olympus Chapter, and Plan-B Theatre, to commemorate Day of Remembrance, which recognizes the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order led to the unjust mass incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. The day serves as a remembrance of this historical injustice and acts as a call to action to protect civil liberties today. 

Gather in the Dumke Auditorium at the UMFA for a reading of Plan-B Theatre’s KILO-WAT by Aaron Asano Swenson, (featuring Bryan Kido from the 2025 production), followed by a post-performance discussion featuring Hank Misaka & Nancy Umemura, the children of the central figure in KILO-WAT, Wat Misaka. Following the event, attendees are encouraged to explore the UMFA galleries and enjoy the art on view.  This event is free, and all are welcome to attend.

Learn about Friends of Minidoka’s new publication, Education and Freedom at Minidoka: The Diary of Superintendent Arthur Kleinkopf. Published for the first time in its entirety, Education and Freedom at Minidoka presents a rare firsthand account of life at the Minidoka War Relocation Center. Writing as the Supervisor of Student Teachers and Superintendent of Education, Kleinkopf documents the daily realities, contradictions, and moral tensions of working inside a World War II concentration camp. 

Education and Freedom at Minidoka is part of FoM’s project Minidoka Memories: Stories that Connect and Heal which will collect oral histories from the Idaho community with ties to the historic Minidoka War Relocation Center and the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

A pre-event reception will begin at 5 pm.

Copies of Education and Freedom at Minidoka will be available for purchase.

This project is supported by Idaho Humanities Council, Jones Family Fund of the National Philanthropic Trust, Duane Minoru Yamamoto Memorial Fund with Friends of Minidoka, and Minidoka National Historic Site.  In partnership with Twin Falls Public Library and Boise State University Albertsons Library Special Archives.

Asian America Across the Disciplines Series and the JACL Philadelphia presents Mas Nakawatase, Japanese American civil rights organizer, educator, and advocate for peace and justice.

Hosted by ASAM Lecturer Rob Buscher in his course Asian American Activism.

Mas Nakawatase was born in one of the ten War Relocation Authority concentration camps where the US government detained people of Japanese descent during World War II. He grew up in Seabrook, New Jersey among many families who had been detained. In the mid-1960s, Mas had a formative political experience working in Atlanta for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. 

Mas returned to rural South Jersey as a community organizer with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which launched his 31-year career at AFSC. His work there focused on supporting Native peoples and advancing Asian American voices and priorities. Within AFSC, Mas helped establish a caucus for staff of color and supported a successful unionization campaign. 

Mas has served on the board of Asian Americans United since 2002 and served on the board of Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School for twelve years. Since 2010, he has chaired the Racial and Social Justice Committee of Germantown Friends Meeting. In 2021, Mas began serving on the board of Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center. Recipient of the Paul Robeson Lifetime Achievement Award 2024.

Please RSVP in advance here!

Join us for a public vigil of prayer, singing, and testimony in remembrance of the incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry 80+ years ago and to stand in solidarity with the immigrants and asylum seekers who are being targeted for violence, brutality, and persecution by ICE today. We pray for sacred protection for all our communities.

This event will be held on February 25, from 11 - 12:30, in front of the ICE office in San Francisco.

Learn about Friends of Minidoka’s new publication, Education and Freedom at Minidoka: The Diary of Superintendent Arthur Kleinkopf. Published for the first time in its entirety, Education and Freedom at Minidoka presents a rare firsthand account of life at the Minidoka War Relocation Center. Writing as the Supervisor of Student Teachers and Superintendent of Education, Kleinkopf documents the daily realities, contradictions, and moral tensions of working inside a World War II concentration camp. 

Education and Freedom at Minidoka is part of FoM’s project Minidoka Memories: Stories that Connect and Heal which will collect oral histories from the Idaho community with ties to the historic Minidoka War Relocation Center and the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

A pre-event reception will begin at 5 pm.

Copies of Education and Freedom at Minidoka will be available for purchase.

This project is supported by Idaho Humanities Council, Jones Family Fund of the National Philanthropic Trust, Duane Minoru Yamamoto Memorial Fund with Friends of Minidoka, and Minidoka National Historic Site.  In partnership with Twin Falls Public Library and Boise State University Albertsons Library Special Archives.

Please join Oregon Tsuru for Solidarity and the Portland Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 for a Day of Remembrance Rally to Resist ICE. The Day of Remembrance marks President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 which authorized the U.S. military to forcibly remove and incarcerate 125,000+ immigrants and U.S. citizens of Japanese descent during World War II.

As Japanese Americans, we understand the immediate and long lasting impacts of family separation and mass incarceration inflicted by the U.S. government. Right now, as ICE terrorizes our immigrant neighbors, it is more important than ever that we stand up and speak out to call for the end of ICE detention and deportations. We aim to be the allies that we did not have in 1942, and we will not stand idly by while immigrants are once again targeted.

