This experiential learning project as a part of Knox College Intercultural Summer Immersion Program explored the history of Japanese Americans in Chicago held in the summer of 2023, following in their footsteps. Compared to Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans on the West Coast, the experiences of Japanese Americans in Chicago are often overlooked. How did Chicago's relationship with Japan begin? Do you know many Japanese Americans who came to Chicago after leaving the incarceration camps? Through online resources, experts' talks, and the historic preservation activities of several organizations, we deciphered where Chicago's Japanese American community came from, how they lived before, during, and after World War II, and what Japanese Americans are doing now. During a one-week stay in Chicago, we visited many places related to Japanese Americans. The importance of history as a link to the present and the importance of passing on history was understood through research on the history of Japanese Americans and the context in which that research exists in today's society. This intercultural project was also an opportunity to reflect on personal family history. Students learned to conduct research through practice and created a digital archive on the research experience as a culmination. We hope this website can be one of the gateways for people to learn the history of Japanese Americans in Chicago. (Instructor: Natsumi Hayashi)

You can retrace our journey on the Google map below. Acknowledgments are below the map.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our deepest appreciation to the following professionals, scholars, organizations, and communities in alphabetical order: Donny Anderson, Bill Bohlman, Nobuko Chikamatsu, Takako Day, Jason Finkelman, Stephanie Hinnershitz, Karen Kanemoto, Carol Ruth Kimmel, Sawako Kojima, Emma Saito Lincoln, Erik Matsunaga, Rich McLaughlin, Jean Mishima, Ron Miyamura, Alice Murata, Brand D. Nakashima and the Nakashima family, Ruby Tsuji, Ayako Yoshimura, Noriko Taira Yasohama, Buddhist Temple of Chicago, Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, Japanese Mutual Aid Society, Japanese American Service Committee, Lakeside Church of Chicago, Midwest Buddhist Temple, The University of Chicago Library, and The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At Knox, we extend our gratitude to Jennifer Andrella, Weihong Du, Todd Heidt, Michael Joseph, Erin Newton, Michael Schneider, and Asian Studies Program.

Credits

Knox College Summer Immersion Program 2023: Japanese American History in Chicago SU23

           In front of the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) in North Clark Street, Chicago. 

Land Acknowledgment

Our website extends its deepest respect and recognition to the Indigenous peoples and nations on whose ancestral lands we now stand, including the territories of the Council of the Three Fires: the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe Nations, along with the Ho’Chunk, Meskwaki, Sauk, and Miami Nations. We acknowledge that the area known today as Chicago has been a vital homeland to numerous Indigenous nations throughout history and continues to be a vibrant community for Native peoples. We honor the enduring relationship between these nations and their traditional territories, emphasizing that the land we gather, work, and live in has always been and will always be Native land.