Densho
Share
Preserves and shares stories of the Japanese American past to promote equity and justice today.
Densho is a Japanese term meaning "to pass on to the next generation," or to leave a legacy. The legacy we offer is an American story of how fear and hate pushed the U.S. government to incarcerate 120,000 innocent people because of their ancestry. Densho is a Seattle-based nonprofit that uses digital technology to share the stories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII. We share our resou
Dr. Satsuki Ina is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in community trauma, author of “The Poet and the Silk Girl” (2024), and cofounder of Tsuru for Solidarity.
In our most recent educator spotlight for the Densho Catalyst, Satsuki shares what teachers should know about her book, including how her memoir provides a unique perspective on the incarceration and helps students connect this history to present-day immigration enforcement. Read our full interview with Satsuki at densho.org/catalyst.
In addition to highlighting her voice in the Catalyst, we also wanted to share a clip from one of Satsuki’s oral history interviews with Densho from 2019. We share this clip as the twelfth installment of our 30 Stories for 30 Years series.
In this video, Satsuki recounts her first memory on the train out of the DOJ Crystal City Family Internment Center, Texas to Cincinnati, Ohio. This memory is of her dad reaching for her and Satsuki reacting by crying, because he was to her still a stranger after being separated from the family during the war. He had been taken before she was one and did not return until she was two and a half years old.
Later, Satsuki reflects on her Nisei parents’ understanding of what strength looks like in relation to her later understanding of what it means to her: “But the idea of how to be strong, how to endure… it's a very Nisei message… being tough and taking it and enduring it. And he never said, ‘And fight back.’... The next part of my own growth was to learn to fight back… that was what I could carry forward, was to take it, learn it, study it, understand it, really feel in control of it, and then speak out.”
Read more of Dr. Satsuki Ina’s reflections in the Densho Catalyst at densho.org/catalyst, and watch the rest of her oral history interview online in the Densho Digital Repository.
05/27/2026
For this installment of Densho Staff’s 30 Favorite Objects series, we are highlighting two objects that hold special meaning for two of our staff members.
1) The first object is from Densho Archives Director Caitlin Oiye Coon’s family collection. It is her grandfather’s sketch of Abalone Hill with the Tule Lake haiku group’s poems incorporated into the drawing. Abalone Hill, alongside Castle Rock Mountain, was one of the two major topographical features at Tule Lake concentration camp.
2) The second object is a photograph from the very first collection that our now Digitization Technician and IT Support Specialist Philip Kikawa helped to digitize while he was an Archives Digitization Intern back in 2017. This photograph is of the exterior of the Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs Church in Seattle, WA, in the Maryknoll Seattle Collection in the Densho Digital Repository.
These items are two of the total 30 objects selected by staff to honor Densho’s 30th anniversary. Each was chosen for its particular resonance: some for their historical significance, offering vivid snapshots of Japanese American life before, during, and after World War II; others for their personal connections and the stories they continue to carry forward.
Together, these 30 objects hold memory and meaning: the lived experiences of those who endured incarceration and the ongoing commitment to preserving and sharing their stories.
On this Memorial Day, we want to share an oral history interview of decorated World War II veteran and member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Fred Shiosaki, describing the rescue of the "Lost Battalion” in World War II. In this clip, he recalls memories from the third, fourth and fifth days in this battle, including the deaths of people he knew and were fighting beside.
The rescue of the so-called Lost Battalion took place in the Vosges Mountains in France at the end of October 1944. Members of the 1st Battalion of 141st Texas Regiment found themselves cut off and surrounded behind enemy lines with limited food and water. Ordered to rescue them, the 100th/442nd RCT, engaged in nearly nonstop combat for six days, eventually reaching the Lost Battalion on October 30th.
The 442nd suffered hundreds of casualties in rescuing 211 men. The rescue raised the question of whether the Nisei soldiers were being used as "cannon fodder" or whether they were given the most difficult assignments because of their outstanding performance.
Today, we remember all who die in service of this country, especially the 100th and 442nd RCT.
We are heartbroken by the passing of Kyoko Nancy Oda, a giant in the Nikkei community and one of our oral history narrators. Born at Tule Lake in 1945 to Tatsuo and Yuriko Inouye, Kyoko dedicated her life to recording her family’s incarceration history, particularly transcribing her father’s diary and sharing his story of being detained in the Tule Lake stockade.
In this dedication to Kyoko, we thought it would be best to hear her words from this 2019 Densho oral history interview by Densho Oral History Manager Virginia Yamada.
Upon seeing the gravesite for babies that died while incarcerated in Tule Lake, Kyoko reflected, “I'm very cognizant of the purpose of why I'm here… ‘I have to speak for them, I have to do for them. They didn't get the chance I got.’... you see these graves marked with young babies, and you think, ‘You are saved for a reason.’”
Kyoko continues, “So whether it's to bring harmony to the world, to speak up on behalf of those who can't speak, I didn't have the trauma, and I used to think reading books was enough. But every interview that I experience, you see how important this moment in time…somebody cared for us, and so we need to care for others. So I'm very honored to be part of Densho because I know you tell the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts, but we have to do that because otherwise we will leave this earth and not have done our job.”
Kyoko is remembered for her dedication to the children in the Los Angeles public school system as she had a longtime career as both an educator and a principal. She is also remembered for her dedication to preserving Japanese American history through her own family project and through her service with many community organizations, including being the president of the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center and president of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition.
