Tule Lake Pilgrimage participants in front of the former site of the camp jail. (MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo)

The Tule Lake Committee announces the 2016 pilgrimage dates: Friday, July 1, through Monday, July 4.

Pilgrimage information and registration forms will be posted online at the Tule Lake Committee’s website, www.tulelake.org, on Friday, Feb. 19. Registration forms should be completed and mailed with payment, by check only.

“This year’s pilgrimage, ‘Our Hallowed Ground,’ is the 21st pilgrimage to Tule Lake, and honors our forebears imprisoned at this civil rights site of protest and sorrow — where Japanese Americans who said ‘No’ to America’s injustice were segregated and punished for their dissent,” the committee said.

Thanks to the all-volunteer work of the Tule Lake Committee, the registration fee is $475 per person. For those on fixed incomes or students, the fee is $325. If you are a former Tule Lake incarceree, 80 years of age or older, the fee is $250. Grants are available to assist with the registration fee.

The registration fee is all-inclusive and covers charter bus transportation, lodging, meals and all activities during the four-day pilgrimage. Given the growing interest in the Tule Lake Pilgrimage, registration is expected to close very quickly. In recent years, spaces fill within the first two weeks of registration.

“If you wish to join us, please avoid disappointment by completing your registration as soon as possible,” the committee said.

Pilgrimage participants travel together in deluxe, chartered buses that depart from San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose, Union City, Sacramento, Seattle and Portland.

Accommodations are at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. There are two housing options: standard double-occupancy dorm rooms that are included in the registration fee, or the four-bedroom/four-person air-conditioned suites that will add an extra charge of $50 per person, raising the registration fee to $525. Note that these suites are further from the main activity building and have no elevators; a limited number of ground-level suites are handicapped-accessible.

Activities over the four days include a tour of the Tule Lake concentration camp site and a memorial service. Intergenerational discussion groups and open forums provide an occasion to learn, share experiences and help heal the multi-generational wounds of the incarceration. The final night’s closing cultural program is open to the public and will be held at the Ross Ragland Theater in downtown Klamath Falls.

If you lack Internet access and need registration forms mailed to you via USPS, or if you want more information, contact Hiroshi Shimizu, at (415) 566-2279, (415) 317-2686 (cell) or shimizu@pacbell.net.