Date of Thesis

Spring 2026

Description

Sangha: Displacement and Memory in Nikkei Dena explores how layered displacements have shaped the Nikkei (Japanese-American) community in Altadena and Pasadena (Dena), CA, and how Nikkei resist forces of displacement and ‘unbelonging’ through cultural practice, community care, and memory-work at the Pasadena Buddhist Temple. This thesis argues that these practices of place-making build belonging and sustain the Nikkei community across displacement; particularly, the forced removal and incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II, freeway displacement during the mid-century, and most recently, the 2025 Eaton Fire, which has displaced tens of thousands of Denans, including a small, but historically significant Nikkei-American population. While these displacements have shaped and continue to shape the Nikkei-American community in Altadena and Pasadena, investigating Nikkei-American community care and place-making also reveals enduring resistance to forces of displacement, othering, and assimilation. This project utilizes an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods approach that combines historical analysis with theories in Human Geography and Memory Studies to examine the enduring legacies of both displacement and Nikkei place-making.

Keywords

Nikkei, Japanese-American, displacement, memory, place-making, Pasadena

Access Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Type

Bachelor of Arts

Major

East Asian Studies

First Advisor

David W. Del Testa

Second Advisor

Adrian Mulligan

Third Advisor

Josie Barth

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