Artist’s rendition of how the “I Am an American” traveling exhibition will appear. (Image: Courtesy of NVN)
‘I Am an American’ will share uniquely American saga nationwide beginning in 2026.
By George Toshio Johnston, Senior Editor
A new traveling exhibition focusing on the contributions of the nearly 33,000 Army personnel of Japanese heritage during World War II was formally announced in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18.
The exhibition is scheduled to commence an 11-city, five-yearlong national tour with San Francisco’s Presidio MIS Historic Learning Center as its first stop in February 2026.
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Titled “I Am an American: The Nisei Soldier Experience,” its main focus will be on the Nisei who served in the 100th Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service in WWII. It is being produced by the National Museum of the United States Army, the Army Historical Foundation and the National Veterans Network.
According to NVN Executive Director Christine Sato-Yamazaki, “I Am an American’s” title was inspired by the sign with those words, famously seen in Dorothea Lange’s photo of Tatsuro Matsuda’s Wanto Shokai storefront in Oakland, Calif. And, though the exhibition is “about the 100th, the 442 and the MIS” and “their patriotism and their loyalty,” she added, “This exhibit is going to present the national story of what happened to Japanese Americans during WWII.”
This National Archives photo was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1942 and shows the sign put outside the shop owned by Tatsuro Matsuda in Oakland, Calif. (Photo: National Archives)
Sato-Yamazaki says that the exhibition is divided into five thematic areas. After seeing the initial “I Am an American” statement, visitors will begin with the Hawaii section, where they will learn about what life was like for Nisei from Hawaii. The next section will be about the 10 War Relocation Authority Centers and the soldiers who came from the camps. In the next section, called “Two-Front War,” visitors will learn about the 100th, the 442nd and the MIS.
That will be followed by the section titled “The Price of War,” which will focus on the courage and sacrifice of the Nisei soldiers that includes the 21 Medal of Honor recipients, as well as other soldiers, such as medics and a Nisei member of Women’s Army Corps. The fifth and final section will be about the legacy created by the Nisei veterans and will include how their service helped lead to the desegregation of the American military and the success of redress.
The three other known cities that “I Am an American” will travel to are Honolulu, Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles. The duration of the display at each venue will be six months. The locations for the remaining cities will be announced at a later date.
Pictured (from left) are Kota Mizutani, Rep. Jill Tokuda, Rep. Mark Takano, Floyd Mori, Eric Shinseki, Christine Sato Yamazaki and Tammy Call. (Photo: Ariel Imamoto)
In addition to Sato-Yamazaki, also attending at the announcement, held in Room 454 of the Cannon House Office Building, were National Museum of the United States Army Director Tammy Call, retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki, Reps. Jill Tokuda (D–Hawaii) and Mark Takano (D–Calif.), White House Senior Adviser for Public Engagement Kota Mizutani and former California Assemblymember and JACL National President and Executive Director Floyd Mori. Also present from the JACL D.C. chapter were John Tobe and Edson Mori.
As for the NVN’s main role in the project, Sato-Yamazaki said it will serve as the principal fundraiser for this project. “This is a $1.2 million project, and we’ve raised $700,000 so far,” she said, noting that right now the NVN is seeking sponsorships from individuals.
Overall, the mission of the “I Am an American” exhibition is educational, said Sato-Yamazaki. “That’s the reason why this traveling exhibit is so important, because we’re going to be educating all these Americans who never learned it in school,” she told the Pacific Citizen. “It’s not in the textbook, and they’re going to learn the story for the first time. And that’s really the power of what this traveling exhibit will do when it travels across the country.”
— Ariel Imamoto assisted with this article.
(Editor’s Note: To learn more about the “I Am an American: The Nisei Soldier’s Experience” traveling exhibition, visit nvnvets.org/nisei-soldier-traveling-exhibit/.)
