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Japanese American Internment Camps: Resistance and Perseverance

This thesis examines the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II from the internees’ side, the side of the United States government and the general non-Japanese American population’s side. It examines three key aspects of internment from the Japanese American perspective: initial feelings of the camps and their conditions; the ways in which Japanese Americans maintained a traditional life during internment or, particularly in the case of Japanese American women, found new opportunities through internment to break with certain traditions; and how both age and gender played a role in their perception of events as well as their ability to resist internment. Oral history interviews with Japanese Americans who were interned provide the main primary source information. Military documents of camp examinations and newspaper articles show the racist climate of the United States during internment. Using these primary sources in conjunction with secondary scholarship from some of ...

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Edmund Fong

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Background and early part of the history of the Japanese American incarceration experience from 1941 to mid-1942 through the lens of the photography of Dorothea Lange. Part 1.

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A final paper submitted for an international relations class that examines the circumstances and execution of Japanese internment policies during WWII in the United States. Specific focus is given to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Korematsu v. United States et al for contextual evidence.

Human Rights Quarterly

alison renteln

Olivia Kosakoff

During the period of World War II, the people of the free nations fought for the preservation of the very existence of the democratic government and its institutions, which warranted the most valuable civil rights: freedom, equality under the law and the pursuit of happiness. But while our men and women were in the battlegrounds abroad, fighting dictatorial powers that wanted to suppress those rights worldwide, our own government became a tyrannical authority, executing methods similar to those used by the enemy's governments, against tens of thousands of American citizens. The national battleground was throughout many of our towns, and the casualties were American citizens of Japanese descent. From 1942 until 1945, more than 120,000 Americans citizens and legal residents-aliens were forced to live behind the fences of Relocation Camps, accused of no other crime than their ancestors' origin. In this essay, I shall study this period's events and historical causes, and I'll survey the short and long term effects on Japanese men and women, and their families. I want also to examine the impact that years of internment had on the Japanese communities and the subject of redress. Finally, I shall make a special effort on scrutinizing the ideological and legal challenge this sad period of our recent past meant to our democracy. It is my intention to review how the Japanese Internment helped defining the nature of our democracy, what lessons can be learned from this historical experience, and how, in the aftermath, democracy reevaluates itself and evolves, to become stronger. Asian immigration came to and stayed mostly in the Pacific Coastal states, principally California. Since the very origin of its statehood, California attracted an enormous influx of immigrants due to the Gold Rush madness and the fast development of the economy that resulted from it. The White-Anglo supremacy (direct result of the Manifest Destiny ideology) crushed and discriminated all and any other types of ethnicities competing for jobs, business and/or political and

This article attempts to resituate the Japanese Internment as a significant episode in the development of the New Deal Order’s understandings of race. By analyzing the policy tensions, shifts, and ambivalences in the War Relocation Authority’s administration of the internment camps, I argue that many significant features of how race would subsequently be conceived for Japanese Americans in particular and for the Nation as a whole were dis-closed in the attempts of the WRA to reconcile older associations of racial stigma, assimilability, and captive labor with new imperatives around the plural integrationist basis of American democracy.

Pacific Historical Review

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In September 1971 Congress repealed the Emergency Detention Act, Title II of the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950. This act had authorized the President to apprehend and detain any person suspected as a threat to internal security during a national emergency. This article analyzes the Title II repeal campaign between 1967 and 1971, revealing that the public historical memories of Japanese American internment greatly influenced support for repeal in Congress and among the American public. Civil rights and antiwar protesters both feared that such a law might be used against them, but Japanese Americans had been interned during World War II. Their presence in the repeal campaign made the question of detention starkly real and the need for repeal persuasive. Conversely, their work for repeal allowed them to address a painful part of their American experience and speak publicly as a community.

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Home > Graduate Studies > Electronic Theses and Dissertations > 432

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Japanese american cultural identity: the role of wwii, internment, and the 3/11 disaster in japan.

Carrie L. Miller , University of Denver Follow

Date of Award

Document type.

Masters Thesis

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Organizational unit.

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Margaret Thompson, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Lynn Schofield Clark

Third Advisor

Bonnie Clark

Fourth Advisor

Devin Joshi

Fifth Advisor

Christine Sheikh

Japanese internment, Communication Theory of Identity, CTI, Critical-cultural hybridity, Identity gaps

This research explores the nature of Japanese American cultural identity through an examination of the historical contexts of WWII, internment, and the 3/11 disasters in Japan. Interview data was analyzed using both interpretive and critical paradigms. I then utilized the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the corresponding concept of identity gaps, and critical-cultural hybridity. It was found that Japanese Americans construct, enact, and relate to their identities in markedly different ways despite belonging to the same cultural group. In turn, I am proposing further revision to CTI's communal frame to exemplify the shared and contested elements of a collective. This research also suggests that the structural context of internment has impacted Japanese Americans even though they may not perceive much of an impact on their own identity conceptions. Moreover, this study argues that internment has profoundly shaped the lives of Japanese Americans, which future research can continue to explore.

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Carrie L. Miller

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Miller, Carrie L., "Japanese American Cultural Identity: The Role of WWII, Internment, and the 3/11 Disaster in Japan" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations . 432. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/432

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Euphemisms, concentration camps and the japanese internment.

Edward Schumacher-Matos

Lori Grisham

A large sign placed in the window of a store in Oakland, Calif. in 1942. The store was closed following orders to persons of Japanese descent to evacuate from certain West Coast areas. Dorothea Lange/Library of Congress hide caption

A large sign placed in the window of a store in Oakland, Calif. in 1942. The store was closed following orders to persons of Japanese descent to evacuate from certain West Coast areas.

Updated 02/14 1:35 p.m. ( Click for the latest ): More from historian Roger Daniels.

Shortly following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 . In a climate of widespread fear bordering on panic, the order resulted in the incarceration of more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast. They were uprooted from their homes and isolated in 10 hastily constructed camps , some of them for as long as four years, in what is widely known as the Japanese-American Internment.

Talk of the Nation 's Neal Conan hosted a segment last week about Fred Korematsu, a civil rights leader who challenged the executive order at the time. Conan's interview with Korematsu's daughter, Karen, prompted some thoughtful and even evocative replies from listeners, several of whom shared their own personal family stories.

But one listener disliked Conan and Korematsu's use of the phrase "concentration camp" to refer to the sites where people were detained. William Medley from Gallipolis, OH, wrote:

There was a story on a gentleman named Korematsu and his fight against the Japanese internment camps. The story was interesting and I felt a large degree of empathy for the family. It was nice to hear that he was being recognized for his fight against the way the American Japanese were treated. But then the commentator referred to the Japanese internment camps as "concentration camps." I cannot imagine a more offensive way to portray the situation. To compare the Japanese internment camps to the Nazi or communist concentration camps is beyond offensive to the Jewish community and any reasonably intelligent American. While not Jewish myself, I found it to be terribly offensive. Words have meaning and to diminish the term "concentration camps" is reprehensible.

We asked Conan to explain his word choice. As seen in his reply and many of his on-air interviews, Conan appears to like history. He wrote:

"Concentration camp" is a term that predates both Hitler and Communism. The Nazi concentration camps are more usually, and more accurately described as Death Camps. Stalin's Gulags are slightly different, as they were prison camps, though the "crimes" and "trials" were often specious. But a concentration camp, such as those operated by the British during the Boer War, does not in and of itself suggest atrocity.

His explanation holds up with NPR's dictionary-of-choice, Webster's New World Fourth College Edition . It defines a concentration camp as, "A prison camp in which political dissidents, members of minority ethnic groups, etc. are confined." Somewhat surprisingly, "internment camp" is not listed in the dictionary.

The Oxford English Dictionary supports Conan's historical explanation as well. The OED defines a concentration camp as, "a camp where non-combatants of a district are accommodated, such as those instituted by Lord Kitchener during the Boer War (1899–1902); one for the internment of political prisoners, foreign nationals, etc., esp. as organized by the Nazi regime in Germany before and during the war of 1939–45."

Nazis put Jews, and millions of non-Jews, into about 20,000 camps during the war. According to the Holocaust Museum , these camps ranged from forced-labor camps where internees worked as slave labor, transit camps that served as holding pins before sending people off to Auschwitz and other places, and extermination camps, or death camps, built primarily for mass murder. Today, we often identify the phrase "concentration camp" with the latter, though the museum itself has a broader definition , and one that may be clearer than either of the dictionary ones. The museum says:

The term concentration camp refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy.

But this debate goes beyond textbook definitions.

Roger Daniels, a historian and author, wrote an analysis for the University of Washington Press called " Words Do Matter: A Note on Inappropriate Terminology and the Incarceration of the Japanese Americans ." He concludes that, although it's unlikely society will completely cease to use the phrase "Japanese internment," scholars should abandon the term and use "concentration camp." He considers internment a euphemism that minimizes a tragic time in American history.

