The Irei Project presented by Duncan Ryūken Williams
Sunday, July 9th, 1 to 3 pm
The Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration is a multi-faceted project that seeks to address the attempted erasure of those individuals of Japanese ancestry who experienced wartime incarceration by memorializing their names.
This is the first time a comprehensive list of the over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly imprisoned in U.S. Army, Department of Justice, and War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps has been successfully compiled – and thus the first time it has been possible to properly memorialize each incarceree as distinct individuals instead of a generalized community. By placing their names front and center, the Irei National Monument Project seeks to expand and re-envision what a monument is through three distinct, but interlinking elements: a sacred book of names as monument (Ireichō), a website monument (Ireizō), and light sculpture monuments (Ireihi).
Duncan Ryūken Williams, director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, author of American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War, and ordained Soto Zen Buddhist priest, will give a presentation on Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration, This project includes the Ireichō, a sacred book of names now on display at JANM.
- Meet visionary leader Duncan Ryuken Williams.
- Hear from some who participated in the stamping of names with Ireicho.
- Learn more about the Irei Project.
Please reserve a ticket for in-person or online accss via ZOOM. Limited seating is available.
About the Irei Project
Together with a coalition of Japanese American community groups, Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams and the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture are creating a memorial to every individual of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II in America’s concentration camps. ogether with a coalition of Japanese American community groups, Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams and the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture are creating a memorial to every individual of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II in America’s concentration camps.
The Japanese word Irei is translated by the project team as “consoling spirits.” The project expands our understanding of what a monument is in taking multiple, related forms: (1) a sacred book of names, the Ireichō (“book to console the spirits”) listing every person who was incarcerated; (2) an Ireihi (“structure for consoling the spirits”) sculptural memorial onto which the names of those incarcerated can be projected; and (3) a web-based Ireizo (“consoling spirits storehouse”) where the names of and information about the internees and incarcerees can be gathered in a virtual memorial.
Irei monument’s approach.has roots in the memorializing practices of the incarcerated individuals themselves, the majority of whom were Buddhist. Remembrance, in this spiritual tradition, involves a ritual of writing, in which names of those who have passed are inscribed into a sacred book and chanted as a way to make them present again. In this way and others, the people who are memorialized through Irei are remembered both collectively and as individuals.
Excerpted from the Mellon Foundation, https://www.mellon.org/grant-story/a-multimodal-memorial-remembers-japanese-american-wwii-incarceration
Ireicho at JANM
The Ireichō contains the first comprehensive listing of over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in US Army, Department of Justice, Wartime Civil Control Administration, and War Relocation Authority camps. Individuals and groups can view by appointment. Ireicho is currently on view at the Japanese American National Museum through September 24, 2023. Visit here for more information.
