Events
The Thacher School Little Tokyo Visit
For the sixth year in a row, Susan is teaching high school students of The Thacher School about the incarceration. Following Susan’s workshop, they’ll tour of the Japanese American National Museum’s Nishi Hongwanji Temple building, a visit to the Go For Broke National Educational Center, and explore historic Little Tokyo for Fugetsu-Do manju, ramen, and other treats!
USS Midway Institute for Teachers
Susan is honored to return to the USS Midway to give teachers from across the country ways to instruct middle and high school students about the incarceration.
Book Talk with Naomi Hirahara
RWC’s indie bookstore Fireside Books & More and Susan are thrilled to welcome acclaimed mystery author Naomi Hirahara to town to chat about her new book Crown City, the third installment of her “Japantown Mystery” series. This will be particularly fun as Crown City is set in Pasadena, CA, where both Naomi and Susan have roots. Free and open to the public (and there will be treats)!
Stockton JACL Day of Remembrance
Susan gives the keynote for the Stockton JACL Day of Remembrance event following a candlelight ceremony honoring all those who were incarcerated during WWII.
Cultural Landscapes of Japanese American Art
Join artists, curators, and scholars discussing Japanese American art in this symposium presented by the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, co-sponsored by the USC East Asian Studies center and the USC Van Hunnick History Department. Susan is presenting a paper on “Chiura Obata’s Contribution to Japanese American Incarceration Art.” Free and open to the public! RSVP here
Santa Clara University OLLI Course
Interested in what Susan has been teaching at USC but without having to write a paper, do a presentation, or worry about a grade? Join life-long learners in three two-hour sessions starting Wednesday, October 29, 2025 presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Santa Clara University. Open to adults of all ages. Registration and more information here.
Poston Pilgrimage Workshop: How to Talk About the Japanese American Incarceration
You don't need to be an expert to help educate others about the incarceration and its relevance to today's events. Susan shares tips with Poston family members on how to comfortably yet effectively talk about the incarceration with relatives, friends, and even strangers.
Author Talk
Redwood City readers, come support your new indie bookstore as it presents Susan in its first author talk. She’ll share some remarks about we are currently seeing history repeating itself and will sign books. There will be homebaked cookies!
Social Justice and the Japanese American Incarceration
Susan Zooms with the eighth grade class of the International School of Beaverton as it studies contemporary examples of social justice.
From JA to Shohei: The Manzanar Baseball Project
Susan joins Dan Kwong and Kerry Yo Nakagawa for a reprise of their discussion on the importance of baseball to the incarcerated Japanese Americans. Dan presents his celebrated performance art as the Samurai Centerfielder delivering “The Manzanar Address” and screens updated video of the field restoration of the baseball diamond at the Manzanar National Historic Site. Author of Through A Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball, Kerry is the president of the Nisei Baseball Research Project. Play ball!
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Susan signs When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II in the Books Kinokuniya booth #84. Join her at the largest book event of its kind in the country at the University of Southern California campus.
The Thacher School Little Tokyo Visit
Susan is delighted to be working with the faculty and students of The Thacher School for the fifth year. This year’s visit to Little Tokyo includes a workshop with Susan, a tour of the Japanese American National Museum’s Nishi Hongwanji Temple building, a visit to the Go For Broke National Educational Center, and a tour of historic Little Tokyo. There’s some Fugetsu-Do manju, ramen, and other treats in store!
UC Irvine Tomo No Kai Day of Remembrance
As an alumna of UCI and one of the OG members of the UCI Tomo No Kai, Susan is particularly excited to be observing the Day of Remembrance in conversation with surviving incarceree and community leader June Aochi Berk. Come for taiko, tsuru folding, our remarks, a raffle for a signed copy of my book, and Hawaiian BBQ bento!
From JA to Shohei: Manzanar Baseball Project
A lively panel discussion and video screening on Japanese American baseball past and present.
During the 1940s, baseball was the national pastime of the US, including in America’s World War II concentration camps. Japanese Americans created leagues in all ten camps and the games drew huge crowds, with spectators often standing and sitting on bare dirt under the blazing sun. Baseball was a way for Japanese Americans to find a sense of normalcy, uplift their spirits, and claim a connection to American culture.
Author Talk: Susan H. Kamei and "When Can We Go Back to America?”
Susan will be at the Rosemead Library for a discussion of her powerful book "When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration During World War II". A Q&A will follow her presentation and she’ll sign her books.
St. Mark's School
To kick off their one-week field experience exploring Asian American spaces and stories, students and faculty from St. Mark’s School, Southborough, Massachusetts, talk with Susan about the Japanese American incarceration.
An Interdisciplary Inquiry
The junior class of The Thacher School hears from Susan setting the stage for their visit to the Japanese American National Museum as part of its interdisciplinary unit studying the Japanese American incarceration.