President Franklin Roosevelt himself called the relocation sites concentration camps and Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, told the Washington Evening Star in 1946 :

As a member of President Roosevelt's administration, I saw the United States Army give way to mass hysteria over the Japanese...Crowded into cars like cattle, these hapless people were hurried away to hastily constructed and thoroughly inadequate concentration camps, with soldiers with nervous muskets on guard, in the great American desert. We gave the fancy name of 'relocation centers' to these dust bowls, but they were concentration camps nonetheless.

But Daniels recognizes that many scholars won't agree with him. He quotes Alice Yang Murray, a professor of history at the University of California and the author of several books on Asian American history:

The term "concentration camp" may once have been a euphemism for a Nazi "extermination camp," but I think that over time the two kinds of camps have become inextricably linked in the popular imagination. In other words, I believe the meaning of the term "concentration camp" has changed over time. During World War II, officials and commentators could say Japanese Americans were confined in concentration camps without evoking images of Nazi atrocities. I don't think that this is true today.

But while Murray be an Asian-American scholar, the Japanese American Citizens League , the oldest Asian-American civil rights group, doesn't agree with her and sides with Daniels. It calls the camps concentration camps, and has a map of them . On Conan's program, Korematsu spoke with this Japanese-American view.

So, where does all this leave us? Listener Medley, perhaps without realizing it, has re-opened a long debate. He also is right that words matter. They frame our view of the past and influence our destiny for the future. But it seems on balance that "concentration camp" is at the very least acceptable—and may be appropriate even today—in referring to the interning of Japanese Americans.

What we all really seem to be seeking is a phrase that doesn't diminish the cruelty of uprooting and isolating Japanese and Japanese-Americans against their will, but also doesn't diminish the true horror of Nazi extermination camps. You may have other words to suggest in striking the balance.

Updated 02/14 1:35 p.m.

A response from historian and author Roger Daniels:

I appreciate you folks citing my essay, "Words Do Matter," to help explicate a semantic problem, but you have left out an important part of the argument, to wit, that while "concentration camp" is the preferred term it is not mandatory. What is, in my view, mandatory, is not to use internment. The United States, and most other powers, did intern "enemy nationals" something recognized in American law, and kept them in generally well run camps run by the Department of Justice. To confuse those camps, which conformed to the Geneva Convention, and, in the United States were limited to what the American statutes referred to as "alien enemies" 14 years of age and older, with the camps set up under Executive Order 9066 which incarcerated primarily American citizens of all ages is to muddy the waters quite seriously. The government did not have to apologize for those selected individuals place in DoJ internment camps. It did apologize, and paid serious compensation for those confined in the camps run by the War Relocation Authority so well described in the quotation by Harold L. Ickes. Your use of "internment" shows that you don't yet fully understand the issue. - Roger Daniels Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History University of Cincinnati

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Japanese Internment Camps

By: History.com Editors

Updated: October 29, 2021 | Original: October 29, 2009

Japanese internment camps were established during World War II by President Franklin D. Roosevelt through his Executive Order 9066 . From 1942 to 1945, it was the policy of the U.S. government that people of Japanese descent, including U.S. citizens, would be incarcerated in isolated camps. Enacted in reaction to the Pearl Harbor attacks and the ensuing war, the incarceration of Japanese Americans is considered one of the most atrocious violations of American civil rights in the 20th century.

Executive Order 9066

On February 19, 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 with the stated intention of preventing espionage on American shores.

Military zones were created in California, Washington and Oregon—states with a large population of Japanese Americans. Then Roosevelt’s executive order forcibly removed Americans of Japanese ancestry from their homes. Executive Order 9066 affected the lives about 120,000 people—the majority of whom were American citizens.

Canada soon followed suit, forcibly removing 21,000 of its residents of Japanese descent from its west coast. Mexico enacted its own version, and eventually 2,264 more people of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina to the United States.

Anti-Japanese American Activity 

Weeks before the order, the Navy removed citizens of Japanese descent from Terminal Island near the Port of Los Angeles.

On December 7, 1941, just hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the FBI rounded-up 1,291 Japanese American community and religious leaders, arresting them without evidence and freezing their assets.

In January, the arrestees were transferred to prison camps in Montana, New Mexico and North Dakota, many unable to inform their families and most remaining for the duration of the war.

Concurrently, the FBI searched the private homes of thousands of Japanese American residents on the West Coast, seizing items considered contraband.

One-third of Hawaii’s population was of Japanese descent. In a panic, some politicians called for their mass incarceration. Japanese-owned fishing boats were impounded.

Some Japanese American residents were arrested and 1,500 people—one percent of the Japanese population in Hawaii—were sent to prison camps on the U.S. mainland.

Photos of Japanese American Relocation and Incarceration

John DeWitt

Lt. General John L. DeWitt, leader of the Western Defense Command, believed that the civilian population needed to be taken control of to prevent a repeat of Pearl Harbor.

To argue his case, DeWitt prepared a report filled with known falsehoods, such as examples of sabotage that were later revealed to be the result of cattle damaging power lines.

DeWitt suggested the creation of the military zones and Japanese detainment to Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Attorney General Francis Biddle. His original plan included Italians and Germans, though the idea of rounding-up Americans of European descent was not as popular.

At Congressional hearings in February 1942, a majority of the testimonies, including those from California Governor Culbert L. Olson and State Attorney General Earl Warren , declared that all Japanese should be removed.

Biddle pleaded with the president that mass incarceration of citizens was not required, preferring smaller, more targeted security measures. Regardless, Roosevelt signed the order.

War Relocation Authority

After much organizational chaos, about 15,000 Japanese Americans willingly moved out of prohibited areas. Inland state citizens were not keen for new Japanese American residents, and they were met with racist resistance.

Ten state governors voiced opposition, fearing the Japanese Americans might never leave, and demanded they be locked up if the states were forced to accept them.

A civilian organization called the War Relocation Authority was set up in March 1942 to administer the plan, with Milton S. Eisenhower from the Department of Agriculture to lead it. Eisenhower only lasted until June 1942, resigning in protest over what he characterized as incarcerating innocent citizens.

Relocation to 'Assembly Centers'

Army-directed removals began on March 24. People had six days notice to dispose of their belongings other than what they could carry.

Anyone who was at least 1/16th Japanese was evacuated, including 17,000 children under age 10, as well as several thousand elderly and disabled residents.

Japanese Americans reported to "Assembly Centers" near their homes. From there they were transported to a "Relocation Center" where they might live for months before transfer to a permanent "Wartime Residence."

Assembly Centers were located in remote areas, often reconfigured fairgrounds and racetracks featuring buildings not meant for human habitation, like horse stalls or cow sheds, that had been converted for that purpose. In Portland, Oregon , 3,000 people stayed in the livestock pavilion of the Pacific International Livestock Exposition Facilities.

The Santa Anita Assembly Center, just several miles northeast of Los Angeles, was a de-facto city with 18,000 incarcerated, 8,500 of whom lived in stables. Food shortages and substandard sanitation were prevalent in these facilities.

Life in 'Assembly Centers'

Assembly Centers offered work to prisoners with the policy that they should not be paid more than an Army private. Jobs ranged from doctors to teachers to laborers and mechanics. A couple were the sites of camouflage net factories, which provided work.

Over 1,000 incarcerated Japanese Americans were sent to other states to do seasonal farm work. Over 4,000 of the incarcerated population were allowed to leave to attend college.

Conditions in 'Relocation Centers'

There were a total of 10 prison camps, called "Relocation Centers." Typically the camps included some form of barracks with communal eating areas. Several families were housed together. Residents who were labeled as dissidents were forced to a special prison camp in Tule Lake, California.

Two prison camps in Arizona were located on Native American reservations, despite the protests of tribal councils, who were overruled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Each Relocation Center was its own "town," and included schools, post offices and work facilities, as well as farmland for growing food and keeping livestock. Each prison camp "town" was completely surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers.

Net factories offered work at several Relocation Centers. One housed a naval ship model factory. There were also factories in different Relocation Centers that manufactured items for use in other prison camps, including garments, mattresses and cabinets. Several housed agricultural processing plants.

Violence in Prison Camps

Violence occasionally occurred in the prison camps. In Lordsburg, New Mexico , prisoners were delivered by trains and forced to march two miles at night to the camp. On July 27, 1942, during a night march, two Japanese Americans, Toshio Kobata and Hirota Isomura, were shot and killed by a sentry who claimed they were attempting to escape. Japanese Americans testified later that the two elderly men were disabled and had been struggling during the march to Lordsburg. The sentry was found not guilty by the army court martial board.

On August 4, 1942, a riot broke out in the Santa Anita Assembly Center, the result of anger about insufficient rations and overcrowding. At California's Manzanar War Relocation Center , tensions resulted in the beating of Fred Tayama, a Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL) leader, by six men. JACL members were believed to be supporters of the prison camp's administration. 

Fearing a riot, police tear-gassed crowds that had gathered at the police station to demand the release of Harry Ueno. Ueno had been arrested for allegedly assaulting Tayama. James Ito was killed instantly and several others were wounded. Among those injured was Jim Kanegawa, 21, who died of complications five days later.

