Discover the History ofWWII Incarceration
120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. Learn about this unprecedented denial of civil liberties and why it still matters today.
Explore Personal Stories
Learn about Japanese American history and the legacy of WWII incarceration by exploring personal stories from those who lived through it.
Promote Equity Today
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Join us in putting the lessons of Japanese American WWII incarceration into action today.
Densho Catalyst: History, Essays, & Opinion
Dive into hidden histories and learn why these stories matter today with the latest essays and opinions from Densho and other community voices.
Ballots Behind Barbed Wire: How the incarceration of Japanese Americans affected the 1942 Midterm Election
With voting underway for the 2026 midterm elections, Densho Editorial Manager and Staff Historian Jonathan van Harmelen reflects on the attempts to suppress the voting rights of incarcerated Japanese Americans...
A Densho Staff Tribute to Brian Niiya
In September, Densho said goodbye to its longtime Content Director, Brian Niiya, who officially retired from his position. As reflected in the words from our staff, it is no secret...
A Conversation with Deputy Director Geoff Froh: Building Densho’s Digital Legacy
Densho’s role as a leading digital resource for free, accessible archival materials and oral histories on Japanese American incarceration history owes much to the dedicated and visionary work of Deputy...Upcoming Events
Lunch and Learn: Defiant to the Last Screening and Discussion
Defiant to the Last tells the story of the Tule Lake Segregation Center where dissident Japanese Americans were demonized and punished for speaking out against the false wartime incarceration.
Thank you for celebrating Densho’s 30th Anniversary. Relive the moments that made this milestone significant.
Watch our virtual gala, Stories that Endure.
Read our Catalyst recap from Legacy in Motion, our in-person gala in Seattle.
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Campu: A Podcast
Campu weaves together the voices of survivors to spin narratives out of the seemingly mundane things that gave shape to the incarceration experience: rocks, fences, food, paper. Follow along as hosts Hana and Noah Maruyama move far beyond the standard Japanese American incarceration 101 and into more intimate and lesser-known corners of this history.
Encyclopedia
Thousands of articles about the history of the Japanese American WWII exclusion and incarceration experience. Here are a few to get you started:
Documentary films/videos on incarceration
The following is an attempt at a comprehensive listing of documentary films/videos that include a significant treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II, broken up into several broad categories.
Scene (magazine)
Japanese American pictorial monthly magazine that ran from 1949 to 1955. Largely produced by and for Nisei, Scene magazine highlighted "successful" Japanese Americans as well as Japanese culture.
Owens Valley (detention facility)
The Owens Valley Reception Center—later the Manzanar Reception Center—was the first of the WCCA -administered short-term detention camps to open when the first "volunteers" from the Los Angeles area arrived on March 21, 1942.