7 Questions with Denny Kato, Researcher and Educator on the subject of Japanese-American Incarceration Camps of WWII

Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH, Denny graduated from Walnut Hills High School, and received

his BA from the University of Cincinnati. Denny was on active duty with the US Army as a 1LT in

military intelligence. Denny was involved with restaurant management for nearly thirty years.

For twelve years, Denny has been researching the history and events of the Japanese relocation

and the incarceration camps in WWII. He and his wife Janet have visited all ten major camp

locations doing this research project.

Over the past seven years, Denny has been giving lectures on the history of the camps,

nationwide via ZOOM for OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) for twenty-eight or so campus

locations. Additionally, he has given live presentations for several venues, notably the Harriet

Beecher Stowe House, the Art Institute of Cincinnati, and the Japan America Society. Most

recently he gave a presentation for a class at the University of Florida, in Gainesville. He has

also been the subject of several video profiles, articles, and radio interviews.

1. How and when did you get  hooked on history?

I have always been a history buff.  My major in college was political science and I really emphasized foreign relations and I took a lot of courses regarding Asian studies and the Middle East.  

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

From a personal view, I have always been fascinated with history as I marvel at what humankind has accomplished but am revolted and repulsed by the human atrocities that man has afflicted on their fellow human beings.  There have been so many millions killed by men for various reasons, none good.

3. How does history play  a part of your professional life/career?

Professionally,  history did not play much of a role.  I was in restaurant management for nearly thirty years and just about everything we did was focused on today and just a little to the future.  History was not a subject that came up very often in our conversations.

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?

 I personally look upon history not only as a reminder of human events, but also as a window to the future. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "What's past is prologue."  

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

American history has always been my favorite genre particularly the Civil War.  Although not an expert by any means of the events that occurred, I have always been drawn to the battlefields and the tactical/strategic aspects of the encounters.  My wife is very sensitive to 'spirits' and once on trip to Washington, D.C. we passed a road and sign that indicated directions to the site of the Fredericksburg battle.  She was sound asleep but suddenly awakened and she said she felt a 'chill' of spirits.  I told her we had just passed by the Fredericksburg battle site.  She had no idea that we were near the battlefield site and I doubt if she even knew of its significance.

6.         What is your specific connection to Japanese-American incarceration camps and how do you explore that interest?

My personal connection to the incarceration camps is that I had seventeen members of my family incarcerated in three separate camps.  It has been only in the past twelve years that my involvement has intensified.  I had just retired and we had planned a trip out west, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and Cody, WY.  My wife Janet asked me if I would be interested in attending the Heart Mountain Pilgrimage, an annual event that brought together survivors, descendants and speakers to tour the camp and engage in discussion groups.  In one of those groups that my wife and I attended, the moderator began the discussion with, "So everyone has heard about the Ringle Report?"  I had no clue as to what she was talking about. The Ringle Report, I learned later, was a report compiled by a Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Ringle, USN, naval intelligence, who submitted his report on December 20, 1942 detailing that the Japanese in the US did not represent a threat to the national security of our country.  I was embarrassed that I knew so little about the Japanese incarceration.  My wife and then committed to visiting all ten locations (we did so over the next several years) and after years of neglect, I dedicated myself to finding out my families' involvement in the incarceration.  As I started to learn about my family, I was queried by an old high school classmate if I knew someone who could give a lecture to her art class on the Japanese relocation.  Although I had not developed a presentation, I told her that I would do so, thus began a new direction for me, giving presentations on the Japanese incarceration camps.  I have been giving lectures for about seven years.

Currently I am associated with twenty-eight OLLI organizations nationwide, including Dartmouth, Carnegie Mellon University, American University, Florida State University, and the University of Virginia to name a few.  I also have given in personal lectures for the Art Institute of Cincinnati, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Walnut Hills High School, several library branches, the Japan American Society of Greater Cincinnati, and the University of Florida.  Additionally, I have also been the subject of several video profiles and radio interviews.  So what started as a research project about my families' involvement, morphed into the lecture series that I conduct today.

7.       Why is it important to continue teaching and learning about Japanese-American incarceration?

I used to conclude my presentations with the phrase "NEVER AGAIN".  Unfortunately with current events, our slogan has become "NEVER AGAIN IS NOW". I think it is important to not only educate people with the past events involving the Japanese in WWII, but how we are facing the same circumstances with 'brown people' today.  Many of the laws that were used against the Japanese in 1942, notably the Alien Enemies Act and others, are currently employed by today's ICE and CBP.  For example, even though the McCarren-Walter Act of 1952 granted the Japanese immigrants a path to citizenship, a part of that law has been used by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to deport an immigrant.  It is absolutely frightening to see the similarities of 1942 to today.

Bonus:  In 2022, Kato's wife and daughter published an award-winning children's novel, called Finding Moon Rabbit set at the Heart Mountain camp near Cody, Wyoming.  For more information, go here.

According to Kato:

  When my wife asked me to go to the Heart Mountain Pilgrimage twelve years ago, little did I know that she already had an idea for a story.  She had researched Estelle Peck Ishigo, the Caucasian wife of Arthur Ishigo and their ordeal at the Heart Mountain and had already written a story about a Japanese American girl and her life after camp. But she was working on a 'prequel', the story of a young Japanese American girl and her first year at Heart Mountain.  This historical novel introduces real life characters and stories that actually occurred in the camp.  She decided to involve our daughter Jennifer, an aspiring writer, to join her in this project.  Jan was having difficulty marketing the book because the publishing industry has long sought 'authentic voices' and as soon as they would see that my wife was Caucasian, the doors closed.  She ended up doing a hybrid publication, utilizing a publisher but most of the marketing and promotions we did ourselves.  Now she has two books awaiting publication this year from a mainstream publisher, Reycraft Books.

"Finding Moon Rabbit" is historical, in that information is provided about the incarceration itself.  Jan also uses headlines from the camp newspaper, the "Heart Mountain Sentinel" to start her chapters and provide a reference to the events that happened in the camp.  The middle grade book not only tells the story of a young girl in the camps, but also provides young readers with some history of the relocation and incarceration as well.