At the Topaz Relocation Center , 63-year-old prisoner James Hatsuki Wakasa was shot and killed by military police after walking near the perimeter fence. Two months later, a couple was shot at for strolling near the fence.

In October 1943, the Army deployed tanks and soldiers to  Tule Lake Segregation Center  in northern California to crack down on protests. Japanese American prisoners at Tule Lake had been striking over food shortages and unsafe conditions that had led to an accidental death in October 1943. At the same camp, on May 24, 1943, James Okamoto, a 30-year-old prisoner who drove a construction truck, was shot and killed by a guard.  

Fred Korematsu

In 1942, 23-year-old Japanese-American Fred Korematsu was arrested for refusing to relocate to a Japanese prison camp. His case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, where his attorneys argued in Korematsu v. United States that Executive Order 9066 violated the Fifth Amendment . 

Korematsu lost the case, but he went on to become a civil rights activist and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. With the creation of California’s Fred Korematsu Day, the United States saw its first U.S. holiday named for an Asian American. But it took another Supreme Court decision to halt the incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Mitsuye Endo

The prison camps ended in 1945 following the  Supreme Court decision,  Ex parte Mitsuye Endo . In this case, justices ruled unanimously that the War Relocation Authority “has no authority to subject citizens who are concededly loyal to its leave procedure.”

The case was brought on behalf of Mitsuye Endo, the daughter of Japanese immigrants from Sacramento, California. After filing a habeas corpus petition, the government offered to free her, but Endo refused, wanting her case to address the entire issue of Japanese incarceration.

One year later, the Supreme Court made the decision, but gave President Truman the chance to begin camp closures before the announcement. One day after Truman made his announcement, the Supreme Court revealed its decision.

Reparations

The last Japanese internment camp closed in March 1946. President Gerald Ford officially repealed Executive Order 9066 in 1976, and in 1988, Congress issued a formal apology and passed the Civil Liberties Act awarding $20,000 each to over 80,000 Japanese Americans as reparations for their treatment.

Japanese Relocation During World War II . National Archives . Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites. J. Burton, M. Farrell, F. Lord and R. Lord . Lordsburg Internment POW Camp. Historical Society of New Mexico . Smithsonian Institute .

Watch the documentary event, FDR . Available to stream now.

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The Japanese American Wartime Incarceration: Examining the Scope of Racial Trauma

Donna k. nagata.

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Jacqueline H. J. Kim

Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Ten weeks after the 1941 Japanese military attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the U.S. government authorized the removal of more than 110,000 Japanese American men, women, and children from their homes in Western portions of the country to incarceration camps in desolate areas of the United States. The mass incarceration was portrayed as necessary to protect the country from potential acts of espionage or sabotage that might be committed by someone of Japanese ancestry. However, an extensive government review initiated in 1980 found no evidence of military necessity to support the removal decision and concluded that the incarceration was a grave injustice fueled by racism and war hysteria. The Japanese American wartime experience represents a powerful case example of race-based historical trauma. This article describes the consequences of the incarceration for Japanese Americans during and after their unjust imprisonment, their coping responses and healing strategies, as well as the impacts of receiving governmental redress more than four decades after the war’s end. Examination of this specific event provides a perspective for understanding the long-term, radiating effects of racial trauma and the process of healing, over a broad arc of time and across social contexts. Current relevance of the Japanese American incarceration and implications for the field of psychology are discussed.

History and racial trauma are inextricably linked. Given the complex multicultural and multiracial nature of contemporary society, an understanding of the history of racism and its impacts on communities of color is essential. Research on specific historical and race-based traumas can offer insights into these impacts and their long-range consequences. The present paper describes the World War II (WWII) Japanese American incarceration, a case example of racial trauma that occurred over 75 years ago, to provide a perspective on the scope of racial trauma and healing over a broad arc of time and across changing social contexts.

Historical Background

On February 19, 1942, 10 weeks after the Japanese military bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 and authorized the removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the western United States. More than 110,000 Japanese Americans were labeled as “potentially disloyal”; ordered to leave their homes, careers, and communities; and forced to live in isolated camps located in interior deserts and swamplands. They lived imprisoned behind barbed wire, watched by armed guards, for an average of two to four years. No charges were ever brought before the Japanese Americans, nor were they given the opportunity for a review. Included under the removal order were three generations: first-generation Japanese immigrants ( Issei ), U.S.-born second-generation Japanese Americans ( Nisei ), and their third-generation offspring ( Sansei ; see Figure 1 for generational terms).

Japanese American generations.

Neither citizenship nor age mattered: two thirds of those imprisoned were U.S. citizens by birth (U.S. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians [USCWRIC], 1997 ), including infants and young children. Instead, Japanese heritage alone was the basis for imprisonment: Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, the Commanding General for West Coast security, argued “The Japanese race is an enemy race and while many second and third generation Japanese born on United States soil, possessed of United States citizenship, have become “Americanized,” the racial strains are undiluted … It, therefore, follows that along the vital Pacific Coast over 112,000 potential enemies, of Japanese extraction, are at large today” ( USCWRIC, 1997 , p. 6).

The injustice of framing the incarceration as a military necessity is striking given that, prior to Roosevelt’s issuance of E.O. 9066, the FBI, members of the Naval Intelligence, and Army General Staff did not see the need for mass removal and incarceration as there was no evidence of espionage or sabotage committed by a Japanese American citizen or resident Japanese alien on the West Coast ( USCWRIC, 1997 ). In addition, although proximity to Japan was presented as the reason for removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast, no mass incarceration was implemented in Hawaii, which was significantly closer to Japan, and neither German nor Italian Americans were subjected to mass incarceration even though the United States was also at war with Germany and Italy. Racially charged post-Pearl Harbor fears and the economic self-interests of agricultural groups who would profit by taking over lands farmed by Japanese Americans played important roles in the calls for removal ( Okihiro & Drummond, 1991 ). Later investigations would conclude that the incarceration decision was not a justified military necessity but was instead shaped by “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership” ( USCWRIC, 1997 , p. xi)

The Incarceration as Trauma

Japanese Americans carried psychological burdens and an undeserved stigma from the unjust imprisonment long after the war’s end. The incarceration remained “the mournful reference point from which these Americans describe changes in their communities, their personal lives, their aspirations” ( USCWRIC, 1997 , p. 301). Its powerful impacts reflect four important forms of trauma: individual, race-based, historical, and cultural. Individual and race-based traumas occurred at the time of incarceration, while the historical and cultural traumas emerged after the war ended at an intergenerational level. At the individual level, the suspicions of disloyalty from non-Japanese and their own government, sudden uprooting and imprisonment without wrongdoing, and uncertainty about their future shattered Japanese Americans’ assumptive world, sense of self, and well-being ( Janoff-Bulman, 1992 ). It is important that the incarceration also represented a powerful race-based trauma ( Bryant-Davis, 2007 ). Japanese Americans were deliberately targeted for discriminatory treatment motivated by racial stereotypes, while German and Italian Americans were not. Decades of anti-Asian racism driven by perceptions of Japanese as untrustworthy and unassimilable foreigners preceded the war and resulted in laws restricting immigration, miscegenation, rights to citizenship, and land ownership ( Daniels, 1988 ). This exclusion of Japanese Americans from mainstream society paved the way for a swift response following Pearl Harbor, with little objection from others. Poll data from the spring of 1942 showed that a majority of Americans favored removal ( USCWRIC, 1997 ). Chinese Americans, who supported the incarceration given the history of conflict between China and Japan, helped spread the belief that Japanese Americans were untrustworthy and wore “I am Chinese” buttons ( Wong, 2005 ). At the same time, nearly all Black and Jewish community organizations and civil liberties groups remained silent ( Greenberg, 1995 ).

Two additional forms of trauma, historical and cultural, surfaced after the incarceration ended and are associated with long-term intergenerational impacts. Historical trauma has been defined as a trauma that is shared by a group of people and has impacts that span across multiple generations ( Mohatt, Thompson, Thai, & Tebes, 2014 ). Consistent with this, evidence points to extended incarceration impacts that affected subsequent generations of Japanese Americans ( Nagata, Kim, & Nguyen, 2015 ). Cultural trauma can be seen as a more specific manifestation of historical trauma. While historical trauma concerns intergenerational impacts broadly, cultural trauma focuses on the way in which a shared traumatic event impacts group consciousness and identity. It is defined as occurring “when members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a traumatic event that leaves indelible marks upon their group consciousness, marking memories forever and changing their future identity” ( Alexander, 2004 , p. 1). This article highlights both the immediate individual and race-based incarceration traumas experienced by the unjustly imprisoned Issei and Nisei Japanese Americans, as well as the long-term historical and cultural traumas experienced by their Sansei children and Yonsei grandchildren born after the war.

