Japanese American community members hold Day of Remembrance events throughout the United States each year to commemorate the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Feb. 19, 1942, which led to the mass incarceration of some 120,000 persons of Japanese descent on the West Coast in American concentration camps.

SATURDAY, FEB. 8
The Livingston-Merced chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League will hold its Day of Remembrance banquet, with a 5 p.m. social hour followed by dinner at 6 p.m. at the Merced County Fairgrounds, Pavilion Building, 900 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, Merced, Calif. Nikiko Masumoto will perform a one-woman show titled “What We Could Carry,” portraying the testimonials of 13 individuals on their wartime incarceration experiences. Masumoto is a farmer, artist and activist. Dinner $45 per person. Deadline to RSVP for dinner was Jan. 25. Send check to Livingston-Merced JACL, 1812 Canal Street, Suite 120, Merced, CA 95340. Info: Janet at janetf127@gmail.com or (209) 631-1933.

SATURDAY, FEB. 15
“Relocation, Arkansas,” which follows the journey of a Sansei who confronts his family’s past in an Arkansas concentration camp, will be screened from 1 to 3 p.m. at the California Museum, 1500 11th St., Sacramento, Calif. Vivienne Schiffer’s film follows the journey of a man who confronts his family’s wartime history, revealing the story of those who stayed behind, and how a small-town Arkansas mayor, Rosalie Gould, became a legend in the Japanese American community. A reception will preceed the film from noon to 12:45 p.m. Donations will be accepted at the door: General admission $20, students $15, includes reception with Schiffer and admission to view the Exhibit “Uprooted – Japanese American During World War II.” Free parking in the surface street lot at 10th and O streets. The Northern California Time of Remembrance – Florin, Lodi, Placer County and Sacramento Japanese American Citizens League chapters, The California Museum, Elk Grove Unified School District and Delegata – Solutions Without Borders, Kais Menoufy are the event sponsors. Info: (916) 508-6587 or visit www.nctor.org.

The Manzanar National Historic Site will hold its annual Day of Remembrance event, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Manzanar Visitor Center, 5001 Highway, 395, six miles south of Independence, Calif. Early in 1942, federal agents arrested Bill Nishimura’s father. The young Nishimura and his mother left their Lawndale, Calif. farm for the Visalia area, believing that Japanese Americans east of Highway 99 would not be sent to American concentration camps. By August, however, the government ordered the Nishimuras to the Poston concentration camp in Arizona. From there, Bill Nishimura was sent to Tule Lake, Calif., Santa Fe, N.M. and Crystal City, Texas before being released in 1947. His story is among those highlighted in “Silent Voices of World War II: When Sons of the Land of Enchantment Met Sons of the Land of the Rising Sun,” which Nancy Bartlit co-authored. Bartlit served on the committee to mark the site of the concentration camp in Santa Fe. They will also sign copies of Bartlit’s book in the Manzanar History Association bookstore. Free and open to the public. Info: (760) 878-2194 or visit nps.gov/manz.

The 2014 Los Angeles Day of Remembrance, “Generations Speak Out: Impacts of EO 9066,” will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 North Central Ave. The event will reflect the impacts of Executive Order 9066 — which led to the mass incarceration of Nikkei on the West Coast during World War II — on multiple generations of Japanese Americans. The following artists will perform: Nisei poet Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Nisei author Dr. Akemi Kikumura Yano, Sansei performance artist Jude Narita, Shin-Nisei author Dr. Velina Hasu Houston and Yonsei performance artist Sean Miura. Riku Matsuda, host of “Flip the Script” on KPFK 90.7 FM and Traci Ishigo will emcee the program. Light refreshments will be served during the reception. Info: Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress at (213) 284-0336, Pacific Southwest district of the JACL at (213) 626-4471 or the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414. The Manzanar Committee is also a sponsoring organization.

SUNDAY, FEB. 16
The Nihonmachi Outreach Committee will present San Jose’s 34th annual Day of Remembrance event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, 640 North Fifth St. in San Jose’s Japantown. Commemorating Executive Order 9066, this year’s program, “Civil Liberties and War,” will address the indignities that Japanese Americans suffered during the war, and what Arabs, Muslims and South Asian Americans face today. This year marks the 70th anniversary of Korematsu v. United States, the landmark Supreme Court case that challenged the legality of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Rep. Mike Honda, Dale Minami, who was the lead attorney on the team that overturned the late Fred Korematsu’s 1943 conviction, and Joe Yasutake, a former inmate of the Department of Justice’s World War II concentration camp in Crystal City, Texas, will speak. The free event will feature a candlelight procession through San Jose Japantown to honor the former inmates, and a performance by San Jose Taiko. Info: (408) 505-1186, info@sjnoc.org or visit www.sjnoc.org.

