The Gate of Memory Community Gathering
Saturday, June 14, 2025 | 2-5pm
Haymarket House (800 W Buena Ave, Chicago IL)
RSVP here!
This gathering will feature poetry readings by contributors of The Gate of Memory (including Katherine Terumi Laubscher, Erica H. Isomura) and work by local Nikkei artists (including Conal Abatangelo, Mari Yamagiwa, Cori Nakamura Lin and Jami Nakamura Lin). The readings will be followed by discussion circles and a mini poetry/art making session, along with music by JJ Ueunten. With poetry, discussion, and art, we will reflect on the past, create visions of Nikkei futures, and explore how to tell and re-tell these histories in resistance to state violence, imperialism, and racial violence. The program is hosted by Anne Watanabe and Brynn Saito, and co-sponsored by Nikkei Uprising, a collective of Nikkei and Japanese folks in Chicago organizing against all forms of incarceration, imperialism and state violence with an abolitionist lens. RSVP is not required but strongly encouraged to assist with planning.
This event is made possible by generous funding from the Henry and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, and also co-sponsored by Haymarket Books and JACL Chicago.