Incarceration Stressors and Coping

To comprehend the extent of incarceration-related traumas, it is important to understand the range of stressors that were involved. The psychological stress of helplessness and uncertainty began within 24 hours of the Pearl Harbor attack. Approximately 1,500 Issei immigrant community leaders, deemed “high risk”, were abruptly taken from their homes by the FBI and sent to alien internment camps without any explanation for their arrests or information about their destination ( USCWRIC, 1997 ). Anxiety grew quickly throughout the Japanese American community about who would be taken next and only increased as the government froze families’ assets and swept through homes confiscating radios, cameras, and items they believed might be used to aid the enemy. Panicked community members burned or buried anything that might link them to Japan, including family heirlooms. Fear, a gap in leadership after Issei leaders were arrested, and a cultural value of obedience and respect for authority resulted in broad compliance with the government’s incarceration orders ( USCWRIC, 1997 ; Weglyn, 1976 ). Three Nisei—Gordon Hirabayashi, Fred Korematsu, and Minoru Yasui—bravely challenged the government’s orders at the time but were unsuccessful in their effortsand convicted of violating the government’s curfew and removal orders. 1

With less than two weeks’ notice of their removal and restricted to taking only what they could carry, Japanese Americans were suddenly forced to sell life’s possessions at a fraction of their worth and leave behind homes, businesses, unharvested crops, and family pets. The stress of grief and loss was exacerbated by the fact that they had no information about where they were being sent or for how long. For some, the indignity of the removal and anticipated confinement proved overwhelming. One Issei man committed suicide because he suffered from uncontrollable trembling and did not want to bring shame to his daughter if seen together in camp ( Jensen, 1997 ). Another, who shot himself, was found holding an Honorary Citizenship Certificate that expressed gratitude for his prior military service to the United States ( Weglyn, 1976 ).

Most Japanese Americans endured two separate dislocations. First, they were moved from their homes to temporary “assembly centers,” where they lived in hastily converted horse stalls at racetracks and in livestock pavilion halls as the government worked to finish the more permanent camps. After an average of three months, Japanese Americans were moved once again to the incarceration camps in trains with drawn shades and armed guards. Uncertainty sparked fears among many that they were being taken somewhere to be shot and killed.

Once incarcerated, the severe conditions of the barrack-style camps created additional physical and psychosocial stressors. Entire families were forced to live in a single room furnished only with cots, a coal-burning stove, a single ceiling light bulb, and no running water. Toileting, bathing, and meals all took place in communal facilities that required waiting in lines for activities that had previously taken place in private homes. Incarcerees endured harsh camp climates (including extreme temperatures and dust storms), substandard medical care and education ( USCWRIC, 1997 ), as well as instances of food poisoning and malnutrition ( Dusselier, 2002 ). Camp conditions also affected important aspects of traditional Japanese family relations ( Morishima, 1973 ). Without a home base, children spent more time socializing with peers than with family. Gender roles were disrupted as fathers lost their breadwinner role and mothers worked in the same low-wage camp jobs as men. At the same time, the camp governance structure required English for transactions and allowed only citizens to participate on community councils. This created intergenerational tensions as young adult bilingual Nisei held more powerful positions than their Japanese-speaking Issei elders ( USCWRIC, 1997 ).

Additional stressors related to camp governance emerged around a mandatory “loyalty oath” questionnaire for all camp inmates 17 years and older. One question asked about willingness to serve in the armed forces of the United States. A second question asked each respondent to “swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States …” and to “forswear allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power or organization” ( USCWRIC, 1997 , p. 192). Although the majority of incarcerees viewed this as an opportunity to express their loyalty and answered “yes” to the two questions, serious concerns arose. Some were outraged at being asked to declare allegiance to a country that unjustly imprisoned them. Others worried that forswearing allegiance to Japan could (a) be misused as evidence that one had prior fealty to the emperor, or (b) leave the Issei stateless because they were barred from becoming U.S. citizens. Some young Nisei men felt the best way to show loyalty was to answer “yes-yes” and fight for the United States. This led to almost 33,000 Japanese Americans, including “yes-yes” volunteers and draftees, serving in segregated military units during WWII while their families were held behind barbed wire. The 442nd all-Nisei regimental combat team went on to become among the most-decorated units of the war ( USCWRIC, 1997 ). Other Nisei men, however, believed that American loyalty meant resisting their draft orders until Japanese Americans were constitutionally released from incarceration. Convicted of draft evasion, they spent close to three years in federal prison ( Muller, 2001 ). Incarcerees who responded “no-no” to express their anger and distrust were segregated into a more restrictive camp. Disillusioned by their treatment in America, 20,000 of these “no-no” individuals applied to go to Japan ( USCWRIC, 1997 ). Families and friends became divided around what determined a “loyal” American, and tensions developed into riots and revolts in several camps ( USCWRIC, 1997 ). The bitter differences between those advocating compliance, draft resisters, veterans, and “no-no’s” continued for decades after the war ( Murray, 2008 ).

Outside the strain of the loyalty questions, camp life evolved as time progressed. Guided by core cultural values, incarcerees developed positive ways of coping with camp stressors individually and as a group ( Nagata & Takeshita, 1998 ). Japanese collectivistic values of interdependence and social harmony encouraged adaptation and flexibility ( Fugita & O’Brien, 1991 ), while an emphasis on gaman (perseverance through hardship) and shikata ga nai (fatalistic acceptance) encouraged remaining focused on each day, rather than looking to the past or worrying about the future. They actively engaged in individual artwork, hobbies, and connected with one another through social activities (e.g., camp sports teams, clubs, dances). Issei and Nisei also found ways to be resourceful with what was available to them ( Nagata & Takeshita, 1998 ). Some, for example, transformed barren camp soil into areas for raising vegetables and fruits ( Dusselier, 2002 ). However, the psychological stress proved too much to bear for others. Camp records indicate that 190 incarcerees were institutionalized for psychiatric problems and the number of reported on-site suicides were estimated to be four times higher than the pre-incarceration rates for Japanese Americans ( Jensen, 1997 ).

Eventually, Nisei who answered “yes-yes” to the loyalty questions but were not assigned to the military were eligible to leave camp before the war’s end—if they located employment away from the West Coast. Anxious to leave the confines of incarceration, many took low-status jobs as domestics and farmhands in states including Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, while their siblings and parents remained imprisoned until the war ended. These Nisei were given only a one-way bus or train ticket and $25 as they ventured into new areas of the country with uncertain levels of anti-Japanese sentiments. Adding to the stress of this daunting transition, the government inhibited their ability to seek support from each other by instructing that they not live next to or congregate in public with other Japanese Americans ( USCWRIC, 1997 ). Guided by their strong cultural commitment to a sense of family, most relocated Nisei later returned to the West coast to join parents and siblings who moved there after being released from the camps.

Postwar Impacts on Incarcerees

Japanese Americans returning to the West Coast were met with verbal abuse, rejection, and discrimination ( Loo, 1993 ). In California, signs reading “No Japs Wanted” were frequent and communities held mass meetings to argue against their return. Seventy instances of terrorism and 19 shootings were identified ( Girdner & Loftis, 1969 ). The actual numbers, however, likely were higher given the hesitancy of Japanese Americans to call attention to their situation.

Immigrant Issei faced particular hardships as the war ended. Although the exclusion orders were rescinded on December 14, 1944, the Issei were afraid to leave the isolated camps for potentially hostile communities. Half were 50 years or older just before the war and among those, 17% were older than 60 ( Thomas & Nishimoto, 1969 ). Being older adults who had lost homes and businesses, most were unable to regain their livelihoods and became dependent on their children. Many also carried a strong sense of shame from being imprisoned and some committed suicide; this occurred especially among those who were elderly bachelors ( USCWRIC, 1997 ).

The Nisei offspring, in their late teens and twenties, still had their lives before them. Despite significant barriers of racism and severe economic setbacks from the incarceration, they focused on building their future and assisting their Issei parents ( Daniels, 1993 ). Many went on to establish successful livelihoods, leading some to portray them as a model minority who overcame the wartime hardships ( Nakanishi, 1993 ). Such a portrayal, however, failed to recognize that Japanese Americans—Issei and Nisei alike—did not talk about the incarceration experience with outsiders or each other for decades. They displayed symptoms of avoidance and detachment associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Loo, 1993 ), mirroring the “conspiracy of silence” observed in trauma survivor groups across the world ( Danieli, 1998 ). Results from a survey of over 400 Nisei indicated that more than 12% never spoke with their Issei parents about the camps, 50% spoke less than four times, and 70% of those who had any discussions conversed less than 15 minutes ( Nagata, 1995 ). Adding to this, the topic of incarceration remained absent from public discourse and textbooks. The resultant silence among Japanese Americans was more than an individual response and instead represented a form of “social amnesia” by the entire group to suppress the experience ( Kashima, 1980 ).

Silence frequently serves as a means for individuals or communities to cope with trauma ( Danieli, 1998 ) but it does not signify that the trauma has healed. In fact, silence can influence identity constriction, attitude formation, decision-making, and action at both the individual and collective levels ( Stone, Coman, Brown, Koppel, & Hirst, 2012 ) and the incarceration silence had critical postwar consequences for the identity of Japanese Americans ( Fugita & Fernandez, 2004 ; Nagata & Takeshita, 1998 ). Avoidance of their connection with Japan served as one way to cope with the wartime experience and racist realities of the larger society. Some Nisei shunned all products manufactured in Japan; for example, buying only American car brands ( Inouye, 2016 ; Nagata, 1993 ). Others avoided associating with fellow Japanese Americans to blend in. These efforts, as well as an accentuated drive to succeed, were in hopes of being accepted and proving they were more than 110 percent American ( Mass, 1991 ).

