Lost and Found: Reclaiming the Japanese American Incarceration

by Karen L. Ishizuka, John Kuo Wei Tchen (Foreword), Roger Daniels (Foreword)

For decades, a fog of governmental cover-ups, euphemisms, and societal silence kept the victims the mass incarceration of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II from understanding their experiences. The Japanese American National Museum mounted a critically acclaimed exhibition with the twin goals of educating the general public and encouraging former inmates to come to grips with and tell their own history.  Combining heartfelt stories with first-rate scholarship,  Lost and Found  reveals the complexities of a people reclaiming the past. Author/curator Karen L. Ishizuka, a third-generation Japanese American, deftly blends official history with community memory to frame the historical moment of recovery within its cultural legacy. Detailing the interactive strategy that invited visitors to become part of the groundbreaking exhibition, Ishizuka narrates the processes of revelation and reclamation that unfolded as former internees and visitors alike confronted the experience of the camps. She also analyzes how the dual act of recovering—and recovering from—history necessitates private and public mediation between remembering and forgetting, speaking out and remaining silent.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Marleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of how the exhibit of the Japanese American Museum, America's Concentration Camps. This is the story of America's shameful history of vilifying a powerless population because they looked like the enemy. There are many personal stories of the experience which are heartbreaking. Government policies damaged a whole generation of Americans.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The companion book to America’s Concentration Camps. Probably not useful if you’re not interested in that exhibit (and why would you want to revisit a specific museum exhibit from the 90s?).

[Jessica (JT) Thelen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars