From Incarceration to Advocacy: NCI Interns Trace History and Its Parallels to Today
NCI interns pose with JCYC Executive Director Jon Osaki in front of the gates of Kinmon Gakuen.
Japanese American families line up outside the gates of Kinmon Gakuen for "processing" in response to Civilian Exclusion Order Number 20 (Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration)
Don Tamaki with NCI interns
On June 18, the 2025 Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) interns were supposed to attend the opening retreat in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. However, that trip was unexpectedly cancelled because of the unrest from the indiscriminate raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that are tragically reminiscent of the unjust WWII roundup and incarceration of Japanese Americans. To reflect on the moment, the interns spent a day diving deep into the Japanese American incarceration experience and the parallels to what is currently taking place in America. JCYC Youth Development Director Erika Tamura applauded the team for making the day a success despite unexpected circumstances: “The 23rd class of Nikkei Community Interns should have been in Little Tokyo on June 18th, but we had to pivot due to the uncertainty in and around the Little Tokyo area at that time. Staff from JCYC quickly rallied members from the community to put together an extremely relevant day for the Northern California interns.”
The day included a visit to Kinmon Gakuen, which was the site where Japanese Americans in San Francisco were required to report following the military exclusion orders in 1942. There, the interns met with JCYC Executive Director Jon Osaki to learn about the historic role of the site, which was poignantly documented by photographer Dorothea Lange.
The interns then traveled to the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center in San Francisco’s Presidio. At the MIS Center, they had the opportunity to visit with attorney Don Tamaki, who served as a member of Fred Korematsu's legal team, which overturned his WWII wartime conviction for resisting exclusion orders. They also spent time with Dean Ito Taylor, Executive Director of API Legal Outreach (APILO), who shared the work they are doing today to support targeted immigrant communities.
JCCCNC Kase NCI intern Arine Alam
The programming left a lasting impression on many of the interns. “Having a day to explore San Francisco through this lens gave me a much greater appreciation for the city,” said Arine Alam who was placed at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC), “The part that resonated with me the most was meeting Dean Ito Taylor — his reflection on how past events have relevant connections to what’s happening today was incredibly insightful and a reminder to us all that history is more than just a relic of the past”.
NCI interns in Lt. General John L. DeWitt's office
JCCCNC Kase NCI intern Tim Takeda
The day concluded with a special visit to the site of the former Western Defense Command building and a chance to step into the former office of Lt. General John L. DeWitt, who issued the military order to incarcerate Japanese Americans in 1942. “Getting to be in General DeWitt’s office, and being inside the radio room where the signals came through for the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans was very impactful as it illustrated the significance of JA history right here in the Bay Area,” added Tim Takeda, another JCCCNC Kase intern.
NJAHS NCI intern Zora Uyeda-Hale
“It was very impactful to visit General DeWitt’s former office, which is now a part of The Bay School in the Presidio,” echoed Zora Uyeda-Hale, an intern at the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS), “Although they may look completely different today, sites like the MIS Historic Learning Center and General DeWitt’s office demonstrate that we will not allow history to be erased, misconstrued, or forgotten. Remembrance is resistance!”.
JCYC NCI intern Molly Maseba
JCYC NCI intern Molly Maseba found the day to be a refreshing departure from what she is used to, “From my previous experiences with predominantly JA-spaces, it felt normalized for young voices to be listened to but not applied. Throughout the day filled with speakers, walking tours, historical site visits, and having fun with the other interns, I felt like we had finally found a space where we were being included in the community”.
The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) is a statewide initiative that allows college students to support the work of community organizations while increasing their understanding of contemporary issues affecting Japanese Americans. Coordinated by JCYC in Northern California, the Japantown Community Congress of San Jose, and Kizuna in Southern California, the program supports the development of the next generation of community leaders. To learn more about NCI, click here.