Traumas stemming from deliberate, human-designed action can have especially insidious impacts. For Nisei Japanese Americans, the unjust imprisonment by one’s own government has been described as a betrayal by a trusted source ( Mass, 1991 ). One Nisei interviewee recalled that “Being labeled as an enemy alien and incarcerated in a concentration camp was the most traumatic experience of my life. My thoughts at the time were, this country which I loved and trusted had betrayed me” ( Nagata et al., 2015 , p. 360). Another recalled, “I felt like a second-class citizen, but it really confirmed, it really emphasized that I didn’t belong in this country, that my face, my yellow face made the difference and I will never belong” ( Nagata et al., 2015 , p. 360). The rejection, in turn, created “a psychic damage” described as “‘castration’ and “a deep consciousness of personal inferiority” ( Weglyn, 1976 , p. 273). Rather than directing blame outward toward the government, many Japanese Americans tended toward self-blame: that they somehow should have been “more American” ( Miyamoto, 1986 ). This sense of humiliation and shame has been seen as paralleling the feelings reported by rape victims ( Hansen & Mitson, 1974 ).

The biopsychosocial model suggests that racist environmental events can lead to heightened psychological and physiological stress responses that, when chronic, result in disease risk and adverse negative medical outcomes ( Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999 ). Avoiding discussion of one’s traumatic experiences is also associated with worse physical health ( Pennebaker, Barger, & Tiebout, 1989 ). Mass (1976) attributed the high Nisei postwar rates of psychosomatic disorders and peptic ulcers to the incarceration. Former incarcerees’ vital statistics support this notion: they had near twice the risk of cardiovascular disease, mortality, and premature deaths than their nonincarcerated counterparts ( Jensen, 1997 ).

Detrimental health stemming from adverse effects of incarceration trauma and silence affected some more than others, depending on their demographics. Experiences of trauma leave a stronger imprint at certain developmental stages ( Maercker, 1999 ; Ogle, Rubin, & Siegler, 2013 ). The average age of Nisei at the beginning of their incarceration was approximately 18 years ( Fugita & O’Brien, 1991 ). Given that a majority were incarcerated in adolescence, a critical period of identity and worldview formation ( Erikson, 1968 ), the long-term impacts on older Nisei are not surprising. Those who were in their late teens to early twenties and most likely to have had their education and career plans derailed, reported a stronger sense of injustice and stress around their incarceration ( Fugita & Fernandez, 2004 ; Nagata & Takeshita, 1998 ). Older Nisei from Fugita and Fernandez’s (2004) sample of over 150 Nisei from King County, Washington, also reported no positive memories when recollecting their incarceration 50 years later. Postwar national heart mortality data suggests that the toll placed on older Nisei extended beyond the war: the most vulnerable group were 22–26 years of age while in camp, followed by those 17–21 years, and the least vulnerable were 7–11 years ( Jensen, 1997 ). In contrast, Nisei who were younger while in camp were more likely to recall a sense of adventure or anticipation ( Nagata & Takeshita, 1998 ), and positive memories of their experience such as friendships and social activities ( Fugita & Fernandez, 2004 ).

Additional research highlights gender differences in post-incarceration impacts. Men, particularly those who were college-aged while in camp, held more negative feelings overall about their past incarceration, especially about prejudice and discrimination, and reported more difficulty with being confined than women ( Fugita & Fernandez, 2004 ). Nagata’s (1993) survey of nearly 500 third generation (Sansei) Japanese American adults also suggests serious health consequences for Nisei men. While Sansei adult children reported equivalent rates of early death (before the age of 60 years) for mothers regardless of whether their mother had been in an incarceration camp, twice as many previously incarcerated fathers had died early when compared with nonincarcerated fathers.

Across demographic groups, individual differences also influenced long-term incarceration coping. Nisei who reported higher coping had higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of negative emotions about their incarceration-related experiences ( Nagata & Tsuru, 2007 ). Better coping was associated with greater attributions of control to external powerful others and lower attributions to chance or fate suggesting that, over time, less emphasis on fatalism and an acknowledgment of governmental power may have been adaptive. Qualitative data also provides examples of adaptive approach-oriented coping across individuals. Many Nisei positively reframed the incarceration as a time of skill development and the forced resettlement as expanding personal horizons beyond their ethnic community ( Nagata & Takeshita, 1998 ).

Intergenerational Impacts

Massive traumas result in radiating and long-term effects that are transferred as a “family legacy” to children born after the trauma ( Danieli, 1998 ). For the third-generation Sansei born after the WWII, these legacy effects were multifold. The severe economic losses following the forced removal and years of confinement meant an absence of “nest eggs” for the Sansei to inherit ( Nagata, 1993 ). For some, the lost acres of prime agricultural lands would have been worth millions of dollars. Other impacts that cannot be easily quantified included experiencing the compromised physical and mental health or premature death of a parent. More generally, the postwar Sansei generation grew up wondering how their lives might be different if their parents had not been incarcerated ( Nagata, 1993 ).

Many critical intergenerational trauma effects are transmitted through parenting interactions ( Danieli, 1982 ). One primary impact of trauma on Nisei parenting manifested in family silence about the incarceration. The vast majority of Nisei did not discuss the camp experience with their Sansei offspring, not only to avoid their own traumatic memories but also to protect their children from the burden of knowing what happened. One Nisei interviewee noted, “I want them to grow up straight and tall and beautiful as they can, without all the sadness, sort of branding them that they are different” ( Nagata et al., 2015 , p. 362). Sansei described conversations with parents as “cryptic,” “oblique,” and “evasive” or limited to only brief, humorous, “before” and “after camp” anecdotes. Data gathered from 491 adult Sansei born after the war, indicated they had approximately 10 conversations about “camp” lasting an average of 15 to 30 minutes in their entire lifetime. When the topic was raised, mothers were reported as having been more likely than fathers to initiate the conversation. This may reflect a gendered tendency for mothers to communicate with their children in the home or the socialization of fathers, as men, to avoid appearing vulnerable or too verbally expressive. The overall absence of discussion created an acute Sansei awareness of an ominous gap in their family history. They noticed shadows of the incarceration when a Nisei parent displayed an unexpected harsh and curt reaction toward a particular food that reactivated negative memories of camp meals (e.g., apple butter or mutton). Yet, with stories untold, these unexplained interactions left the Sansei feeling upset by their parent’s sudden sad or angry response ( Nagata, 1993 ).

While the Nisei had hoped the silence would protect their children from the burden of knowing what happened, parental silence about trauma can have negative consequences for the next generation ( Wiseman et al., 2002 ). Sansei survey data found partial support for this relationship. Lower levels of Nisei parents’ incarceration-related communication were associated with Sansei perceiving greater familial distance and lower positive impacts from their parent’s incarceration. However, higher levels of parental incarceration-related communication were also associated with greater Sansei anger and sadness, suggesting that while more communication may have helped Sansei feel closer to their parents, greater emotional distress accompanied the knowledge they gained. Regardless of level of parental communication, most Sansei reported anger about the incarceration injustice and sadness from recognizing the ways their parents were thwarted from achieving their full potential ( Nagata, 1993 ).

A second important trauma impact on post-incarceration parenting was the Niseis’ efforts to blend into mainstream society by de-emphasizing Japanese culture and language. This resulted in an accelerated loss of Japanese language and cultural practices for the Sansei. “I think it (the internment) affected them (my parents) a lot … the way they raised us very much as non-Japanese,” shared one Sansei interviewee, “they encouraged us to do everything so-called ‘American’ (Ivy League, football). We didn’t do any judo. We didn’t do any kendo. We didn’t do anything Japanese” ( Nagata, 1993 , pp. 137–138). This diminishment of ethnic heritage had important psychological consequences for the Sansei who described themselves as having “inherited” the need to become “super” American and prove their worth to society. Though a majority of Sansei succeeded in meeting their parents’ expectations, some Japanese Americans attributed increased drug abuse, suicides, and gang activities among a subset of Sansei in the 1960s and 1970s to parental wartime incarceration ( Mass, 1976 ). Survey data indicates additional reverberations of the incarceration on the Sansei generation. Compared with those whose parents were not incarcerated, adult Sansei who had a parent in the camps were significantly less confident that their rights as an American citizen would not be violated. Forty-four percent of Sansei who had both parents in camps also agreed that a future incarceration of Japanese Americans could happen ( Nagata, 1993 ).

Although sadness and anger about incarceration trauma sequelae are predominant, the Sansei also point to positive consequences. Most prevalently, they mention the pride they take in their parents’ and relatives’ resilience in the face of the wartime experiences. Some Sansei also report satisfaction in completing a specific educational or career goal that their parent was unable to complete because of the incarceration. A third positive is a heightened sensitivity to injustice and the finding that Sansei survey respondents strongly agreed they would actively resist a future governmental incarceration ( Nagata, 1993 ).

