Tom Ikeda Stepping Down from Densho
After 26 years at the helm of Densho as the organization’s founding executive director, Tom Ikeda is announcing his pending retirement. From Tom: I turn 66 years old this week and it’s time for me to shift my priorities and spend more time with my family. I am going to
In Memoriam: Victor Takemoto
Victor Mitsori Takemoto October 27, 1926 – November 27, 2021Victor M. Takemoto went to be with his Lord and Savior on Saturday, November 27, 2021. One month after his 95th birthday. Born on Bainbridge Island, WA on October 27, 1926, to Saichi and Yone Takemoto, the first of five boys
How Pearl Harbor brought sorrow to Sonoma County’s Japanese community
He said, ‘I have to let you go because we’re not the same side anymore.’ He didn’t stop to think that I was an American citizen, born and raised in Los Angeles. Although the first group of Japanese Americans was rounded up and forcibly removed from their home on Bainbridge
Happy Birthday, Akio!
An eagle-eyed BIJAC member, Karen Matsumoto, recently snapped a photo of a farm-style tribute to Akio Suyematsu, local legend and last Japanese American farmer on Bainbridge Island. Outlined in pumpkins on a large plot recently devoted to a pumpkin patch, are the words “Happy 100 Akio.” Akio Suyematsu would have
Opinion: America has no problem confronting unpleasant facts about its past
Opinion by George F. Will CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN THE WASHINGTON POST BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. — On the side of a lightly used road, from which drivers can look across Puget Sound to Seattle’s skyline, a small sign identifies the turnoff to the “Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.”
BIJAC Picnic 2021
The Biennial BIJAC Picnic was held on Sunday, August 7th, at its traditional home, the Battle Point Park picnic shelter. Under cool and mostly cloudy skies, turnout was strong, with families gathering from both sides of the Sound. Hayashidas, Matsudairas, Sakumas, and more families with deep ties to the Island
76 Years Ago in Hiroshima & NagasakI
On this August 6th & 9th please reflect & remember what happened 76 years ago in Hiroshima & Nagasaki. And as you continue to work & pray that atomic & nuclear weapons will never be used again, feel free to listen & share my bilingual ballad for Hiroshima, “As If
REMEMBRANCE: The Legacy of Executive Order 9066 in Washington State
A new long-term gallery, Remembrance: The Legacy of Executive Order 9066 in Washington State, opened on June 17th, 2021 at the Washington State Historical Museum, 1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98402. According to the Museum, visitors will explore “the intergenerational impacts and legacy of the incarceration of people of Japanese
In Memory: Mary Fujioka
Mary Fujioka August 1, 1926 to June 9, 2021 Mary Fujioka, age 94, passed away June 9 on Bainbridge Island, WA, of natural causes. Mary was born and raised on Vashon Island, WA. She was the second eldest daughter (seventh child) of Sadaji Fujioka (emigrated in 1900 from Kumamoto, Japan)
Reader Fires Off on Inaccurate Listing
From the 2006 Congressional testimony of Fumiko Hayashida, to the “Leaving Our Island” curriculum at Bainbridge Island School District, to guided tours at the Exclusion Memorial, the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community has made it its mission to help educate others about Executive Order 9066 and the resulting incarceration of
