Film by Claudia Katayanagi
The Wakasa Spirit Stone honors eight men killed in U.S. concentration camps, transforming silence into remembrance and resistance.
Originally built by friends of James Wakasa and buried in secret by the Issei after the War Department and War Relocation Authority ordered its destruction, the stone was rediscovered decades later by archaeologists Mary Farrell and Jeff Burton, guided by a map uncovered by Nancy Ukai.
Now reimagined as a traveling washi paper sculpture made by survivors and descendants, the Wakasa Spirit Stone returns to the sites where these men were killed, ensuring their stories live on.
As we await a response from the Topaz Museum Board on our proposal to preserve the original memorial site and stone, we continue to carry forward the legacy of the Wakasa monument—shedding light on the lives lost behind barbed wire and the histories once buried.
Upcoming Event | The Wakasa Spirit Stone at Manzanar.
Join us for a tribute on Saturday, April 26 at 8:15 PM at the historic main gate, honoring James Ito and Katsuji “Jim” Kanagawa, two young men killed during the 1942 uprising. The event is part of Manzanar at Dusk. Wakasa Memorial Committee member Satsuki Ina will be delivering the keynote for this year’s pilgrimage.
We remember. We honor.
The Wakasa Spirit Stone was made by the hands of survivors and descendants of the concentration camps.
The Wakasa stone “was being made to witness and endure something beyond its control. It was humiliated. . .Since its removal, it had inspired distress, re-division. It seemed that another stone was warranted, a second stone to console the spirit of the first.”
— BRANDON SHIMODA
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