Research conducted with the fourth ( Yonsei ) generation Japanese Americans suggests continued incarceration trauma impacts. Though the Yonsei have been eager to learn about the incarceration from their Sansei parents and Nisei grandparents, they still encounter aspects of silence ( Mayeda, 1995 ; Yamano, 1994 ). One might expect the Yonsei to be less connected with their ethnic history than previous generations. However, influenced by an increasingly multicultural environment, Yonsei are reviving their knowledge of Japanese heritage, cultural practices, language, and Asian American history ( Tsuda, 2015 ). Yet, the specifics about the camps remain “cryptic or nonexistent”, a gap they attribute to their Sansei parents being raised by the Nisei to assimilate ( Mayeda, 1995 , p. 135). As a result, most Yonsei have relied on books to learn what happened. Yonsei also attribute their loss of Japanese culture and language to their family’s incarceration and express a lack of trust in the government similar to the Sansei ( Mayeda, 1995 ). However, Yonsei and Sansei generations differ in their coping strategies. Mayeda (1995) found that while Sansei used a range of avoidant and confrontational coping strategies, Yonsei mostly reported implementing confrontational coping strategies. This, in combination with their increased ethnic identification and desire to educate the next generation, suggests the Yonsei will remain engaged with issues surrounding the wartime incarceration. More research will be needed to explore whether a similar trend continues into the fifth generation ( Gosei ).

Redress for Incarceration Trauma

The Japanese Americans’ trauma remained largely unaddressed for decades. In 1980, however, Congress formed the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to assess the circumstances surrounding the incarceration. In addition to reviewing extensive documents and records, the commission gathered testimonies from over 750 witnesses in 20 cities across the country. Many of those who testified were former incarcerees who, for the first time since the war, spoke of the suffering they endured. The commission concluded that the incarceration was a “grave injustice” and recommended that Congress issue a public written apology along with a one-time payment of $20,000 to each surviving incarceree ( USCWRIC, 1997 , pp. 462– 463). More than 40 years after the war, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was signed into law and followed the commission recommendations.

Historical traumas are rarely formally acknowledged at a governmental level. While the U.S. government has acknowledged a small number of the injustices against ethnic minority groups, its effort to redress the incarceration trauma was unusual because of the large number of eligible recipients and the formal apology being accompanied by Congress-approved monetary reparation ( Nagata et al., 2015 ). The commission was critical in achieving redress success. However, the movement to address the injustice was part of a much longer trajectory shaped by other social forces. Collective silence can mute the past but suppressed traumatic experiences still result in experiences of “haunting,” a term Inouye (2016) used to describe the lingering feelings of disturbance that can persist across generations and eventually propel collective actions, as with the redress movement. Those who drive the processing of cultural trauma often come from the next generation, a “carrier group” that brings to public attention the significance of the trauma as situated in the larger social structure ( Alexander, 2004 ). For Japanese Americans, the Sansei became the carrier group that encouraged former incarcerees to verbalize their traumas and seek governmental redress ( Nagata et al., 2015 ). The Sansei were acculturated to the mainstream American society and more comfortable speaking out. Furthermore, the mid-1960s Black Power movement allowed for a reshaping of ethnic identity: Sansei began taking ethnic studies classes and were able to see the incarceration as a form of racial oppression much like that of other racial minority groups ( Maki, Kitano, & Berthold, 1999 ). This redefinition of group identity motivated Sansei to take part in various incarceration-related activities ( Nakanishi, 1993 ).

The move to seek redress also converged with the Civil Rights movement as African American leaders voiced their concerns regarding Title II of the 1950 Internal Security Act which referenced the Japanese American incarceration and allowed the attorney general to “apprehend and … detain … each person as to whom there is reasonable ground to believe that such person probably will engage in, or probably will conspire with others to engage in, acts of espionage or sabotage [in the event of] war, invasion, or insurrection in aid of a foreign enemy” (Internal Security Act of 1950, Title II). Title II generated public attention in the late 1960s. African Americans and activists raised concerns that it could justify confinement of those involved in ghetto riots and antiwar demonstrations and campaigned to have it repealed ( Nagata et al., 2015 ). This broader attention to the injustice of the wartime incarceration within and outside of the Japanese American community, and the successful repeal of Title II, served as crucial precursors to redress. The importance of legal strategies in postwar incarceration coping was also reflected in the 1980s campaigns led by Sansei activist lawyers to overturn the convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi, Fred Korematsu, and Minoru Yasui, the three Nisei men who had refused to comply with the government during the war. The lawyers’ success in invalidating the men’s original wartime convictions drew increased attention to the incarceration injustice and exemplified both the importance of these Niseis’ commitment to see justice four decades later and the inspired efforts of the Sansei who advocated on their behalf ( Parham & Clauss-Ehlers, 2017 ).

The majority of Japanese Americans supported seeking redress. However, some in the community were concerned that “making waves” would re-raise negative sentiments toward the group. Others worried that accepting monetary compensation would trivialize the pain and suffering Japanese Americans had endured. Important differences also emerged on the best redress approach, many of which reflected the continued tensions between the Japanese American Citizens League (which urged cooperation with the government during the war and praised Nisei military heroism), no-no’s, and draft resisters ( Murray, 2008 ). Nonetheless, the redress process and its ultimate success were critical for Japanese American healing by publicly acknowledging the incarceration trauma, replacing self-blame with public system-blame, and promoting recovery from longstanding silence ( Fugita & Fernandez, 2004 ; Loo, 1993 ). The break in silence, in turn, facilitated an additional form of coping that focused on educating the public in hopes of preventing similar injustices in the future. These educational efforts have included the establishment of the Japanese American National Museum which includes an entire section on the incarceration and the Densho website ( http://densho.org ), a nonprofit organization that provides extensive information about the incarceration as well as oral histories from former incarcerees.

Respondents from a national survey of more than 500 Nisei former incarcerees ( Nagata & Takeshita, 2002 ) reported moderately positive reactions to receiving redress and tended to agree that, overall, redress brought some sense of relief. Interviews conducted with 30 of the respondents further suggest that the government’s apology and acknowledgment of wrongdoing was most important. While the monetary award was appreciated, interviewees noted that it could never address the losses they had sustained. There also was particular sadness that their Issei parents did not live to receive redress ( Daniels, 1993 ). It is important to note that survey respondent attitudes toward different aspects of redress impact varied, with the strongest perceived positive impact reported for “increasing faith in government” and the lowest impact on “reducing negative feelings about the incarceration” and “relieving physical suffering from the incarceration.” In addition, qualitative analyses of the Nisei interviews indicated that 40% of interviewees mentioned “angry/bitter” emotions when describing their post-incarceration views ( Nagata, Cheng, & Nguyen, 2012 ). These findings suggest the enduring impact of trauma and the limits of redress.

Demographic variations and differences in individual beliefs also occurred with regard to reactions toward redress impacts. Older Nisei respondents, those with lower income, and those with a preference for associating with other Japanese Americans reported greater overall personal redress benefits ( Nagata & Takeshita, 2002 ). It is possible that these groups suffered more hardships from the incarceration and in turn, experienced more positive benefits from redress. Women reported experiencing more redress relief than men, perhaps reflecting a tendency for women to approach justice from a more relational and caring perspective than men ( Gilligan, 1982 ). Religious affiliation may also impact Nisei response to redress. Buddhist former incarcerees reported greater emotional, physical, and economic redress benefits than Christians ( Wu, Kim, & Nagata, 2018 ) possibly because they endured greater difficulties before, during, and after the war ( Fugita & Fernandez, 2004 ). Individual differences in belief systems also appear to be related. Nisei who subscribed more strongly to the belief in a just world were found to report greater benefits from redress ( Kim, Nagata, & Akiyama, 2015 ). This suggests that redress may be especially effective as a means of restoring a sense of justice if one believes justice can be restored in the first place.

Strategies for Healing and Intervention

The redress movement significantly empowered Japanese Americans by addressing the social injustice of the incarceration. It facilitated healing by directly addressing the suppressed trauma and bringing the community together around a demand for government acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Public and community discourse became a significant source of healing, providing a forum to express previously hidden pain and anger. “It became obvious that a forty-year silence did not mean that bitter memories had dissipated; they had only been buried in a shallow grave” (USCWRIC, 1991, p. 297).

Similarly, group pilgrimages to former camp locations and annual ceremonies to remember the incarceration have also promoted healing. Pilgrimages allow children of survivors to vicariously witness their parents’ traumatic past and allow survivors to revisit traumatic memories amid positive support and respect ( Loo, 1993 ). Initially undertaken by a few individual Nisei in the 1960s, pilgrimages have evolved into larger, organized and multigenerational events. Day of Remembrance ceremonies, which began in the 1970s with the redress movement ( Maki et al., 1999 ) and are now held yearly on February 19th (the date of the removal order), also provide healing. Both pilgrimages and Day of Remembrance gatherings provide camp survivors, their children, grandchildren, and the community an opportunity to remember to the past, a process that fosters group resilience and survival in traumatized groups ( Lee & Clarke, 2013 ).

