Japanese Internment
Ethnic Studies
Objectives:
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Understand the U.S. government’s actions leading to evacuation of Japanese Americans in 1942.
Analyze primary and secondary sources.
Describe life during the early months of evacuation.
Identify racial and other forms of bias at the time.
WWII Japanese Internment Background Sheet
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 resulted in the United States
declaring war against the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan). Many Americans feared that
information was reaching the Japanese through individuals of Japanese ancestry living in the
United States, especially on the West coast. This resulted in increased hostilities towards
people of Japanese ancestry.
In February of 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 establishing
military zones on the West coast and authorizing the removal of citizens of Japanese descent
from these designated areas. To assist in the relocation the War Relocation Authority (WRA)
was created. Both Nisei (United States citizens with immigrant Japanese Parents) and Issei
(Japanese immigrants) were forced to evacuate their homes and relocate to camps inland. They
could only bring what they could carry and had to leave many possessions and property behind.
Individuals were divided between ten camps located in California, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas,
Wyoming, Arizona, and Colorado. The camps all had a similar structure with barbed wire and
guard towers surrounding the parameter. The camps operated like a small town with schools,
hospitals, theaters, newspapers, and consumer enterprises operated by the detainees. With
four or five families assigned to a barrack, the facilities the people were forced to occupy were
crowded with little privacy. The barracks also lacked cooking and plumbing facilities. Food was
served cafeteria style at the mess hall while bath, toilet, and laundry were shared by a block of
barracks of approximately 250 people.
The detainees were encouraged to be productive and work but were restricted in their
mobility outside the camp. Other activities forbidden in the camps were Japanese language
schools. Many Japanese Americans remained imprisoned until 1944 when they were allowed to
return to the homes they left years before.
Group A
Oregon in Depression and War, 1925-45: Relocation Camps
Read narrative and respond to the following questions:
1. Why was March 1942 a significant date for Oregon’s Japanese Americans?
2. What was the purpose of the “War Relocation Authority?” Why was it issued?
3. In what ways were the 10 Northwest and California relocation camps similar to concentration camps?
4. How did the city of Portland limit the freedoms of its Japanese citizens prior to the relocation order?
5. What was the U.S. Supreme Court’s response to the 3 challenges to the evacuation command?
6. Did the evacuation order violate the constitutionally guaranteed rights of American citizens?
7. Compare and contrast Oregon’s reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 to the
terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001.
Group B
Japanese Relocation Camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming
After examining the photograph and reading the corresponding caption respond to the following
questions:
1. How were the Japanese Americans living in the Northwest affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor in
December of 1941?
2. Where were Japanese Americans interned? Why?
3. What was the difference between the Japanese Americans living in Oregon and the Northwest, the
Issei and the Nisei?
4. Why was Executive Order 9066 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942?
What do you think was the government’s intent in issuing this order?
5. How did this order change the lives of those Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast?
6. Imagine that you were a government official in February of 1942, would you have supported
Executive Order 9066? Why or why not?
Group C
Oregon in Depression and War, 1925-45: Japanese Removal
Complete the reading and respond to the following questions:
1. Do you agree with historian Roger Daniels’ statement that the removal of more than
100,000 Japanese Americans from the Pacific Coast and their resettlement in the interior areas of the
West brought about “one of the grossest violations of the constitutional rights of American citizens in
our history?” Why or why not? What historical evidence can you relate to this incident?
2. Was the relocation of Japanese Americans a political or military decision? Cite evidence.
3. What similarities, if any, do you see with the relocation of Japanese-Americans in 1942 and the
reaction of the U.S. government to the events of September 11, 2001? Be able to defend your position.
4. If you could interview President Franklin D. Roosevelt (who issued Executive Order 9066), what
questions would you pose to him?
Group D
Notice on Yasui Brothers Store, Hood River, Oregon
After reading the document and the corresponding caption in a small group, respond to the following
questions:
1. What was the time line from the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the closing of the Yasui Brothers Store
to the FBI arrest of Masuo Yasui?
2. Why do you think the government acted so quickly?
3. What had Mr. Yasui done to warrant his arrest?
4. How long had Mr. Yasui and his brother owned the store in Hood River?
5. Why was Mr. Yasui separated from his family in an “alien detention” camp?
6. How was Mr. Yasui’s son punished for challenging the wartime curfew placed on Japanese
Americans?
7.Should Mr. Yasui and his family been protected under the U.S. Constitution? Why or Why not?
Group E
Japanese Evacuees, North Portland Assembly Center
After examining the photograph and reading the corresponding caption, discuss orally and respond in
writing to the following questions:
1. What happened to Portland’s first and second generation Japanese Americans in May of 1942?
2. How does the photograph relate to the evacuation of both issei and nisei Japanese Americans?
3. Where did the Portland internees go from the North Portland Assembly Center? Why do you think
they were moved?
4. How many Japanese Americans were incarcerated under Executive Order 9066? How many of this
number were from Oregon?
5. How long after the start of the war was the Executive Order rescinded? What occurred when the
released Japanese Americans returned to their homes?
6. Discuss the importance of the following dates in the history of Japanese internment:
1945
1968
1983
1987
1988
1990
Group F
Japanese Evacuee Tops Sugar Beets
Use the photograph and the corresponding caption to discuss and respond to the following questions:
1. Why was Malheur County the only place in Oregon where Japanese were allowed to live outside of
the internment camps?
2. What role did the Amalgamated Sugar Company have in the decision to allow for this evacuation
exception?
3. How did the local farmers react to this decision? Why?
4. What evidence is offered to support the statement: “…anti-Japanese sentiment was evident.”
Group G
Oregon in Depression and War, 1925-1945: Anti-Japanese Sentiment
Oregon House Joint Memorial Number 9
Read the document and the corresponding caption and respond to the following questions.
1. Who were the “renunciants”? Why were they sent to Japan after the war? When did the federal
government of the U.S. finally cease to oppose their requests to regain their citizenship rights? Why do
you think it took so long?
2. What according to the readings what was “the most egregious case of racism” in Hood River,
Oregon? Why was this action considered to be so shameful? How would you explain the strong antiJapanese sentiment during and following WW II?
3. What role did the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) play in attempting to seek justice for the
Japanese Americans who had been interned in the relocation camps?
4. How did the government in 1990 redress the grievances of our country’s Japanese Americans? Do
you think this was a responsible and just action? Why or why not?
5. As you read House Joint Memorial No. 9 think about:
a. How you would defend the request of the 43rd Legislative Assembly of Oregon in 1945?
b. How you would argue against the request?
6. What action did the Oregon legislature enact in 1945 when their request to the federal government
was denied?
7. How long after the war’s end were Japanese immigrants allowed to become American Citizens?
Group H
Respond to the following questions about this article:
1. Why did the Congressional Commission conclude that “the relocation and internment
of 120,000 Japanese-American citizens and resident aliens in World War II was a
‘grave injustice”?
2. Whom did the Congressional Commission blame for the internment of the Japanese?
3. Do you agree or disagree with the comments made by John J. McCloy?
Explain why you agree or disagree.
4. Do you feel that reparations were justified? Explain your answer.
5. Do reparations set a problematic precedent when dealing with other groups who
suffered from past injustices, i.e., Native American Indians, African Americans,