We will gather at Elizabeth Caruthers Park at 2:00pm for a rally featuring Portland Taiko, a candlelight ceremony, and speakers including Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, Together Lab, and survivors and descendants of WWII incarceration. We will then walk four blocks to the Portland ICE facility (4310 S Macadam Ave), where we will hold a peaceful vigil.

Join Friends of Mukai Farm & Garden and the Vashon Library for a community Day of Remembrance inspired by former  Vashon resident Mary Matsuda Gruenewald’s powerful memoir Looking Like the Enemy, reflecting on the Japanese American incarceration during World War II and its relevance today. The program will include an intergenerational book discussion and space for reflection for teens and adults. Family story time for young children will start at 1pm.

Event schedule:

• 1pm – Storytime for children and families

• 2pm – Day of Remembrance reflection facilitated by Jade Agua, Friends of Mukai Executive Director

• 3pm – Intergenerational Book Discussion recommended for grades 6-12 and adults.

Some copies of Looking Like the Enemy and Looking Like the Enemy: Young Readers Edition (middle school and older) are available at the Vashon Library and Mukai Farm & Garden.

This program is a partnership between the Friends of Mukai Farm & Garden and the Vashon Library.

Registration not required.

This year’s SFV Day of Remembrance will be on Sunday, February 22nd from 1pm-4pm at the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center. We are looking forward to hearing from Dan Kwong and learning more about various aspects of baseball in camp.

Full Spectrum Features’ latest short docudrama, Enough, will be featured at Chicago’s Day of Remembrance 2026, an annual gathering that marks the signing of Executive Order 9066 and honors the many generations shaped by Japanese American incarceration. Rooted in the decades-long history of the Japanese American Redress Movement—from the lead-up to the 1981 Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) hearings through the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988—the film turns to community memory and testimony to ask what it takes to confront harm honestly and pursue repair over time.

Following the screening, a panel of community members and practitioners will reflect on how the legacies of Redress speak to present-day struggles around state violence, surveillance, and displacement. Panelists include Rebecca Ozaki (Yonsei, granddaughter of a CWRIC testifier), Mary Samson (Sansei, Redress organizer), Dr. Britt Dantley (family therapist and clinician), Brian Tee (director and actor), and Scott Sakiyama (attorney and anti-ICE advocate). Together, they will consider how practices of storytelling, accountability, and care can interrupt repeating patterns of removal and state violence—both within families and across communities.

The program invites attendees to think with the panel about what “enough” looks like when it comes to justice: How do we honor the labor of those who fought for Redress while recognizing what remains unfinished? How can we speak with urgency about current harms without losing sight of the slow work of healing across generations? A guided discussion will offer space for reflection, questions, and shared commitments to ongoing community care.

This program is free and open to the public. Due to limited seating, advanced registration is highly encouraged.

This event is sponsored by Full Spectrum Features, Chicago Japanese American Council, Japanese American Citizens League – Chicago Chapter,  Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago, and Japanese American Service Committee.

WELCOME TO THE 15TH ANNUAL FILMS OF REMEMBRANCE

Films of Remembrance, presented by the Nichi Bei Foundation, is the premier showcase of films commemorating the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans in American concentration camps during World War II.

The San Jose screening of the 2026 Films of Remembrance will be held on Sunday, February 22 at the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin in San Jose’s Japantown. All-Day Passes, which provide discounted access to all the programs per venue, are also available. 

For more information about the films and programs, including descriptions and trailers, go to the Screening Schedule page and review the detailed schedule and film guide.

On Feb. 22 at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, St Louis Chapter JACL will host a Day of Remembrance recognizing the impact that Executive Order 9066 had on Japanese and Japanese Americans in the U.S. during WWII. 

For members and guests, Washington University faculty Dr. Heidi Aronson Kolk and Dr. Kelley Van Dyke Murphy and students will discuss "Dislocated: Memory, Forgetting and the Landscapes of Japanese American Incarceration," an intensive class that traveled to Manzanar. Students who visited Manzanar created art exhibits that will be on display after the discussion.

The featured speaker will be Tracy Slater, author of "Together in Manzanar" about a Japanese Jewish family who fought to stay together during the war. Slater will discuss and answer questions about her book.

The chapter will provide members and their guests with a bento lunch.

In addition, the traveling art exhibit "Resilience: A Sansei Sense of Legacy" will be available to view through April 4. The exhibit includes an interactive component for visitors. Tags that attach to a wire fence are available to write personal messages about legacy.

This program is co-sponsored by The St. Louis Japanese American Citizens League, the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum and the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis.

The annual Los Angeles Day of Remembrance commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Executive Order 9066 authorized the US military to remove persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast and set into motion their incarceration in concentration camps during World War II.

