New Heart Mountain program to lead educational exchange with Japanese universities and museums

POWELL (WNE) — Thanks to a $158,622 grant from The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation will lead Educators in Exchange: Bridging US-Japan Education on Japanese American Incarceration. 

In fall 2026, this program will help bring one group of university students and a separate group of university professors and museum professionals from Japan to Heart Mountain. 

Each group will spend a week engaging in site tours, collections-based activities, and a training workshop with HMWF staff, former incarcerees, and camp descendants. 

HMWF’s Japan Outreach Initiative Coordinator Haruka Takaku and Education Manager Sybil Kawano will co-develop the curriculum, translating existing materials into Japanese and adapting lesson plans in ways that will resonate with learners in Japan. 

Following the visits by Japanese educators, museum professionals and students, HMWF will send a delegation of four staff plus one board member to Japan to conduct workshops at the partner universities and experience the partner museums. 

“We at Heart Mountain have long aspired to deepen our connections with Japanese institutions and attract more Japanese visitors to our state and our site,” said executive director Aura Sunada Newlin. “This grant opens up an array of opportunities that we are excited to pursue.”

This story was published on Nov. 11, 2025.