Minoru Yamasaki
Minoru Yamasaki, a Japanese American architect, is regarded as one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century for his design of the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. He was born and grew up in Washington State, attended college at the University of Washington, and relocated to Manhatted in 1934, where he enrolled at New York University to pursue as master’s degree in architecture.
After graduating, he secured employment with the architecture firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, which was instrumental in keeping him out of the internment camps during WWII.
He was chairman of the Resettlement Council of Japanese American Organizations in New York City, and a representative of the Art Council of Japanese Americans for Democracy.
Yosei Amemiya
Yosei Amemiya was born in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1908. He moved to New York from the West Coast in 1914. He worked as both a painter and architectural and commercial photographer during the 1920s.
エリス島における日系一世の収容
Jiro Kozai (center) in New York City. c. 1930s. Courtesy of Kozai Family Collection at the JAANY Archive The story of Japanese Americans in New York has long been overlooked, yet it is rich with perseverance, injustice, and hope. Unforgotten Stories traces this journey beginning with early struggles, deepened by wartime internment, and evolving into a renewed fight for democracy, education, and community rebuilding. The journey begins with the Issei (the first-generation Japanese immigrants) who built lives in New York only to be uprooted during World War II. Suspected of disloyalty without evidence, many were detained at Ellis Island, facing isolation, uncertainty, and betrayal by a country they had hoped […]
Unforgotten Stories
Unforgotten New York Stories: Japanese and Japanese Americans in the 1940s To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Digital Museum of the History of Japanese in New York has organized an online exhibit to trace the experiences of Japanese and Japanese Americans in New York in the 1940s. This project aims to shed light on the little-known history of Japanese and Japanese Americans in the New York metropolitan area, particularly their human rights movements and social welfare efforts during World War II. This digital exhibit seeks to reveal the complexity embedded in these stories by highlighting the work of artists, journalists, writers, activists, and […]
日系人民主化委員会
The Japanese American Committee for Democracy (JACD) was an anti-fascist civil rights and social organization that united New York’s wartime Japanese community. Heavily influenced by the Communist Party, its members were engaged in both politics and the arts.
The JACD was founded in 1940 under the leadership of Reverend Alfred Akamatsu, the pastor of Manhattan’s Japanese Methodist Church.
The JACD was active throughouth WWII. First, it worked to build support for the war effort. Committee members organized a well-publicized blood donor brigade for soldiers, and made public statements calling for victory over Japan. Meanwhile, JACD members joined forces with the Office of War Information to make pro-allied radio broadcasts and pamphlets. They also focused on community activism and support, helping families find homes, employment, and social support networks.
After the Allied victory in summer 1945, JACD activities tapered off, before disbanding in late 1950.
University of Connecticut baseball Team: Baseball and the Second Wold War
The Nikkei Weekender League, All-Japanese Softball League in New York City
1934 American League All-Star Tour to Japan
The First Japanese American MBA Player in New York: Lenn Haruki Sakata
Yamanaka & Company
