Arts and Media Projects

Arts and Media	Contact	Accomplishments
Conscience and the Constitution: A Story of Japanese America	Frank Abe	Created a video, website, and CD ROM comparing the legal issues raised by the incarceration: cooperation and resistance. Draws on experience of Heart Mountain Resisters. Website completed, video in post-production and working copy of CD completed.
Due Justice	Bridge Media, Inc.; gayle k. yamada and Dianne Fukami	Pre-production activities include research in archives, internet, libraries and visits to Manzanar and camp reunions. Production activities include interviews of selected subjects involved in redress.
Of Civil Wrongs and Rights	The Fred Korematsu Film Project, National Asian American Telcommunications Association, San Francisco NOW Chapter; Eric Fournier	One-hour video documenting civil rights struggle of Fred Korematsu. Interviews filmed, archival research completed, recreations of Fred's stories, voice over, background music completed. Editorial process in progress.
Generations (formerly Issei Film Project)	Farallon Documentary Films; Steven Okazaki Far	30 minute video on legacy of the Issei and how each succeeding generation struggles with and redefines what it means to be JA. Filming in progress and completion expected December 1998.
The Sisters Matsumoto Project	Asian American Theatre Company, Center for the Arts, ACT, Philip Gotanda, Northwest Asian American Theatre; Pamela Wu and Karen Amano	Wrote script of new play "The Sisters Matsumoto". Public reading given 8/13/97 and workshop production held with Seattle Rep in April 1998. Premieres scheduled for 1999 in San Jose and Seattle. read a review from the Seattle Times
The Gate of Heaven	Scottsdale Cultural Council and Lane Nishikawa Scottsdale	Created a 35 minute dramatic film version of Gate of Heaven about a Nisei soldier liberating and reviving a Jewish prisoner and their lifelong friendship, facing personal traumas, social prejudice and psychological wounds. To be completed in 10/98.
Big Bands Behind Barbed Wire	Oakland Asian Cultural Center, George Yoshida, San Jose Taiko, Mark Izu, Jon Jang, Sox Kitashima, Gina Hotta, NJAHS, JACCC, Earshot Jass, NAATA, Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival; Anthony Brown	Reached over 500,000 by use of music to educate the public through 1) concert performances; 2) a photo exhibit of how jazz was a part of life in the camps; 3) a website about the incarceration; 4) symposia. Includes video of project.
The Floating World	Kayo Hatta	Re-write of the script, casting, and location scouting. Interviewing and hiring of production heads and principal photography to take place in September/October 1998.
Aftereffects (formerly Two Years Is a Lifetime)	Karen Ishizuka and Robert A. Nakamura	30 minute documentary on long term effects of the WWII incarceration. Nakamura, a former child of the camps, documents the experience and come to terms with the grave injustice. Available on beta and VHS.
Rediscovering Our Histories: The JA Internment Experience (formerly JA Media Project)	National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA); Pamela Matsuoka	Education resource kit of three videos and corresponding study guides: Days of Waiting, Family Gathering, and A Personal Matter: Gordon Hirabayashi v. US. To be distributed through NAATA.
A Question of Loyalty	Emiko Omori	Video documentary on the resistance in camps. Interviews have been shot; all distant locations have been shot; stock footage and photos gathered; a composer has been contracted; and rough cut completed. May be presented by PBS next year.
	San Jose State University, Newark Memorial High School, Milpitas High School ArtsExpress, San Jose Stage Company, Ruth Asawa, Yoshiki Hirabayashi, Yu Ai Kai residents,
Contemporary Asian Theatre Scene (CATS)	Joe Rodriguez, Randy Martinez,Japanese American Curriculum Project, Yamaguma & Associates; Miki Hirabayashi and Jerrold A. Hiura	1) Full-scale theatre production of Gate of Heaven (2/6 & 2/7 in San Jose) to 800 attendees; 2) talk radio program to 10,000 in Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Clara County; 3) hands-on workshop of community artists; 4) community forum on incarceration.