The JACL Central California District Council Day of Remembrance and Installation Luncheon will be held at Pardini’s, 2257 West Shaw Ave. in Fresno, Calif. The film “Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story” will be screened. Keynote speakers will be Grace Shimizu, leading organizer for the documentation and redress of the World War II Japanese Latin American incarceration, and Blanca Katsura of Reedley, who will share her personal incarceration experience. A social hour will begin at noon, with lunch following at 1 p.m. Tickets are $35 per person. RSVP deadline is Feb. 7. Info: Travis Nishi (559) 281-6497 or tsnishi@aol.com. To download registration form, visit www.fresnojacl.org.

The Chicago History Museum, 1601 North Clark Street, Chicago, Ill., will host their Day of Remembrance from 2 to 4 p.m. In 1944, the U.S. government charged 63 Nisei who were imprisoned in Heart Mountain, Wyo. when they refused to report for military service. They were willing to fight for their country, but only after their rights as citizens were restored. Actors from the community, will tell the stories of Heart Mountain draft resisters through excerpts of a reading of the trial that Keith Uchima produced and directed. Museum admission is free for Illinois residents on this day. Info: http://chicagohistory.org/planavisit/upcomingevents/commemorative-days or (773) 275-0097, ext. 222. Sponsors are the Chicago Japanese American Council, the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, the Chicago JACL, the Japanese American Service Committee and the Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19
The 12th annual De Anza College Day of Remembrance — “Race Prejudice, War Hysteria, and the Failure of Political Leadership: The World War II Internment of Japanese Americans and its relevance to the defense of civil liberties today” — will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Hinson Campus Center, De Anza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, in Cupertino, Calif. Featuring poet/editor and “Topaz” author Brian Komei Dempster, “Wherever There’s a Fight” co-authors Elaine Ellinson and Stan Yogi, Samina Faheen of American Muslim Voice, and former World War II inmates Tae Abramson and Kaz Ishida. A special recognition of donor Margaret Butcher for the Audrey Edna Butcher Civil Liberties Initiative will be presented by Tom Izu of the California History Center. Info: www.deanza.edu/califhistory/2014remembrance.html.

SATURDAY, FEB. 22
The Bay Area Day of Remembrance Consortium will present the Day of Remembrance 2014 “Never Again! Indefinite Detention, Rendition & Torture” from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, 1881 Post St. in S.F.’s Japantown. Judy Nihei and the Rev. Michael Yoshii will serve as the co-emcees. Wayne M. Collins will serve as the keynote speaker, and Carole Hayashino will speak on the incarceration of Nikkei in Hawai‘i during World War II. The performers will include: Shirley Muramoto playing the koto, the Rosa Park Elementary Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program’s fifth graders and Okinawan music. Aya Ino and Haruka Roudebush will serve as the co-emcees of the candlelighting ceremony. The group will hold a candlelight procession to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St. in S.F.’s Japantown Event is free. RSVP: (415) 921-5007. Reception will follow the program at the JCCCNC.

SUNDAY, FEB. 23
The Nichi Bei Foundation presents its third annual Films of Remembrance, featuring films related to the World War II forced removal and incarceration of the Nikkei community, from 2 to 8 p.m. at the New People Cinema, 1746 Post St. in San Francisco’s Japantown. Co-sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society, the San Francisco chapter of the JACL, the Bay Area Day of Remembrance Consortium, and the Nichi Bei Weekly, with funding by the Wayne Maeda Educational Fund. Films include:
• 2 p.m. — “Searchlight Serenade: Big Band Music in the WWII Japanese American Incarceration Camps.” With musicians Anthony Brown, and Yone Fukui of the G.I. Band of Heart Mountain.
• 3:45 p.m. — “Honor & Sacrifice: The Roy Matsumoto Story.” With producers Lucy Ostrander, Don Sellers and Karen Matsumoto.
• 5 p.m. — Story Art of Camp — “Tule Lake,” an animation by Michelle Ikemoto; “Hiro: A Japanese American Internment Story,” by Student Oscar winning director Keiko Wright; and “Searchlight Serenade,” an animation excerpt by Amy Uyeki.
• 6:30 p.m. — “The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans During World War II.” With Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i Executive Director Carole Hayashino.
Info: www.nichibei.org/films-of-remembrance.

The Portland chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League will hold its Day Of Remembrance event at 2 p.m. at Portland State University’s George C. Hoffmann Hall, 1833 SW 11th Ave., Portland Ore. The “Shared Injustice: Japanese American and Native American Experience” event will feature a panel with Native American and Japanese American community members commenting on a shared history of discrimination, and a presentation from Portland Taiko and Native American drummers.

The Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee, Friends of Minidoka, and Seattle University will present the Day of Remembrance Taiko Fundraiser 2014 at 1 p.m. at the Seattle University Pigott Auditorium, 901 12th Ave., Seattle. The event will feature taiko groups. Proceeds will go to scholarships for youth and former wartime inmates who are over age 80, to attend the Minidoka Pilgrimage. Tickets: $21.69, www.brownpapertickets.com/event/494872.