A Reader's Guide to Manzanar and the Japanese American Incarceration
When Rocky Rhodes is told in Marianne Wiggins’s book Properties of Thirst that the US government is moving 10,000 persons of Japanese ancestry from their west coast homes to an area known as Manzanar next to his property in the shadows of the Sierra Nevadas in 1942, he immediately recognizes this "camp" to be what it really is -- a prison for American citizens and legal immigrants who happened to share the ancestry of the enemy country that bombed Pearl Harbor. For this “One City, One Story” selection for 2024, Susan provides behind-the-scenes context for the Manzanar detention facility, its inhabitants, its relationship with the surrounding landscape and community, and its legacy today.
A Conversation About the Japanese American Incarceration
The Malibu Chapter of the Daughters of American Revolution (DAR) host World War II surviving incarceree June Aoki Berk and Susan in conversation about June’s amazing life and accomplishments.
Our Fragile Democracy: Historic and Present-Day Attacks on Our Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
On August 10, 2023, the 35th anniversay of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an historic statement and apology acknowledging the complicity of the California Attorney General’s Office in the incarceration and dispossession of Japanese Americans during World War II. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the Japanese American National Musuem, the Florin Chapter of JACL, and the California Asian Pacific American Bar Association presents a community education event featuring a keynote by civil rights leader Don Tamaki, a fireside chat with Attorney General Bonta with JANM President and CEO Ann Burroughs, and a panel discussion with community leaders and scholars, moderated by Susan.
Lessons from the Japanese American Incarceration in the Fight to Protect Democracy
In observance of the 2024 Day of Remembrance, the Houston Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League presents a talk and panel discussion with Susan on the importance of continuing the fight to protect our civil liberties. Susan will be signing books during the reception following the program.
JA Incarceration Jeopardy!
Join the USC Nikkei Student Union in commemorating the Day of Remembrance with Susan testing their incarceration knowledge.
Kansai Soka High School
As part of their visit to the USC campus, students and faculty from Kansai Soka High School in Osaka, Japan, are meeting with Susan to learn about the history of persons of Japanese heritage in the US. A visit to the rock garden in honor of the USC Nisei students is on their itinerary.
The Continuing Relevance of the Japanese American Incarceration
The Rotary Club of Downtown Los Angeles hosts Susan in a discussion about the heritage of the Japanese American community in Little Tokyo and the enduring considerations of the World War II incarceration.
Why We Should Still Care About the Japanese American Incarceration
Susan kicks off the new year with the Shakespeare Club of Pasadena
Repressing and Redressing the Japanese American Incarceration: A Case Study in Intergenerational Trauma
Susan presents a seminar for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Department of Pediatric Psychology diversity series.
Visioning for the Future
Susan moderates a panel discussion of leaders in the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) about the strategic planning for JACL’s next century. Register to attend this plenary session of the JACL National Convention taking place in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Founded in 1907, St. Mary’s began as a mission to minister to Japanese immigrants in Los Angeles and has been an important institution in the Japanese American community. Susan is honored to be part of the worship services to share how young people today relate to the wartime incarceration experience and to pay tribute to the St. Mary’s heritage of service and compassion that continues today. She’ll be signing books in the coffee hour following the service.
St. Mark's School
Susan talks with students from St. Mark’s School, visiting from Southborough, Massachusetts at the Japanese American National Museum.
The Heritage of Pasadena’s Japanese American Community
As part of its observance of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Pasadena Public Library presents Susan in a talk that celebrates the Japanese American community in Pasadena. Following the issuance of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, Japanese Americans in Pasadena, along with more than 125,000 other persons of Japanese ancestry, were forcibly removed from the west coast by the US military to desolate remote locations, where the US government imprisoned them for the duration of the war. As they were released from the detention camps at the war's end, they faced such intense opposition to returning to their homes that many Japanese neighborhoods which were vibrant before the war remained erased. Susan pays tribute to the civic leaders in Pasadena who pushed back against the intense prejudice that the Japanese Americans faced, and will discuss how their support paved the way for the Japanese American community to reconstitute in Pasadena and in other parts of Southern California.
Los Angeles TImes Festival of Books
Susan signs When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II in the Books Kinokuniya booth. Join her at the largest book event of its kind in the country on her home turf, the University of Southern California campus.
The Thacher School Interdisciplinary Unit
Susan speaks with the U.S. history students of The Thacher School as they study the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Events
“We are deeply grateful for Professor Kamei for sharing her personal experiences and facilitating a rich discussion about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Her insight inspires us to delve deeper into our own family histories and explore parallels within our contemporary world.”
— Lilly Nie, USC Price Asian Pacific Islander Caucus
“Professor Kamei captivated our 11th grade students and faculty with her expertise and moving perspectives. Her enriching and engaging presentation will continue to influence our studies of US history and current events.”
— Russell Spinney, Ph.D., The Thacher School