This year’s theme, “The Power of Action: Silence Today, Injustice Tomorrow,” highlights the current climate where our history, not only as Japanese Americans but as all communities of color, are under threat of erasure or censorship. The program will focus on taking collective action today to secure a better future for future generations and highlight the work that our community is doing and the work many of our partners are doing to support each other.

The 2026 Los Angeles Day of Remembrance is organized by: Go For Broke National Education Center, Japanese American Citizens League - Pacific Southwest District, Japanese American National Museum, Little Tokyo Service Center, Manzanar Committee, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress, Nikkei Progressives, OCA - Greater Los Angeles

 The Sutter County Museum, in conjunction with Marysville Chapter JACL, will host a special Day of Remembrance program on Saturday, February 21, 2026, offering the public a rare opportunity to hear firsthand stories and expert insights about one of the most complex chapters of Japanese American history. Titled “Tule Lake: An Inside Look,” the event will run from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Etti Hall, located at 1333 Butte House Road, Yuba City.

The program brings together a distinguished panel of speakers whose work and lived experiences illuminate the legacy of the Tule Lake Segregation Center—one of the most controversial sites within the World War II incarceration system.

Featured speakers include:

• Jim Tanimoto, Last survivor of the Block 42 Resisters.

• Wayne Collins, representing the legacy of his father civil rights attorney Wayne M. Collins, known for defending the rights of Japanese Americans labeled “disloyal.”

• Jan Morrill, award-winning author of The Red Kimono will talk of her mother’s experience at Tule Lake.

• Helen Hannan Parra, author of Two Days and One Suitcase will read excerpts of a first-hand account, written March 20, 1946, giving us a never before made public look, at the last day of Tule Lake.

• Judge Johnny Cepeda Gogo and his 48-Star Flag Project.

• Yukio Kawaratani, via video recorded especially for this DOR, will tell how his father and two brothers were sent to DOJ detention centers in North Dakota and Texas while he was left with his mother and three sisters in Tule Lake and three of his brothers were serving in the Army.

• The program will be hosted by David Kiyoshi Tom, creator of Kintsukuroi and Closed Mondays, whose work explores memory, identity, and the Japanese American experience.

Saturdays, February - March
11:30 AM - 1 PM
Begins at Wing Luke Museum
Approximately 1 mile of walking distance

In the early 1900s, Seattle’s Japantown — Nihonmachi — stretched from 4th Avenue South to 23rd Avenue South, a bustling enclave of family homes and independently owned shops, grocery stores, and entertainment venues. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor came Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which forced all persons of Japanese ancestry into concentration camps – Nihonmachi never fully recovered. This walking tour takes visitors through the past and present Japantown/Nihonmachi.

WELCOME TO THE 15TH ANNUAL FILMS OF REMEMBRANCE

Films of Remembrance, presented by the Nichi Bei Foundation, is the premier showcase of films commemorating the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans in American concentration camps during World War II.

The San Francisco screening of the 2026 Films of Remembrance will be held on Saturday, February 21, at the AMC Kabuki 8 in San Francisco’s Japantown. Tickets for the in-person programs can be purchased below. All-Day Passes, which provide a deep discount, are also available.

For more information about the films and programs, including descriptions and trailers, go to the Screening Schedule page and review the detailed schedule and film guide.

The Puyallup Valley JACL’s Day of Remembrance event is Saturday, Feb 21st at the Expo Hall on the Washington State Fairgrounds from 10am – 12pm with doors opening at 9:45am.

The Day of Remembrance is a way to acknowledge and honor the over 125,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated during World War II.

Event Details

• Time - Doors open at 9:45am, Program Starts at 10:00am and ends around 12:00pm.

• Parking – Free parking is available in the Washington State Fair’s Gold Parking Lot, 350 7th Ave SE, Puyallup

• Free admission is at the Gold Gate, corner of S. Meridian & 9th Ave SW. Volunteers will guide you from the Gold parking lot through the Gold Gate entrance into the Expo Hall.

Program

This year’s program will include five sessions, featuring a fireside chat with survivors Hana Konishi and Paul Tomita; a reading by author Tamiko Nimura from her new book, A Place for What We Lose: A Daughter’s Return To Tule Lake; a display of paintings by artist Chris Hopkins that explore the incarceration experience; and updates from Tsuru for Solidarity by Stan Shikuma and his team on actions needed to support immigrant and refugee communities currently being targeted; guests will also be able to visit the Remembrance Gallery, led by Gallery docents.

Meet the Author: Jan Morrill — February 20

As a prelude to the main program, the public is invited to meet Jan Morrill award-winning author of The Red Kimono and Masako’s Red Kimono on Friday, February 20, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Sutter County Library, 750 Forbes Avenue, Yuba City. Morrill will discuss her novels, which explore themes of identity, resilience, and the Japanese American wartime experience.

