Kintsukuroi: Film Screening and Discussion

Join us for a very special event: A screening of the film Kintsukuroi followed by a discussion with the film's director, Kerwin Berk, and his crew.

Executive Order 9066, issued in February 1942, authorized the exclusion of "any or all persons" from military zones along the West Coast. Over 120,000 Japanese Americans reluctantly left their homes, businesses, and possessions and spent the duration of the war locked behind barbed wire fences in desolate camps around the country.  

The Hayward area had a large Japanese American population primarily due to its thriving agriculture industry. A majority of families operated or worked in plant and flower nurseries, but there were also commercial farmers specializing in strawberries and other crops, retail business owners, labor workers in the salt industry and on farms, and even a family who ran a goldfish hatchery. The loss of income, opportunity, and personal property was staggering. It took years for the community to recover.

As we grapple today with issues of immigration, race, and discrimination, the experience of these wartime prisoners serves as an important reminder of how easily fear can lead to the loss of freedom for some of our citizens.

This is a special event presented in partnership with the Hayward Area Historical Society and the Hayward Arts Council. Please use the form below to sign up. If you are registering multiple attendees, you only need to submit the form once—just indicate the number of attendees in the notes section.

Presenters:

Kerwin Berk is a third-generation Japanese American, born in San Francisco’s Japantown. He’s the son of an American soldier and a Japanese American woman. His mother and her parents were incarcerated at Topaz Relocation Center in Utah during World War II. He is an award-winning former journalist who worked at wire services and for newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle for more than 25 years. Today he is an independent filmmaker and founder of Ikeibi Films.

Kerwin’s story of making Kinsurukoi, though, is secondary to him. His primary interest is the audience reaction and the stories he has been told by survivors of the camps and family members of survivors of the camps.

Victor Fujii - MC. His father’s family was removed from Hayward and incarcerated at Topaz, Utah during WW. His mother’s family was removed from Salinas and incarcerated at Poston, Arizona during the war.

Victor is a current member of the Japanese American Citizens League and served as president of the local chapter. Victor was a member of the Watkins Street Japanese American Memorial Team. Along with support from the City of Hayward, this team completed the story board and sculpture located in the Hayward Heritage Plaza honoring the Japanese people removed from their homes in the Hayward area during World War II.

The Hayward Area Historical Society connects people, experiences, and stories. Sharing and illuminating the diverse histories, identities and commonalities of our communities
Capturing, studying, reflecting and interpreting the various stories of the Hayward Area.

Hayward Arts Council (HAC) promotes Hayward as a cultural center and makes the arts easily accessible to all community members. HAC presents ongoing/rotating Art exhibitions, receptions, Family fun Free Art Classes, and programs in both Downtown and Weekes Branch Library.

Kintsukuroi, or kintsugi, is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, lacquer, and other precious metals, making the piece more beautiful and valuable than before. This practice is rooted in the philosophy of wabi-sabi, which embraces imperfection, and can be seen as a metaphor for resilience and strength, suggesting that flaws and breakage are part of an object's (or a person's) unique history.