Life Inside Japanese-American Internment Camps and Their Role in Building a Japanese-

American Identity

Zoey Hanson

HIS 4100-103

Dr. James Goff

9 November 2020
 Hanson 1

Life Inside Japanese-Internment Camps and Their Role in Building a Japanese-American

Identity

On February 19th, 1945, American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed

Executive Order 9066. The order came in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, and America's immediate declaration of war against Japan.

Roosevelt, via this order, declared that in the interest of protection against espionage or sabotage,

the Secretary of War was to create military areas in which “any or all persons may be excluded,

and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to

whatever restrictions the Secretary of War … may impose in his discretion."1 While the order

made no direct mention of Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants on the West Coast, the

document became the authorization for Japanese evacuation and relocation to internment camps

further inland. Roosevelt’s executive order prescribed that all amenities were to be provided for

the residents of the camps; however, residents would also be subject to whatever steps the

military commanders felt were necessary to maintain compliance.

Executive Order 9066 evolved from a long line of measures taken to limit or completely

exclude Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans since they first settled in Hawaii in 1868.

By World War II, 285,115 Japanese immigrants lived in the United States and were subject to

discrimination such as segregation and the anti-Japanese movement.2 The anti-Japanese

movement was a group that flourished in California. The group’s main goal was to exclude

Japanese immigrants from entering the United States and even made attempt to deport Japanese
1
Executive Order 9066, February 19, 1942, accessed September 10, 2020, https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?
flash=true&doc=74&page=transcript.
2
Wendy Ng, Japanese American Internment During World War II: A History and Reference Guide (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 2002), 3.
 Hanson 2

Americans. The movement often reverted to violent tactics to intimidate Japanese Americans

that were reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan. This movement would be one of the loudest voices

advocating for internment camps during the war. Similarly, the state government of California

began issuing laws that excluded Japanese Americans from white society in the years before

internment. The most notable of these was passed by the California Board of Education, under

pressure from the Anti-Japanese movement, to require Japanese students to attend racially

segregated schools, separate from white students. Despite the historical evidence of racially

biased legislature, the United States government maintained that the premise of the evacuation

order relied solely on the idea that immigrants from enemy nations posed a threat to national

security. The government cited a number of examples to these claims: arms found in Japanese

homes and businesses after Pearl Harbor, concentration of Japanese populations near military

areas, and the presence of Japanese ethnic groups and movements that may support Imperial

Japan.3 However, these could not have been the sole reasons. In fact, the United States Federal

Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had determined in the autumn of 1941 that Japanese Americans

were not a threat to national security and predicted that "there will be no armed uprising of

Japanese … We do not believe that they would be at least any more disloyal than any other racial

group in the United States with whom we went to war."4 Whatever the reason, national security

or the xenophobia that had predominated in America since Asian immigration began, the

Roosevelt administration went forward with Executive Order 9066 and the evacuation of

Japanese Americans away from the West Coast and into internment camps that were overseen by

the Department of War.

3
Ng, Japanese American Internment, 13.
4
Ng, Japanese American Internment, 14.
 Hanson 3

Evacuation occurred quickly, giving residents of West Coast Japanese-American

communities little time to plan or reorganize their lives and their families. The residents were

moved to assembly centers and then internment camps where they had to create entirely different

communities from those they had experienced on the West Coast. The events inside internment

camps dominated life for interned Japanese Americans during World War II and would leave a

profound impact on them even after the war. Residents had to leave their old lives behind and

had their loyalty questioned, even those who had been born and raised inside the United States.

Despite being uprooted and incarcerated, Japanese Americans attempted to make the best of

camp life. Within the internment camps a new Japanese-American identity was built, one with its

own arts, media, churches, and schools. After World War II, Japanese-American incarceration

had a profound effect on the Japanese-American community, including a reduction in patriotism

and a shared historical trauma. The most important of these effects however, was that Japanese

Americans had built a community while incarcerated that they would carry with them into the

following decades. Internees were forced to question both the Japanese and American aspects of

themselves. In the end, a culture crisis ensued, and the two cultures were ultimately merged.

Internment camps helped develop a specific Japanese-American identity and culture that only a

couple of decades later would grow and transform into part of the grassroots Asian-American

civil rights movement of the 1970s.

In total, sixteen internment camps were built throughout Washington, Oregon, California,

and Arizona. During the years of the second World War, 90,000 people were incarcerated in the

camps, about 70 percent of which were US citizens.5 These citizens would have most likely

come across evacuation posters that the Department of War had posted in prominent locations in

Japanese-American communities. These posters called for Japanese Americans to begin a

5
Ng, Japanese American Internment, 32.
 Hanson 4

"voluntary" evacuation away from the West Coast. The notices informed families to report to a

center in which they would be evaluated and registered. A similar notice then told them when to

leave their homes and what they could take with them. All of this happened in a relatively short

period of time, forcing Japanese Americans and their families to make arrangements quickly for

their homes and belongings. According to an evacuation procedure from Ukiah, California,

evacuees were to carry only beddings and linens, toiletries, clothing, and essential personal

effects, all for each member of the family.6 This meant that most families had either to store or

sell a majority of their belongings. In a propaganda film created by the Department of War, this

quick selling or leasing of land, homes, and property was described as "financial sacrifice" that

was willingly and happily done by Japanese Americans on behalf of the war effort.7

Citizen accounts of the experience demonstrated otherwise. Ben Iijima, a nineteen-year-

old student at UC Berkeley, described the chaos that ensued in the days leading up to his family's

evacuation to Tanforan Assembly Center. Iijima recalled his family packing up all of their

belongings for storage. They wondered what should stay and what they should take with them.

Iijima remembered standing on the curb, unable to leave the family residence after 8:00 pm,

handing belongings to his neighbor, who promised to return them when the family was released.

