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Dean Ryuta Adachi

@initial_dean

Dean Ryuta Adachi is a half-yonsei, half-shin-nisei from Northern California. He is currently a PhD candidate in American History at Claremont Graduate University and a lecturer of Asian American Studies at Harvey Mudd College. His hobbies include snowboarding, judo, reading, watching sports, and volunteering in the Japanese American community.

Updated October 2011


Stories from This Author

Thumbnail for Part 5 of 5 – History is Found: Sumi and Masao Shigezane
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Producing Japanese American History: An exploration through the JANM archives
Part 5 of 5 – History is Found: Sumi and Masao Shigezane

May 31, 2012 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

Over the previous four installments of this series, I have attempted to demonstrate many of the ongoing issues here behind-the-scenes at the Japanese American National Museum. We are fortunate to have so many priceless artifacts that help tell the remarkable history of Japanese people in the United States, but for every Namyo Bessho citizenship record, there are countless Joyce MacWilliamson radios. Furthermore, even for all properly documented items we have, it truly is beyond our ability and capacity to go …

Thumbnail for Part 4 of 5 – History is Lost: Joyce MacWilliamson
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Producing Japanese American History: An exploration through the JANM archives
Part 4 of 5 – History is Lost: Joyce MacWilliamson

May 24, 2012 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

To this point, we have examined three exceptional figures from the Japanese American community with remarkable stories and records. However, the sad truth is that for every item that we can properly describe, there are countless others that we can’t. In 1999, JANM received a curious donation offer from Ms. Joyce MacWilliamson of Beaverton, Oregon: Joyce MacWilliamson’s father Ramon “Mac” MacWilliamson took temporary ownership of a shortwave radio belonging to the 17 year old son of a Japanese American acquaintance. …

Thumbnail for Part 3 of 5 – History is Ignored: Estelle Ishigo
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Producing Japanese American History: An exploration through the JANM archives
Part 3 of 5 – History is Ignored: Estelle Ishigo

May 17, 2012 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

Estelle Ishigo is a name that may be familiar to many of you. She was one of the few whites to be incarcerated with Japanese Americans during World War II. Estelle voluntarily chose to enter Heart Mountain Relocation Center in order to stay with her Nisei husband, Arthur Ishigo. She authored the book Lone Heart Mountain (1972) and was the subject of Steven Okazaki’s Academy Award winning film Days of Waiting (1990). While Ishigo’s artwork is highly acclaimed in Japanese …

Thumbnail for Part 2 of 5 – History is Told: S. John Nitta
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Producing Japanese American History: An exploration through the JANM archives
Part 2 of 5 – History is Told: S. John Nitta

May 10, 2012 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

The second part of this series will tell the story of another fascinating individual with a tremendous contribution to Japanese American history. Shigeru “John” Nitta was born in Seattle in 1911, but moved to Japan as a child due to his father’s illness. He eventually returned to the United States (specifically Southern California), where he graduated from San Pedro High School in 1933. He soon moved back to Japan and studied chick sexing, which had recently been established and legitimized …

Thumbnail for Part 1 of 5 – History is Made: Namyo Bessho
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Producing Japanese American History: An exploration through the JANM archives
Part 1 of 5 – History is Made: Namyo Bessho

Dec. 15, 2011 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

While not exclusively the case, we can simply surmise that fascinating individuals with fascinating life events make fascinating history. To appropriate Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s famous phrase, well-behaved Japanese Americans seldom make history. From Fred Korematsu to Toyo Miyatake to Yuri Kochiyama, the Japanese Americans whose lives are memorialized in our exhibitions are primarily those who went against the grain and followed their beliefs. Although the vast heterogeneity and hybridity of Japanese Americans across three different centuries makes it difficult to …

Thumbnail for Redefining “CAMP” In Japanese America - Part 3
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Redefining “CAMP” In Japanese America - Part 3

Nov. 14, 2011 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

Read Part 2 >>The Lasting Effects of the CampsThe camps are important not just because they are a week of enjoyment, but the impact from the week carries over for the rest of the campers lives. The newly formed friendships serve as the core to the legacy of the camp community. Since the camps are aligned with the Japanese American churches—which are the historic centers of the Japanese American community—the camps directly affect the next generation of Japanese Americans. It …

Thumbnail for Redefining “CAMP” In Japanese America - Part 2
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Redefining “CAMP” In Japanese America - Part 2

Nov. 7, 2011 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

Read Part 1 >>United Methodist Asian American Summer CampIn 1974, Reverend Peter Chen of San Jose Japantown’s Wesley United Methodist Church and Reverend Harry Murakami of Livingston United Methodist Church created United Methodist Asian American Summer Camp (commonly referred to as Asian Camp) since the other summer camps of that era “did not meet their needs or speak to their unique experiences as ethnic minorities.” Chen also believed that “Asian-American youths could become a dynamic, powerful force within church once …

Thumbnail for Redefining “CAMP” In Japanese America - Part 1
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Redefining “CAMP” In Japanese America - Part 1

Oct. 31, 2011 • Dean Ryuta Adachi

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which led to the relocation of all 120,000 Japanese Americans living in the Western United States into internment camps. Today, historians consider this blemish in American civil rights to be the defining moment of the Japanese American community. Despite an overwhelming national distrust in their loyalty, Japanese Americans used the internment camps as a rallying point for unity and justice. This incarceration of Japanese Americans has led to …

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