Hirasaki National Resource Center : Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Were all Japanese Americans incarcerated during the War?
Japanese Americans who lived outside of the prescribed west coast military areas were allowed to stay in their homes unmolested, unless they were suspected of espionage or sabotage. The Japanese Americans in Hawai'i, who made up about 35% of the islands' population, also escaped imprisonment. Though there was some talk of mass incarceration in Hawai'i, several factors prevented the kind of wholesale exclusion that the military enforced on the mainland's west coast. Hawai'i was much more racially tolerant than the mainland; the military had greater control of the islands from the beginning, as martial law was declared soon after the Pearl Harbor attack; and General Emmons, Military Governor of Hawai'i, saw no reason to believe that the Issei or Nisei were not loyal to the United States. Of the 158,000 ethnic Japanese in Hawaii, less than 2,000 were incarcerated during the war. Back to top.

Were Japanese Americans the only ones to be incarcerated during World War II?
Though the War Relocation Authority concentration camps held only Japanese Americans, the Justice Department administered internment camps which held not only suspected Japanese American subversives but German Americans, Italian Americans and Japanese Latin Americans as well. In its attempts to ensure hemispheric security, the U.S. government urged governments to the south to round up potentially dangerous enemy aliens. Ten governments of Pacific-facing countries complied, sending Japanese, German, and a handful of Italian nationals to the United States for incarceration, mostly in camps in Texas. Over 2,200 Japanese Latin Americans were eventually deported to America. About four-fifths of this number came from Peru, where corrupt government officials and greedy businessmen took full advantage of the U.S. government's policy in an attempt to rid the country of the unwanted Japanese community. Japanese Canadians were incarcerated in much the same way as Japanese Americans. The Canadian government established a 100-mile wide military zone on Canada's west coast, from which 21,000 people of Japanese descent were evacuated in 1942. Over 60% of these inmates were Canadian citizens. Back to top.

Why do you call them "concentration camps"? Why did the government call them "internment camps"?
During World War II, the U.S. government adopted euphemistic terminology in describing the Japanese American incarceration to blunt the reaction to what was in truth a racist and illegal action and a wholesale abrogation of civil rights. In lay terminology the wartime incarceration was and is known as the "internment" or "evacuation," the camps as "internment camps" or "relocation centers," citizen inmates as "non-aliens." In a war in which propaganda played a vital role, this gentler wording helped the American public to feel that what the government was doing was not only reasonable, but moral and compassionate as well. In the post-war period, the phrase "concentration camp" has come to mean more than its literal definition; the words are weighted with the inhuman brutality and genocidal ambitions of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leaders. The World War II American concentration camps were clearly distinguishable from Nazi Germany's. However, they were indeed concentration camps: places where people were imprisoned not because of any crimes they committed, but simply because of who they were. The government removed a minority group from the general population and the rest of society let it happen. The National Museum uses "concentration camps" in its official terminology because to use the government euphemisms obscures the truth. Back to top.

Can the concentration camps be visited now? What is left on those sites?
All ten sites of the former camps are open to the public, though most of the original structures have long since disappeared. What generally remain are the concrete foundations to the barracks and the cemeteries. On some sites, such as Manzanar and Heart Mountain, original structures and even rock gardens remain much as the inmates left them over fifty years ago. Most of the sites have memorials of some sort or another, some constructed during the war years but most erected many years later in recognition of the sufferings endured on those sites. Detailed directions to the ten sites can be found in Ten Visits: Accounts of Visits to All the Japanese American Relocation Centers, by Frank and Joanne Iritani. This and other sources with more information on the camps can be found in the Hirasaki National Resource Center. Back to top.

What were the 100th and 442nd battalions, and how did they contribute to the American fighting effort in the European theater?
The 100th and 442nd were the all-Nisei battalions of World War II. Hawaiian Nisei comprised the 100th, and mainland Nisei volunteered or were drafted for the 442nd directly out of the concentration camps. Both battalions were sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for basic training. The 100th received orders to sail for Europe a few months before the 442nd, and, having proved its mettle in heavy action on Italian battlefields, later joined the 442nd as its first battalion. The Nisei fighters were key players in the Allied forces' victories in Rome, the advance through Italy, and the liberation of large portions of French territory. In its most celebrated action, the 442nd suffered 800 casualties in the rescue of the 211-man "Lost Battalion," which was trapped behind enemy lines. Members of the 442nd were also present at and assisted in the liberation of the Dachau death camp. The 442nd sustained more casualties and was awarded more decorations than any unit of its size in American military history. Back to top.

