About the Issei Poetry Project
The Issei Poetry Project seeks to recover, preserve, and share the Japanese-language literature of Los Angeles’ Issei (first-generation) writers, and trace their significant creative and cultural contributions within the larger network of Issei artists of the pre-war and interwar period.
This era was shaped by intense U.S. anti-Asian sentiment, economic hardship during the Great Depression, and growing uncertainty leading into World War II. Many of these works were long believed to have been lost, particularly due to the upheaval of the war and the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Today, through archival recovery and translation efforts, these writings are being rediscovered and brought to light as an essential and largely untapped part of Japanese American history.
The Issei Poetry Project is made possible by a dedicated team of scholars, translators, and community partners, including:
This era was shaped by intense U.S. anti-Asian sentiment, economic hardship during the Great Depression, and growing uncertainty leading into World War II. Many of these works were long believed to have been lost, particularly due to the upheaval of the war and the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Today, through archival recovery and translation efforts, these writings are being rediscovered and brought to light as an essential and largely untapped part of Japanese American history.
The Issei Poetry Project is made possible by a dedicated team of scholars, translators, and community partners, including:
Kenji Liu, Project Director
Julie Zhu, Project Assistant
Dr. Andrew Way Leong, Scholar-Editor
Dr. Lisa Hoffman-Kuroda, Scholar-Editor
Christine Chan, Digital Archivist
Kaharu Fukuda, Transcriber
Julie Zhu, Project Assistant
Dr. Andrew Way Leong, Scholar-Editor
Dr. Lisa Hoffman-Kuroda, Scholar-Editor
Christine Chan, Digital Archivist
Kaharu Fukuda, Transcriber
Credit & Sponsors
The Issei Poetry Project is supported, in part, by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission, the Mellon Foundation, and The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.
