The Long Journey Home (ceremonial event)

Last updated
Japanese American graduating class of 2008 Suzallo Library Group Photo.JPG
Japanese American graduating class of 2008

The Long Journey Home was a ceremonial event held at the main campus of the University of Washington on May 18, 2008, commemorating the Japanese American students who, due to the passage of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, were forced to leave the school and live in internment camps in the western United States. For nearly seventy years, many Japanese Americans were unable to return to the university to complete their education. Some attended at other universities, while others were forced to end their college career early because of financial reasons. In order to recognize the Japanese American students affected by the government's decision, the University of Washington carried out a ceremony "to honor the students and to educate current and future generations about the grievous national tragedy" by incorporating guest speakers and video memoirs while the students honored at the day's ceremony were given honorary degrees from the University of Washington.

Contents

Description

The Long Journey Home was held at the main campus of the University of Washington inside rooms 120 and 130 of Kane Hall. The ceremony was held on May 18, 2008, and was scheduled to last from 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm Pacific Standard Time.

Agenda

Although the ceremony did not officially begin until 2:00 pm, group photographs were taken of the honorees in front of the campus' Suzzallo Library at approximately 1:00 pm. The recognition ceremony began at 2:00 pm in Kane Hall, beginning with the entrance of the university regents. The president of the University of Washington, Mark Emmert, presided over the event and gave a speech on the significance of this event as well as his personal perspective of the internment. Emmert was followed by several other speakers, which included Norman Mineta, Gail Nomura, and Tetsuden Kashima. A video memoir was shown prior to the "presentation of the honorary degrees" which included personal accounts of University of Washington students of the internment and its effect on their time at the university, as well as their personal opinions of "The Long Journey Home" regarding its closure to the "long journey" which the Japanese endured.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Washington</span> Public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States

The University of Washington is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.

<i>The Daily of the University of Washington</i>

The Daily of the University of Washington, usually referred to in Seattle simply as The Daily, is the student newspaper of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is staffed entirely by University of Washington students, excluding the publisher, advertising adviser, accounting staff, and delivery staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Huskies</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of University of Washington

The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Hirabayashi</span> American sociologist (1918–2012)

Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi was an American sociologist, best known for his principled resistance to the Japanese American internment during World War II, and the court case which bears his name, Hirabayashi v. United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Emmert</span> 5th president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association

Mark Allen Emmert is the former president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He was the fifth CEO of the NCAA; he was named as the incoming president on April 27, 2010, and assumed his duties on November 1, 2010, and remained in office until March 1, 2023.

<i>No-No Boy</i> 1957 novel by Japanese-American writer John Okada

No-No Boy is a 1957 novel, and the only novel published by the Japanese American writer John Okada. It tells the story of a Japanese-American in the aftermath of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Set in Seattle, Washington, in 1946, the novel is written in the voice of an omniscient narrator who frequently blends into the voice of the protagonist.

The following article focuses on the movement to obtain redress for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and significant court cases that have shaped civil and human rights for Japanese Americans and other minorities. These cases have been the cause and/or catalyst to many changes in United States law. But mainly, they have resulted in adjusting the perception of Asian immigrants in the eyes of the American government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William K. Nakamura</span> United States Army Medal of Honor recipient

William Kenzo Nakamura was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miné Okubo</span> American artist and writer (1912–2001)

Miné Okubo was an American artist and writer. She is best known for her book Citizen 13660, a collection of 198 drawings and accompanying text chronicling her experiences in Japanese American internment camps during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Washington Television</span> American tv

University of Washington Television (UWTV) is an educational television service from the University of Washington (UW), originating from Seattle. Through online and mobile distribution formats, UWTV serves as an ambassador to the scholarship, discoveries and breakthrough science of the nation's top-ranked public research university, and also showcases campus culture, from sports to student activities. Programs are available online through video on demand and podcasting at uwtv.org, as well as YouTube and iTunes U.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial</span>

The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is an outdoor exhibit commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island in the state of Washington. It is located on the south shore of Eagle Harbor, opposite the town of Winslow. Administratively, it is a unit of the Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho. The mission of the memorial is Nidoto Nai Yoni, “Let It Not Happen Again”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campus of the University of Washington</span>

The Campus of the University of Washington is located in the University District of Seattle. Campus buildings are categorized by the major street or vicinity on which they are located on campus. In 2011, Slate magazine and Travel+Leisure described the Seattle campus as one of the most beautiful university campuses in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day of Remembrance (Japanese Americans)</span>

The Day of Remembrance is a day of observance for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Events in numerous U.S. states, especially in the West Coast, are held on or near February 19, the day in 1942 that Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, requiring internment of all Americans of Japanese ancestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenjiro Nomura (artist)</span> Japanese American artist

Kenjiro Nomura (1896–1956) was a Japanese American painter. Immigrating to the United States from Japan as a boy, he became a well-known artist in the Pacific Northwest in the 1920s and 30s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Japanese in Seattle</span>

There is a population of Japanese Americans and Japanese expatriates in Greater Seattle, whose origins date back to the second half of the 19th century. Prior to World War II, Seattle's Japanese community had grown to become the second largest Nihonmachi on the West Coast of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nihon Go Gakko (Seattle)</span>

Nihon Go Gakko also known as the Japanese Language School (JLS) is a National Register of Historic Places in King County based at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington located on the periphery of the Seattle International District. The JLS provides Japanese language classes to both children and adults. Originally known as Kokugo Gakko, it is also the oldest Japanese language school in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drumheller Fountain</span> Fountain in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Drumheller Fountain is an outdoor fountain on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. The fountain was given its name is 1961 to honor the University Regent Joseph Drumheller, who gifted the central fountain machinery to the University for its centennial celebration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill-Crest</span> Official residence in Washington, United States

Hill-Crest is the official residence of the president of the University of Washington. As of 2013 it was the single most valuable public university presidential residence in the United States.

The Empty Chair Memorial is a memorial located at Capital School Park in downtown Juneau, Alaska, United States. It is dedicated to the 53 Juneau residents of Japanese origin who were forcibly relocated and imprisoned in inland internment camps during World War II, as well as to recognize Juneau citizens for their helpful response when the families returned after the war. It is the first memorial in Alaska regarding the internment of Japanese Americans during the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lori Matsukawa</span> American television news journalist (born 1956)

Lori Matsukawa is an American television news journalist who spent thirty-six years as evening news anchor at KING 5, the NBC affiliate in Seattle, Washington. She has won two Emmys and numerous honors from regional and national organizations for her broadcasts, which have covered everything from the imprisonment of Japanese Americans in World War II to the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and Vancouver. She has been honored for her contributions to diversity in U.S. news media by the Asian American Journalists Association and was named Communicator of the Year by the Association for Women in Communications. In 2019, The Seattle Times newspaper featured her retirement on its front page.

References