Kagoshima 9066 Westridge, cowritten by Frank Sata and Naomi Hirahara, traces the life of Sata’s father, J.T. Sata, through his photographs, sketches, paintings and sculptures. A man committed to a life of art—not necessarily as a profession, J.T. emigrated to America from Kagoshima in 1918. In Los Angeles, he was active with the Issei photo community while working odd jobs. During World War II, J.T., his wife, Yoshie, and Frank were incarcerated at Santa Anita Assembly Center and the concentration camps in Jerome, Arkansas, and Gila River, Arizona. Kagoshima 9066 Westridge includes artwork completed in all three detention centers as well as candid snapshots J.T. took after World War II on the campus of Westridge, an exclusive girls’ school in Pasadena, where he worked as a janitor until his retirement. 

Frank Sata will discuss the impact of his father’s art and why he felt compelled to publish this book in this moment with Bryan Takeda of the Nikkei Federation. Co-writer Naomi Hirahara will also be presenting selections from the book and discussing the process of creating this visual history. Yvonne Ng, Librarian at the Arcadia Public Library, and Shawn Iwaoka, Collections Assistant at JANM, will highlight the history of the Santa Anita Park racetrack, where Sata was incarcerated, and how the library and museum’s collections preserve that history.

This project was fulfilled with support from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Grant, a program of the California State Library, and is in partnership with the Arcadia Public Library.

Kagoshima 9066 Westridge will be available in limited quantities through the JANM Store.

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