Densho Oral History Program Manager Virginia Yamada, who had the privilege of hearing Kyoko’s story firsthand remembers her this way:
“Kyoko inspired me to pay attention and do better. The way she effortlessly combined kindness, patience and respect with determined focus and a gentle persistence, set an unforgettable example of how to live an effective and action-oriented life. As we prepared for her interview, she taught me so much about the long-term effects that the incarceration experience had on her family. The lessons I learned from what she shared, and from the way she actively engaged in our time together, continue to inform how I approach each oral history. Thank you, Kyoko.”
Kyoko’s memory lives on in this oral history interview, everything that she built, and through everyone she touched over the years.
05/21/2026
“[Author Karen Tei] Yamash*ta provides a lot of answers, but she also leaves a lot unknown, because it is impossible to know everything.” – Amber Hisatomi
In the most recent Densho Catalyst article, UCLA PhD Student Amber Hisatomi reviews Karen Tei Yamash*ta’s new novel, Questions 27 & 28. The book captures the movement and history of Japanese Americans from the 20th century to the present through the involvement of real historical figures and experimental narratives. A nod to the book’s title, the novel plays with the concept of loyalty in Japanese American history in unexpected yet connected ways.
Tying in the literary and the personal, Amber explores the novel as an archive through a brief overview of its three parts, focusing on how communities are empowered by shared histories, especially when they are able to contribute to it.
Read Amber’s review at densho.org/catalyst
05/19/2026
This past February, Densho completed a major milestone with the completion of the Loni Ding Oral History and Film Research Collection grant project.
With the support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), we digitized 5,730 minutes of audio/visual recordings and 5,000 photographs and documents all related to Loni Ding’s documentaries: “Nisei Soldier” and “The Color of Honor.” These digitized materials are all available in the Densho Digital Repository.
🔗 Learn more about Loni Ding and the collection through our photo essay, “Loni Ding, Godmother of Asian American Documentary Filmmaking.”
05/18/2026
Save the date and join Densho for a zine-making workshop at the Seattle Public Library, part of their programming for One Book, One Coast.
Designed for teens and adults, this event will include highlights from Densho's Digital Repository and an opportunity to create a zine. Participants will learn about Gidra, a zine created in 1969 by Asian American students at UCLA to reflect an identity influenced by the Black Power movement.
Specifically, participants will learn about Gidra’s liberatory concepts and focus on cross-community solidarity, labor movements, fights against displacement and gentrification, and centering the voices of communities of color. They will engage with the concepts shared in Gidra by creating their own artwork.
This workshop will run from 2 – 4:30 pm and will be located in the Level 4 - Room 1 of Seattle Public Library’s central library. This is a free event, but registration is required.
📍 Level 4 - Room 1 of Seattle Public Library’s central library
🗓️ June 6th, 2026 from 2 – 4:30 pm PT
🔗 Learn more at densho.org/events/gidra-zine-workshop-at-spl/
05/15/2026
As Densho celebrates its 30th anniversary, we wanted to speak with the person who helped start it all: founding executive director Tom Ikeda.
Tom Ikeda founded Densho in 1996 with a vision that was equal parts technological ambition and community commitment. Over more than two decades as executive director, he helped build the most comprehensive digital archives of Japanese American history in existence, conducting more than 250 oral history interviews himself along the way.
Densho’s Senior Communications & Development Manager Jennifer Noji and Digital Content Coordinator Miya Schilz spoke with Tom about the organization’s origins, its evolution, and what three decades of work has meant to him personally.
Tom reflects: “The thing that really shifted for me was when we did interviews with these 75- or 80-year-old Nisei. We found that some of them were telling, for the first time, what happened to them… You could tell they were just so much lighter from sharing their story. And I remember getting emails and phone calls from the relatives of the person I interviewed saying: ‘what happened during that interview?’”
Tom realized that they not only were working towards the primary goal of preserving Japanese American incarceration history for future generations, but actually also unintentionally helping individuals and families heal from the trauma of incarceration.
This conversation is part of our new "We Are Densho" series, which highlights the people—our staff, board members, supporters, partners, and community members—who have made Densho what it is today.
Read Tom Ikeda's reflections on Densho's origins and his advice for the next generation of Japanese American history stewards — full article at densho.org/catalyst
In honor of Densho’s 30th anniversary, we wanted to share a special message from our staff. These are 30 words reflecting our mission and symbolically representing our 30 years of existence. This statement captures our commitment to the past, present, and future.
“For 30 years, Densho has honored memory, history, and community through stories of Japanese American resilience. The next 30 years, we’ll deepen learning, expand accessibility, and inspire generations to remember.”
Sincerely,
Densho Staff
05/12/2026
Today, we’re celebrating what would’ve been Mervyn Dymally’s 100th birthday, and his contributions to the Japanese American community.
It is generally accepted that Redress would not have happened without the support of African American legislators, and as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the time redress legislation was being considered, Dymally may have been the most important figure in garnering that support.
Born and raised in Trinidad of African and South Asian descent, Dymally came to the U.S. for college and eventually began a political career that saw him first elected to the California State Assembly in 1962, then later to the state senate as California’s lieutenant governor. In 1980, he was elected to Congress in 1980, representing a South Los Angeles County district that included Gardena and Torrance, areas heavily populated with Japanese Americans.
Long cognizant of the Japanese American incarceration story, he was an early supporter of Redress, introducing early redress bills in 1982 at the behest of the National Coalition for Redress & Reparations.
He remained in Congress until 1992, and then, after a ten year absence, returned in 2002 to serve three more terms. Dymally demonstrates the importance of allyship and solidarity in movements for justice.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Category
Contact the organization
Telephone
Website
Address
Opening Hours
| Monday | 8am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 8am - 5pm |
| Friday | 8am - 5pm |