The Chicago Nisei Before World War II
BY TAKAKO DAY In Japanese American history, Chicago is known as one of the primary urban relocation areas for those who were incarcerated in American concentration camps during World War … Continue reading
JASC Partners With Alphawood Gallery on “Then They Came For Me;” Largest JA Incarceration Exhibit Ever in Midwest
BY RYAN MASAAKI YOKOTA On June 29th, 2017, the Alphawood Gallery, in partnership with the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) was glad to announce the opening of their first original … Continue reading
Over 700 Commemorate 2017 Chicago Day of Remembrance and 75 Years Since E.O. 9066
BY RYAN MASAAKI YOKOTA “This actually happened. This happened to somebody I love,” stated poet and author Dwight Okita, in talking about why he writes poetry about the Japanese American … Continue reading
Facing Forward: Mixed-Race Japanese Americans in Chicago
BY RYAN MASAAKI YOKOTA “So, one of the questions that mixed people get asked a lot is ‘What are you?’” stated Laura Kina, a Professor at DePaul University, speaking at … Continue reading
Michitaro Ongawa: The First Japanese American Chicagoan
BY TAKAKO DAY On July 8, 1867, the Chicago Tribune reported a love story between a Chicago girl and a Japanese acrobat. Traveling acrobats were most likely the first Japanese … Continue reading
2016 Day of Remembrance in Chicago
BY RYAN MASAAKI YOKOTA On February 21, 2016, some 300 members of the Japanese American and broader Chicago community came to the Chicago History Museum in order to attend the … Continue reading
Japanese American Chick Sexers in Chicago
BY RYAN MASAAKI YOKOTA At modern-day 821 North La Salle Street, in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, few people today could possibly imagine that here at this site was … Continue reading
The Japanese Peruvian Community of Chicago
By RYAN MASAAKI YOKOTA On a warm spring day last year, members of the Japanese Peruvian community filled the pews of the Church of Christ Presbyterian in Chicago not for … Continue reading
Kansha Project 2016 Reflection – Miki Takeshita
BY MIKI TAKESHITA Kansha Project 2016 Reflection Kansha Project Culmination, June 18, 2016 “In February 1942, the War Relocation Authority began to establish centers where Japanese Americans, including those born … Continue reading
The Japanese Young Men’s Christian Institute of Chicago and the Japanese Women’s Club, 1907-1929
BY MAYUMI HOSHINO On November 29th, 1913, the Chicago Daily Tribune reported on a special dinner banquet that had invited “every known Japanese resident in the city” and was held … Continue reading
Nikkei Chicago / 日系シカゴ 