Japanese American community groups, such as the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, along with Buddhist and Christian organizations also have further promoted healing. By offering opportunities to join with other Japanese Americans in cultural, social, and educational events, they help generate ethnic pride and support for all generations of Japanese Americans. These connections, in turn, have provided ways to alleviate post-incarceration impacts in a non-stigmatized way that does not require professional mental health services. This is particularly important given the stigma that many Japanese Americans attach to utilizing such services ( Henkin, 1985 ).

Some Japanese Americans, however, have sought psychotherapy. True (1990) describes a Nisei woman who became aware during therapy that the anger she felt toward her husband stemmed from her childhood camp experiences. Similarly, Nagata’s (1991) case illustrations reveal how Sanseis’ initial presentations of seemingly generic concerns of self-esteem, confidence and relationship problems were linked to their parents’ incarceration experiences. Ethnic identity is especially important given the powerful consequences of the incarceration related to Japanese heritage. Because such themes may not appear clearly linked to presenting problems, it is important for therapists to provide a supportive context in which a family history of incarceration trauma is assessed and the possibility of incarceration-related themes can be explored over time. Providing a safe place to explore, recognize, and affirm these impacts is consistent with adopting a race-informed clinical model of trauma treatment ( Bryant-Davis & Ocampo, 2006 ; Comas-Díaz, 2016 ). More specifically for Japanese Americans, narrative therapy, using guided imagery related to the incarceration, and having clients view videotaped interviews of former incarcerees have been suggested as potentially useful therapeutic techniques ( Nagata, 1991 ). When the therapist does not share the same background of racial trauma, taking an interpersonal stance of cultural humility (other-oriented, respectful, lack of superiority) is especially critical ( Hook, Davis, Owen, Worthington, & Utsey, 2013 ). Therapists might also prioritize facilitating a client’s process of empowerment that continues after the therapeutic encounter ( Cattaneo & Chapman, 2010 ). This empowered understanding of the trauma in conjunction with community support can help facilitate future resilience.

Small group approaches have also been used to facilitate healing. In one group, Sansei participated in intergenerational dialogues with Nisei to explore their family camp legacies ( Miyoshi, 1980 ). Another group therapy approach focused on uncovering the unique traumatic experiences of Sansei who were interned as young children ( Ina, 1997 ). Yet another small group approach to healing took place in 1994, when Sansei joined a group of Nisei former internees to dismantle original barracks from the Heart Mountain, Wyoming campsite and move them to Los Angeles, California, to be resurrected as a museum exhibit ( Yamato & Honda, 1998 ).

Community healing also has occurred through the arts and humanities. Early Asian American jazz musicians of the 70s and 80s were activists whose compositions were inspired by the incarceration and redress testimonies ( Hung, 2012 ). In addition, postwar Asian American writers and poets (e.g., Lawson Inada, John Okada, Julie Otsuka, Jeanne Wakatsuki-Houston), plays (e.g., “Miss Minidoka, 1943,” “Hold These Truths,” and the musical “Allegiance”), and numerous films have promoted engagement with the incarceration trauma.

Continuing Relevance of the Incarceration

By the end of WWII, 117,000 innocent Japanese Americans had been affected by the government’s order for removal and incarceration ( U.S. National Archives and Research Administration, 2017 ). Their imprisonment, based solely on country of ancestry, represents one of the greatest constitutional injustices in American history. The impacts of this race-based trauma resulted in a culture of silence that had far-reaching consequences extending across multiple generations of Japanese Americans. Healing has occurred at individual, group, and community levels, drawing upon psychotherapeutic, artistic, and legal efforts, including a successful demand for a governmental acknowledgment of wrongdoing and redress. While it is tempting to view redress success as signaling the “end” of the incarceration trauma, Japanese Americans have continued to experience race-based stressors. A chapter building of the Japanese American Citizens League was spray-painted with a swastika and the words White Supreme as redress efforts were underway ( Arizona JACL, 1990 ) and anti-Japanese sentiments increased significantly during the economic downturn in the 70s and 80s when angry U.S. autoworkers bashed Japanese-made cars. In 1982, Vincent Chin, a Chinese American who had been called “Jap” and accused of causing American unemployment, was beaten to death with a baseball bat by two white autoworkers ( U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1992 ). Contemporary social media and the Internet can also facilitate the spread of offensive racial stereotypes, such as the video of a major league baseball player pulling the corners of his eyes into “slant eyes” after hitting a homerun from a Japanese pitcher.

Despite the passage of 75 years, the Japanese American incarceration remains highly relevant. Terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 elicited calls to round up and confine individuals who might be a security threat, as was done with Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor ( Groves & Hayasaki, 2001 ). Even before the attacks, Saito (2001) had cautioned, “Just as Asians were ‘raced’ as foreign, and “presumptively disloyal”, Arab Americans and Muslims have been ‘raced’ as ‘terrorists’” (p. 12). Reference to the incarceration has also re-emerged amidst more recent national security tensions. It is important to note in this context that although judicial decisions in the1980s vacated the wartime convictions of the three Nisei who challenged the exclusion orders, they did not overturn the Supreme Court’s original 1944 Korematsu v. United States decision supporting the government’s actions.

In June, 2018, the Supreme Court decided to uphold President Trump’s executive order on national security banning or severely restricting travel from specific countries to the U.S. The original Korematsu case was noted in the case opinions. Justices on both sides agreed that the Korematsu decision, justified at the time as necessary for national security during World War II, had been gravely wrong. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, writing for the majority opinion, stated that “the forcible relocation of U.S. citizens to concentration camps, solely and explicitly on the basis of race, is objectively unlawful and outside the scope of presidential authority.” However, there was marked disagreement regarding the relevance of the Korematsu case to the travel ban. Chief Justice Roberts noted, “… it is wholly inapt to liken that morally repugnant order [Executive Order 9066] to a facially neutral policy denying certain foreign nationals the privilege of admission”. In contrast, the opinion of dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor saw the decision to uphold the travel ban as “redeploying the same dangerous logic underlying Korematsu and merely replaces one ‘gravely wrong’ decision with another.” Response to the decision by the Japanese American Citizens League’s (JACL) also voiced concern, pointing out that the original World War II exclusion order was also “facially neutral … and did not specify Japanese or Japanese Americans … However, in its application, it was entirely discriminatory in its effect, and that is what the court has failed to recognize in its ruling today” ( Japanese American Citizens League, 2018 , p. 5).

Obvious differences exist between the context and nature of the travel ban and the incarceration. Japanese Americans already living in the United States were rounded up and imprisoned solely because of their ethnic ancestry, without regard to citizenship. Nonetheless, national security arguments underlay both the incarceration and the travel ban policies. Clearly, critical problems often lie between written intent and actual implementation, and the traumatic sequelae experienced by Japanese Americans demonstrate the serious consequences of governmental policies that are enacted in unjust, discriminatory ways.

The incarceration also has continued relevance to psychology’s long history of addressing social justice ( Leong, Pickren, & Vasquez, 2017 ). Japanese Americans’ incarceration-based experiences encourage psychologists to consider the broad scope of racial trauma impacts, coping, and resilience in relation to individual differences, family and multigenerational processes, and community responses. It also points to the value of a psychology that “is fully grounded in history and culture” and attends to the silence surrounding memories that accompany major social and political disruption ( Apfelbaum, 2000 , p. 1008). At the same time, the incarceration trauma underscores the importance of psychological research on the processes that underlie racism and discrimination. The long history of racial prejudice that fueled the exclusion and imprisonment of Japanese Americans characterizes the experiences of ethnoracial minority groups. Contemporary studies indicate that most people unknowingly sort others into “us” versus “them” with minimal effort, systematically reinforcing inequalities ( Richeson & Sommers, 2016 ) and that subtle and unintentional mechanisms such as in-group favoritism contribute to racism and discrimination ( Greenwald & Pettigrew, 2014 ). Continued efforts to understand these processes and identify conditions for reducing prejudice can assist in tackling these challenges. Finally, the incarceration highlights the importance of studying cross-group alliances and community activism in response to racial trauma. Japanese Americans collaborated with African American activists to address 1960s civil rights at the infancy of the incarceration redress effort. Today, spurred by a sense of responsibility to draw attention to the dangers and consequences of wrongful incarceration, they focus on supporting Muslim and Arab American communities facing ongoing hostilities and suspicion ( Japanese American Citizens League, 2016 ; Rahim, 2017 ).

Psychology often looks inward for explanations of behavior by examining cognitions, unconscious processes, and brain functioning. These are important approaches. However, the Japanese American WWII incarceration reminds us of the need also to look at aggregate sociocultural phenomena that shape lives. Individual differences in response to traumas vary depending on the circumstances but shared group experiences of historical and contemporary events can powerfully frame subsequent reactions and sense of well-being across time and generations. Psychologists are urged to attend to this broader level sociohistorical context when addressing racial trauma and injustice.

Acknowledgments

Jacqueline H. J. Kim was supported in part by a training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (5 T32 MH015750; Christine Dunkel Schetter).

