Events › Behind Barbed Wires: The Story of the Japanese Incarceration

Join San Mateo County Libraries in welcoming Steve Okamato for a discussion and Q&A session on his family’s experience in the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California.

The Tanforan Assembly Center, a euphemism for an incarceration camp or detention center, was one of 17 temporary assembly centers before the government could build more permanent incarceration camps. Steve was only 11 weeks old at the time, but he remembers stories from his family. Many Japanese residents, most of whom were United States Citizens, were forced to leave their homes because of Executive Order 9066, which was signed into law in February of 1942. When they ran out of temporary barracks space at Tanforan, many families were forced to live in horse stables on dirt floors with hay as bedding. Steve said his mother never forgot the smell of horse urine and manure. The hope is that the Tanforan Memorial prevents fear and racism from driving governmental policies and the loss of civil rights. Japanese Americans spent years recovering from the social and economic impact of this unjust policy.

Steve is a long-time member of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the country’s oldest and largest Civil Rights organization. He was recently awarded the Ruby Pin, JACL's highest award, for his meritorious work. He also created the Tanforan Memorial in San Bruno, which was built to honor the 8,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were imprisoned at the Tanforan Assembly Center in 1942.

If this program sparks your curiosity, check out the rest of the One Book, One Coast series and deepen your engagement by reading They Called Us Enemy—a powerful story bringing Japanese American history to life through the deeply personal narrative at the heart of the series. Check it out in print or starting April 1, when unlimited digital copies of They Called Us Enemy will be available on both the Libby app and Hoopla platforms for San Mateo County Libraries cardholders—no holds or wait times required.

Explore more books and films about the Japanese American history that inspired this event in our One Book, One Coast staff list.