Chapman University hosts movie screening event to honor Day of Remembrance

Recognized annually on Feb. 19, the Day of Remembrance honors the Japanese American community, who were forced into internment camps after Executive Order 9066 was signed. (Left to right) Robert Lemelson, Brian Tadashi Maeda and Stephanie Takaragawa were the speakers during the panel section of the event. Photos by DANIEL PEARSON, staff photographer

Chapman University’s Wilkinson College of Art, Humanities and Social Sciences, along with other communities and organizations in the county, honored the Day of Remembrance as a reminder of the Japanese American incarceration experience by hosting a screening and panel discussion for the Chapman community to attend.

The Day of Remembrance has been recognized annually on Feb. 19 in the U.S. since 1978, following Executive Order 9066 signed into action by President Roosevelt in 1942 during World War II. According to Executive Order 9066, it authorized “the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland.” 

While the wording of the executive order didn’t specify any ethnic group, curfews and further laws were announced shortly after only to Japanese Americans.

Each year, the Japanese American community across the U.S. reflects on Executive Order 9066 as a reminder of the impact the incarceration and internment camp experience has had on the Japanese American community.

The Day of Remembrance has been recognized in the U.S. since 1978, following Executive Order 9066 signed into action by President Roosevelt in 1942 during World War II.

According to Chapman second year and broadcast journalism major Nana Nakano, who also serves as the cultural consultant for Chapman’s Nikkei Student Union (NSU), Japanese American history in the U.S. should not be forgotten.

“The day serves as a reminder that we must not forget what the government did to American citizens, just because of their Japanese ancestry,” Nakano told The Panther.

For Chapman community members to view, Wilkinson College, in partnership with the Yamagishi Endowment for Asian Studies, Leatherby Libraries and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) held a movie screening and panel discussion on Feb. 21 in order to recognize the Day of Remembrance.

“Having an event like this is important because it is a reminder that the government committed heinous crimes denying bill of rights acts to Japanese Americans,” Nakano said. “Especially at Chapman, where the majority of the students are white, events like these can help educate the public about the Day of Remembrance.”

The event itself began with a screening of “We Said No! No! A Story of Civil Disobedience.” The film is directed by Brian Tadashi Maeda, who was born in Manzanar, one of the 10 internment camps Japanese Americans were relocated to during World War II. 

The film coverage of the start of the internment camps up to when victims were finally released. It focused mainly on the Tule Lake concentration camp and the No-No Boys, known as the ones who answered “no, no” on the two questions on the U.S.’s loyalty questionnaire. 

“You very rarely hear about (the No-No Boys), and I thought it was an interesting comment because there’s always this discussion about how Japanese Americans were interned easily because they’re such a quiet model minority, and so you don’t get the counter narrative of the people who sort of did something as opposed to that,” Stephanie Takaragawa, the associate dean of Wilkinson College, told The Panther.

Following the screening, a panel discussion took place featuring Maeda and University of California, Los Angeles anthropology professor Robert Lemelson, who spoke more about the film and answered the audience’s questions. Along with the panel, Japanese-style refreshments and origami paper crane crafts were also made available to attendees. 

“Holding an event like this creates an opportunity for Japanese people on campus to come together in a safe space and environment. It also creates opportunities for people who aren’t familiar with Japanese culture or history to learn more about it through the film screening and meeting more of the Japanese population at Chapman,” said Adi Takei, a sophomore public relations and advertising major who serves as the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) co-chair for Chapman’s Asian Pacific Student Association (APSA). 

“Our history and any marginalized group’s experiences shouldn’t be forgotten, especially in California where the executive order impacted so that the younger generations will keep these in mind and work for a better future.” 

According to Takaragawa, over 100 students came to the event, and a few students also brought along family members and parents with them. She noted that the event helped “build a community centered around Asian American and Japanese American students,” where they were able to connect and get to know each other better.

Along with events like the one hosted at Chapman on Feb. 21, other places within Orange County like the Fullerton Museum Center are taking the opportunity to commemorate the Day of Remembrance.

The Fullerton Museum Center revealed a new art exhibition Jan. 21 showcasing photographs from American landscape photographer Ansel Adams that feature Japanese Americans at the Manzanar internment camp during World War II.

Over 50 photographs taken by Adams are part of the exhibition, along with a number of other works by artists including Dorothea Lange, who photographed the transportation of Japanese Americans to their respective internment camps. 

The exhibition, titled “Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams,” will be on display at the Fullerton Museum Center until April 9. 

“The Day of Remembrance is such a significant day for my community as it speaks about the way we were treated and perceived at a certain time in history,” said senior economics and Japanese studies double major Koki Kayo, who also serves as the events coordinator for APSA. “Looking at that event in hindsight, we get to see the progress we made, and right now, we have that option to proudly embrace our identity.”