Learn about Friends of Minidoka’s new publication, Education and Freedom at Minidoka: The Diary of Superintendent Arthur Kleinkopf. Published for the first time in its entirety, Education and Freedom at Minidoka presents a rare firsthand account of life at the Minidoka War Relocation Center. Writing as the Supervisor of Student Teachers and Superintendent of Education, Kleinkopf documents the daily realities, contradictions, and moral tensions of working inside a World War II concentration camp. 

Education and Freedom at Minidoka is part of FoM’s project Minidoka Memories: Stories that Connect and Heal which will collect oral histories from the Idaho community with ties to the historic Minidoka War Relocation Center and the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

A pre-event reception will begin at 5 pm.

Copies of Education and Freedom at Minidoka will be available for purchase.

This project is supported by Idaho Humanities Council, Jones Family Fund of the National Philanthropic Trust, Duane Minoru Yamamoto Memorial Fund with Friends of Minidoka, and Minidoka National Historic Site.  In partnership with Twin Falls Public Library and Boise State University Albertsons Library Special Archives.

On Thursday, February 19, 2026, the Sonoma County JACL chapter will gather for a Day of Remembrance with a special community screening of “League of Dreams,” the powerful documentary by filmmaker Lane Nishikawa—who will be with us in person to talk about the film and answer audience questions.

Day of Remembrance is a time to reflect on the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, honor those who endured it, and recommit ourselves to protecting civil liberties for all. This year’s program connects that history to the story of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) itself—an organization founded in 1929 that has spent generations challenging injustice and expanding the promise of democracy.

As Nishikawa describes the project, “The League of Dreams” chronicles the JACL’s long fight for civil rights—addressing early barriers to immigration and naturalization, leading the decade-long campaign for redress and reparations that culminated in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, and continuing to stand with communities facing discrimination today. The documentary places JACL’s work in a broader American civil-rights context, reminding us that progress is rarely automatic—and never guaranteed.

Many JACL members first previewed “League of Dreams” at the 2024 JACL National Convention in Philadelphia, where Nishikawa shared his years-long effort to interview more than a hundred people across the country and weave those voices together with archival footage, photographs, and historical headlines. Now, we’re honored to host him locally for an evening of film, reflection, and dialogue—an opportunity to learn, ask questions, and carry forward the lessons of our community’s past into the work of the present.

The event is being co-sponsored by the Asian American Pacific Island Coalition of the North Bay (AAPIC). Asian Student organizations at Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College are being informed and their members are encouraged to attend. 

Our friends at @harborareapeacepatrols are holding a Day of Remembrance prayer and origami gathering on Terminal Island on Thursday, February 19th. As Japanese Americans whose families were incarcerated during WWII, we understand the lasting trauma that family separation and forced displacement causes.

All are welcome to join us at this gathering. Please exercise caution as this is a known ICE staging location and agents are armed.

Photo of the Terminal Island Japanese Fishing Village Memorial by Joseph Akira

Join us at the National Museum of American History for a screening and panel discussion on the 2026 Day of Remembrance.

Film and Conversation: Removed by Force: Day of Remembrance 2026

Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.

1 Center: Warner Bros. Theater

Join us at the National Museum of American History for a screening and panel discussion on the 2026 Day of Remembrance. Removed by Force: The Eviction of Hawaiʻi’s Japanese Americans During World War II sheds light on the relatively unknown experiences of the 1,500 Americans of Japanese ancestry (AJA) from 23 geographic areas in Hawaiʻi who were evicted, but not interned, during World War II.

February 19, 2026, marks the 84th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that led to the wrongful incarceration of 125,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

After the screening, join us for a panel discussion featuring:

William Kaneko, former president, Honolulu Japanese American Citizens League; co-executive producer, Removed by Force. Kaneko coordinated the legal cases for the Hawaiʻi AJAs evicted from their homes.

Ryan Kawamoto, director and co-executive producer, Removed by Force. Kawamoto is an award-winning film director who has created several documentaries on the Hawaiʻi AJA incarceration experience.

Robert Bratt, former head of Redress, United States Department of Justice. Bratt was the lead DOJ administrator in charge of the Japanese American redress program.

Moderator: Lisa Sasaki, Deputy Under Secretary for Special Projects, Smithsonian Institution.

The National Museum of American History welcomes visitors of all ages and abilities. This event is wheelchair accessible. Captioning and assistive listening devices will be provided. Additional accommodations are available upon request; please email nmahprograms@si.edu. Two weeks’ notice is preferred.

Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. Seating will be opened first to Eventbrite-registered attendees and then to walk-in visitors. When we reach maximum capacity, the event will be closed to the public.