The Japanese American Experience Video Series is a project funded through a grant from the Takahashi Foundation. The project is a series of 10 short videos that explores the history of the Japanese American community from its earliest beginnings to the forced removal and mass incarceration, to the redress movement, and up through today. Each video is meant to showcase just the surface level of these different events in history, which is supplemented by materials housed in the larger Japanese American Experience curriculum and resources available on this website. We hope you’ll share these videos and the broader JA Experience with those in your communities, students, and educators!

If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Weisbly, JACL National Education Programs Manager, at mweisbly@jacl.org

Part One: Immigration

Narrated by Susan Kamei, Author of When Can We Go Back to America

SUSAN H. KAMEI is the granddaughter of Japanese immigrants. Her maternal grandparents were part of the Japanese classical music community in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, and her paternal grandparents were vegetable farmers in Orange County.
During World War II, her mother and her parents were incarcerated at the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California and at the War Relocation Authority camp in Heart Mountain, Wyoming. Her father, together with his grandparents, parents, and siblings, were detained at the WRA camp known as Poston II in Arizona.
Susan graduated from the University of California, Irvine with B.A. degrees in Russian and Linguistics, summa cum laude, and received her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she was an editor of the Georgetown law journal Law and Policy in International Business.
From the time she was in law school in Washington, DC and while she practiced corporate law, Susan was a member of the legislative strategy team for the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in the successful passage of federal legislation that provided redress to Japanese Americans for their wartime incarceration. She has been recognized for her service in the redress campaign, which included volunteering as National Deputy Legal Counsel for the JACL Legislative Education Committee.
She is an adjunct professor of history at the University of Southern California (USC) in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, where she taught a popular undergraduate course she created about the constitutional, historical, and political issues of the Japanese American incarceration and the importance of those issues today. She also is an affiliate faculty of the USC Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Cultures, continuing her research on the Japanese American incarceration experience.
Recognized as one of our country’s most prominent scholars on the Japanese American incarceration, she has appeared in national and international broadcasts by news outlets such as NPR, NBC, C-SPAN, BBC, and France 24, and her articles have been published in syndication across the country. She is the recipient of a 2022 USC Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award, a 2023 USC University Club Faculty Recognition Award, and the USC Dornsife 2022 Communicator of the Year Award for the Humanities.
For her contributions to the USC community and for enriching the educations of students of color and LGBTQ students, she received the 2018 USC Undergraduate Student Government Community Achievement Award. She also was recognized for her leadership and service in business, academia, and the community with the “Woman of Courage” Award in 2000 from the Friends of the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women.
Learn more about Susan’s work at: https://www.susanhkamei.com/
- Cutting Sugar Cane Video (TIMESTAMP - 0:00:10)
  - Bonine, R. Camera, American Mutoscope And Biograph Company, and Paper Print Collection. Cutting Sugar Cane. United States: American Mutoscope & Biograph Company, 1902. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/00563593/.
- Large Group on a ship
  - Courtesy of Meriko Maida Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:00:19
- Seated group photo
  - Courtesy of the Ai Chih and Ryo (Morikawa) Tsai Family Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:00:19
- Storefront
  - Courtesy of the Eiichi Yamashita Collection
  - Timestamp - 0:00:19
- Going for a Drive
  - Courtesy of the Wakaichi "Buck" Ohashi Family Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:00:19
- Family standing on sidewalk
  - Courtesy of the Alameda Japanese American History Project, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:00:36
- Hilo Japanese Church Gathering 1906
  - Courtesy of Kenneth and Masako (Kawaguchi) Yamamoto Family Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:01:15
- A Community Grows, Despite Racism - VIDEO
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Film Preservation Project, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:01:22 & 0:00:2:13
- Graduating students of Hilo Boarding School 1907
  - Courtesy of Kenneth and Masako (Kawaguchi) Yamamoto Family Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:01:41
- Shirokawa Grocers
  - Courtesy of William and Hana Ozaki, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:01:42
- Little Girl with Cookies
  - Courtesy of Umeya Rice Cake Co., Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:01:44
- Ohashi Family Store
  - Courtesy of the Wakaichi "Buck" Ohashi Family Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:01:45
- Jim, Sats, and Yo-Last Day On
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Museum of San Jose
  - Timestamp - 0:01:54
- Large group outside a storefront
  - Courtesy of the Tokuda Family Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:01:55
- Boy Scout troop drum and bugle corps
  - Courtesy of the Bigelow Family Collection
  - Timestamp - 0:01:57
- Wakako Domoto and Jean Kohatsu on a ferry
  - Courtesy of the Wakako Domoto Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:02:00
- Child and automobile
  - Frank Miwa Collection, digitization courtesy of Densho. Citation: Japanese American National Museum (Gift of the Miwa and Higaki Families, (2022.58.53)
  - Timestamp - 0:02:03
- Sorelles Beach Outing
  - Courtesy of Frank C. Hirahara Collection, Japanese American Museum of Oregon
  - Timestamp - 0:02:04
- Baby portrait
  - Courtesy of Kenji Ima Family Collection, Densho
  - Timestamp: 0:02:28
- Group of children sitting on steps
  - Courtesy of the Alameda Japanese American History Project, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:02:31
- Panorama of large group of attendees to JACL Convention
  - Courtesy of the Takahashi Family, Densho
  - Timestamp - 0:02:46