This is a post-print version of the article that has been accepted for a 2019 special issue of the American Psychologist titled, “Racial Trauma: Theory, Research, and Healing.” Lillian Comas-Díaz, Gordon Nagayama Hall, Helen Neville, and Anne E. Kazak served as editors of the special issue.

1 Evidence was later found indicating that tainted records were deliberately presented to the Supreme Court during their original trials. The cases were re-raised in the 1980s and the convictions were eventually vacated ( Irons, 1983 ).

Contributor Information

Donna K. Nagata, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Jacqueline H. J. Kim, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.

Kaidi Wu, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

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Korematsu v. United States and Japanese Internment DBQ

Use this lesson to h

• Students will understand the major events related to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
• Students will examine and apply constitutional principles at issue in Korematsu v. U.S. to evaluate the Supreme Court’s ruling in that case.
• Students will write a thesis statement that responds to a document-based question prompt.

Expand Materials Materials

• Handout A: Student Document Packet Part 1
• Handout B: Student Document Packet Part 2

Expand More Information More Information

Students should have prior knowledge of how to approach primary sources and of events on the home front during World War II. Background knowledge should include the context of nativism/racism that has shadowed U.S. history in general and , more specifically, negative attitudes toward Asian immigrants and their descendants . These instructions will facilitate a moot court in which students consider the same questions the Supreme Court did.

Expand Warmup Warmup

Lead students in a brief discussion or quick-write responding to the following prompt: “If, as a result of a government order, your family had 48 hours to dispose of your home, car, and all other property before being required to move into distant temporary housing for an undetermined time, which of your inalienable rights might be in jeopardy?” Discuss: In 1942, Japanese Americans living along the West Coast, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, lost both liberty and property under these circumstances. Many sold homes and businesses for only a few dollars or simply abandoned their property. In this activity, students will analyze and evaluate the Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark case, Korematsu v. United States (1944).

• As a class, identify the constitutional question that the Supreme Court must answer in this case. Tip: Construct this question as a yes/no question referring specifically to the relevant law in the case and to one or more provisions of the U.S. Constitution. (For teacher reference only: In this case, it might be something like this: “By depriving Fred Korematsu of his liberty and his property, did the exclusion order in Executive Order 9066 violate Korematsu’s Fifth Amendment right to due process?”)
• For student reference throughout the lesson, write the question that the class constructs on the board.

Expand Activities Activities

Distribute  Handout A: Student Document Packet Part 1 , instructing students to work through Documents 1–5. They should annotate information in the documents to show main ideas that will help each side in the controversy. Have students work individually, with a partner, or in small groups to read each source in sequence, answer the accompanying questions, and show how the document could be used to help one side or the other in the case.

• Continue to explore both sides of the case, either as a whole class, or alternatively, by dividing the class into groups. If you were Fred Korematsu’s attorney presenting oral argument before the Supreme Court, what are the main points you would make for the Court’s consideration? Point to specific pieces of evidence from the documents to support your answer.
• If you were the U.S. Solicitor General (the attorney tasked with presenting the government’s argument in Supreme Court cases), what are the main points you would make for the Court’s consideration? Point to specific pieces of evidence from the documents to support your answer.

You might divide the class in half and assign one-half to compose the argument that each attorney would present to the Supreme Court. Remind students that this is just an exercise in disciplined thinking and they may be assigned a side with which they personally disagree. See  Moot Court Procedures .

After both sides have had an equal opportunity to present their case, have the class vote on how they would answer the constitutional question you wrote on the board: If you were a Supreme Court justice, how would you decide this case? Explain your reasoning.

Expand Wrap Up Wrap Up

After students have decided the case, distribute  Handout B: Student Document Packet Part 2 and have the students read Documents 6 and 7, which provide excerpts of the majority and dissenting opinions in this 6–3 decision. Encourage students to compare the justices’ reasoning with their own. Do students think the Court’s majority got it right? For those who say the dissenters were right, ask: What if we discover in the future that there was a well-concealed Japanese spy ring that was thwarted by the exclusion and detention process—would that change your mind?

Direct students to read Document 8: “Duty of Absolute Candor: Katyal Blog Post,” which shows that in his presentation to the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Charles Fahy deliberately withheld important information related to the government’s position in the case. Memos compiled in 1943 by Justice Department attorney Edward Ennis directly refuted the government’s position that internment was a military necessity. Ennis had collected documents showing that, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of Naval Intelligence, and other intelligence agencies, there was no known threat of espionage from Japanese Americans. Furthermore, Ennis had uncovered reports that only a few Japanese individuals were even suspected of disloyalty, and that those few were being surveilled at the time. Fahy ignored these documents in making his argument to the Supreme Court that the exclusion of Japanese Americans from their homes in coastal regions and their confinement at inland relocation centers was a military necessity.

For homework, have each student write a thesis statement responding to the  DBQ prompt: How did wartime experiences lead to challenges to the civil liberties of Japanese Americans?

On the next class day, you might solicit volunteers to share their thesis and workshop several using the following questions, or have students share with a partner and provide feedback on the following questions:

• Does the thesis answer the question without restating the prompt?
• Does the thesis make sense?
• Is the thesis historically accurate?
• Does the thesis provide clear and cohesive reasoning?
• Does the thesis provide a road map or “table of contents” for an essay?

Thesis statements can be collected and assessed using the criteria from the  College Board  for a successful thesis statement, or with an individual class rubric.

Depending on where students are in their understanding of the DBQ essay, have students outline their response or write a full essay, as best fits your teaching situation.

Expand Extensions Extensions

Encourage students to explore other cases dealing with civil liberties in wartime.

In  Ex Parte Milligan  (1866), after the suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War, the Court ruled that civilians could not be tried in military tribunals as long as civil courts were operational. If government can ignore the rule of law in emergencies, the result, according to the Court, is “anarchy or despotism.”

In  Hirabayashi v. United States  (1943), Hirabayashi had been convicted of violating the curfew order that required all persons of Japanese ancestry to be in their residences between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. The Court held that the curfew was reasonable because it was a war measure “necessary to meet the threat of sabotage and espionage.” The reasoning was that “in time of war, residents having ethnic affiliations with an invading enemy may be a greater source of danger than those of a different ancestry . . . The Fifth Amendment contains no equal protection clause, and it restrains only such discriminatory legislation by congress as amounts to a denial of due process.”

The Court announced the decision in  Ex Parte Mitsuye Endo  (1944) on the same day that it announced the ruling in Korematsu’s case, December 18, 1944. In Endo’s case, the government ruled that, even though the removal and detention process was within the government’s power as a wartime measure, once the government conceded an individual’s loyalty, that person must be released. “The authority to detain a citizen or to grant him a conditional release as a protection against espionage or sabotage is exhausted at least when his loyalty is conceded. If we held that the authority to detain continued thereafter, we would transform an espionage or sabotage measure into something else. . . . To read [Executive Order 9066] that broadly would be to assume that the Congress and the President intended that this discriminatory action should be taken against these people wholly on account of their ancestry even though the government conceded their loyalty to this country. We cannot make such an assumption. . . ”

“George H. W. Bush, Letter from President Bush to Internees (1991).” In this letter written nearly 50 years after Executive Order 9066, President Bush referred to the constitutional ideals of freedom, equality, and justice in issuing a letter of apology and $20,000 in restitution for lost property to each living survivor of the internment camps. He wrote, “We can never fully right the wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese Americans during World War II.”

To address more recent questions regarding the rule of law during wartime, see  BRI curriculum,  Liberty and Security in Modern Times . This resource contains lessons on McCarthyism, due process, and fair trials during the War on Terror, and the USA Patriot Act.

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BUY THIS BOOK

2006 --> 2006 392 pages. $70.00

Hardcover ISBN: 9780804751476

Honorable Mention in the 2006 AAAS Book Award, sponsored by the Association for Asian American Studies.

This is a collection of the last essays by Yuji Ichioka, the foremost authority on Japanese-American history, who passed away two years ago. The essays focus on Japanese Americans during the interwar years and explore issues such as the nisei (American-born generation) relationship toward Japan, Japanese-American attitudes toward Japan's prewar expansionism in Asia, and the meaning of "loyalty" in a racist society—all controversial but central issues in Japanese-American history.

Ichioka draws from original sources in Japanese and English to offer an unrivaled picture of Japanese Americans in these years. Also included in this volume are an introductory essay by editor Eiichiro Azuma that places Ichioka's work in Japanese-American historiography, and a postscript by editor Chang reflecting on Ichioka's life-work.

About the authors

The late Yuji Ichioka was the founding father of the scholarly study of Japanese-American history. His book on the immigrant generation in America, The Issei: The World of the First-Generation Japanese Immigrants, 1885-1924 (1988), is considered a classic. He invented the term Asian American, and trained many of the scholars now teaching Asian American history at colleges and universities.

— H-Net Reviews

"Ichioka's ability to comprehend the complexity of the situation raises many fresh, thought-provoking quesitons in a field that appeared near saturation point." Japanese Studies

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