Quiet Americans is a digital storytelling project about Japanese American history — stories of injustice, resilience, and resistance. We explore the lessons we’ve learned and the ones we failed to, from the past.
This project is inspired by the life of one Nisei (a second-generation Japanese American) who went from incarceration camps to volunteering for the U.S. Army. He served in the Pacific, worked in post-war Japan as a Military Intelligence Service officer, and later fought in the Korean War. Yet, like so many in his generation, he rarely spoke about it. He carried his story quietly. We’re here to tell these stories, so we never forget.
Latest Stories
Operation Meetinghouse
March 9, 1945: The firebombing of Tokyo became the deadliest air raid in history, killing an estimated 100,000 people and destroying much of the city.
Zenimura Field
Known as the father of Japanese American baseball, Kenichi Zenimura built a baseball field inside the Gila River War Relocation Center. On March 7, 1943, the first official game was played at Zenimura Field, launching a 32-team league that became the heart of camp life.
Toraichi Kōno
In 1932, ultranationalists plotted to assassinate Charlie Chaplin during his visit to Japan. Toraichi Kōno persuaded him to attend a sumo match instead of visiting Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. That evening, the Prime Minister was killed in the May 15 Incident. Chaplin survived.
Honouliuli Internment Camp
On March 1, 1943, Honouliuli Internment Camp opened on Oʻahu, the largest confinement site in Hawaiʻi during World War II. Under martial law, more than 2,200 people of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned across the islands. Known as Jigokudani, or “Hell Valley,” the camp held civilian internees and POWs before being abandoned and forgotten for decades.
Frank Chin
In 1978, when redress seemed stalled and political leaders dismissed reparations as “guilt mongering,” playwright Frank Chin helped rewrite the script. He helped launch the first Day of Remembrance, urging a community to publicly relive incarceration, reigniting a movement that would eventually lead to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
Bombardment of Ellwood
On February 23, 1942, a Japanese submarine shelled the California coast in the Bombardment of Ellwood. The damage was minor, but panic spread. The next night, the so-called “Battle of Los Angeles” sent more than 1,400 U.S. anti-aircraft shells into the sky. Within days, mass removal of Japanese Americans formally began.
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Japanese Canadian Incarceration
January 14, 1942 marked the beginning of a seven-year exile for Japanese Canadians. More than 27,000 people were removed, incarcerated, and barred from returning home until 1949.
Kanaye Nagasawa
Kanaye Nagasawa was the first Japanese national to live permanently in the United States and became the first Wine King of California. His legacy tells a story of ambition, success, and an American dream that could not be passed on because of discriminatory laws.
Angel Island Immigration Station
Angel Island Immigration Station opened in 1910 to enforce anti-Asian immigration laws. Asian immigrants were detained, interrogated, and excluded by design, turning immigration enforcement into incarceration decades before WWII.