SAN DIEGO — The Buddhist Temple of San Diego will host the Japanese World War II Incarceration Memorial Legacy Project flag-signing event on Sunday, Sept. 19, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
All Japanese and Japanese American survivors of the WWII incarceration camps are invited to participate and sign the vintage 48-star U.S. flag for the purpose to recognize the surviving Americans of Japanese ancestry affected by the camps for their sacrifice and to honor their legacy and memory.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Johnny Cepeda Gogo started the flag-signing project in honor of activist Fred Korematsu, who challenged the constitutionality of the camps. Gogo has traveled the west region of the U.S. and Washington, D.C. with the 1940s-era American flag with the intent of having survivors sign the flag. He is part of the Santa Clara County Court Community Outreach Program. A graduate of UC San Diego, Gogo obtained his JD from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego.
The flag will be donated to the Japanese American Museum of San Jose on Fred Korematsu Day, Jan. 30, 2022. For questions about this weekend’s event, contact the temple at info@btsd.net or call (619) 239-0896. The temple is located at 2929 Market St,, San Diego 92102.