Part Two: The JACL

Narrated by Dominique Mashburn, JACL National Vice President of Membership 2022-2026

DOMINIQUE MASHBURN is a shin nisei Japanese American and Okinawan American educator and community leader from Southern California. On her mother’s side, she comes from a family of educators in Japan and Okinawa. Her grandmother was a Himeyuri student whose teacher training was cut short when she and her classmates were forcibly mobilized as student nurses during the Battle of Okinawa. After the war, she returned to complete her teaching degree and went on to educate displaced and underserved students in Okinawa for the rest of her life. These experiences of watching her parents advocate for her older brother with special needs, and inheriting this legacy of sacrifice and teaching, inspired Dominique to fight for equitable access to education and educational resources.
Dominique has over ten years of experience in education. She has worked in public schools, private schools, nonpublic schools (NPS), and supplemental education spaces. She is currently a Special Education Director for families throughout California. Her work focuses on building collaborative, culturally responsive services that help neurodivergent learners thrive in and beyond the classroom.
Dominique is deeply rooted in Southern California’s Japanese American and Okinawan communities. She serves on the National Board of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) as National Vice President of Membership and on the SELANOCO JACL Board. She is also a longtime leader with the Young Okinawans of Southern California and the Orange County Queens Council. A former Miss Orange County Japanese American (2014) and 2024 Nisei Week Princess, she has served as a chaperone for JACL’s Kakehashi Program and as a Pacific Southwest District representative to the OCA/JACL Leadership Summit. In these roles, she has spoken on Stop Asian Hate, the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, and ADA access on Capitol Hill and the Eisenhower Building at the White House.
- Seattle JACL 1930
  - Courtesy of Hashiguchi and Urakawa Family Collection, Densho
- JACL at March on Washington
  - Courtesy of Sumida Family Collection, Densho
- 1941 JACL Cabinet
  - Courtesy of the Milton and Molly (Kageyama) Maeda Collection, Densho
- 4th Biennial National JACL Convention, 1936
  - Courtesy of Hashiguchi and Urakawa Family Collection, Densho
- Japanese American Citizens League at March on Washington
  - Courtesy of Sumida Family Collection, Densho
- Attendees of the 4th biennial JACL convention
  - Courtesy of Tomio Itabashi and Frances (Itabashi) Nishimura Collection, Densho
- Membership drive booth at a JACL picnic
  - Courtesy of Kimiko Fujii Kitayama Collection, Densho
- Larry Tajiri outside JACL National Headquarters office
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- Signing of the proclamation for the first Day of Remembrance
  - Courtesy of the Kinoshita Collection
- Group photo of attendees at 10th Anniversary Ball of SF JACL
  - Courtesy of Takahashi Family, Densho
- Ben Kuroko shaking hands with Joe Masaoka outside JACL offices
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- JACL National California District Council Meeting Photograph
  - Courtesy of Yuriko Domoto Tsukada Collection, Densho
- Group of men around table
  - Courtesy of the Ron Ikejiri Collection, Densho
- Resolution to the President and the Congress of the United States of America
  - Courtesy of Fremont Japanese American Citizen League, Densho
- Loyalty Questionnaire
  - Courtesy of the Ikeda Family Collection
- Brief of Japanese-American Citizens League, Amicus Curiae in the case of Brown v. Oshiro
  - Masaru Horiuchi Collection, digitization courtesy of Densho. Citation: Japanese American National Museum (Gift of the Masaru Horiuchi Family, 2020.49)
- Large JACL Group - 1935
  - Courtesy of the Matsuo Sakagami Collection, Densho
- Fujitaro Kubota at a citizenship class at Broadway High School
  - Courtesy of Kubota Garden Foundation, Densho
- Seattle Progressive Citizen League Entertainment
  - Courtesy of Hashiguchi and Urakawa Family Collection, Densho
- 1972 Japanese American Citizens League National Convention
  - Courtesy of the Kinoshita Collection
- Portraits of the 1930-1931 White River Valley Civic League officers
  - Courtesy of the White River Valley JACL Collection
- Mike Masaoka at CWRIC hearings, Washington, D.C.
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- Japanese Relocation Video
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Film Preservation Project, Densho
- Redress and Reparations Legislative Campaign
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Film Preservation Project, Densho

