The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) has extended the viewing and stamping of the Ireichō, the sacred book that records — for the first time ever — the names of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly imprisoned in U.S. Army, Department of Justice, and War Relocation Authority camps during World War II, to Dec. 1, 2024.
Reservations are required and can be made online at http://janm.org/ireicho.
Since its arrival at JANM on Sept. 24, 2022, visitors from across generations, the nation, and the globe have visited the museum to stamp the names as a way to honor those incarcerated during World War II. Community participation continues to “activate” it and rectify the historical record by correcting misspelled names or revealing names that may have been omitted from the record.
The Ireichō is part of Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration, which addresses the erasure of the identities of individuals of Japanese ancestry who experienced wartime incarceration and expands the concept of what a monument is through three distinct, interlinking elements: a sacred book of names as a monument (Ireichō), a website as a monument (Ireizō), and light sculptures as monuments (Ireihi).
The project is funded by the Mellon Foundation and led by Duncan Ryuken Williams, co-curator of “Sutra and Bible: Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration” at JANM, professor of American studies & ethnicity and religion as well as director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture.