“Cast in Bronze: Terminology and Memory of the Japanese American WWII Incarceration Experience” will be held at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, 1840 Sutter St. in S.F.’s Japantown, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The symposium will discuss euphemisms used to minimize or understate the involuntary incarceration of people of Japanese decent during World War II to better define the chapter of history for future generations. The event is free with lunch provided and a closing reception afterward. RSVP required, contact Hiroshi Shimizu at (415) 566-2279 or hshimizu@pacbell.net.

RSVP: Space is limited; RSVP required before Oct. 19 to Hiroshi Shimizu at (415) 566-2279 or hshimizu@pacbell.net.
Event organizers: Tule Lake Committee, Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, Japanese American National Library, and Lane Hirabayashi, Asian American Studies at UCLA. Event sponsors are Lane Hirabayashi and the Aratani Endowed chair, Asian American Studies at UCLA and the Tule Lake Committee.

Scheduled Speakers

9:30 a.m.:
Chris Lehnertz, Pacific West Regional Director of the National Park Service, which includes Manzanar, Minidoka and Tule Lake sites.
Tetsuden Kashima, professor of American ethnic studies at University of Washington and author of “Judgment Without Trial: Japanese American Imprisonment During World War II,” that examines the system of imprisonment of persons of Japanese descent in Department of Interior WRA concentration camps and internment at the Department of Justice camps.
Roger Daniels, emeritus professor of history at University of Cincinnati and seminal authority on the Japanese American wartime incarceration. Daniels is one of the earliest proponents of the term “concentration camps” to describe the WRA camps that incarcerated Japanese Americans in World War II.

11:20 a.m.: Community discussants Karen Kai and Steve Doi.

12:45 p.m.:
Don Hata, former Gardena City Councilman, emeritus professor of history at CSU Dominguez Hills, co-author of “Japanese Americans and World War II: Mass Removal, Incarceration, and Redress.” Hata served as editor for “Words Can Lie or Clarify,” Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga’s paper on terminology.
Karen Ishizuka, filmmaker and independent researcher, author of “Lost and Found: Reclaiming the Japanese American Incarceration,” that recounts the 1998 Japanese American National Museum exhibit, “America’s Concentration Camps” and negotiations with Jewish organizations over terminology used at the NPS’ Ellis Island museum exhibit.
Mako Nakagawa, president, Mako & Associates, educational consulting, Seattle, and primary author of the “Power of Words” Resolution passed by the JACL National Council in 2010.

2:30 to 3:30 p.m.:
Community discussion — Small groups facilitated by Satsuki Ina, Ph.D., psycho-therapist and filmmaker, “From a Silk Cocoon” and “Children of the Camps.”
Refreshments