Tsuruja Miyazaki: A Virginia Story of Japanese American Incarceration

TOPIC:

  • Asian American history, WWII history

Objectives:

  • Expand understanding of Japanese American incarceration during World War II using an example from Virginia’s past: that the story of incarceration was not limited to the west coast but had implications around the country.
  • Introduce more complex elements of a story that personalize the experience of Japanese Americans and others that World War II affected.
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INTRODUCTION

This lesson features the story of Tsuruju Miyazaki, who was on of thousands of Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII.

This is based on the story of how Regina Boone, a photojournalist from Virginia, kept a promise made by her father before he died, to learn about his Japanese father (Regina’s grandfather) whom he had never really known, having disappeared from his life in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  • Why were Japanese Americans rounded up after the attack on Pearl Harbor?
  • Under what authority were the rights denied of those who were detained?
  • Are there ways for the country to make up for the injustices carried out against its own people?
  • Why is it important to tell stories like that of Regina Boone’s grandfather and family?

KIT INCLUDES

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