Interview with Duncan Ryuken Williams about how he conceived of the project and of the significance and choices that went into the creation of the Ireichō.

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Interview with Kyoko Oda about her role in collecting soil for the Ireichō project from four former World War II detention sites—Griffith Park Detention Camp, Kilauea Military Center, Mayer Assembly Center, and Tuna Canyon Detention Station.

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Interview with the Tsuchiya family who who decided to fly all the way from Minneapolis to Los Angeles for the sole purpose of marking their ancestors’ names in Ireichō.

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Interview with Alan Nishio who brought three generations of the Nishio family to stamp the Ireichō.

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On April 27, 2023, some 50 family members of Hispanic, Native American, and Japanese descent gathered for the 150th birthday celebration of their Issei ancestor, Wasuke Hirota. Adults and children of all ages arrived from as nearby as Azusa, California, and as far away as Osaka, Japan, to pay their respects by stamping Ireichō.

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When Dennis Kunimura suggested to his father, 98-year-old former 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) artilleryman Hiroshi Kunimura, that they drive from their home in Ogden, Utah, to Los Angeles, to mark the names in Ireichō of family members held at both the Salinas Assembly Center and the Poston Concentration Camp, the elder Kunimura did not expect the overwhelming reception that awaited him.

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“It was like coming home when 17 sisters, cousins, grandchildren, and spouses, some who had traveled from different parts of the globe, met on the day after a large family reunion—this time to honor living and dead family members by placing hanko stamps on the names of those reverenced in Ireichō.”

Author Sharon Yamato shares her own family’s Ireichō story.

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The family of playwright/writer/poet/actor Hiroshi Kashiwagi came together to stamp the Ireichō in memory of his and other family members. In his works, Kashiwagi raised awareness of the plight of those incarcerated at the often-maligned Tule Lake Segregation Center. “Ireichō has brought many Tule Lake families and others out of the shadows to mark their ancestors’ names and pay tribute to the hardships they endured.”

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It’s been more than two years since the Ireichō arrived at JANM in 2022. Over 30,000 visitors have stamped the book while sharing stories, along with lots of tears. On December 1, the Ireichō was packed into a special suitcase to begin its travels across the U.S. Read about the emotional impact stamping the Ireichō has had on the Japanese American community as the book begins the next phase of its journey.

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