Concentrational Resonance
A project-in-progress about the Japanese American Concentration Camps during World War II that involves personal family history, literary excavation, resource sharing, essays, poetry, site visits, presentations, pilgrimage organzation, photography, and more.
In the summer of 2021, my wife and I took a road trip that included a stop in Arkansas to visit the site of the Rohwer concentration camp. This was where my grandparents, and their extended families, were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. It was an incredibly moving and resonant experience. I took in a great deal while wandering the site, but what hit me hardest was how much I didn’t know about my Grandparents’ story. I was inspired to learn more, and to get more involved in documenting and creating awareness of the Japanese American incarceration experience during World War II.
Since this initial road trip, which also included visiting the Jerome site, my wife and I have visited three more of the ten concentration camps: Tule Lake in California, Minidoka in Idaho, and Topaz in Utah. I've also joined the planning committee for the 2024 Jerome/Rohwer Pilgrimage, currently being organized by JAMP and set for June 5-8, 2024.
Photos, essays, and resources will continually be added to the site. You can also sign up for my bi-monthly newsletter on all things camp-related — resources, news, projects, photos, pilgrimage updates, and more.
And if you are interested in learning more about the Jerome/Rohwer Pilgrimage in 2024, feel free to drop me a note.
Hello, I’m Jeffrey Yamaguchi.
My grandparents (and their families) were incarcerated at the Rohwer Concentration Camp in Arkansas during WWII. This is family history that I’ve known my entire life, but it wasn’t until I visited the Rohwer site with my wife in the summer of 2021 that I started to fully grasp the immensity of this story — mostly how little I really knew or understood. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to visit more of the sites, connect with others in the Japanese American community, and join the Jerome/Rohwer Pilgrimage Planning Committee. Concentrational Resonance is a project-in-progress where I will be sharing this ongoing journey of discovery.
The Role of Photography in the Pilgrimage Experience
Featured panel in JAMP’s 2023 Tadaima Program
A panel and discussion on the role of photography — past, present, and future — in the camp pilgrimage experience — how historical images and contemporary photos of the camps and their survivors/descendants help us navigate and process our understanding (including all the things we will never know) of the World War II Japanese American incarceration experience. Documentary photographer Haruka Sakaguchi will discuss her in-progress project Campu: An American Story, which showcases portraits and testimonies of survivors and their descendants at their respective camps. Photographers Sandy Sugawara and Catiana Garcia-Kilroy will present their recently published photography book Show Me the Way To Go To Home, which features photographs of the 10 incarceration camps as they stand today. And author Jeffrey Yamaguchi will share an in-progress project about the photography of his Grandfather, Fred Yamaguchi, who ran the Rohwer Photo Studio at the Rohwer concentration camp.