He also described the panic of not knowing what would be needed inside the camps. His mother

sent him to get rain gear and canned foods from the store, hoping they could take these items

with them.8

6
"Evacuation Procedures Ukiah, California," (May 17, 1942), Wartime Civil Control Administration, in Only What
We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience, ed. Lawson Fusao Inada (Berkeley, CA: Heyday
Books, 2000), 8.
7
"Japanese Relocation," narrated by Milton S. Eisenhower, (1943), War Activities Commission, 2:38-3:43,
accessed October 3, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=7KJNZUdWR5E&feature=youtu.be&list=PL3XhkxcunJrEQ6ov7Sab9z1V2QyM0FEzq.
8
Ben Iijima, "The Day We Left," (1942), diary entry, in Only What We Could Carry, 1-7.
 Hanson 5

Ben Iijima's story is similar to many Japanese Americans who were forced to hurriedly

find solutions for their belongings. This loss of private property had a profound effect on not

only Japanese Americans, but Asian Americans in general. Signs began to appear in storefronts

and homes that claimed the owners were American. A sense of fear and betrayal circulated

within the Japanese and Chinese-American communities. Yuri Tateishi showed the

predominance of these emotions when he stated, "You hurt. You give up everything you worked

for that far, and I think everybody was at the point of just having gotten out of the [Great]

Depression … And then all that happens! You have to throw everything away. You feel you

were betrayed."9 Similarly, Nettie Wong, who was a nine-year-old at the outbreak of the war,

wrote a poem expressing her and her family's fear when their Japanese neighbors were being

removed from their homes. The family had been suspended from their grocery store in Berkley

and Wong described her family's whispers, "We are Chinese, we are Chinese," a saying that they

eventually posted in their front yard.10 While Tateishi demonstrated the feeling of anger and

betrayal, Wong's sentiment showed how the fear of being evacuated permeated not only

Japanese-American communities, but Asian Americans as a whole.

In general, up until this point in American history, Asian Americans had identified based

on their specific ethnicity: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc. With the evacuation of

Japanese Americans from the West Coast, an Asian-American identity began to emerge, not at

first as a culture, but in the fear and betrayal that accompanied evacuation. Much like the Wong

family, who were watching their neighbors scramble to settle their assets similarly to the Iijima

family, other ethnicities began to fear they could be mistaken for Japanese. Ironically, these

emotions connected these families to their Japanese neighbors. Whether Japanese, Chinese, or

9
Yuri Tateishi, "Oral History Excerpt," (1984), excerpt from And Justice for All: An Oral History of the Japanese
American Detention Camps, in Only What We Could Carry, 62.
10
Nettie Wong, "Can't Tell," (1977), in Only What We Could Carry, 51-52.
 Hanson 6

some other Asian ethnicity, Asian Americans were subject to discrimination and had to live in

fear of losing their businesses and their homes. These werre the first, miniscule signs of a

cohesive Asian-American identity.

A sense of betrayal also developed from the loyalty screenings that Japanese Americans

faced before and during evacuation. Though the FBI had already determined that Japanese

Americans were likely to remain loyal, throughout World War II the government continued to

question the loyalty of those with Japanese ancestry. The government, specifically the War

Relocation Authority who oversaw Japanese internment, developed a loyalty process in which

they attempted to discern between "loyals" and "disloyals." This issue became even more

prevalent for the government when they announced the formation of a Japanese-American

regimental combat team, and the need for completely loyal soldiers to fill that regiment.11 When

sent to assembly centers, Japanese Americans had to answer a questionnaire from the War

Department in which the internees were required to name their relatives in Japan and in the

States, their education, employment, and five references. The most important question however

was number 28: "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and

faithfully defend the [US] from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any

form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government,

power or organization."12 This put a great strain on the psyche of Japanese Americans as a

majority of them were forced to renounce any connection to their homeland. Some were angry

that the question implied their loyalty to the emperor in the first place.

11
In a loyalty questionnaire, Japanese Americans were asked if they would be willing to join the army if
requested by the US government. Those that answered “yes” and renounced their Japanese ancestry
were eligible to volunteer for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team beginning in March 1943. Within a
month, just over 4,000 Japanese Americans volunteered for the regiment.
12
"Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry," (1943), The War Relocation Authority, in Japanese
American Internment During World War II: A History and Reference Guide, ed. Wendy Ng (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 2002), 158-161.
 Hanson 7

These reactions were most severe at the camp at Tule Lake, where large groups of

internees refused to sign the registration forms, specifically because of questions 27 and 28

which asked all male internees to promise to serve in the United States military if asked.

"Resistance and noncompliance were less widespread at most of the other camps but were still

far greater than… the [War Relocation Authority] had expected."13 It is understandable why the

internees reacted with such emotion. Japanese Americans had their citizenship put into question

and their loyalty judged based solely on a questionnaire and their ethnicity. Suddenly they were

no longer Americans of Japanese descent, but potential security threats that hailed from an

enemy nation.

Japanese Americans had long been viewed by Americans as deceitful, sneaky, and

untrustworthy. In the early and mid-twentieth century the military and Americans in general

viewed first generation Japanese Americans, also known as Neisi, as "unassimilable group of

native-born foreigners...whose racial traits and family bonds prevented them from forming true

loyalty to the United States."14 While this was not the case, the United States government viewed

loyalty through a racial and ethnic lens, especially during World War II. The presumption that all

Americans of Japanese descent were disloyal came to a head with the internment camps when

70,000 Americans, 40,000 of them under the age of eighteen, were forced into camps without

charges, without hearings, and without any evidence of sedition.15 For the most part, Japanese

Americans developed a shared trauma even before arriving at the camps. On their journey to the

internment camps, Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants had to give up most of their

property, were forced to renounce the home of their ancestors, and declare loyalty to a country
13
Eric L. Muller, "The War Relocation Authority and the Wounding of Japanese American Loyalty," Social
Research 86, no. 3 (2019): 36, accessed October 3, 2020,
http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy006.nclive.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=139980361&site=eds-
live&scope=site.
14
Muller, "The Wounding of Japanese American Loyalty," 20.
15
Muller, "The Wounding of Japanese American Loyalty," 21.
 Hanson 8

that forced them behind barbed wire. This shared trauma, as it has with many racial groups in

America, would develop into a community centered around a shared history.

