War memorial set for Little Tokyo

A new installation at the Japanese American National Museum in L.A. will be dedicated May 31 as a permanent complement to the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism in Washington.

The East Coast monument was erected in 2000 to honor Japanese Americans who fought for their country during World War II -- and to commemorate the forced internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during the war.

The L.A. memorial consists of a donor wall of glass, steel and concrete, by Fresno designer Sidney Mukai, recognizing those who helped finance the East Coast memorial. It also will feature a replica of Nina A. Akamu’s gold-plated bronze sculpture of intertwined cranes that is a focal point of the Washington memorial.

Craig D. Uchida, chairman of the foundation that created the Washington memorial, said the idea is to “bring the spirit of the memorial closer to home” for the West Coast, where the internment policy took effect.