Virtual Lecture on ‘Nisei Memories’ of Santa Monica Posted On A commemorative photo taken in front of Santa Monica Nikkei Hall upon its completion in 1957. An addition was completed in 1969. SANTA MONICA — The Santa Monica Conservatory will present “Santa Monica Mosaic: Nisei Memories,” a virtual lecture, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. The speaker is Dr. Dennis Ogawa, a professor of Japanese American studies at the University of Hawaii, who was born at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in the Owens Valley and grew up in Santa Monica. Ogawa will tell of his father’s determination to return his family to the city after more than three years of incarceration, no matter what the challenges might be. Learn of the Ogawas’ struggles — and fond memories, too — as they sought to assimilate back into Santa Monica life amid a postwar housing shortage and lingering mistrust by their fellow Americans.