Tag Archives: Japanese-Americans

Surprise donation will jumpstart investigation into B.I.’s ‘vanished village’

Rick Chandler’s dream of exploring the remnants of Yama village is coming true.

Thanks to a surprise gift of $50,000, the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum curator now has the funding to begin an archeological investigation into one of Puget Sound’s earliest Japanese immigrant communities.

The donor, a Bainbridge woman who lives not too far from the Yama site, read about Chandler’s desire to preserve and protect Yama’s many artifacts in THIS Kitsap Sun story.

Her donation will be used to hire archeologists to survey of the 7-acre site and eventually oversee a dig. Chandler wants to involve young people in the process, possibly helping to excavate artifacts that would be displayed or stored at the museum.

Read more about the donation HERE.

The above photo is of a shoe I found partially embedded in the soil at Yama. For more images of Yama artifacts, see THIS photo gallery.

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Federal grant awarded for internment memorial’s “story wall”

The effort to build a Japanese-American internment memorial received a $183,000 boost from the federal government this week.

The Bainbridge Island Japanese-American Exclusion Memorial’s grant was part of almost $3 million awarded by the National Park Service to projects that highlight the detainment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

“The Japanese-American internment experience is an important chapter in American history,” NPS Director Jon Jarvis said in a statement. “The National Park Service is honored to be part of this shared effort to preserve these sites, which are a tragic reminder of a shameful episode in our past, and a compelling lesson on the fragility of our constitutional rights.”

The Bainbridge memorial’s grant will pay almost two-thirds of the $300,000 needed to design and install interpretive materials on the recently-constructed “story wall,” said Clarence Moriwaki, who recently stepped down from chairing the memorial committee.

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Internment memorial’s “story wall” breaks ground on Monday

storywall

Set to take shape later this month, a wall on Eagle Harbor’s south shore will tell the story of the first Japanese-Americans who were shipped off to internment camps during World War II.

The 272-foot-long “story wall” is the latest installment in the Japanese-American memorial project at the west edge of Pritchard Park.

The nonprofit Bainbridge Island Japanese-American Memorial Committee plans to break ground with a ceremony on March 30, a day that marks the 67th anniversary Japanese-Americans were exiled for the duration of the war.

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Islander honored for internment memorial

Clarence Moriwaki was named conservationist of the year by the National Parks Conservation Association for his work to preserve the former Eagledale ferry dock as a National Park site and memorial to Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.

The Eagledale dock was the departure point for more than 200 residents living on Bainbridge Island — most U.S. citizens of Japanese descent — to internment camps in California and Idaho.

“On behalf of the generations before me — and with the hope of inspiring generations to come — I’m deeply humbled and honored to receive this award for the 120,000 Japanese Americans whose stories of sacrifice, courage, patriotism and grace are a shining and eternal beacon for freedom loving people everywhere,” Moriwaki said in a statement issued by the NPCA.

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TV in the newspaper

The Kitsap Sun is arming its photographers and reporters with cameras these days. That’s old news for folks that live on the mighty mainland, where everything from windy weather to school board meetings have been captured by Sun videographers. Lately, though, Sun photographer Carolyn Yaschur has made treks across Agate Pass with her camcorder in hand.

Here’s Carolyn’s video tour of Bainbridge High School’s new earth-friendly 200 Building:

And here’s a nice little piece on Sunday’s mochi festival:

You can read my stories about the 200 Building here, and my coverage of the mochi festival here.

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