Events
UPCOMING EVENTS
Frank S. Matsura: Portraits From the Borderland: Panel Discussion and Reflection Session
Saturday, November 1 — 1:00-3:30 pm PT
In conjunction with the exhibition Frank S. Matsura: Portraits From the Borderland, this two-part conversation will focus on identity and representation of Indigenous and Japanese American cultures in the media. We’ll start with a panel discussion with curator Michael Holloman, Dr. Satsuki Ina, and Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong, moderated by Dr. Melanie Fillmore. Following will be a short break and then a guided reflection process led by Dr. Ina.
Location: 220 NW 2nd Ave Portland, OR 97209 (Please note that this program will take place OFF SITE at the 220 PDX Building).
Virtual Event (Via Zoom): The English Department at Colorado College's Visiting Writers Series presents: A reading by Dr. Satsuki Ina, a licensed psychotherapist specializing in community trauma and the author of The Poet and the Silk Girl. Her reading will be followed by a conversation moderated by Brandon Shimoda, Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET.
The virtual event is co-sponsored by the Colorado College Asian Studies Program, the Colorado College History Department, and the Mile High Japanese American Citizens League (Denver).
Event at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, CA.
In conversation with Adrian Tomine
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Full Details TK.
PAST EVENTS
Dear Survivors, Descendants, Allies, and Friends:
Please join us on Saturday, October 18, at 11 am PT as we lift up our voices to speak out and demand that this administration STOP REPEATING HISTORY.
Location: at the Tanforan Memorial in San Bruno, CA.
For more details and to RSVP, click here.
Event: Satsuki Ina in conversation with NPR’s Here and Now host Deepa Fernandes at the Mechanics’ Institute | Thursday, September 25, 2025 | 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm | Location: 57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA.
Event: Snow Country Prison Memorial Dedication Ceremony Friday, September 5, 2025 | 1:00PM | United Tribes Technical College | Bismarck, North Dakota.
Followed by a panel discussion about Bismarck's incarceration history during WWII, a presentation by Dr. Satsuki Ina, descendant and author of The Poet and the Silk Girl, and screening of Emiko Omori's film about Tule Lake's renunciants, Defiant to the Last.
Event: The Poet and the Silk Girl Book Signing | Friday, September 5, 2025 | 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm | United Tribes Technical College | Bismarck, North Dakota | Education Building, Room 207
Event: Fundraiser for Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC)
Wednesday, May 21th, 7:00PM-9:30PM
North Star Lounge 301 N. Fifth Avenue, Ann Arbor, United
MIRC's federal funding has been terminated, putting critical services for immigrant communities at risk. Join us for an inspiring evening with activist and author Satsuki Ina, born in a WWII Japanese American incarceration camp, as she discusses her new book The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest. Every dollar raised will help MIRC continue supporting unaccompanied children and immigrants facing removal proceedings across Michigan.
Event: Satuski Ina @ Ann Arbor District Library Sponsored by Literati Bookstore: The Poet and the Silk Girl
Thursday, May 22th, 6:30PM | Ann Arbor District Library
Literati is thrilled to partner with the Ann Arbor District Library Downtown to welcome Satsuki Ina, author of The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest.
Event: The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest
Saturday May 10, 2025 2:00-3:30PM | Oregon Buddhist Temple
Dr. Satsuki Ina discusses her new book, The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest, in conversation with Julie Abo. In this moving memoir, Satsuki Ina, who was born in the Tule Lake Segregation Center, recovers the story of how her parents survived and resisted their incarceration in U.S. concentration camps. Drawing from diary entries, heart-wrenching haiku, censored letters, government documents, and clandestine messages, Ina shares the eyewitness dispatches of her mother and father, Shizuko and Itaru, newlywed at the time of incarceration.
Event: Book Talk with Dr. Satsuki Ina | The Poet and the Silk Girl
Wednesday, April 23, 7:00PM - 9:00PM | Aragon High School Theater
An evening organized by Aragon’s History Department as part of our commitment to understanding and reflecting on pivotal moments in American history.
Q&A session with Dr. Satsuki Ina will discuss her memoir, sharing excerpts from her parents’ letters, her mother’s diary, and her own experiences.
Books will be available for purchase and signing during the event.