When internees arrived at the internment camps is when Japanese Americans

immediately began developing a Japanese-American identity. The internees tried their best to

make their time inside the internment camps similar to life outside of the barbed wire. They set

up their own schools, churches, newspapers, art, sports, and even small governing bodies. While

the camps did have small factions of pro-Japanese extremists who tried to impose a strictly

Japanese culture, overall the camps developed a new and distinctive Japanese-American culture.

Evacuation and internment disrupted many communities and social ties across the West

Coast, dividing small Japanese-American communities among the ten internment camps. To

cope, internees developed new social ties and communities within their specific camps. In these

circumstances, community is defined as, "individuals who share a group identity and often a

mutual concept of place...they also serve as venues for interaction that allows for the

development of mutual identities."16 The communities within the internment camps could be

broken down by the specific neighborhoods and blocks within the camps. Many blocks were

grouped by region, especially early in the war. When a bus filled with neighboring Japanese

Americans arrived from one area, many of the new residents were sent to neighboring housing

units within the camp, meaning that regional social ties remained despite relocation. However,

throughout the entire camp, there was a mixing of these different regional or social groups,

especially since most camps had a singular school, elementary and high, limited numbers of

churches, and one mess hall for the entire camp. Detainees also worked with individuals from

other blocks leading to inter-neighborhood interactions on a daily basis. As the war continued

16
April Kamp-Whittaker and Bonnie J Clark, "Creating a Community in Confinement: The Development of
Neighborhoods in Amache, a World War II Japanese American Internment Camp," in The Archaeology of Removal
in North America, ed, Weik Terrance (Orlando: University Press of Florida, 2019), 163.
 Hanson 9

and new internees had less options to choose from regarding their housing, diversity in

neighborhood blocks increased, further mixing communities and cultures. Block neighborhoods

played a pivotal role in building a sense of community for internees, especially block-based

clubs and social groups. Neighborhoods gave internment camp residents a sense of belonging,

one that was then carried into the larger camp identity, and fostered the growth of a camp culture

that after incarceration would develop even further into a specific Japanese-American identity.

Some incarcerated Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants turned to their faith in

an attempt to find a sense of belonging. Churches and religious services became a way for

internees to reconcile with everything they had lost and to find comfort in the hectic camp

around them. All camps held church services for Protestant, Catholic, and Buddhist residents. In

fact, the War Relocation Authority (WRA) allowed internees to practice any religion as long as it

did not involve the Japanese emperor. This religious freedom likely came from the fact that

President Roosevelt had declared the protection of religious faith and worship as "essential

prerequisites for democracy … that … encouraged a sense of responsibility to the welfare of

others."17

This connection between religious freedom and democracy proved essential for interned

Japanese Americans. Japanese immigrants had a history of engaging in religious activities in

America due to the fact that they provided opportunities for leadership in a society where

Japanese-American rights were otherwise restricted. By the time Japanese immigrants were

being detained in internment camps, nearly a quarter of them identified as Christian. At Camp

Harmony, a temporary assembly center in Washington, an estimated 2,500 internees attended

Protestant gatherings every week. With this desperate need to provide religious services to

17
Anne M. Blankenship, “Foundations for a New World Order: Uniting Protestant Worship During the World War
II Japanese American Incarceration,” Interpretation 72, no. 3 (2018): 100, accessed October 3, 2020,
doi:10.1177/0020964318766299.
 Hanson 10

internees, church leaders saw an opportunity amid the sorrow and chaos of the camps "to move

toward religious and racial unity … [and ] to improve themselves, their church, and their

world."18 Incarceration acted as a way for Protestant churches to start anew; leaders were able to

build churches that lacked the sect divisions of churches outside of internment camps. Because

of the absence of denominations, "the incarceration was the first time a large, diverse population

attempted to form [nonsectarian churches] and worship exclusively together."19

Once incarceration ended, internees who identified as Christian attempted to integrate

themselves into white churches since many of their ethnic churches had been lost when

ecclesiastical leaders were interned. This integration failed when white congregations made

continued calls for segregation. This caused many Japanese immigrants to lose the united

religious community they had access to within the camps, at least until ethnic churches began to

reform in the 1950s. Churches within internment camps had provided Japanese immigrants with

"a space where they could control their environment and escape the constant challenges of

discrimination."20

Churches gave internees fellowship with those around them by providing opportunities

for internees to connect. The role of community dominated faith for those incarcerated. Many

Buddhists and non-Christians also benefited from the organization of Protestant churches within

internment camps and the community that they fostered. Christian groups discussed things

beyond the non-secular, meaning non-Christians felt confident enough to attend. This allowed

for the entire community to discuss things such as resettlement and the improvement of camp

conditions. Christian groups also held dances, concerts, and other gatherings that helped build

18
Blankenship, “Foundations for a New World Order," 306.
19
Blankenship, “Foundations for a New World Order," 308.
20
Blankenship, “Foundations for a New World Order," 313.
 Hanson 11

the overall communities within the walls of the camps. Internees had few opportunities for

entertainment and were happy to participate in these events.

