Jim Matsuoka Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress Records

NCRR (Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress) emerged as a grassroots movement in 1980, fighting for redress and reparations for Nikkei (Japanese Americans) incarcerated during World War II. Founded by Japanese Americans from across the country, NCRR was first known as the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations. The non-profit organization worked to bring the community together to seek justice for the thousands of Nikkei deprived of their civil rights during World War II. NCRR played a pivotal role in helping former Nikkei incarcerees to testify at the 1981 hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), a Congress-appointed group charged with conducting an official study of the wartime incarceration of Nikkei. NCRR worked together with other Nikkei organizations, individuals, and Congress members towards enacting the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 that granted reparations. They also fought to ensure that redress was implemented and campaigned for those that were denied the reparations.

In 2000, the Los Angeles Chapter updated its name to Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress to reflect its ongoing mission. Among the many projects it has undertaken, with the help of grants through the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund (CLPEF), NCRR made available on video, "Speak Out for Justice," the 1981 CWRIC hearings held in Los Angeles. In 2004, NCRR released "Stand Up for Justice," an educational short film of Ralph Lazo, who accompanied his incarcerated Nikkei friends during World War II. In February 2020, NCRR co-chaired and presented in partnership with other organizations the Day of Remembrance 2020, held annually in remembrance of Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. Today, the organization continues to engage in similar campaigns against injustice and educate the public on wartime injustices.

Jim Matsuoka got his start with the redress movement in the 1970s when he and others founded the Los Angeles Community Coalition on Redress and Reparations (LACCRR), which laid the groundwork for the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations (NCRR). The NCRR, which was later renamed, Nikkei Civil Rights & Redress, lobbied Congress for redress and testified before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) hearings held in 1981. When the acting chair indicated they were out of time and asked that their testimonies instead be submitted in writing, Jim pounded the table and declared that he would not be silenced.

Born Haruyuki Matsuoka, Jim was born in 1935 in Los Angeles, California, to Toichi and Hatsuyo, first-generation Issei from Hiroshima, Japan. At the age of six, he and his family were incarcerated in Manzanar during World War II. After the war, he served in the U.S. Army and later earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Social Sciences from California State University, Long Beach. He worked in the aerospace industry and served as a union representative for ten years. In addition to NCRR, Jim was active in other organizations, including the Little Tokyo People’s Rights Organization (LTPRO) and the Los Angeles Pioneer Project. Jim has been recognized for his community activism, such as the 2019 Sue Kunitomi Embrey Legacy Award.