Remembrance Gallery Now Open

Remembrance Gallery Now Open

By Barbara Mizoguchi
NAP Contributor

On August 15, 2024, survivors of any incarceration camp during World War II in 1942 and their descendants were invited to an exclusive ribbon cutting ceremony for the Remembrance Gallery at the Washington State fairgrounds in Puyallup, Washington. After several years from an idea to completion, the gallery is now open to the public. Located under the grandstand, the gallery is situated in the former area of the horse stalls where many incarcerated Japanese and Japanese Americans were wrongfully forced to live for several months. A replica of one of the stalls is featured inside the gallery with sounds that anyone would hear without closed off ceilings. At the other end of the gallery is an interactive area to learn more about the incarceration across the U.S. Visitors can touch large, lighted, electronic screens of their choice and dig deeper into the oral stories, photographs, and documents that might not have been previously known or available to the public.

Ribbon cutting ceremony. Left to right: Bill Weyerhaeuser, committee co-chair; Penny and Frank Fukui, committee co-chairs; Alice Hikido, Alaskan survivor; Mary Abo, Alaskan survivor; Cho Shimizu, survivor; Elsie Taniguchi, survivor; Jim Yamaguchi, committee advisor; Renee McClain, fair CEO; Barbara Mizoguchi, committee design consultant; Liz Dunbar, committee finance and PV-JACL board officer; Sharon Sobie Seymour, committee project manager and PV-JACL member; Eileen Yamada Lamphere, PV-JACL board president. Photo credit: Dave Asahara.

The main feature is the long monument in the center of the gallery. Against the wall is a large flat stone with raised lettering creating a wavy shape that symbolizes water that is important to Japanese culture (the flow of life). The vertical columns of stone consist of 7,600 names of each person incarcerated there. It is a poignant, emotional, and quiet sight to see the number of people who were incarcerated at the fairgrounds. It is more moving to see one’s own family or friends’ names in the monument and be able to touch it. The U.S. government called it an “assembly center” to initially gather individuals and families in the region for several months and then move them to a permanent camp, inland in the middle of nowhere.

Outside the gallery in the grandstand hallway are replicas of two partial barracks showing the bleak living conditions of the incarcerees. Windows in the barracks feature rotating images of the incarcerees, the government’s process, life within the camp and more.

Above, where the gallery signage is located are gold cracks along the horizontal beam. The cracks are replicas of kintsugi – the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery. Kintsugi represents the healing process and unites the past with the future. It teaches that the mended object can be more valuable and beautiful than the original, emphasizing the strength that comes from overcoming challenges.

The gallery is a partnership between the Washington State Fair and the Puyallup Valley – Japanese American Citizens League. Appreciation goes to the numerous donors who made the permanent gallery possible. (https://pvjacl.yamasakidesign.com/gallery/donors/) They were invited to an exclusive event prior to the opening day. Because of their contributions, the public can now learn about the discrimination in U.S. history not found in school books. The gallery also describes the emotional pain of being uprooted from daily life and losing everything. Even after the war, life was not normal.

The gallery is authentic, respectful, and thought-provoking, giving visitors a look at the Japanese community before, during, and after the war. It also reflects the hysteria, racism, and profiling – something that is still occurring today. Across the U.S. there is a common saying in the Japanese American community, “Nidoto Nai Yoni” – Let It Not Happen Again.