However, Christian internees were frequently treated with more respect and were

afforded greater opportunity by the WRA than were non-Christians. Simultaneously, some

internees viewed Christianity as the religion of the oppressor. Those who worked closely with

the WRA were subject to violence. One clergyman, Reverend Yamazaki, experienced this

violence after he had supposedly helped the WRA translate some documents. Even though

Yamazaki was beaten, he described his attackers as "respectful" and even wrote a poem about

the experience that showed compassion for them. He wrote, "When I received the blow I felt, As

my own child hitting me, For they were of my own kind."21 In an ironic and odd way, this

encounter illustrated how even those internees with opposing views or resentments respected one

another. This may have been a signal of their Asian culture, but it wass also a sign that the

internees recognized one another's' struggle and hardships and could identify with their fellow

internees.

Lastly, faith compelled some internees to defend themselves against the injustices they

witnessed during incarceration. Christianity, as well as Buddhism, potentially "fueled resistance

by strengthening ethnic solidarity … [internees] fought the government on the basis of religious

convictions, and incarcerated Protestants echoed that rhetoric."22 Testimonies from inside

internment camps frequently showed internees making active attempts to create community

while simultaneously struggling to cope with the trauma of incarceration itself. These

communities may not have directly fought against orders but, by using faith and religion some

were able to resist the government's narrative of Japanese Americans and internment. This

21
Anne M. Blankenship, Christianity, Social Justice, and the Japanese American Incarceration During World War
II (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2016), 140.
22
Blankenship, Christianity, Social Justice, and the Japanese American Incarceration, 168.
 Hanson 12

combination of respect for one another, unified resistance, and fellowship, all show the important

role religion played in creating a tight-knit community within the camps. Without the churches,

specifically the Protestant ones that were given more leeway by the government, internment

would have been even more difficult.

This role that faith played in building a Japanese-American community would travel with

internees into the 1960s and 1970s Asian-American civil rights movement which, similar to the

African American civil rights movement, was led primarily by churches and clerical leaders. The

experience of incarceration encouraged many internees to become activists. Religious leaders

and other Japanese-American Christians called for Asian Americans to take pride in their

identity and ethnic heritage. Ethnic churches also set up various organizations that became

influential in organizing events for the Asian-American civil rights movement.

Education also played a critical role in developing community within internment camps.

Over half of all internees were below the age of eighteen and of school age. The WRA had not

appeared to consider these children’s' education when the camps were constructed. "School," if it

could be labeled as such, took place in large, open barracks that were frequently used for

recreation activities. The WRA did little to provide desks, chairs, or textbooks. Some schools

were eventually built; however, those without school buildings often had to sit on the floor or

stand during classes that were frequently taught by unqualified teachers. Similarly, most camps

only provided education for those under eighteen, meaning that those in higher education had

little to no access to their studies.

The curriculum within the camps followed those of the state in which they were located.

However, the main focus for school children was the concept of Americanization. Elanor Gerard

Sekerak, a white teacher at Topaz Internment Camp described the irony of teaching American
 Hanson 13

ideals within barbed wire: "I wondered how I could teach American government and democratic

principles while we sat in classrooms behind barbed wire! I never ceased to have a lump in my

throat when classes recited the Pledge of Allegiance, especially the phrase liberty and justice for

all."23 Being educated within internment camps gave Japanese-American schoolchildren an

experience totally unique to that of other ethnicities. The transmission of culture through

education was a central concern for government and camp residents alike. The WRA devised a

curriculum that was focused on Americanization. This was done primarily through an emphasis

on community as it pertained to the United States. The curriculum encouraged students to

contribute with unwavering loyalty to American society. In reality, however, schools and the

WRA's curriculum only caused students and their parents to feel "alarmed and ashamed."24

Students, especially those that were older, felt that they were being taught to contribute to

American society when in reality they were being excluded from it. One student at Tule Lake

wrote, "since I have come to the camp, I no longer feel I am part of the world. I feel like I am a

dangerous enemy spy being held in a prison."25 This student paralleled the sentiments of Elanor

Sekerak; how could students learn of democratic values and community when they were being

excluded from both?

In resistance and opposition to the WRA and its poor education system, residents at Tule

Lake began to develop their own schools. Private schools grew within the camp. Some private

curriculum complemented that of the public schools, while some looked to replace it. Enrollment

in the Tule Lake public school steadily declined. Despite this decline, high schools became a

social center for many Japanese-American students. These youth were largely Americanized due

23
Eleanor Gerard Sekarak, "A Teacher at Topaz" (1991), in Only What We Could Carry, 132.
24
Thomas James, "The Education of Japanese Americans at Tule Lake, 1942-1946," Pacific Historical Review 56,
no. 1 (1987): 34, accessed October 3, 2020. doi:10.2307/3638825.
25
James, "The Education of Japanese Americans at Tule Lake," 34.
 Hanson 14

to growing up within the United States. These students preferred American recreational

activities, such as baseball or Hollywood movies, to the activities their parents preferred, such as

sumo. Because of this, no matter how rundown the schools may have been or how biased the

curriculum was, high school students found comfort in the educational system. Schools provided

a place where they could interact with their peers and with those who had similar interests. By

talking about what was happening outside of the barbed wire, these students were able to provide

themselves with an escape from the camps. An example of this was in eighteen-year-old Stanley

Hayami and the journal he kept during internment. Hayami spent some of his time writing about

his concerns over the uncertain future of Japanese Americans; however, much of his writings and

drawings showed his concerns over his work at school. In one instance he spent two days

celebrating the outcome of a football game with his friends.26 Hayami illustrated just how young

internees coped with all they had lost during such a formative time in their lives. Though the

communities within internment clashed over education and curriculum, students were drawn to

one another because of their similarities and were able to counter larger divisions. Students

created their own communities within their schools, no matter how inadequate their education

may have been.

