Historic site
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial
31 locals recommend,
Tips from locals
Jaclyn
March 4, 2018
Visit the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, a beautiful opportunity for reflection.
Kate
August 8, 2016
Memorial to first Japanese Americans to be removed from their homes in the United States on Bainbridge Island during WWII.
Point White
November 18, 2014
Tribute to the Japanese American community of Bainbridge Island, adjacent to Pritchard Park, which has a nice off leash beach.
Rachel
October 10, 2021
The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is an outdoor exhibit commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island in the state of Washington. It is a unit of the Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho. Japanese immigrants first came to Bainbridge Island in the 1880s, working in sawmills and strawberry harvesting, and by the 1940s had become an integral part of the island's community. Because of the island's proximity to naval bases, local Japanese Americans were the first in the country to be interned; 227 Japanese Americans were ordered to leave the island with six days' notice. They departed by ferry on March 30, 1942. Most internees were sent to Manzanar, CA, though some were later transferred to Minidoka, Idaho. Local newspapers such as the The Bainbridge Review (made famous by the novel and film Snow Falling on Cedars) spoke out against the internment and continued to publish correspondence from internees. A Seattle Post-Intelligencer photograph of Bainbridge Island resident Fumiko Hayashida and her 13-month-old daughter preparing to board the ferry that day became famous as a symbol of the internment. About 150 returned to the island after the end of World War II. By 2011, about 90 survivors remained, of whom 20 still lived on the island. The first part of the memorial to be constructed was an outdoor cedar "story wall" with the names of all 276 Japanese and Japanese Americans resident on the island at the time The wall was designed by local architect Johnpaul Jones, an American Indian and the principal of Jones and Jones Architects. The grounds of the memorial wall is natural landscaping, native species including sword fern, mahonia, salal, and shore pine. Local artist Steve Gardner created friezes to be placed on the wall, depicting some of the scenes of residents being herded onto the ferries; he stated that the project "sucked me in in a way I hadn't thought about. This really is a story about American citizens." The memorial was opened to the public on July 30, 2011.
The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is an outdoor exhibit commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island in the state of Washington. It is a unit of the Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho. Japanese immigrants first came to Bainbridge Island in…
Julia
August 7, 2018
An important and ugly piece of our nation's history, the memorial remembers those who were the first Japanese-Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes and sent to interment camps.
Unique things to do nearby
Locals also recommend
Location
4195 Eagle Harbor Dr NE
Bainbridge Island, WA