Part Three: Incarceration

Narrated by Matthew Weisbly, JACL National Education Programs Manager

Matthew Weisbly is a fourth-generation Chinese and fifth-generation Japanese-Jewish American who currently serves as the Education Programs Manager at the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) National in Los Angeles. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California, majoring in Japanese and Japanese American history with double minors in East Asian Languages and Cultures and Cinematic Arts. In 2024, he received his Master’s degree from the USC Rossier School of Education in Learning Design and Technology.
As an undergraduate, Weisbly was deeply involved in campus life. He served as President of the USC Nikkei Student Union, Vice President of the Mixed Race Student Community, and was a member of the collegiate taiko group Kazan Taiko. He also worked part-time for the university’s Asian Pacific American Student Services office.
Weisbly has been an active member of JACL for many years, holding multiple leadership positions. He previously served as the Youth Representative for the Arizona Chapter, the inaugural Ted T. Namba Fellow for the Pacific Southwest District, and the Daniel K. Inouye Policy Fellow for JACL National in Washington, D.C. Beyond his work with JACL, he is a member of Nikkei Rising, the young adult branch of JA Memorial Pilgrimages. He also spends much of his time with his friends and family, watching movies, playing games, or finding new places to eat.
- Sketch of Manzanar riot
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- Sketch of Manzanar riot
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- Sketch of Manzanar riot
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- Sketch of Manzanar riot
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- Loyalty Questionnaire - Photo ID: loyalty-q-1024x142
  - Courtesy of the Ikeda Family Collection
- Segregation of Persons of Japanese Ancestry in Tule Lake Relocation Center
  - Courtesy of Tomio Itabashi and Frances (Itabashi) Nishimura Collection, Densho
- James Omura standing before Voluntary Headquarters, Pacific Coast Evacuee Placement Bureau
  - Courtesy of Frank Abe, Densho
- "Alien enemy" personnel record
  - Courtesy of Kazuichi Takanishi Collection
- FBI arrests Japanese civilians on Terminal Island (Calif.), 1941
  - UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections
- FBI arrests Japanese civilians on Terminal Island (Calif.), 1941
  - UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections
- Japanese nationals detained in a Los Angeles jail
  - UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections
Video Citations
- Kash: The Legend and Legacy of Shiro Kashino
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Film Preservation Project, Densho
- Challenge to Democracy
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Film Preservation Project, Densho
- Japanese Relocation Video
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Film Preservation Project, Densho
- Righting a Wrong
  - Courtesy of Japanese American Film Preservation Project, Densho

Part One: Immigration

About our Narrator:

Photo Credits

Part Two: The JACL

About our Narrator:

Photo Credits

Part Three: Incarceration

About our Narrator:

Photo Credits

Check back for new videos! Parts 1-4 will release between Nov. 20 - Dec. 18

The Japanese American Experience