The role of the media, both inside and outside of the camps, played a central role for how

Japanese Americans perceived themselves. Media outside internment camps showed paradoxical

narratives. The most prominent theme in the media was that Japanese Americans were in

alignment with Imperial Japan and should all be sent to internment camps. One such aggressive

journalist argued, "I am for immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point

deep in the interior. I don't mean a nice part of the interior either. Herd 'em up, pack 'em off, and

26
Stanley Hayami, "A Young Nisei's Diary," (1942-44), in Only What We Could Carry, 138-141.
 Hanson 15

give 'em the inside room of the badlands."27 In the absence of proof regarding the threat of

Japanese Americans, popular media would resort to circumstantial evidence and innuendos to

frame the ethnic group as the enemy. This type of rhetoric proved enough to foster, and even

encourage, a general anti-Japanese attitude in many American communities. This type of culture

subjected Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants to harsh treatment even after their

release from internment camps and relocation to new homes throughout the interior of America.

In this way, "Japanese American citizens on the coast … were marginalized by reporters; they

lost their voices as stories of loyalty gave way to hysteria … On those rare occasions when

reporters cited Japanese Americans, they were diminished and marginalized; pejorative terms

were often used to describe their physical characteristics."28

Japanese Americans however refused to lose their voices completely. Many internment

camps developed their own newspapers and magazines. Ironically, the WRA ensured that

internment camp administration promoted democratic ideals. This included a general freedom of

the press. However, newspapers were limited to exclude any sentiments that were in favor of

Imperial Japan. Otherwise, camp newspapers flourished in every internment camp. The papers

were written, edited, produced and distributed entirely by internees. The papers were written in

both English and Japanese. Newspapers allowed communities within internment camps access to

information regarding the world around them from the perspective of people in their own

communities. The newspapers not only published news, but also editorials, opinion pieces,

entertainment, and original literature. As many internees did, newspapers struggled to find the

balance between American ideals and Japanese culture.

27
Dolores Flamiano, “Japanese American Internment in Popular Magazines: Race, Citizenship, and Gender in
World War II Photojournalism,” Journalism History 36, no. 1 (2010): 24, accessed October 3, 2020,
doi:10.1080/00947679.2010.12062812.
28
Ronald Bishop, “To Protect and Serve: The `Guard Dog’ Function of Journalism in Coverage of the Japanese-
American Internment,” Journalism & Communication Monographs 2, no. 2 (2000): 92, accessed October 3, 2020,
doi:10.1177/152263790000200201.
 Hanson 16

Newspapers reflected a crisis in identity that was occurring for all Japanese Americans,

interned or not. At first, many of the camp newspapers portrayed Japanese Americans as

"searching for a reaffirmation of their American cultural identity, even if that meant

disassociating themselves from their Japanese cultural identity."29 The newspapers emphasized

American identity over a Japanese one and began to mimic popular magazines and newspapers.

This could be seen in the fact that Japanese traditions and events were heavily downplayed and

not prominently featured in the news. Some early newspapers went so far as to attempt to

portray internment as a positive experience that "presented [internees] with a rare opportunity for

self-improvement and community development."30 However, this did not mean that internees

were accepting their fate.

In an effort to avoid any censorship, much oppositional expression in internment media

had to be read between the lines. This occurred whenever an article was particularly sarcastic or

used heavy allusion. As internment continued, newspapers began to shift away from solely

Americanized culture representation into a reflection of an entirely new identity that merged

American and Japanese ideals. Newspapers began to display unhesitatingly both sides of their

identity, American and Japanese. Writings began to have a "renewed sense of pride and a

burgeoning confidence" as Japanese Americans began to create a truly unique voice for

themselves in the national narrative.31 As simple as it was effective, newspapers began

identifying internees as "American citizens of Japanese ancestry," confirming both their roots in

Japan and their current citizenship in America.32 Similarly, Japanese-style recreation events
29
Catherine A. Luther, “Reflections of Cultural Identities in Conflict: Japanese American Internment Camp
Newspapers during World War II,” Journalism History, no. 2 (2003): 74, accessed November 7, 2020,
http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy006.nclive.org/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edsgea&AN=edsgcl.107761101&site=eds-live&scope=site.
30
"A Changed World," Manzanar Free Press, June 16, 1942, 2, accessed November 7, 2020,
http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-125-23/.
31
Luther, “Reflections of Cultural Identities in Conflict," 76.
32
Luther, “Reflections of Cultural Identities in Conflict," 78.
 Hanson 17

began to be featured more prominently alongside American ones. With this pride in identity,

newspapers and internees overall felt more confident in their ability to criticize the policies of the

United States government. Just as popular media had affected the opinion Americans had of

Japanese Americans, media within internment camps affected how Japanese Americans viewed

themselves. A new identity had emerged, led by internment media, that "allowed the Japanese

Americans to take pride in their American side and to begin acknowledging the importance of

their Japanese side."33 In this way, internment media played a key role in developing a distinct

Asian-American identity that predominated the decades following internment.

Occasionally, written words were not enough. The arts and entertainment in general

became increasingly important to internees. Regarding the visual arts, artists had to adapt to the

poor access to materials within the camps. Because of this, internment art pushed the boundaries

of creativity and industriousness. Art programs were largely supported by the WRA and

internees because it gave artistic Japanese Americans a small escape from camp life. Art

empowered artists and was essential to their mental and emotional survival. George Matsusaburo

Hibi, an internee at Topaz, described how art benefitted both artists and those around them "we

artists' job is not to discuss the war, nor waste time by gossiping and foment uneasiness among

our residents but … to develop culture and soften the peoples' hearts … but also to foster infinite

inspirations, emotions, and peaceful thoughts in the people, young and old."34 This did not mean

that artists avoided the subject of internment in their works, only that they looked to distract their

fellow internees from the atmosphere of sorrow and anger that had developed. Many internee

artists, as well as those non-interned Japanese Americans, began to merge classical Japanese art

with more contemporary American styles. Roger Shimomura, who had been young during

33
Luther, “Reflections of Cultural Identities in Conflict," 79.
34
Charles M. Schultz, "Paper Planes: Art from Japanese American Internment Camps," Art in Print 5, no. 3 (2015):
23, accessed October 3, 2020, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26350652.
 Hanson 18

internment, created artwork based on his grandmother's experience inside the camps. Though

Shimomura's artwork dated after internment, he acted as a primary example of the influences of

both Japanese and American art styles. Shimomura combined Japanese "ukioye woodblock print

formalism with the color and feel of American pop art."35 Because of the type of art that

developed during internment, Japanese-American art became largely dominated by both the

styles and subjects of internment and would define many Japanese American artists.

