Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma joined together as part of a bipartisan coalition of APA legislators to urge the passing of ACR16, which declares February 19, 2007, as a Day of Remembrance in California. ACR16, authored by Nakanishi, will increase public awareness of the events surrounding Japanese American internment during WWII. The Assembly unanimously passed the measure.

“It is important to remember internment, in order to avoid repeating it. Being wrongfully imprisoned in an internment camp was devastating for my family, and thousands like us,” Nakanishi said. February 19 marked the 65th anniversary of Executive Order 9066.

All three remaining Japantowns in the United States are in California, with the oldest in San Francisco.

The other two are located in San Jose and Los Angeles.