Event: Keynote speech at Manzanar Pilgrimage
Saturday April 26, 11:30AM | Manzanar National Historic Site
Los Angeles – The Manzanar Committee is proud to announce that Dr. Satsuki Ina will be the keynote speaker at the 56th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on Saturday, April 26th. Dr. Ina is a nationally recognized psychotherapist, filmmaker, and co-founder of Tsuru for Solidarity. She will share her insights on the lasting impacts of the incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II and how it relates to the political landscape today.
Event: Book Talk with Satsuki Ina. Wednesday November 13th, 5:30PM - 7:30PM. UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library
Dr. Satsuki Ina will discuss the process of writing The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest, a “compelling and prismatic love story of one family’s defiance in the facee of injustice_and how their story echoes across generations. “Connecting the past to the present, Ina links her family’s story to struggles against ongoing mass incarceration at the U.S. - Mexico border.
Event: Book Talk with Satsuki Ina. Saturday, November 9th, 1:00PM - 3:00PM California Museum
Join author Satsuki Ina at the California Museum for a discussion of her new memoir, The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest, the story of the Ina family, who were among the 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry that the U.S. forcibly displaced and incarcerated after declaring war on Japan in WWII.
Event 1: Densho presents a conversation with Satsuki Ina. Saturday, May 11th, 2:00PM | Seattle Public Library
Ina will present her moving new memoir, “The Poet and the Silk Girl” (Heyday Books, March 2024), in which she recovers the story of how her parents survived and resisted their incarceration in U.S. concentration camps. Drawing from diary entries, heart-wrenching haiku, censored letters, government documents, and clandestine messages, Ina shares the eyewitness dispatches of Shizuko and her newlywed husband Itaru.
Event 2: How We Thrive: Asian American Healing, Co-Presented by CAAMFest
Thursday, May 16th, 2024, 7:00PM | The Commons and on Livestream
Cultural stigmas and intergenerational traumas make navigating mental health in the Asian American community complex, but modern day practitioners and healers offer expansive frameworks for a holistic approach. Hosted by Bay Area journalist Cecilia Lei, join KQED and CAAMFest for an empowering evening to redefine community resilience by honoring all parts of ourselves.
The event will feature comedy by Kristee Ono; a discussion between licensed therapist Soo Jin Lee of the Yellow Chair Collective, healing practitioner Angela Basbas Angel and community activist, author and filmmaker Satsuki Ina; and a tasting of bites by Chef Yana Gilbuena.
Event 4: Book Presentation and Signing
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin Annex
Saturday, May 18th, 11:00AM–1PM
632 North 5th St. San Jose, CA. 95112
Book presentation and signing.
Satsuki Ina is an Emmy award-winning documentarian, community activist, and co-founder of Tsuru for Solidarity. Her memoir, The Poet and the Silk Girl, explores her family’s experience of unjust incarceration during WWII.
RSVP: SJBC@SJBETUIN.ORG
Add subject line: Satsuki Ina, include email or phone number
Event 3: Japanese Heritage Night at Bainbridge Arts & Crafts. Wednesday, May 29th, 6:00PM | Bainbridge Arts & Crafts
An evening of music, literature and history hosted by Bainbridge Arts & Crafts Gallery and Eagle Harbor Books. Micaela Omoto will lead us in song, followed by readings from Dylan Tomine, author of Headwaters and Satsuki Ina, author of The Poet and The Silk Girl, as well as a talk by Clarence Moriwaki – Let It Not Happen Again: Lessons of the Japanese American Exclusion. Speaker interviews with Star Rush, Artist, Arts Educator, Arts Leader. A book signing hosted by Eagle Harbor Book Co. (located next-door) will take place after the Q&A.
Event 5: Satsuki Ina Conversation with Andrew Way Leong
Book Passage: Corte Madera Store
Sunday, June 9th, 2024: 4:00PM PT
Ina's memoir, "The Poet and the Silk Girl," offers a poignant glimpse into her parents' survival and resistance during their internment in U.S. concentration camps. Through a blend of personal accounts such as diary entries, haiku, censored letters, and official documents, Ina reconstructs the experiences of her parents, Shizuko and Itaru. In conversation with Andrew Way Leong, assistant professor at UC Berkeley, the event promises a candid exploration of this often overlooked aspect of American history.
Event 6: Tule Lake Pilgrimage
July 5-8, 2024
Details to come.
Event 7: Satsuki Ina in Conversation with Brandon Shimoda
Tuesday, July 23, 2024, 6:00PM PST
Virtual Event hosted by City Lights
City Lights and Heyday Books celebrate the publication of The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest by Satsuki Ina. This is a virtual event on the Zoom platform. Please register below.