An Act of Repair: Ireichō Tour in Arizona Culminates in Ceremony at Gila River

December 12, 2025

Submmited by:

Bill Staples, Jr, JACL-AZ Board President

The national tour of the Ireichō: The Book of Names concluded its powerful Arizona engagement earlier this month, drawing hundreds of participants to a weekend of public acknowledgment followed by a solemn, private ceremony at the site of the former Gila River incarceration camp.

The three-day event, spanning November 1st through 3rd, centered on the Ireichō—a monumental book containing the first comprehensive list of all 125,284 individuals of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II. Its presence in Arizona, home to the Gila River and Poston camps, served as an essential stop in the book’s national tour to honor and acknowledge every name.

The Public Engagement: Honoring Names, Rectifying History

The Phoenix-area segment began with two days of public engagement, offering the community the chance to participate in the project's central mission: the intimate act of stamping a personal Japanese seal, or hanko, beneath a name in the book.

On Saturday, November 1st, the Chandler Museum, currently hosting the exhibit "Gaman: Enduring Japanese American Internment at Gila River," welcomed a diverse audience. The day featured cultural performances, including stirring Taiko drumming by Ken Koshio, and educational lectures, such as Dr. Adrian Mulligan’s look at the Gila River landscape as a story of hope and resilience, and Dr. Kathy Nakagawa's presentation on the history of the Japanese American flower farms of Phoenix and the Baseline Flower Growers.

The opportunity for public stamping continued on Sunday, November 2nd, at the Arizona Buddhist Temple in Phoenix. Across both days, descendants, community members, and concerned citizens participated in the simple, yet profound, gesture that activates the book as a living memorial. As Reverend Duncan Ryuken Williams, Director of the Irei Project, often emphasizes, “Each individual act of stamping a name in the Ireichō becomes part of this ever-growing monument.” A Private Return to Gila River. The Arizona leg culminated on Monday, November 3rd, with a private, ceremonial gathering held in partnership with the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) at the site of the former camp. This segment of the tour was crucial, marking the return of the names to the physical ground where 13,348 individuals were unjustly incarcerated.

The ceremony was officially opened by Rev. Duncan Ryuken Williams who provided the Welcome and Agenda. Bill Staples, Jr. shared the program logistics, followed by a powerful Blessing offered by Tony Enos of the GRIC, emphasizing the deep historical connection between the Japanese American incarcerees and the Native American Community whose ancestral lands were used to build the camp.

The core of the day was the Ireichō Ceremony, officiated by Rev. Williams, which included the reading of select names, the stamping of unstamped names by descendants of incarcerees and members of the GRIC.

A deeply moving element was the military honor provided by Commander Bill Dixon and Tony McDaniel of the Ira Hayes Post 84, who performed the 21-Gun Salute and Taps in remembrance of the deceased incarcerees. Rev. Williams concluded the program with his Closing remarks.

Following the formal ceremony, attendees gathered for a moment of reflection at the monument before moving to the Huhugam Heritage Center for a communal reception, featuring a traditional lunch of fry bread tacos. A Gathering of Memory and Community

The private ceremony at Gila River was attended by a deeply personal and geographically diverse group of over 130 guests. The attendance list reflected the nationwide impact of the incarceration, with representatives traveling from as far as Japan and Ireland, and across the United States from New Hampshire to Seattle, Washington, with the largest contingent arriving from California. The local presence was also significant, including multiple JACL-AZ members and approximately 28 officials and community leaders from the GRIC.

Most importantly, the gathering included nine confirmed Camp Survivors, many of whom were incarcerated at Gila River itself. Three of these individuals—Dean Umemoto (Block 24-1-C), Donna Ishimine Sill (Block 20-11-A), and Hajime Dan Yamashita (Block 24-13-B)—were specifically noted as having been born within the barbed wire of the Gila River camp during WWII. Their presence, alongside a large group of descendants who participated to honor their family members, transformed the historic site into a powerful space of lived memory and intergenerational healing.

The three-day tour was a powerful demonstration of the collective commitment to memorialize and restore the human dignity denied to 125,284 people during one of the darkest chapters of American history. It was an honor to participate in the historic event. In addition to meeting wonderful people, it provided an opportunity for me to honor three important figures in my life: Kenichi Zenimura, the “Father of Japanese American Baseball”; Kenso, his son; and Mas Inoshita, a mentor and friend – and the man whose legacy was celebrated by both members of the Japanese American community and the Gila River Indian Community.