Japanese Internment Memorial Vignettes/Essay

The Japanese Internment Memorial is located at the East Plaza of Robert Peckham Federal Building which is a half a block from the Original War Relocation Authority Building for Washington, California, and Arizona. The art piece was commissioned by San Jose Public Art Program and initiated by Commission on the Internment of Local Japanese Americans. Their goal is to educate the public on the internment of local Japanese Americans through public projects.

Ruth Asawa was the artist who made this Japanese Internment Memorial in 1994. Ruth Asawa is nationally recognized for her wire sculpture, public commissions, and activism in education and arts. When she was 16 years old her father was arrested by the F.B.I. and her family was brought to a temporary intern camp at the Santa Anita Race Track. They lived in horse stables for 6 months and that is where she continued to work on her art work.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt made an Executive Order 9066 to exclude any person of Japanese ancestry living in the west coast from residing and working in certain locations. There was a mass evacuation of Japanese people of whom were U.S. citizens and legal permanent resident aliens. Families were forced to leave their homes, properties, and businesses by government and placed in internment camps which is heavily guarded by armed guards. The Japanese Americans loses their right to freedom and the privacy of their own family life. Japanese Americans were first placed in temporary intern camps then later moved far from the coast. They were detained up to 4 years.

Before the internment camps existed there was a community established in downtown San Jose. At the very beginning Chinatown was burned down due to mysterious reasons and the Chinese began to make their houses out of bricks. Then the Japanese began to settle in wood homes due to the labor work in San Jose. The Japanese and Chinese began a community of their own on Jackson St. However, during the Japanese internment almost 53 businesses closed in Japantown. Only limited belongings was allowed to be taken with them to the internment camps so they used their Buddhist and Methodist Churches as a storage for their belongings. Japantown still exists today and after the internment Japantown was known to be a treasure still kept.

San Jose State University's involvement during the Japanese Internment was the Civil Control Station. The old mens gym also known as Yoshiro Uchida Hall was used to register and collect Japanese Americans before sending them to internment camps. The control station was also a place to give advice and instruction for the internment, provide services for their properties whether they wanted to lease or sell it.

(Below is a newspaper calling all Japanese-Americans to SJSU)


It was amazing to see the many details of the Japanese Internment in this memorial. The viginettes that stood out to me the most was the "Immigration and Pre-War Life," side of the art piece. At the very left side of it shows a ship that is docked in America. It also shows Angel Island where the immigrants had to pass through immigration officers. This reminds me of the many stuggles and discrimination Asian Americans faced in the U.S. Many of the immigrants came to America in hopes for better opportunities for themselves and their families.The Japanese Americans' stories of difficulties finding success in the working fields is similar to my story of Filipino American immigrants. They faced racism yet they found ways to excel in the American society.

The second viginette that stood out to me was the barb wire that was placed on top and across both sides of the art work. The paper airplane that is flown above the barbwire symbolizes freedom. The paper airplane is the only thing that is free to leave the internment camps. Japanese Americans in the internment camp could leave the campsite only if they were to join the US military during World War II, but many of them risked their lives during the war and sometimes faced death during the war.

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Weekly Journal Post #6

CHILDREN SUFFER FROM LEAD POISONING AT THEIR OWN HOME

In Milwaukee Blanca Dela Cruz's 3 year old son, Miguel was poisoned by lead according to the City Health Department. Last February over a course of a couple of days Miguel was acting strange. The little boy was clumsy, irritable, and high strung which led Blanca to seek for medical attention for Miguel. A blood test reported Miguel's blood lead level at 33 ug/dL, a few more points and Miguel can be in serious condition. It is a red alert sign for pediatricians when a child's blood tests shows lead levels of 10 ug/dL. After the incident an inspector visited the home to see the cause of the lead poisoning. The lead was coming from paint dust created by years of opening and closing the windows.

The U.S. Government banned lead paint in 1978 and oil companies began to phase out leaded gasoline in 1975. However, nearly decades after the paint ban hundreds and thousands of children mostly under 6 years old show signs of lead exposure. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that one in four children living in housing with deteriorated painting was not aware of the dangers in the past.

Economists and researchers plan to wipe out lead poisoning in a few years by finding every home in America built before the 1960s and replace the old lead painted windows with a new one.

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Journal #5: Fish Out of Water

San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin

This past Sunday I attending a service at the Buddhist temple in Japantown San Jose. The way the temple is designed is similar to the houses in Japan. The temple is surrounded with different plants and flowers. Once we opened the door you can see the altar with a golden buddha in the middle. The had pews and the place highly smelled of incense. The service was all in the Japanese language and many of their worship contained a lot of chanting. In the end they acknowledged the visitors and my friend and I were introduced to the congregation. I told them that we were students from San Jose State University and I was doing a project in class. Everybody was welcoming and smiling. After the service we were approached by a man who further informed us about their religion.

He was one of the youth leaders in the church and he further explained about their belief. Their path to enlightenment were the three treasures: Dharma (the teachings), Sangha (the people), and Buddha (the enlightened one). True Land Pure Religion was started by Shinran Shonin. The people in the temple is awaken to mankind to wisdom and compassion of Amida Buddha and that was the first time I learned that there were different types of Buddhas.

San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin has a great senses of community involvement. The church has many services that cater to both the youth and adult. They seem to have a very strong youth group because they have a choir, Dharma School, and Japanese Language School.

