Jonathan van Harmelen

jonathan

Jonathan van Harmelen is currently a Ph.D student in history at UC Santa Cruz specializing in the history of Japanese-American incarceration. He holds a BA in history and French from Pomona College and an MA from Georgetown University. He can be reached at jvanharm@ucsc.edu.

Updated February 2020

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Teiko Ishida – A Woman of Conviction in the JACL — Part 1

By Jonathan van Harmelen
10 Aug 2022

For most of its history, the leadership of the JACL has been composed largely of men. Figures such as Mike Masaoka, Saburo Kido, and Clifford Uyeda defined the various eras of the JACL’s existence, and it was not until the election of Lillian Kimura in 1992 that the JACL had a woman president. Still, from its earliest days, the JACL has been shaped by the contributions of women. In the early 1930s lobbyist Suma Sugi almost singlehandedly won repeal of the Cable Act. In the postwar years, individual women such as Mari Sabusawa and Ina Sugihara occupied leadership roles on a local level a…

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William Denman: A Voice of Dissent on the Courts - Part 2

By Jonathan van Harmelen
9 Jun 2022

Read Part 1 >> Throughout the war years, Denman would cross swords with DeWitt and the Western Defense Command in the test cases against the wartime exclusion of Japanese Americans. The first major case to approach the bench of the 9th Circuit, however, was the lawsuit Regan vs. King. Spearheaded by the Native Sons of the Golden West, who were represented by former California attorney general and noted anti-Asian activist Ulysses S. Webb, the lawsuit’s goal was to prevent Nisei voters held in camp from voting in the August 1942 California primaries. More broadly, the plaintiffs w…

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William Denman: A Voice of Dissent on the Courts - Part 1

By Jonathan van Harmelen
8 Jun 2022

The U.S. judicial system, by and large, failed to protect the rights of the Japanese American community during World War II. Although the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Francis Biddle, opposed the forced removal of U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry, in the end President Roosevelt approved mass removal, leading to mass incarceration. As Peter Irons noted in his landmark study Justice At War, the Supreme Court’s subsequent rulings in the cases of Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui, and Fred Korematsu, during which the government suppressed and manipulated evidence, represented…

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Saving the Voices of the Past: An Interview with Arthur Hansen

By Jonathan van Harmelen
20 May 2022

On June 4, 2022, the Japanese American National Museum will host an event in celebration of the publication of Yoshito Kuromiya’s edited memoir, Beyond the Betrayal: The Memoir of a World War II Japanese American Draft Resister of Conscience. As one of the few firsthand accounts of the Heart Mountain Draft Resisters, Kuromiya’s memoir is an important text that documents the personal views of one of the famed resisters. Beyond the Betrayal’s editor and distinguished historian Art Hansen, along with famed Sansei poet Lawson Inada, will join the Kuromiya family in a conversat…

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Daisuke Kitagawa: Civil Rights and Anti-Racism Activist — Part 2

By Jonathan van Harmelen
9 May 2022

Read Part 1 >> Throughout the postwar years, Reverend Kitagawa remained in Minneapolis, where he maintained an active voice in local affairs as an expert on race relations while working for the Federal Council of Churches. In February 1946, Professor Frank Rarig of the University of Minnesota interviewed Reverend Kitagawa for a local Minneapolis radio station. During the interview, Kitagawa referenced forced removal of Japanese Americans, stating that the community had faced wrongful persecution, but he praised the members’ successful adjustment to their new lives in Minneapolis.…

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Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Jonathan van Harmelen

Series this author contributes to

Roger Arakaki, Chef and Teacher

The Nisei Women Who Fought—And Won—An Early Redress Battle In Seattle

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Intercultural Communication Through Sushi

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Food for Thought—TikTok & Tamagoyaki

子どもをサーファーにするため渡米 ― 五十嵐ツトムさんとミサさん

Nikkei Chronicles #12—Growing Up Nikkei: Connecting with Our Heritage

Journal Entry #Lesson 3450: "Sharpen Your Pencils!"

Narumi Ogusuku Ubiquitous Nikkei Artist

Herald Salutes – Staff Sergeant Higuchi

The Morgenthau Diaries and FDR's Troubling Views of Minorities

書評：和泉真澄『日系カナダ人の移動と運動―知られざる日本人の越境生活史』

1992年渡米、目標は「アカデミー賞」— 俳優の井上英治さん

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tiempos pandémicos: teletrabajo y koden digital

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 e os heróis anônimos

香川県海外移民の父：今雪真一の情熱と功績

第３部：金子正則知事の南米訪問とその主な見解

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Journal Entry #Lesson 3450: "Sharpen Your Pencils!"

Narumi Ogusuku Ubiquitous Nikkei Artist

Herald Salutes – Staff Sergeant Higuchi

The Morgenthau Diaries and FDR's Troubling Views of Minorities

Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 2

Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 1

Remembering Roger Daniels

Journal Entry #6am – 8am: "Childhood Delusions..."

Digging up Ways to Honor Her Ancestors—Kyoko Oda and Ireichō

Aloha 'Oe, Dr. Franklin Odo: Remembering a Brilliant Scholar and a Special Mentor and Friend - Part 2

Aloha 'Oe, Dr. Franklin Odo: Remembering a Brilliant Scholar and a Special Mentor and Friend - Part 1

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Cuando llegue el momento

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Parental Responsibilities

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No Christmas Like an Inouye Family Christmas

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Grammy-Nominated Musician Masa Takumi and His Move to the U.S. in 2018

ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 1

Academy Award Nominated Writer Iris Yamashita Uses Her Lifelong Love of Writing to Forge Her Next Chapter

Dr. T.T. Yatabe, the American Loyalty League, and the Birth of the JACL

Chapter 11 (Part 1) Picture-Bride Marriages on the Rise

How Do Nikkei Living in Japan Spend Their New Year?

Bay Area Man Recalls Career Exploring World for Energy in Exotic Places

Journal Entry #70 MM, B.C.: "Santa Claus is coming to town!"

In Tribute to Roger Daniels: The Father of Us All

Remembering Roger Daniels—A Reflection

William Saroyan and the search for "The Japanese American Novel"

Joe Oishi’s Nursery and The Promised Year

Stone Songs

Reflections on a Concocted Conversation

40 Years of Toronto Taiko with Kiyoshi Nagata — Part 2

'A Heuristic Model' for Historians to Emulate with Other Camps

Nikkei in Motown: Masao Hirata, Diego Rivera and Japanese in Detroit

Journal Entry #2023: "I Resolve to Win the Lotto..."

Japanese Canadian Culture Through a Japanese Lens

A Lifetime Christmas Gift

Two Books That Shine New Light on the Nisei Experience in Japan

Expansion

Recollections from Jerome and Rohwer

ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 2

Candies Falling from the Sky

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