Other forms of creativity emerged within the walls of the internment camps. Some

internees took up gardening as a way not only to improve their condition and physical

surroundings, but, like the artists, to find means of mental and emotional escape. This made

sense for many Japanese Americans considering their pre-internment roles as agricultural

workers. Gardeners combined the ancient Japanese art of stone setting with more contemporary

American gardening techniques. Though many camps were located in the desert, gardeners used

"the harsh ecosystems in which they were placed … to assert their dominance over it while

reassigning it cultural merit."36 Just as gardening offered an escape, it also acted as a miniscule

and peaceful way of defiance. Many internees came to despise the desert and rocky landscapes

around them. They associated their environment with all the negative emotions that were

associated with internment. Gardening allowed internees to take control of their surroundings

and define what their internment camp would look like. These gardens became a type of

metaphor for the internees. Just like the plants, waterworks, and animals that should not have

been able to flourish in the harsh landscape, gardens signaled that Japanese Americans could

endure internment.

35
Kristine C. Kuramitsu,“Internment and Identity in Japanese American Art,” American Quarterly 47, no. 4 (1995):
642, accessed October 3, 2020, doi:10.2307/2713369.
36
McKenzie Tavoda, "A Land You Could Not Escape Yet Almost Didn’t Want to Leave: Japanese American
Identity in Manzanar Internment Camp Gardens," Voces Novae: Chapman University Historical Review 7, no. 1
(2018): 133, accessed October 3, 2020, https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/vocesnovae/vol7/iss1/8/.
 Hanson 19

The Manzanar Internment Camp, along with countless personal gardens outside family

barracks, had at least ten community gardens that acted as group projects for internees. In this

way, gardens became a sign of community. Neighbors were more than happy to assist one

another with carrying stones or watering plants. Not only did gardens improve the morale of

camp life in general, but they also allowed for stronger communities in which individuals were

able to work together to better their surroundings and therefore their emotional state. While all of

these points were a part of the art of gardening within internment camps, the primary role of

gardening seems to have been that it acted as a way for cultural expression. Gardening was an

ancient Japanese tradition, but due to the harsh environment of the camps, this tradition had to be

altered to fit the American landscape. Therefore, while Japanese gardening was usually full of

greenery and in completely flat locations, the internment gardens consisted largely of native

desert plants that were planted at varying altitudes. In this way, even Japanese identity as it

pertained to something as unexpected as gardening acted as an example of the shifting and

merging of cultures within the internment camps. Gardening evolved from a strictly Japanese art

to one that combined aspects of American culture.

All of these aspects of internment life, religion and worship, education and childhood,

newspapers and media, and art and gardening, signaled a shift to a culture that was distinctly

Japanese-American. With internment, Japanese Americans were able to shift away from having

to choose between their Japanese ancestry or their American citizenship and move into an

identity that combined and nurtured both. Internment churches brought unity among Protestant

internees and brought a sense of community to those who interacted with them. Faith also gave

internees a means of temporary escape and the opportunity to stand against injustice. Education

forced school children to reconcile with the irony of internment and the clash between their
 Hanson 20

American education and Japanese ancestry. Schools also gave older children the opportunity to

build a strong and tight-knit community with those who shared the same interests. Newspapers

stood as the symbol for this reconciliation between cultures and signaled the shift from choosing

between a Japanese or American identity to one that was Japanese-American. All the while,

newspapers instilled Japanese Americans with a sense of pride in their identity that had

previously been missing. Similar to churches, newspapers gave internees an opportunity to

directly speak out against mistreatment. Finally, art and gardening also allowed for a means of

escape for the internees who engaged in those activities as well as those who came into contact

with their work. Both of these activities merged the aspects of American and Japanese culture

into one, drawing from both. Overall, internment camps and the activities that took place within

them played a crucial role in defining a Japanese-American culture and identity, all the while

building a sense of community despite the oppression they faced.

Some Japanese Americans did not rely on small acts of opposition such as gardening or

religion, but instead decided to take their grievances directly to the courts to fight the injustices

that befell them. The first challenger to World War II policy against Japanese Americans was

Minoru Yasui. In March of 1942, Yasui marched into a Portland, Oregon, police station and

demanded that he be arrested for breaking the curfew law put into place for those of Japanese

ancestry. He argued that the curfew law went against his right to be treated as an equal citizen

without any regard to his race. The district court ruled that Yasui had forfeited his citizenship

and he was fined and sentenced to a year in prison. Only six weeks after Yasui, Gordon Kiyoshi

Hirabayashi and other Japanese Americans refused to abide by the WRA's orders, especially

those orders that called for evacuation. The most famous of these resistors was Fred Toyosaburo

Korematsu. Korematsu had refused to evacuate the West Coast. He argued that the internment
 Hanson 21

camps violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. All of these cases

involving Yasui, Hirabayashi, and Korematsu, found their way into the Supreme Court and

would determine the fate of Japanese Americans and internment camps. Yasui v US and

Hirabayashi v US did little to help Japanese Americans and in some cases hurt them. In the

Hirabayashi trial, Chief Justice Stone stated, "Japanese immigrants were ineligible for US

citizenship and that … American born children of Japanese immigrants were considered citizens

of Japan."37 With the Korematsu case in 1944, the court upheld the constitutionality of Executive

Order 9066 and internment, arguing that protection against espionage outweighed the individual

rights of Japanese Americans. This decision would last for another thirty years. After hearing the

results of his case, Korematsu experienced a sentiment many Japanese Americans likely felt

throughout internment: "I just couldn't believe it … I thought [for] sure that we won because it

was unconstitutional what they did to the Japanese Americans, putting them in concentration

camps … It just seemed like the bottom dropped out. I just felt like, 'Am I an American or not?'

