The idea of the Ireichō came from Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams, who is also a Buddhist pastor. He continues to direct the team compiling the records and developing more material for the encompassing Irei Project.
The meaning of the three characters, 慰霊帳 (Ireichō), is a "memorial book” that is similar to a 過去帳 Kakochō, a sacred ancestral record book of names of the deceased at a Buddhist temple. The sacred Ireichō, however, is a unique memorial book that contains the names of innocent Japanese and Japanese Americans who suffered the indignation of imprisonment in US concentration camps and other US prisons during WWII. Presently, more than 125,000 names have been entered.
The meaning of each kanji follows. 慰--console, 霊--soul, spirit, 帳--note book (directory)
Please click here for more information about the Ireichō
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