This year, the theme for the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute’s 2023 Day of Remembrance will be “Campaign For Justice: The Japanese Latin American Story,” highlighting the hidden history and stories of Japanese Latin Americans who were abducted from their home countries and wrongfully incarcerated in the United States during World War II. In a virtual live program on Saturday, February 25, 2023, the GVJCI will feature the 2004 short film, Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story followed by a discussion with a panel of experts featuring Director of the Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project and coordinator for Campaign For Justice: Redress Now For Japanese Latin Americans, Grace Shimizu, University of Maryland professor and Co-President of the Board of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Phil Nash, and former Japanese Peruvian incarceree at Crystal City, Chieko Kamisato. We hope the community will come away with a stronger understanding of the meaning of justice, the repercussions of ongoing discriminatory action by the government, and what people can do to support the cause and fight for redress. To register for this online event, please visit the GVJCI website at www.jci-gardena.org/dor-2023.

This program is co-sponsored by The George and Sakaye Aratani CARE Award, UCLA Asian American Studies Center, and Valerie J. Matsumoto, George and Sakaye Aratani Chair on the Japanese American Incarceration, Redress, and Community, University of California, Los Angeles.

GVJCI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community center dedicated to serving the needs of the Nikkei (Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants) and broader community of the South Bay through educational, cultural, social, and recreational programs.  

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If you would like more information on this event, please contact Stephanie Mayeda, Program Manager at (310) 324-6611 ext. 102 or email dor@jci-gardena.org.