On Oct. 3 to 6,??? ??? ??? ??? ?? Tsuru for Solidarity, a Japanese American social justice organization, in collaboration with the Japanese American National Museum and the USC Ito Center, will hold a gathering dedicated to exploring the trauma wrought by the World War II removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans on the West Coast, and the celebration of healing practices that have emerged from our communities today.
Like the treasured celadon bowl that lay fractured for decades, we will witness and learn about the repair that has emerged from our desire to be whole again. The striking joinery of lacquer mixed with gold dust used to repair the bowl, kintsugi, symbolizes our community’s history of trauma and its remarkable healing journey.
Rather than something to hide and disguise, we will delve into the fissures of racism and injustice, and we will acknowledge the powerful healing that is taking place as we gather together for “Kintsugi 2024!”
At this first-of-its-kind gathering for Japanese Americans, our focus will be on the long-term effects of the WWII incarceration trauma, the intergenerational consequences, and the healing and repair that are both needed and ongoing. The traumatic experience of the race-based mass removal and incarceration of all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast led to fractures in our psyches, our families, and our communities.
During this gathering, participants will hear from speakers and attend workshops exploring personal journeys of healing, scholarly research about the generational impact of the incarceration, and the various ways healing and repair are being expressed through the arts, memorials, and social justice activism. Additionally, participants will be invited to participate in small groups to explore their own personal reflections and engage in community dialogue.
Questions to be asked and examined include: What is trauma? What is Japanese American incarceration trauma? What is intergenerational trauma? How does healing take place? What does healing look like? Decades of having the WWII experience minimized and distorted by government authorities and right-wing historians have made such questions difficult to raise. We raise them now.
Scholars, researchers, psychologists, along with survivors, descendants, and activists, will plumb the depths of the individual, family, and community trauma that has continued to impact generations of Japanese Americans 80 years later.
Transformative creativity will be woven throughout the four-day event with presentations and performances by poets, musicians, dancers, and actors evoking powerful insights, memories, and truths that are often difficult to express in words when it comes to trauma and repair.
Participants will be invited to take part in their own healing process by listening and learning, but also by actively taking part in the Ireicho Ceremony, Healing Circles, Fandango Obon, and the Wakasa Lantern event.
A sampling of featured events:
? Dr. Satsuki Ina, survivor of the WWII prison camps and author of “The Poet and The Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest,” will open the first plenary session with a discussion about her personal journey to uncover her family’s trauma and the importance of understanding Japanese American collective trauma history from a cultural as well as psychological trauma perspective.
A panel discussion will follow the next day with Dr. Reiko True, Judy Nakatomi, and Alan Maeda, who will share their personal and professional healing journeys.
? Dr. Donna Nagatafrom University of Michigan has investigated the legacy of the WWII incarceration and how it still reverberates in the Japanese American community decades later. She will report on her much-awaited research findings regarding the cross-generational impact of the trauma as experienced by Yonsei respondents in comparison with her 1987 study of the Sansei. Generational break-out groups will follow.
?Dr. Duncan Ryuken Williams, ordained priest in the Soto Zen tradition, is director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. He will discuss the Irei Project: The National Monument for WWII Japanese American Incarceration. A multi-faceted project, it seeks to address the attempted erasure of those individuals of Japanese ancestry who experienced wartime incarceration by memorializing their names. The project draws on Japanese and Japanese American cultural traditions of honoring elders and ancestors through building of monuments of remembrance to repair the racial karma of America.
? The Grateful Crane Ensemble, directed by playwright Soji Kashiwagi, will perform a tear-jerking, laughter-rousing, stage reading of “The Garage Door Opener,” the story of a Sansei brother and sister faced with the daunting task of cleaning out their deceased Nisei parents’ home and garage. They begin to uncover items from their past that they knew nothing about, and in the process, begin to gain a better understanding of their parents and themselves.
The event will be held at the Japanese American National Museum and DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown in Little Tokyo. Registration is $300. Some scholarships are available. To register, go to www.tsuruforsolidarity.org.