Gann Matsuda
Gann Matsuda serves as blog editor, handles public relations and is the coordinator of the Manzanar At Dusk program for the Los Angeles-based Manzanar Committee, which has sponsored the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since 1969. He got his start in community activism back in the mid-1980's at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a member of the UCLA Nikkei Student Union. In his spare time, Matsuda is a freelance writer covering the Los Angeles Kings and the National Hockey League, becoming a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association in 2009.
Updated April 2015
Stories from This Author
What’s New At Manzanar National Historic Site: Construction On Historic Women’s Latrine Has Begun
Oct. 11, 2016 • Gann Matsuda
With the 25th Anniversary of Manzanar becoming a National Historic Site coming up on March 3, 2017, and with the much more significant anniversary happening just a few weeks prior—the 75th Anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, the Manzanar National Historic Site is working to bring two new exhibits online. As reported on September 22, work is in progress on a classroom exhibit, which will be housed in the Block 14 barracks. But also in …
What’s New at Manzanar National Historic Site: Classroom Exhibit Is Taking Shape
Oct. 5, 2016 • Gann Matsuda
Slideshow above: Manzanar Classroom Exhibit—Work In Progress. Photos by Gann Matsuda are ©2016 Manzanar Committee. All rights reserved. All materials shown here should be considered to be drafts, not final versions that will be used in the exhibit. Click on any photo to view a larger image. February 19, 2017 will mark the 75th Anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the unjust incarceration of more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry, more …
Rev. Paul Nakamura: “A Ministry Bound With The Quest For Justice And Civil Rights For All” – Part 2
May 12, 2015 • Gann Matsuda
Read Part 1 >> LOS ANGELES — Reverend Takeichi “Paul” Nakamura, 88, pastor of Lutheran Oriental Church in Torrance, California, who has been an integral part of the Manzanar Committee since its earliest years, has blended activism and faith in ways that few religious leaders have done before. Rev. Paul, as he is known to his parishioners and so many others, will be honored by the Manzanar Committee at the 46th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 25, 2015, as the …
Rev. Paul Nakamura: “A Ministry Bound With The Quest For Justice And Civil Rights For All” – Part 1
May 11, 2015 • Gann Matsuda
LOS ANGELES — Those who have attended the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and have participated in its interfaith service have probably noticed him—a small, older man, one of the Christian ministers, leading the crowd in reciting the litany. You may remember him because of the hat he always wears, or maybe it was his slight Pidgin English accent, a by-product of his upbringing in Waialua, Oahu, Hawai’i. That unassuming, very modest, yet powerfully spoken minister is Reverend Takeichi “Paul” Nakamura, 88, …
Future of the Nikkei Community, Not Just the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages, Was the Topic of JANM Event
Nov. 22, 2011 • Gann Matsuda
Panelists representing the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages, along with students, primarily from the University of California, Los Angeles, discussed the origins, history and future of both pilgrimages during Community Builders: Japanese American Activism, 1960-1980 (Part 1), an event sponsored by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) on October 8. The panelists included California Assemblymember Warren Furutani, Bruce Embrey, Co-Chair of the Manzanar Committee, and Stan Shikuma and Barbara Takei, both with the Tule Lake Committee. After concentrating mostly on …
Panel Looks At Past, Present And Future Of Manzanar And Tule Lake Pilgrimages During JANM Event
Nov. 21, 2011 • Gann Matsuda
PILGRIMAGES: The origins, the history, and the future of the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages was the focus of an October 8, 2011 event at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. The following is the first of two stories covering the event. LOS ANGELES — The history and future of the Manzanar and Tule Lake Pilgrimages, along with the different generations who participate in them, both young and not-so-young, were in the spotlight at the Japanese …
42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage/Manzanar At Dusk 2011 – A Personal Reflection: Part 2
June 21, 2011 • Gann Matsuda
Read Part 1 >>Since MAD moved out of the VFW Hall in Independence, I felt the event lost some of its character. Fewer and fewer participants were volunteering to share during the open mic session at the end of the program, as opposed to previous years, when we would have a number of participants recite poetry they had written, inspired by their experiences that day, sing songs, play the guitar, or just share their thoughts that were inspired by what …
42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage/Manzanar At Dusk 2011 – A Personal Reflection: Part 1
June 14, 2011 • Gann Matsuda
After a long, exhausting day at the 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 30, and the Manzanar At Dusk (MAD) program that evening, the Manzanar Committee is back at our headquarters hotel, the Dow Villa in Lone Pine, California, about eight miles south of the Manzanar National Historic Site, finally getting some rest after a whole lot of hard work on Saturday.That is, everyone but yours truly. Indeed, after running around all morning and afternoon at the Pilgrimage, and then …
Two Views On Frank Seishi Emi: A True American Hero
Dec. 8, 2010 • Gann Matsuda
Last April, at the Manzanar At Dusk program that follows the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, when participants broke up into small groups to share their stories and insights about Manzanar, the Japanese American Internment experience, and how it remains relevant today, one thing struck me… For the first time in the history of the program, we did not have enough former Japanese American concentration camp prisoners to go around. At this event, young people, mostly college students, gather to share their …
