On January 19th, JASC partnered with the NCCA (Nineteenth Century Charitable Association) to present an exclusive panel discussion exploring the importance of preserving oral histories from the Japanese American community.
Board Member and community leader Mike Tanimura introduced the Japanese American Service Committee, highlighting its history supporting the more than 20,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans who resettled in Chicago after being released from incarceration camps during World War II. He also shared where JASC is today: an organization dedicated to preserving Japanese and Japanese American culture and stories through cultural programming, social services, and the JASC Legacy Center.
Ross Harano and Linda Kawano—both contributors to the JASC Legacy Center’s Oral History Project—shared their experiences growing up in Chicago after World War II and reflected on how incarceration shaped their families’ lives and identities.
See below for the full video of the presentation.
JASC Oral History Project
The JASC Oral History Project is an ongoing effort of the JASC Legacy Center to record, preserve, and share oral history interviews documenting the lived experiences of Chicago’s Japanese American community. While the program has existed under different names and funding sources over the years—often in collaboration with partners such as the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society—its core goal has remained the same: to capture intergenerational stories of Japanese Americans in Chicago and the Midwest.
A major focus of the project has been documenting experiences of World War II incarceration and resettlement in Chicago, helping to address a critical gap in WWII scholarship and public memory. In addition to recording elders’ wartime stories, the project also includes interviews with younger generations and individuals whose voices have often been marginalized, including postwar immigrants, multiracial families, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and others whose experiences expand the historical record. Click the button below to learn more.
