“The Untold Story of Ralph Carr and the Japanese – Fate of 3 Japanese Americans and the Internment” tells the story of the 29th governor of Colorado and his high- profile stand against the internment program.
Gov. Carr welcomed Japanese-Americans to relocate to Colorado when the U.S. government was forcibly removing them from the West Coast and parts of Hawaii.
Once considered a possible vice presidential running mate for 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell Wilkie, many believe that Carr’s public pledge of support for Japanese-Americans and his pleas for racial tolerance ultimately cost him his political career.
The movie is a joint creation of Nitto and Fujisankei Communications International, Inc., the American subsidiary of the Fujisankei Communications Group, a large Japanese media conglomerate of television and radio channels along with magazine, newspaper, record and video game companies.
From 1942 to 1946, more than 110,000 Japanese- Americans, mostly along the West Coast, were sent to 10 “War Relocation Centers” in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and California.
The Japanese American National Museum, located in the Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, is dedicated to chronicling the forced internment and other significant events.
Nitto recently played an important role during a busy mid-April weekend of fundraising events for the museum, which features exhibits covering more than 130 years of Japanese-American history.
“Nitto was honored to participate in both the documentary and the successful events at the Japanese American National Museum,” says Tomoshige Mizutani the company’s president.
“There has been much triumph for the Nikkei in America, and some tragedy, too. Thankfully, there were people like the late Gov. Carr, who provide us with examples of morality and decency even in the most trying of eras. We hope that the new documentary will help educate this and future generations of all ethnic backgrounds about what it truly means to be an ‘American,’” he notes.
Nitto served as a platinum sponsor for the museum’s Annual Gala Dinner and Silent Auction, which drew prominent leaders of the Nikkei community. The gala dinner’s theme, “Continuing Family Stories: The Expanding Nikkei Community,” highlighted some of the contributions of Japanese-Americans in the post-World War II era, including those arriving in the 1960s and after. These families, like the original Issei immigrants at the beginning of the 20th Century, established businesses in the U.S. and became important members of local communities, Mizutani points out.
The previous evening, Nitto served as a VIP reception host for a private function at the museum, where the guests were shown clips of the flick. At both weekend events, Nitto presented attendees with a DVD copy of the Carr documentary.
The film aired in the Los Angeles, New York and Honolulu markets on Japanese channels.
In addition to its support for the museum and for initiatives such as the Carr film, the tire maker plays an active role in many Southern California sports and cultural events, according to Mizutani. Nitto sponsors the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Major League Baseball team and the Formula DRIFT Pro Championship Circuit.
For more information, visit www.nittotire.com.
