In recent decades, some Rhode Islanders have argued that the holiday’s focus on victory over Japan contributes to rising anti-Asian xenophobia, and serves as a reminder of the racism and persecution experienced by Japanese Americans during World War II. Lois Harada is a Providence artist and printmaker behind the #RenameVictoryDay campaign. Our afternoon host Dave Fallon spoke with Harada about her work, and her ideas for how to make the holiday more inclusive of all Rhode Islanders.
Harada’s work is on display for the next several weeks at the WaterFire Arts Center and Cade Tompkins Projects in Providence, as well as at the Bristol Art Museum. Go to loisharada.com for more details. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Dave Fallon: Lois Harada, welcome. Thanks for talking with us. What does Victory Day represent to you, as a person of Japanese heritage?
Lois Harada: So I’m originally from Salt Lake City, where there’s a larger population of Japanese American citizens. And so for me, coming to this state and learning about Victory Day, it was always a confusing moment of okay, wait, we take off the second Monday in August? Why do we take it off? Oh, no one is really quite sure, it has something to do with the war and veterans, but really everyone is going to the beach. So for me, a lot of my artwork is about Japanese American incarceration and that experience. So it’s really about bringing awareness to why the holiday is called what it is, and maybe thinking about shifting it to something that feels more inclusive.
Fallon: You know, the common term for it was always Victory over Japan Day.
Harada: A lot of people refer to it still as Victory over Japan Day or V-J Day, even though it is technically Victory Day on the books.
Fallon: Now, back in the 1940s, 120,000 people of Japanese heritage were incarcerated in the U.S. in those internment camps — a well known historical fact now — many of them U.S. citizens. Your grandmother and her family [were] among them. Does your feeling lead back to that?
Harada: I think that it does in a lot of ways. It’s something that she was really reticent to talk about, and that’s a really common experience among people that are my age. The goal, as you got out of those camps, was to Americanize as fast as possible. … It’s a holiday that, you know, even though it is, was started as a celebration of veterans, it does lead to a lot of feelings of otherness in the Asian American community. … So for me, this project and my work in general has been a way to look back at that history through the lens of my family’s experience, but also to bring new awareness to it. You know, it is a commonly known fact, but I’m learning that it’s less well known on the East Coast [than] it is, you know, out west, or on the West Coast.
Fallon: Now, you have a Rename Victory Day art campaign. What goes into that?
Harada: So in 2019, I started a poster campaign with different ideas for the holiday name. So Ocean State Day, Mayor’s Bay Day, Lobster Roll Day, Surf and Sand Day — basically, different examples of what the holiday could be called. Because again, I think a lot of residents use the holiday to go to the beach. I mean, it’s the second Monday in August, it’s been so hot lately. Yeah, let’s go to the beach. So with that poster campaign, I worked with some local businesses to hang up posters, and also just get them out into the community. And that has sort of morphed in the last few years. In 2020, I also printed a poster that had a hashtag of #RenameVictoryDay to try and utilize social media a little bit to extend the reach. And I also hired a banner-towing plane to carry that message across the Rhode Island beaches.
Fallon: Now, the World War II memory, when this holiday was established, was of course, very, very strong. Rhode Island had a major role in the war, both in combat, sending people into combat, and as a support base for the war effort, a Navy base, for example. What do you say to people who come from that background, who still remember that?
Harada: I think it’s a tough conversation because, you know, as I’ve suggested renaming Victory Day, it often feels like I’m trying to take a holiday away from those veterans. And that’s really not the intent. … You know, for me, it’s been a great project to try and initiate those conversations, because it’s much easier to talk to someone one-on-one or in a small group versus, you know, over social media or, or things that just don’t have the same reach. You know, when I can talk to somebody about my personal story, and why the holiday has rubbed me the wrong way, and why it’s it’s sometimes hurtful to other people, you know, it’s an easier place to have those conversations, versus “I’m taking the holiday away, and this is why and I’ve made these posters.”
Fallon: Have you seen any progress since the campaign started, in terms of accepting another idea?
Harada: I think in 2019, when I started — and I was also five years younger then — I thought, “Oh, this will happen, no problem.” But there’s a history of bills being proposed that haven’t really gone anywhere. And I think some of it is, you know, people are resistant to change, people don’t want to offend the veteran communities. So I think it is hopefully going to happen in the next few years. It’s just a little bit of a slower process.
Fallon: Let’s chat a bit about the artwork itself. You have provided us with a sample of it. … There is a tourism type of poster that has a mountain image, and there’s something in the corner that we are wondering about. What is that?
Harada: Dave, are you talking about the WPA poster?
Fallon: Right.
Harada: Yes. So, the idea with those posters was to make them really bright, poppy and inviting, but actually, they’re all different Japanese American incarceration sites. So the one that you’re referencing is Heart Mountain. So there’s a beautiful, you know, geographic shape in the background. But then at the very corner, there’s a shadow shape of the legs of a guard tower. And that shadow imagery is something that I use fairly often. I think when people think about, you know, even the word camp makes the experience sound rosier and more fun than it certainly was. You know, these sites were in very desolate areas. And with the idea of using these WPA posters, it’s about making the work really inviting before people sort of realize there’s a deeper subtext to it. And hopefully, then that starts the conversation. And I’ll say one other thing, too. With that work, I’m also ordering a penny press. Dave, have you ever used a penny press before?
Fallon: I think at amusement parks.
Harada: Exactly. So that’s what I’m waiting on to arrive today. But it will have four different incarceration sites on those pennies. So the idea is that then, people visiting the gallery will be able to use that penny press, and essentially involve themselves in the project by making their own sculptural version of one of those sites.
Fallon: I know you’re starting with so many exhibits, and you’ll be very, very busy with that. But as far as the renaming of Victory Day, where do you go from here?
Harada: So this year, I’d like to spend the rest of the summer sort of figuring out a game plan to chat with legislators again. And that usually, the best time to do that is usually end of the year, early in the year. And then of course, figuring out what the next iteration of this project is. I’d love to try and look at billboards or bus advertisements, other ways to share the message that are using commercial forms of advertising, but sort of spinning it on its head.
Fallon: Lois Harada, thank you very much for speaking with us here at The Public’s Radio.
Harada: Thanks, Dave.
