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Image: Japanese YWCA board, circa early to mid-1930s.  From the Michi Oka Onuma Collection, Japanese American Historical Archive.

About this project

This website is dedicated to the extraordinary spirit of our Issei (first-generation Japanese immigrants) women and is made possible by the support of Nihonmachi Little Friends; the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program; JA Community Foundation; and the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.

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Japanese Immigration to America

Dreaming of a New Life

Under construction

Image: "Issei picnic" Hatsumi Ishii

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The Birth of Their Dream

Under construction

Image: Japanese YWCA board, circa early to mid-1930s.  From the Michi Oka Onuma Collection, Japanese American Historical Archive.

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Japanese Americans During and After World War II

The Nightmare and Dreamscapes

Under construction

Image:Dorothea Lange.  Evacuation registration line at Kinmon Gakuen, 1942.

Friends in Need

The American Friends Service Committee (1942 - 1960)

Under construction

Image:Nihonmachi Little Friends (NLF) preschoolers participating in a protest against the San Francisco YWCA’s decision to sell the building, evicting NLF and other tenants.  Photo courtesy of Nihonmachi Little Friends.

The Redevelopment Era: Community Heritage Under Siege

Just a Dream  (1960 - 2002)

Under construction

Reclaiming the Issei Women's Legacy

Reawakening - The Struggles for 1830 Sutter

Under construction

Image:Nihonmachi Little Friends (NLF) preschoolers participating in a protest against the San Francisco YWCA’s decision to sell the building, evicting NLF and other tenants.  Photo courtesy of Nihonmachi Little Friends.

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Honoring the Legacy

Their Dreams Continue

Under construction

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