… When I found out that I lost my decision, I thought I lost my country."38

This attitude of fighting against government oppression of Japanese Americans carried

directly into the Asian-American movement of the 1970s. Fred Korematsu knew that internment

was wrong and did not hesitate to fight against it. Other Japanese Americans began to realize that

they could also stand directly against the government for the mistreatment they had encountered.

Part of the movement in the 1970s searched for official recognition that internment had been

morally and legally wrong. Korematsu and other Japanese Americans finally saw small steps

toward justice beginning in 1976 when Executive Order 9066 was rescinded. In 1983,

37
Robert and Marilyn Aitken, "Japanese American Internment," Litigation 37, no. 2 (2011): 62, accessed October 3,
2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23075502.
38
Lorraine K. Bannai, “Taking the Stand: The Lessons of Three Men Who Took the Japanese American Internment
to Court,” Seattle Journal for Social Justice 4, no. 1 (2005): 11, accessed October 3, 2020,
http://heinonline.org.proxy006.nclive.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/sjsj4&div=8.
 Hanson 22

Korematsu's case was reopened and his conviction vacated. Korematsu continued to be a voice

against injustices committed against Japanese Americans and was a leading figure in the redress

movement. Korematsu served as a prime example of how evacuation and internment acted as a

catalyst for Japanese Americans defending their individual rights. Many of the Japanese leaders

of the 1970s Asian-American movement had internment fresh on their minds and were ready to

ensure that it would never happen again.

The Japanese American community did not recover from their internment experiences for

over forty years. Even by the 1980s, many Japanese Americans struggled to process what had

happened in the 1940s and often refused to discuss it. The passage of time did little to ease the

pain, betrayal, anger, and fear that internees had experienced. The effects of internment defined

Japanese participation in the Asian-American movement. Japanese Americans' patriotism had

been wounded. The community had prided itself on being American citizens, so when the

American government forced the community into internment camps, Japanese Americans had to

reconcile with the trauma they had endured. Emotional reckoning became an important part of a

Japanese-American identity.

Japanese Americans had their loyalty and patriotism tested in a way no other Americans

had up to that point. Even those of Italian and German ancestry were not subject to internment in

the large manner that Japanese Americans were, with only 2 percent of all internees being from

Italian or German descent. Two-thirds of all Japanese internees, who made up the other 98

percent of internees, were American citizens. They had been uprooted from their communities,

forced to give up their businesses and their homes, had been forced to live in makeshift horse

stalls, and were subject to the horrible conditions of internment camps, all because of their

ancestral background. The questioning of Japanese American loyalty came to a head with the
 Hanson 23

loyalty screenings and the questionnaire that accompanied them. After internment Japanese

Americans had to wrestle with the idea that they were disloyal as well as the fact that their own

country had imprisoned them without due process. For example, after his internment, Hiroshi

Kashiwaga wrote a play titled The Betrayed. The play addressed the idea of loyalty as it

pertained to Japanese Americans during internment. The play discussed the importance Japanese

Americans felt to be loyal, not only to their country, but to their friends, family, personal values,

and conscience. Internment may have questioned Japanese Americans' loyalty to the United

States, but many of them felt that "internment was a betrayal of their beliefs in democracy and

the United States itself."39 In this way, many Japanese Americans felt that it was not they who

had been disloyal to the United States, but the United States who had been disloyal to its citizens

and its foundational values.

The Japanese-American community also had to come to terms with the historical trauma

it had suffered. Sociologist Rebecca Coffin describes historical trauma as a "trauma shared by a

group of people that continues to impact contemporary members of the originally traumatized

group."40 This was precisely what occurred within the Japanese-American community and helps

explain why internment had such a profound effect on those that led the battle for Asian-

American civil rights. The internment camps had been a trying experience for many. Camp

experiences haunted Japanese Americans in the decades following internment. Poetry dated after

internment illustrated the emotional impact the event left in the community. In one of his poems,

Wakako Yamauchi expressed the sentiment of pain that resulted from internment: "Half a

century ago, we are speaking of another time, another life. We are returning to that era of war,

39
Lawson Fusao Inada, ed, Only What We Could Carry : The Japanese American Internment Experience (Berkeley,
CA: Heyday Books, 2000), 270.
40
Rebecca Coffin, “Tracing the Trauma of Japanese American Internment,” Windows in Time 27, no. 2 (2019): 16,
accessed October 3, 2020, http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy006.nclive.org/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ccm&AN=141367605&site=eds-live&scope=site.
 Hanson 24

divided loyalties, betrayal, and incarceration. Many of us have already gone, some in fading

notoriety, some with trauma and conflicts unresolved."41 Some of the internees literally

developed forms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Tom Watanare described his

inability to rid himself of memories from internment: "I used to have nightmares, you know. I

couldn't sleep … it’s still there. A certain type of music or a place … you can feel it. You go all

the way back forty years… it just hits you all of a sudden. You never get rid of that. I never

can"42

Some Japanese Americans anger transcended generations, passing down trauma to

children and grandchildren. Traci Kato-Kiriyama recalled that her mother refused to talk about

internment until she was in her late seventies. She likewise explained that her grandfather had

taken years to accept the anger he felt over internment, anger that he then transferred to his

daughter. Kato Kiriyama explaind how her mother had "been kind of an angry person for a long

time and without realizing it was because of [internment]."43 Kato-Kiriyama finished by

describing how her mother's explanations and descriptions only made her angry about what her

family had experienced. All of these examples demonstrate the historical trauma and emotions

with which Japanese-American community had to learn to cope, including anger, PTSD, and

betrayal. Because of this intergenerational trauma that has persisted through time, internment

became a defining feature of Japanese-American identities, even for those that had never even

seen the camps.

