Japanese Internment

KUOW Newsroom

The cherry trees are safe outside of Pike Place Market — for now

The city of Seattle has postponed its plans to chop down the cherry trees outside of Pike Place Market, after preservation activists petitioned the mayor and city council in the 11th hour, asking them to "stay the execution."

KUOW Newsroom

'Sacred ground': Why Camp Minidoka's survivors say 'no' to this windfarm

Many Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War 2 at a federal camp in Minidoka, Idaho are opposing a wind farm project near the campsite. Over 13,000 people were imprisoned there, many were from the Seattle area.

KUOW Newsroom

Healing generational trauma of Japanese Americans through art

This month marks the 81st anniversary of Executive Order 9066, the World War II order that forcibly removed Japanese Americans on the West Coast and placed them into camps. Many of those who were incarcerated held American citizenship.

New memorial honors Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Washington State Fairgrounds

Over 7,500 Japanese Americans were incarcerated at the Washington State fairgrounds during World War II. A new memorial seeks to honor them.

Soundside

A story of resilience and patriotism after Japanese internment

120,000 Japanese Americans were forced into camps by the U.S. government during World War II. Seattle's May Namba became part of a movement to help those interned regain what they'd lost.

Soundside

Visiting the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial

On Bainbridge Island, just across Eagle Harbor from the ferry terminal in Winslow, there sits an idyllic 8-acre site, with water lapping at a small dock and light filtering down through towering trees. But the beauty of the space belies its dark history.

KUOW Newsroom

Japanese Americans remember the legacy of 'camp' 80 years after their incarceration

It was 80 years ago this month that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. It was 10 weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and it led to the incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent. This is the story of one Seattle family.

KUOW Newsroom

A little known dark episode in Seattle's Pike Place Market

Seattle turns 150 years old this year. To mark this major milestone, the city picked 150 objects from its archives that tell the story of the region’s early years. One of them highlights a little known dark episode in the city’s beloved icon, Pike Place Market.