Sutra and Bible: Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration

A visual history of the role that religious teachings, practices and communities played in the WWII Japanese American experience, with essays by leading scholars

Accompanying the Japanese American National Museum's 2022 eponymous exhibition, Sutra and Bible: Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration explores the role that religious teachings, practices and communities played while Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. From the confines of concentration camps and locales under martial law to the battlegrounds of Europe, Japanese Americans drew on their faith to survive forced removal, indefinite incarceration, unjust deportation, family separation, military service and resettlement at a time when their race and religion were seen as threats to national security. Coedited by Emily Anderson and Duncan Ryuken Williams, Sutra and Bible weaves visual storytelling with auxiliary essays from 32 prominent voices across academic, arts and social justice communities.
Contributors include: Michihiro Ama, Brooks Andrews, Anne M. Blankenship, Joanne Doi MM, Laura (Kitaji) Dominguez-Yon, Timothy Wagner, Kristen Hayashi, Jay Hirabayashi, Naomi Hirahara, Mitch Honma, Satsuki Ina, Jane Naomi Iwamura, Mas Kodani, Mark Nakagawa, Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Elizabeth Nishiura, Togo Nishiura, Nancy Kyoko Oda, Gene Oishi, Gail Okawa, Dakota Russell, Bacon Sakatani, Candice Shibata, Brandon Shimoda, George Tanabe, Todd Tsuchiya, Nancy Ukai, Jonathan van Harmelen, Karen Tei Yamashita and Mikoto Yoshida.