The bronze panoramic memorial stands 5 feet high and retells the history of Japanese Americans in narrative panels. From Asawa, who was interned at the age of 16, this memorial holds both autobiographical memories and memories of the approximately 110,000 other Japanese Americans who were interned. The memorial begins with a summary of the "Immigration and Pre-War Life" of Japanese Americans. The history starts with the arrival of Japanese in America by ships such as the Taiyo Maru and goes on to portray the first immigrants' steps out the of the immigration office and their dificult struggle to find success as laborers in the fields. The gradual success of the Japanese Americans' lives are seen through portraits of the Buddhist Church and other important buildings in the Japanese American Community.
Then, like Asawa's father, we see a man being taken away from his crops by the F.B.I. Next to this scene, a family is burning books, clothing, photos and letters that may connect them with Japan. At the end of this panel, one of the major symbols of the Japanese Americans' hard earned prosperty, Japantown, is being deserted as Japanese American families board buses to evacuate. In the foreground, a soldier posts signs notifying the Japanese Americans of their orders to sell or give away all they had worked for and evacuate to internment camps. This side is finished with a copy of Executive Order 9066 which called for the evacuation of all Japanese Americans.
On the smaller side panel, a copy of the Relocation Instructions is presented, as well as a map of the locations of the internment camps are given, and the population of each camp.
The next panel begins a summary entitled the "Hysteria of War" and continues with a pictoral of Japanese Americans boarding the train to the Santa Anita Race Track where, like the sculptor, Asawa, they were held in horse stalls for approximately 6 months until permanent camps were built. In the the center of this panel is a watchtower from which guards looked over the camps to ensure that none of the Japanese American would escape. Around this camp life takes place: people eat in the mess hall, children play baseball and volleyball, a mother receives a medal for her son who has died in battle and a paper plane flies out of the barbed wire fence representing the only thing that was free enough to leave the camps. Included are also pictorals of the life of Japanese Americans who were outside of the camps, but were still very much affected by the war. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team is portrayed cooking rice in a helmet over a campfire in a background of grave stones. The pictoral ends with the fight against the injustice of the internment which is represented by the portraits of such Japanese American leaders as Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi and Minoru Yasui. This side ends with a summary of "Camp Life and Post War".
Surrounding this monument are mon, Japanese family crests, which Asawa collected from the local Japanese American community of the Santa Clara Valley. These mon futher emphasizes the dedication of this memorial to the local Japanese Americans who were interned.
The memorial is completed with a side panel summarizing redress and a pictoral of three plants that are symbolically significant in the Japanese culture and have a number of different meanings. Matsu, the Japanese Pine can symbolize endurance; take, bamboo can symbolize strength and cherry blossoms, sakura, can symbolize friendship.
Kathleen Donnelly, "Witness to War: In 1942 Thousands of Japanese Americans Were Sent to Internment Camps. In 1994, A Memorial in San Jose Will Give Shape to Their Stories", San Jose Mercury News, Tuesday, 14 December 1993, Morning Final Edition, Living Sec., p. 1C.Staff, "Artist to Speak at Dedication of Memorial", San Jose Mercury News, Thursday, 3 March 1994, Morning Final Edition, Local Sec., p. 2B.
Staff, "Memorial Dedication is Saturday", San Jose Mercury News, Friday, 4 March 1994, Morning Final Edition, Editorial Sec, p. 7B.
Viloria, Theresa, "Monument to Honor Japanese: Memories of Internment Will Be Etched in Bronze", San Jose Mercury News, Wednesday, 24 June 1992, Morning Final Edition, Extra 4 Sec., p.1.
Erin Kimura
