The monument will be available
to stamp as it makes its way across
the nation.
WASHINGTON — The Irei Project, in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum, officially kicked off a national tour of the Ireichō book on Feb. 18 that will include tour stops across the nation at the 10 War Relocation Authority-operated Japanese American concentration camps during World War II.
The Book of Names was displayed alongside the original copy of Executive Order 9066 at the National Archives/Navy Memorial Visitors’ Center in Washington, D.C., where 100-year-old Masaharu Ishii stamped his sister’s name in the Ireichō to officially start the tour.
Masaharu Ishii, 100, kicks off the national tour by stamping his sister’s name in the Ireichō in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 18. (Photo: Nathan Morgan)
Named after the Japanese term for “consoling the spirits,” the Ireichō monument honors both those who have gone before as well as those who carry on the memories and legacies of forced removal, unjust incarceration and family separation.
It contains the names of 125,284 individuals of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly incarcerated during WWII to different camps and communities throughout the U.S.
Every visitor to the monument is invited to contribute to the creation of the monument by marking one or more names in the Ireicho with a blue hanko stamp. For many survivors and descendants of the WWII forced incarceration, leaving this mark has been a way to honor the personhood of a family member who suffered the indignities and losses of the wartime incarceration.
Stamping opportunities continued to commemorate the Day of Remembrance at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History from Feb. 19-21.
The national tour will continue until late summer 2026, when the Ireichō will be formally gifted to JANM by the Irei Project.
For more information on the Irei Project national tour and to make an appointment to stamp the Ireichō book, visit https://ireizo.org/tour/.
