GARDENA, CA – The Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI) will hold its annual Day of Remembrance (DOR) on Saturday, February 28, 2026, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the GVJCI Main Hall, 1964 West 162nd Street, Gardena, CA.
Day of Remembrance is the annual event in commemoration of the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII. DOR commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066, which caused the mass removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
This year’s program will feature the film Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp, followed by a panel discussion which contextualizes the historical events and examines the parallels with present day events involving ICE raids on immigrant communities.
This program is free to attend. RSVP not required. For more information, please visit the GVJCI website.
About The Film: Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp
Survivors of Minidoka, a concentration camp in the Idaho desert, tell the story of the incarceration of Japanese Americans by the U.S. government purely on the basis of race. Through a series of compelling interviews, “Betrayed: Surviving An American Concentration Camp” explores the unconstitutional suspension of the civil rights of these Americans during WWII and the long-lasting impact of the incarceration on their community.
Moderator: Mike Murase, Nikkei Progressives
Mike Murase is a member of Nikkei Progressives. Mike was born in Japan and grew up in the Crenshaw District. Since the 1960s, Mike has been involved in numerous social justice movements. At UCLA, he co-founded the Asian American Studies Center and GIDRA, an Asian American movement publication.
In Little Tokyo, he co-founded Little Tokyo Service Center and was active in Little Tokyo People’s Rights Organization and NCRR. Later, he was the Director of Service Programs at LTSC and also led the capital campaign team to build Terasaki Budokan.
For over two decades, he worked in South Central LA and Watts as a community organizer and a political operative. He was the coordinator of the Los Angeles Free South Africa Movement and the California Rainbow Coalition.
Speaker: traci kato-kiriyama, writer, performer, cultural producer, community organizer
traci kato-kiriyama (they+she residing and working on unceded Gabrielino Tongva, Chumash, Kizh, Acjachemen, Puvunga lands) is the author of Navigating With(out) Instruments; performer and principal writer of PULLproject Ensemble; and a multi/transdisciplinary artist recognized for their work as a theater deviser, writer/performer, cultural producer, community organizer, and audiobook narrator. tkk is an organizer with Nikkei Progressives and NCRR dedicated to lifelong social justice and Reparations work. They are also the director/founder of Tuesday Night Project, a member of Okaeri, and on the board for Women Who Submit.
Speaker: An Le, Assistant Director of Community Building & Engagement, Little Tokyo Service Center
An Le is Assistant Director of Community Building & Engagement at Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), where she oversees the small business program and coordinates community engagement projects, including voter education and mobilization. Prior to coming to LTSC, she worked at various worker and community-based organizations, focusing on community engagement and organizing campaigns to build community and worker power.
Speaker: Amy Oba, Nikkei Progressives
Amy Oba is a leader with Nikkei Progressives, a multigenerational community organization based in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo. She is an organizer in a Rapid Response Network to protect her community from the ICE raids in LA. Her grandparents were interned in Heart Mountain, WY during WWII.
