The memorial wall winds solemnly down to the historic Eagledale ferry dock landing site, where the first of more than 120,000 Japanese—two-thirds of whom were American citizens—were banished from their West Coast homes and placed in concentration camps during World War II. The memorial is a reminder—“Nidoto Nai Yoni” (Let it Not Happen Again)—of what happened on March 30, 1942.

Built of old-growth red cedar, granite and basalt, the wall honors the names of all 276 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were exiled from Bainbridge Island by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 and Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1. It also celebrates this island community, which defended its Japanese-American friends and neighbors, supported them while they were away, and welcomed them home.