41
Wakako Yamauchi, "Fifty Years," (1992), excerpt from "Poston, Arizona: A Personal Memory," in Only What
We Could Carry, 388.
42
Tom Watanabe, "Oral History Excerpt," (1984), excerpt from And Justice for All: An Oral History of the
Japanese American Detention Camps, in Only What We Could Carry, 388-389.
43
Adrian Florido, "'Tales Of Clamor' Tells The Emotional Reckoning Of Japanese-Americans After WWII," NPR
All Things Considered (2019), accessed October 3, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2019/03/30/708336899/tales-of-
clamor-tells-the-emotional-reckoning-of-japanese-americans-after-wwii.
 Hanson 25

The Asian-American movement was largely community based, with activism beginning

sporadically across the United States, but it was most active on the West Coast, where many ex-

internees resided. The movement had its roots in many issues and cultures, but internment played

a key role for Japanese Americans who participated. The movement acted as a vehicle for

Japanese Americans to reclaim their history and all that had gone wrong. For many, this meant

demanding answers about internment. The Asian-American movement gave Japanese Americans

the opportunity to "interact with information about their past, [so] they can better understand the

present and gain a feel for the future. The process affirms their individual and group identity … it

empowers them, freeing them from the society's definition of who they are or should be."44

The grassroots Asian-American movement grew into a national movement for civil

rights. Japanese Americans however had specific goals for the movement. These goals related

directly to internment. Twenty years after the internment camps had closed, Japanese Americans

began seeking justice for the wrongs done by the United States government. The victories came

slowly, but they were victories nonetheless. The year 1976 saw the first official step toward

redress when President Gerald Ford issued Proclamation 4417, which permanently repealed

Executive Order 9066. Ford stated that America must review and recognize its mistakes and

learn from them. Ford acknowledged that Japanese Americans had been largely loyal during the

war, that Order 9066 had not been effective, and that internment had been a "setback to

fundamental American principles."45 Many Japanese Americans feared that with Roosevelt's

order still standing, they could be forced back into internment. With Ford's proclamation these

fears virtually disappeared. The proclamation offered both an apology for internment and

assurance that something similar would not happen again. This was shortly followed with the
44
William Wei, The Asian American Movement (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1993), 55, accessed
October 3, 2020, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bt3pg.
45
Gerald R. Ford, "Proclamation 4417: An American Promise by the President of the United States of America,"
(1976), in Japanese American Internment During World War II, 161-162.
 Hanson 26

reversal of the verdict in Korematsu v US. As Korematsu's case was reopened in November of

1983, a courthouse filled with ex-internees waited for the verdict, hoping that the decision would

validate their pain and suffering. Shortly afterward, in 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the

Civil Liberties Act which labeled internment as a grave injustice, included a formal apology to

Japanese Americans, and provided a redress of $20,000 to all surviving internees. Finally, not

only did the Japanese-American community receive a formal apology from the United States

government, but they were given reparations for all that they had lost when they were uprooted

from their homes. Slowly the wrongs of internment were being addressed.

The most recent victory came in 1990 when President George H. W. Bush issued an

apology letter from the White House. Bush expressed sentiments for which Japanese Americans

had been waiting to hear from the White House: "a monetary sum and words alone cannot

restore lost years or ease painful memories … 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 … You and your famil[ies] have our best wishes for

the future."46 These victories could not undo internment, nor could they repair the traumas that

the Japanese-American community experienced. However, the statements from the White House

and from Congress eased the anger and sense of betrayal that many identified with from their

time as internees. Finally, Japanese Americans could feel completely confident in their place in

America. They had always viewed themselves as Americans, but finally the United States

government affirmed the community as loyal and equal citizens.

The community, culture, and identity that Japanese Americans developed during and

after internment came from a variety of sources. Japanese Americans built a community within

46
George H. W. Bush, "Apology Letter From the White House," (October 1990), in Japanese American Internment
During World War II, 163.
 Hanson 27

the barbed wire and guard towers of internment camps. Churches brought people together,

regardless of their previous social ties or religion. Education allowed students to connect with

one another, developing a sense of community for those that were too young to truly understand

how important community was. Activities within internment camps merged Japanese and

American culture to create a distinctive Japanese-American culture. With an increase in merging

ideals and cultures, Japanese Americans began to take pride in their identity, despite facing

oppression from a country they loved. Japanese Americans faced horrible conditions during

internment that were harsh enough to cause an intergenerational trauma. Japanese Americans had

been done a great disservice when Executive Order 9066 was signed by Roosevelt however the

trauma and injustice that ensued only made the community stronger and created a Japanese-

American culture and identity that individuals even today can take pride in. This did not

necessarily mean that there was "light at the end of the tunnel." Americans should not forget

internment or forgive the US government for its role. Rather, Americans should recognize that

the incarceration of American citizens during World War II was critical to the development of a

Japanese-American community because it was terrible. Japanese Americans were forced to find

ways to cope and reconcile. The Japanese American culture as it exists today would not be

possible without internees fighting tooth and nail to better their lives and the lives of their

children, both during internment and in years that followed.

 Hanson 28

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