Tsuru for Solidarity is a social justice project built on the unique perspective that Japanese Americans bring to current U.S. immigration policies and their impacts on human lives — including family separation and detention in camps.

The Hawaii experience includes families whose loved ones were interned in Hawai‘i and beyond plus the lesser known story of 1,500 people of Japanese ancestry in Hawai‘i who were evacuated from their homes in 23 geographic areas throughout the state.

Two Tsuru for Solidarity refrains are “Stop Repeating History!” and “Never again is NOW.” A Pilgrimage to Close the Camps is scheduled for June 5-7 in Washington D.C.

After the 10 a.m. service on Sunday, March 15, Hawaii Betsuin hosts a short presentation in the main temple hall about Tsuru for Solidarity and the upcoming pilgrimage.

The presentation will include:

• A short video about Tsuru for Solidarity.
• A brief presentation by Susan Arnett, a board member of the Japanese American Citizens League, Honolulu Chapter.

Then, fold origami peace cranes to send to D.C.

After the presentation, participants are invited to fold cranes in the main social hall to honor the almost 4,500 internees and evacuees from Hawai‘i. The cranes will be part of a display of 120,000+ cranes Washington D.C.

More About Tsuru for Solidarity

The mission of Tsuru for Solidarity project, as stated on the project website, is to:

• educate, advocate, and protest to close all U.S. concentration camps;
• build solidarity with other communities that have experienced forced removal, detention, deportation and separation of families;
• coordinate intergenerational, cross-community healing circles addressing the trauma of our shared histories.”

See Also
Bishop Matsumoto releases statement against the separation of families
(June 20, 2018, Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii website)

Tsuru image used in background by Taylor S-K on Flickr, used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.