Uncle Gunjiro's Girlfriend	Brenda Wong Aoki	Wrote a play about first marriage in US between JA and Caucasian woman in 1909. Shown at 5 workshops. Premiere in SF at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Oct. 10, 11, 1998. read an article on Uncle Gunjiro's Girlfriend
Internment Voices	Theater Mu, David Mura	Created and presented a play exploring the legacy of internment and its effect on the relationships between Nisei and Sansei. Performances held in June 1998 in Minneapolis. Efforts made to be shown elsewhere and perhaps turn into novel.
Legends from Camp Animated Poetry Project	Lawson Fusao Inada and Miles Inada	15 minute computer animated video that explores the internment from the vantage point of a child. Plans include production of website on the Southern Oregon University server. Rough cut VHS submitted.
Dark Passages	Miya Masaoka	Dark Passages is a multi-dimensional work that features a string quartet, koto, actor-readers, concentration camp survivors, Buddhist chanting and electronics, World War II veterans and resisters, projected video and slides. Dark Passages endeavors to tell the story of a country incarcerating its own population -- through the often over-looked story of the Crystal City camp, juxtaposed with the paradoxical situation of the famed 442nd Combat team. the original score incorporates text from the Congressional hearings on redress, testaments from Japanese Peruvians, jailed war resisters and examples of racist hysteria in the media. Dark Passages is an epic tale of war, racism, paradox, and dharma.
Grandmother's Wartime Diaries as Subject Matter for Painting Series	Roger Shimomura	Completed 30 original paintings based on Shimomoura's grandmother's diaries of Camp Minidoka. Exhibition catalogue and poster printed. Exhibition in 11 cities through Spring 2001. Slides of paintings on file.
The Gripsholm	Jude Narita	Conducted research for theatrical play. Interviewed families and those aboard the Gripsholm, the ship which took Japanese families between Latin America, Japan and the US.
The "Loyalty" Questionnaire: A Closer Look	Chizuko Omori	Drafted a paper which closely reviews the origins of the loyalty questionnaire, how the questionnaire was used to determine loyal & disloyal with emphasis on examining the thinking of those who were given responsibility for executing the program.
Internment-Tule Lake	Colorado State University; DK Sunada	Digitized and updated a 200-slide presentation of the Tule Lake Concentration Camp which is converted to video and to CD-ROM (rough cut). Final product to digitize slide show along with audio on videotape, CD ROM and the internet.
Old Man River	Cynthia Gates Fujikawa	Shares incarceration experience by telling the story of Sansei daughter's search of her father's past. Production and performance of play held in NY and LA, study guide for teachers, production of video of performance, and website.
Home Games, A documentary novel	Frank Chin 2016 Lemoyne Street Los Angeles, CA 90026 (213) 664-0643	Completed draft of documentary novel (Book One of a trilogy) on the Japanese American response to the constitutional issues of the internment entitled The Long December Seventh. Manuscript completed and sent for publication.
When You're Smiling	Janice Tanaka	60 minute documentary looking at Sansei growing up in South Central LA who came of age in the 50s and 60s. Focus on complexities of assimilation in post-internment era. A rough cut video was submitted and final will be completed in July 1998.
Fire in the Desert	Sheila Hamanaka	Completed manuscript of graphic novel on incarceration; to reach students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, including reluctant readers; with goal of reaching 30,000 youth through initial run of 12,000 to 15,000 copies. Publisher pending.
If Walls Could Speak	Sharon Yamato Danley	Published 48 page illustrated soft cover book (1500 copies) Moving Walls: Preserving the Barracks of America's Concentration Camps, focusing on the Heart Mountain barracks.
Nikkei Gethsemane, Betrayal and the Agony (formerly Americans Just Like You and Me)	Tooru J. Kanazawa	Completed manuscript of book for publication. Series of tales showing how JAs tackle problems and solve them like others (i.e. just like you and me).
Relics from Camp: A Video Installation	Kristine Yuki Aono	Created a video documenting the research, pilgrimages and interviews in the making of the exhibit "Relics from Camp" which was exhibited in Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Chicago. Dubs made and script drafted.

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