Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit
Photographs by Paul Kitagaki, Jr.
Exhibit Dates: February 10- April 2, 2025
Special Event: Meet Photographer Paul Kitagaki, Jr – Saturday, March 1, 2025, 2 pm
Gallery Hours: Mondays & Thursdays 10 am – 4 pm, and by appointment.
Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit explores the legacy of an enduring spirit as Japanese Americans triumphed over adversity in the WWII incarceration camps.
As he was searching through photos at the National Archives in 1984, Kitagaki found a photo taken by famed documentary photographer Dorothea Lange of his grandparents and father preparing to board a bus in Oakland, Calif., enroute to a World War II incarceration camp. Through slow and painstaking research, Kitagaki has spent 15 years locating and winning the trust of the families who lived through the internment camps, documenting their stories of survival and inner strength to overcome injustice, racism, and wartime hysteria.
Many of the Issei and Nisei never shared their stories with their own families. As some of the subjects recounted their experiences, they were overcome with tears and emotion as long-forgotten memories returned. For many, this was the first time for them to publicly speak about what they endured. – Paul Kitagaki, Jr.
Photographer and videographer Paul Kitagaki Jr. has traveled the world covering natural and human-caused disasters and international athletes competing for gold at ten different Olympic Games. Kitagaki’s work has been honored with dozens of photo awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and Emmy nominations. He’s been published in news outlets worldwide, including National Geographic, Time, Smithsonian Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Stern, People, Mother Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, as well as in his home paper, The Sacramento Bee.
BEHIND BARBED WIRE, The Search for Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII
The book Behind Barbed Wire is based on the nationally traveling exhibition “Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit.”
Hardcover 152 pages and 137 Illustrations
Published by CityPress Files
Retail Price: $55