How else did the Japanese Americans contribute to American military operations during World War II?
While the Nisei fighting units battled in the European campaign, Japanese Americans made great contributions to the Allied efforts in the Pacific theater. Even before the Pearl Harbor attack, the military recognized the need for intelligence personnel fluent in Japanese, and established the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Language School in San Francisco and later at Camp Savage, Minnesota. 85% of MIS graduates were Nisei who served with distinction as translators, interpreters, and interrogators on the Pacific front. These Nisei became known as "Yankee Samurai." Nisei women also contributed to the war effort, volunteering in the WAC, or Women's Army Corps. Over 300 Nisei women served at army bases throughout the country, and seven were trained as translators. Back to top.

How can I find my family's camp records?
The Hirasaki National Resource Center provides former inmates or those related to former inmates with access to the War Relocation Authority database. This database contains summaries of the 1942 Form 26, which was completed by inmates entering the camps directly or through the assembly centers. The Resource Center also has each camp's Final Accountability Roster, which lists individuals by family unit and records when they entered and left the camps. Staff members can provide you with information on how to order an inmate's complete file from the records of the War Relocation Authority at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Back to top.

What resources are there for Japanese American genealogical research?
For those whose relatives were in the camps during the war, the best starting place for Japanese American genealogical research is the War Relocation Authority records on hand at the Hirasaki National Resource Center. In addition to the basic camp records, the Center has the camp newspapers on microfilm. Those who know generally when and where their relatives arrived in the United States can search the Center's microfilm collection of passenger lists of ships sailing into Hawaii (1888-1900), Seattle (1890-1925), San Francisco (1893-1934), San Pedro (1905-1936), and Portland (1893-1899). Staff members can assist you in your family history search and provide information on other L.A. sources for genealogical study. For information on the basics of genealogical research, see the following websites: Rootsweb site on Japanese American genealogy, National Archives genealogy webpage. Back to top.

How can I get copies of photographs or film footage relating to Japanese American history?
The Japanese American National Museum has a vast collection of photographs and film footage relating to Japanese American history. Researchers may access proof sheets of still images in the photographic and moving image archives by appointment. The proof sheets display the photographic holdings of other repositories with Japanese American images as well as the National Museum's holdings. Prints owned by other repositories may be obtained by contacting those repositories as the National Museum is limited to providing access to these images and cannot reproduce them. For the National Museum's holdings, prints from existing negatives and prints without copy negatives may be ordered. Original photographs are available for specialized research only.

Costs include duplication and use fees. Use fees are determined by the intended products and fees are assessed on per image and apply to one printing, one time use only. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, or other legal liability arising from the use of image reproductions. Access request forms, reproduction request forms, and fee schedules are furnished upon request by contacting the Hirasaki National Resource Center.

The Hirasaki National Resource Center does not currently license any of the National Museum's archival film footage.

Photographs relating to Japanese American history can be found readily on the internet. The best site from which to download Japanese American historical images, and especially wartime evacuation photographs, is the California Heritage Digital Images site. There are a few smaller sites maintained by universities, which focus on specific camps or geographical areas. The University of Arizona's page contains photos and information on the two Arizona camps; a University of Washington page has images taken of the incarceration and the Puyallup Assembly Center; a University of Utah site focuses on the Tule Lake and Topaz concentration camps. "Remembering Manzanar," has many photographs taken at that camp. Back to top.

