By PAUL HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Two exhibits related to the legacy of Japanese Americans in Nebraska will open Saturday at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln.
One exhibit, “Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II” was developed by the National Museum of American History and adapted for travel by the Smithsonian Institution.
It examines the complicated history and impact of Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans at internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The second exhibition, “Preserving a Legacy: Japanese in Nebraska,” was developed by History Nebraska and the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering.
It explores the story of Japanese Nebraskans and the support of the Japanese culture.
Both exhibitions are locally supported by Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. U.S.A.
Japanese immigrants first settled in Hawaii and on the Pacific Coast. By 1940, Nebraska had about 510 residents of Japanese ancestry, mostly in rural western Nebraska communities.
Unlike the West Coast, Nebraska Japanese were not incarcerated during World War II, but some lost jobs, others were subjected to anti-Japanese hostility and some community leaders were arrested and questioned, according to History Nebraska.
Yet many Japanese American men risked their lives fighting for the United States.
One of the most famous was Ben Kuroki of Hershey, who flew a total of 58 missions on B-24 bombers in the European Theater of War and B-29 bombers in the Asian Theater of War.