When I compare it to my Catholic Church there are similarities. My church also acknowledges visitors to our Parish. We have Saturday School for the youth but it is to receive their first communion or confirmation. The youth group is also active and they participate during the mass whether it is ushering people or being a part of the eucharistic ministry.

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Journal #6 Targeting Audiences

Ikea Lamp Ad Campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07xDdFMdgw Link to the commercial.......

The Ikea Lamp targets middle class people from the 17-30 age group. Knowing Ikea products are not so expensive the consumers they are targeting are high school students going away for college and living on their own. Also it can reach out to newly college graduates who are ready to settle down with their career and purchase a home for themselves.

This commercial portrays the lamp as a human being. In this case the red lamp is playing a role like an ex-boyfriend being thrown out of the house. While the lamp is left outside in the cold and rain it watches the woman through a window happy with her new lamp. The red lamp shows that it is jealous and the "funeral music" being played in the commercial is effective to set the mood. Then in the end a Swedish man says that the lamp has no feelings. The main message is to purchase a new item even though the old product still works.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Advertisement

This advertisement is focused more to target the youth aged 14-20. Teenagers that are in high school and college students under the age of 21.This age group is usually the period of curiousity and they are ready to explore the world of freedom and parties. This is when they are also encountering peer pressure whether its drugs, alcohol, or being sexually active.

In this case the advertisement portrays a young woman dressed in a graduation gown dead hanging over shattered glass. The picture shows the young woman was just involved in a car crash and the frame symbolizes a car window.

The message delivered to the audience shows drinking and driving can end a youth's vision to achieve their goals in life. Maybe in this case the young woman was about to graduate but she probably got killed by an irresponsible drunk driver who took her life away. This picture can be the outcome if people continue to drink and drive.

This printed ad is just another way to create awareness because alcohol is responsible for more young people's death than any illegal drugs combined. Media plays a huge influence on young people's minds and many of them are exposed to more alcoholic commercials rather than a commercial trying to sell them jeans. The alcohol commercials is giving irresponsible media messages to the youth saying that drinking is sexy, glamorous, and cool.

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Weekly Journal Post #5

San Jose Council Discusses Filters for Libraries

One of the articles that caught my attention this week is Council Discusses Filters for Library in the Spartan Daily. The article states that Mayor Chuck Reed alongside with city council members talked about council member Pete Constant's proposal about restricting public access to pornography in the public libraries in San Jose by using a filter.

With the new technology today they believe that the filters will be a way to stop this act amongst the public. There is no decision made by the council however they will remain analyzing the different types of filters.

The council will work closely with the library director and city attorney and hopefully come up with a conclusion by early 2008.

However, parents and students are not too fond about the idea. A parent reports to be a former librarian and never encountered anyone viewing pornography through the public utilities in the library. According to the parents they believe that if the rules was never broken why bother to fix the problem. A student states that creating a filter for the computers should not be as important as many other issues in the San Jose community. The council members should focus on other issues.

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Weekly Journal Post #4

R.A.A.P. Conference at San Jose State University, November 9, 2007

On Friday, November 9, 2007 Akbayan, the Pilipino-American Organization of S.J.S.U. held their 2nd annual Raising Awareness Amongst Pilipinos youth conference.

The conference invites Pilipino students from all over the Eastside Union High School District in San Jose.During this event I was able to participate and attend the various workshops. The workshops includes awareness to the Pilipino Community, cultural dancing/music, Tagalog lessons, Pilipino-American history, identity, leadership, eskrima (Pilipino martial arts), Alibata writing(Ancient Pilipino Scriptures), and so forth. These types of workshops help educate the youth about their culture as well as build their knowledge on important issues that affect their community.

It is important to send these messages to the youth because they are the future of tomorrow. Many of the workshops presented during this event is never taught in school or is found in our history books. These students should pass on the knowledge that they gained in these workshops to prevent the culture from diminishing. "Know History Know Self, No History No Self," was the message exaggerated all throughout the event.

During this event I was able to deliver a speech about the injustices done to Filipino-American Veterans from World War II which is an ongoing struggle and fight within the community because they were not granted benefits. These courageous men and women is still asking for full equity that America promised them 61 years ago.

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Weekly Journal Post #3

Journalism 164's Trip to KTVU News Station

On Thursday, November 1, 2007 my class was able to visit a live taping of the ten 'o clock news. Our professor Roland DeWolk works as a special reporter and former producer at KTVU News so we were able to tour the building.

It was great to meet and speak with Frank Sommerville because he loves to talk. Frank shared many stories such as the various news reports that he had to do. One story he shared with us was the impact of his interview with a man whose wife was on Flight 93 during the September 11th Tragedy. Listening to the voice message of the woman really brought him into tears. Frank also gave us a couple of tips and informed us that this major is competitive and you have to be passionate and willing to live far away such as Rhode Island to pursue a career in broadcast.

During the tour we were able to see the cubicles of news reporters and anchors. Then we saw the editing rooms, green room, conference room, and the control room.

The best experience was sitting on the set and watching Frank Sommerville, Julie Haener, Bill Martin, and Mark Ibanez do the news live. It was so different from sitting at home on television and watching it right in front of my face. The news room was not as big as I thought it would be but the robot cameras (moved by itself) was interesting to watch.

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