What is the history of Los Angeles' Little Tokyo?
Los Angeles has had the largest urban Nikkei population in the United States since the 1910s. Early in the twentieth century, the Japanese community began to center itself around a cluster of homes at the corner of First and San Pedro Streets. The first mention of the name "Li'l Tokio" appeared in newspapers in the 1930s. In the period just before World War II, Little Tokyo was a large and bustling residential and economic center. During the war, the forced exclusion of Japanese Americans emptied Little Tokyo, which was resettled mostly by African Americans. The Japanese Americans returned after the closure of the concentration camps, but Little Tokyo never regained its original size or vitality. Many Japanese Americans were drawn away from the downtown area, and opened businesses and established cultural centers in Gardena and other suburban locales. In the 1970s, developers looking to transform Little Tokyo to fit the needs of Japanese tourists and businessmen alienated the Japanese American community. Little Tokyo remains today the heart of the Los Angeles Japanese American community, hosting public celebrations on major Japanese holidays and specifically Japanese American traditions such as Nikkei Week. Little Tokyo is also known as "Japantown," "J-town," and, to Japanese speakers, "sho-Tokyo" (literally "little" Tokyo). Back to top.

How large is the Japanese American population today?
As of the last census in 1990, there were 847,562 people of Japanese ethnicity in the United States, up 18% from the 1980 total. The Japanese ethnic community makes up 3.4% of the total American population and 12% of America's Asian/Pacific Islander population. 28.4% of the Japanese population in the United States is foreign born, the lowest foreign-born rate of any Asian ethnic group. There are significant numbers of Japanese and Japanese Americans in all of the major cities in California, and also in Honolulu, New York, Seattle, and Chicago. Back to top.

What is the National Japanese American Memorial?
The National Japanese American Memorial will honor the Japanese American contribution to the nation during World War II and serve as a reminder of the sufferings endured by Japanese Americans as victims of prejudice and wartime incarceration. The Memorial will be located in Washington, D.C., just north of the Capitol on a triangular plot bounded by Louisiana Avenue, New Jersey Avenue and D Street NW. Sculptor Nina A. Akamu's symbolic cranes will top the monument. Each of two cranes has one wing stretched toward the sky and pressed against the wing of the other crane; the other wings are pinned to the base of the sculpture with barbed wire. The "Go for Broke" National Veterans Association Foundation started the drive to build the Memorial in 1988, and President George Bush authorized its construction in 1992. For more information, see the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation webpage. Back to top.

How can I find out about Japanese American women?
Women have made and continue to make important contributions to the Japanese American community. More Japanese women immigrated to the United States than women of any other Asian immigrant group; even after the entry of Japanese laborers was halted in 1908, Japanese women were allowed to enter the United States. Most immigrated as picture brides. The Resource Center has several volumes that can be of great use to those interested in Japanese American women's history: Japanese American Women: Three Generations, 1890-1990, by Mei T. Nakano; Asian American Women and Men, by Yen Le Espiritu; Issei Women: Echoes from Another Frontier, by Eileen Sunada Sarasohn; Issei, Nisei, War Bride: Three Generations of Japanese American Women in Domestic Service, by Evelyn Nakano Glenn; Reflections: Memoirs of Japanese American Women in Minnesota, edited by John Nobuya Tsuchida; and Polite Lies: on Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures, by Kyoko Mori.em The Center also has several fictional accounts describing the experiences of Japanese American women. Back to top.

How did the Japanese Americans come to obtain redress for wartime incarceration?
The first calls for redress came out of the Japanese American Citizens' League in the 1970s, but the movement made very little progress until the early 1980s. In 1980, Congress established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, which gave the Japanese American community a chance to unite in the redress movement and call the nation's attention to the wrongs suffered under mass incarceration. Soon after the Commission published its findings and recommendations, the major wartime cases giving judicial approval of the incarceration were overturned. In 1987, redress bills were introduced in the House and Senate and won approval in both houses. President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act into law on August 10, 1988 and on October 9, 1990, the Justice Department delivered the first redress payments to the oldest living survivors of the incarceration. A total of 82,219 individuals received payments before the Justice Department's Office of Redress Administration closed on August 10, 1998. Back to top.

How can I donate my artifacts to the National Museum?
Does your artifact(s) help illustrate or interpret the Japanese American experience? If so, please call the Collection Offer Voicemail Box at (213) 625-0414, x2305 or e-mail collectionoffers@janm.org and give us your contact information and a description of the items you are interested in donating.

Because of the high volume of offers made to the Museum, we ask that you do not bring or send your items to the National Museum without first receiving instructions from a Curator to do so. Back to top.