Beyond Barbed Wire – The Story of the Japanese Internment in WWII, lecture presented by Denny Kato

Beyond Barbed Wire, Imprisoned Without Trial: The Story of the Japanese Internment in WWII, lecture presented by Denny Kato
Anti-Asian violence: a modern-day occurrence? Not at all. Fear, hatred, and racism toward the Chinese and Japanese began in the mid 1800’s culminating with the incarceration of over 125,000 Japanese at the beginning of World War II, two thirds of whom were US citizens. From the perspective of a third generation Japanese American (Sansei), we will discuss the how, when and why racism landed Americans in what is more accurately described as prison camps, and what we can do to countermand the effect of anti-Asian violence and racism in America today.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Denny Kato is third generation Japanese American, or Sansei. He graduated from Walnut High School, received a BA from the University of Cincinnati in 1971, and served in the US Army as a First Lieutenant in military intelligence. After retirement from restaurant management, what started out for Denny as curiosity about his family history grew into thoroughly researching how people of Japanese descent were forced from their homes during World War II and placed in internment camps. Like the fifteen members of his family, most were American citizens.

Denny and his wife, Janet, have visited all ten of the internment camps from the Pacific West Coast to the rural Southeast of Arkansas. Since 2019, Denny has lectured both live and via Zoom for the Art Institute of Cincinnati, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of South Florida, Carnegie Mellon University, Rochester University, the University of Cincinnati, Japan America Society of Greater Cincinnati, and Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati.