1
The Evacuation of the Japanese Following Pearl
Harbor
A Documentary Source Problem
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, provoked a previously
hesitant and isolationist Congress. On December 8, the United States officially entered
World War II. Relative to World War 1, the Second World War produced little war
hysteria with its subsequent denial of civil liberties on the home front. But "relative" can
be a loaded word. For 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of whom were
American citizens, World War II brought a complete denial of basic civil liberties. By
December 1942, a year after the outbreak of war, all Japanese Americans living on the
west coast had been interned behind barbed wire and under armed guard in concentration
camps politely referred to as "evacuation centers."
The trail leading to the concentration camps began long before the outbreak of war. The
Japanese were one of the last immigrant groups to arrive on the west coast. First
migrating to Hawaii in the 1880's, and later moving to the mainland in the late 1890's,
and early 1900's, roughly two-thirds settled in and around Los Angeles county. Though
only a fraction of one percent of the total population, their color and their maintenance of
Japanese culture marked them as different from 'the white Americans. This difference, in
and of itself, might have been enough to create hostility, but the Japanese soon found that
they had inherited a legacy of anti-Asian sentiment that had been deeply rooted in
California history. During the 1850's and 1860's, gold and work on the transcontinental
railroad had attracted the Chinese to America. Willing to work hard for low wages, the
Chinese threatened the "native" white Americans. This gave rise to anti-Chinese feelings
that were later generalized to anti-Asian. By the late 1880's, California vigilantism and
anti-Orientalism was well established. It was into this social climate that the new
Japanese immigrants came.
Nonetheless, the Issei (those born in Japan but who had later immigrated to the United
States) came to America expecting an opportunity for a better life. Finding industrial
labor closed to them due to anti-Asian clauses in work contracts, most turned to
agriculture. With hard work and a knowledge of intensive agriculture derived from Japan,
the Issei settled on marginal land and prospered as small truck farmers. Despite the
gospel of success with its glorification of hard work, the Issei prosperity only earned
them the enmity and fear of the white farmers. Throughout the first quarter of the
twentieth century, anti-Japanese sentiments ebbed and flowed--mostly flowed. In 1907,
the so-called "Gentleman's Agreement" was made between the United States and Japan,
restricting the number of emigrant passports that the Japanese government would issue.
In 1913, the Alien Land Law was passed in California, stripping all alien Japanese of
their property, including farmland. This law was specifically written to include only those
aliens ineligible for citizenship. Since the Issei were not allowed to become citizens, no
matter how long they had lived in the United States, the law seemed foolproof. However,
the Issei's children, the Nisei (those born in the United States), were citizens and could
2
hold land. Land deeds were made out to the Nisei and it seemed that the Japanese had
found a way to maintain their land. However, in 1920 this loophole was closed when a
law was passed disallowing alien guardianship over American citizens. In effect, the Issei
could not be legal guardians for their own children. The culminating anti-Japanese
legislation came in 1924 with the Japanese Exclusion Act which forbade continued
Japanese immigration.
From 1924 on, violent agitation against Japanese Americans declined, although
stereotypes of the cunning, sly, and ruthless "jap" persisted. A vast reservoir of ethnic
hatred remained, one that could be tapped at almost any time. After Pearl Harbor, events
were to prove this with frightening rapidity.
The foregoing is background material designed to help explain the Japanese position in
California at the outbreak of Pearl Harbor. Assume that you are an historian writing a
textbook on the American "home front" during World War II and that you have allowed
yourself 5-6 pages (typewritten double spaced) to recount and explain why the Japanese
internment occurred. Since you are writing for publication and have a space limitation,
you will want to thoroughly organize your paper and make every word count. Although
you will wish to recount the actual sequence of events and explain their cause and effect,
you should also attempt to explain why this occurred. You may use the following
documents and the introduction in writing your history, and you may use your textbook.
Do not consult any other sources until after you have written your history.
The following are a list of questions for you to consider. You are expected, of course, to
ask some of your own. These questions are here merely to help you analyze the
documents. Do not feel that you must answer all of them or that your narrative must be
interrupted simply to answer one.
How was the relocation justified? What were the prevailing sentiments of the time? How
did the popular stereotypes of the Japanese feed the insecurity of the west coast following
Pearl Harbor?
What relations were there between the War and Justice Departments? Who was
responsible for the idea of relocation? Did Attorney General Biddle support the idea?
Could he have stopped it? What was the significance of Executive Order 9066? What did
it authorize and what were its effects?
What economic effects did the evacuation have? Did California agricultural interests play
a role in the evacuation?
How did the Japanese Americans react to the bombing of Pearl Harbor? How were their
reactions perceived by American society? Were these perceptions valid?
Was the evacuation justified on the basis of military defense? What role did General
DeWitt's racist perception of the Japanese have in his analysis of the military situation on
the west coast?
3
What roles did state officials, Governor Olson and Mayor Bowron especially, play in the
evacuation? What effects did public sentiment have on their policies? Was the relocation
largely politically motivated?
The following documents were compiled by Karen Okamoto, a UCD undergraduate, for a
paper in March 1975.
DOCUMENT #1
The Japanese American Creed from the Japanese American Citizens League, the national
organization of Japanese Americans.
I am proud that I am an American citizen of Japanese ancestry for my very background
makes me appreciate more fully the wonderful advantages of this Nation....
Although some individuals may discriminate against me, I shall never become bitter or
lose faith for I know that such persons are not representative of the majority of the
American people....
Because I believe in America and I trust she believes in me, and because I have received
innumerable benefits from her, I pledge myself to do honor to her at all times and in all
places; to support her constitution; to obey her laws; to respect her flag; to defend her
against all her enemies, foreign and domestic; to actively assume my duties and
obligations as a citizen cheerfully and without any reservations whatsoever, in the hope
that I may become a better American in a greater America.
DOCUMENT #2
A statement of the Central Japanese Association of America.
America is our home. Here we live as permanent residents. Here we bring up and educate
our children in the hope that they may become good Americans. It is gratifying to see that
these children are living up to our expectation. Many of them have already grown up, and
some of them have proved their loyalty to America by joining cheerfully and
enthusiastically the armed forces of the United States.
Today we realize that America faces a national crisis. We know that national unity is
absolutely necessary for the preservation of American democracy.
In view of the foregoing we feel that it is our duty and privilege to support American
ideals and privileges.
DOCUMENT #3
Excerpts from a proclamation made by President Franklin Roosevelt concerning Japanese
in the United States. December 7, 1941.
4
Now, therefore I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, as President of the United States and as
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do hereby make public
proclamation...
All alien enemies are enjoined to preserve the peace toward the United States and to
refrain from crime against the public safety and from violating the laws of the United
States and of the States and Territories thereof; and to refrain from actual hostility or
giving information, aid, or comfort to the enemies of the United States....
All alien enemies shall be liable to restraint, or to give security, or to remove and depart
from the United States in the manner prescribed by Sections 23 and 24 of Title 50 of the
United States Code...
Whenever the Attorney General of the United States ... deems it necessary, for the public
safety and protection, to exclude alien enemies from a designated area [list of such areas
follows] then no alien enemy shall be found within such an area or the immediate vicinity
thereof. Any alien found within any such area of the immediate vicinity thereof
prescribed by the Attorney General or the Secretary of War, as the case may be, pursuant
to these-regulations,. shall be subject to summary apprehension and to be dealt with as
herein above prescribed.
DOCUMENT #4
A telegram to President Roosevelt from the Japanese American Citizens League,
December 7, 1941.
In this solemn hour we pledge our fullest cooperation to you, Mr. President, and to our
country. There cannot be any question. There must be no doubt. We, in our hearts, are
Americans --loyal to America. We must prove that to all of you.
DOCUMENT #5
Excerpt from Kikuchi Diary by Charles Kikuchij a Nisei. December 7, 1941.
I think of the Japs coming to bomb us, but I will go and fight even if I think I am a
coward and I don't believe in wars but this time it has to be. I am selfish about it. I think
not of California and America, but I wonder what is going to, happen to the Nisei and to
our parents. They may lock up the aliens. How can one think of the future? We are
behind the eightball, and that question for the California Nisei "Whither Nisei?" [is] so
true. The next five years will determine the future of the Nisei. They are now at the
crossroads. Will they be able to take it or will they go under? If we are ever going to
prove our Americanism, this is the time. The Anti-Jap feeling is bound to rise to
hysterical heights and it is most likely that the Nisei will be included as Japs.
5
DOCUMENT #6
A clipping from the Pasadena Star News, December 10, 1941.
Let us not lose sight of the fact that more than two-thirds of the entire Japanese
population of the United States are American citizens who happen to be born of Japanese
parents instead of English, French, or some other nationality. Some 20,000 of these
Americans of Japanese ancestry, known as Nisei, are residents of Los Angeles County.
Their parents, who have been permanent residents of the United States since the period
prior to the Alien Exclusion Act of 1924, are here today because they have chosen the
American way of living instead of taking advantage of the many opportunities they had
of returning to their old country. They are alien Japanese who would be good American
citizens had the privilege of naturalization not been denied them. Many of these alien
Japanese have been peaceful residents of the United States for more than forty years....
With hearts filled with emotion and minds stunned by the reality of war between their
own country, the United States, and that of their parents, they lost no time in pledging
their lives to the defense of America and the crushing of Japan and her Axis partners.
Through their national organization, the Japanese-American Citizens League, they have
formed an anti-Axis committee which will cooperate with local and state defense
councils and federal agencies in apprehending members of their community who are
disloyal to America.
The Nisei's choice of America as their country has been deliberate and without
reservation. They have made known their pledge and ask now that they be given
opportunities to show their patriotism.
6
DOCUMENT #7
Communication from J. L. DeWitt, Lieutenant General of the United States Army and
Commanding General of the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army, to Culbert L.
Olson, Governor of California, December 12, 1941.
Dear Governor,
I cannot-emphasize to you too strongly the very real menace at this title to the national
safety which arises from the presence in the states comprising the Western Defense
Command in which the State of California is included, of the considerable number of
enemy aliens and possible fifth columnists.
Already, since the beginning of hostilities against this country, proof has mounted of fifth
columnist activity and sabotage, particularly in Hawaii and the Philippines, which have
(sic) caused serious property and military damage and have contributed to the loss of
many American lives....
It is vital to the safety and well-being of all our people, as well as to the accomplishment
of the mission of the Military Forces engaged in protecting them and their activities, that
you, through every means at your Command, bring the actual and potential sources of
such activities under closest possible surveillance, and that you promptly furnish, or
cause to be furnished to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or to the nearest military
authorities, information on suspicious aliens or other persons and of all suspicious
activities whatsoever of the kind in question.
DOCUMENT #8
From Kikuchi Diary, December 19, 1941.
...Who the hell is going to worry about the Nisei when we are at war? Maybe the thing to
do is to get into the Army ... I think that the Nisei should forget all things Japanese and
not attract that kind of attention to ourselves. We must wave the old flag like the very
first patriot. I think the Nisei are loyal, but we may be too short for the Army, and I refuse
to be a messboy.
DOCUMENT #9
Excerpt from telegram sent by General DeWitt to the Commanding General of the Army
in Washington, December 22, 1941.
DeWitt requested that "the War Department urge the Attorney General to issue the
necessary regulations to make proclamations of the President referring to Japanese aliens
effective. FBI agencies are ready to enforce provisions of proclamations but are
powerless to act until Attorney General [Francis Biddle] issues his instructions. This is
urgent. Prompt action is required. Request that representatives of War and Justice
7
Department meet with me to crystalize a program of forthright action to deal with
subversive segments of the population.
DOCUMENT #10
A statement from Robert Gordon Sproul, President of the University of California,
December 23, 1941.
We Americans, in spite of our democratic ideals, too often allow unreasonable prejudice
to deprive people of races other than white, of the full privileges that should be theirs as
native-born citizens of the United States. This continuing problem threatens to become
more acute as Japanese-American relations become more critical. The American citizen
of Japanese ancestry is likely to be discriminated against because of superficial physical
characteristics that have no, influence whatsoever on the quality of his mind, on the
strength of his character, or the depth of his loyalty to the United States. Every good
citizen should recognize this danger and do all in his power to counteract it, whatever
may happen on the other side of the Pacific.
DOCUMENT #11
An interview with the Executive Secretary of a prominent citizens group on the West
Coast.
... My own apprehension is that we are going to face on the Pacific Coast another "Pearl
Harbor Day". I would anticipate there would be no cases of Japanese sabotage until the
proper time comes. At that time I would fear Japanese and American Japanese residents
all over the coast would be instrumental in destruction of our bridges, water systems,
railroads, military facilities, and otherwise endeavoring to weaken our resistance against
a Japanese air and or naval attack. I do not -- in fact I cannot conscientiously do
otherwise than anticipate that large numbers of our Japanese Americans would be
involved in traitorous activities ...the first consideration we should devote time to was
(sic) to assure the safety of the United States; not to be kind, or considerate, or even fair,
to a minority group... I heartily believe there should be no physical violence against any
Japanese immigrants or Japanese Americans. I believe the due process of law should
always be observed and that no needless hardship should be worked upon them, but, on
the other hand, I would rather see, say twenty Japanese detained in jail at great personal
inconvenience rather than to see one Japanese fifth columnist, permitted to roam at large,
possibly to seriously damage our defense at a crucial hour....
I cannot honestly say to anybody that I know one Japanese of the few I have, contacted
whom I felt could be trusted as to friendship or loyalty. I certainly would not want to rest
the safety of my nation upon members of this group under any circumstances. As the war
goes on, and if a major attack is made on California I believe acts of sabotage would
become innumerable all over the coast; also that if and when a Japanese invading party
took over California, the resident Japanese would, to say the least, not be inconvenienced.
8
DOCUMENT #12
From "Japanese Saboteurs in Our Midst" by Stanley High in Readers Digest, January
1942.
Japan is ready, in case of war, to hit us hard -- from the inside. Japanese on the West
Coast are well prepared for the event. They have assembled detailed data on our vital
Pacific defenses. They possess the bases, the equipment and the disciplined personnel
with which to strike either through sabotage or open acts of war....
In the Japanese fishing fleet, obligingly allowed to share harbor space here with the
United States Navy, there are 250 vessels. Many of them, perhaps 90 percent, are manned
by reservist officers and sailors of the Japanese Navy. Inshore they fly the Stars and
Stripes, as required by law -- at sea they frequently run up the flag of the Rising Sun, as
the government has photographs to prove....
Almost as important as the fishing fleet are the Japanese farmers. A government
investigator pointed out -- two years ago -- that there was not a single flying field on the
entire West Coast which did not have Japanese farmers nearby....
DOCUMENT #13
William Carr of Pasadena in the Pasadena Star News.
... National unity is important too -- very important. The older Japanese among us are
barred by us from citizenship but have the rights of permanent residents. Their children
are full citizens. That's why so many of them are in the army. Most Southern California
Japanese have made a limited, sustained, and intelligent effort to prove their loyalty.
They have gone so far as to help "federal agencies in apprehending members of their
community who are disloyal to America." That is going all the way.
In spite of this proof of loyalty we shun and boycott this American group because of our
hate of the Tokyo military group. Who, then, are the disloyal, the local Japanese, or we?
Any people discriminated against draws within itself and feels bitter; and that's hurting
our common cause.
DOCUMENT #14
Report on an interview with a California County Farm Official, January 24, 1942.
... [He] thought they [the Japanese] were a serious-threat to the economic and social
welfare of the state of California, especially as far as agriculture was concerned; and felt
that generally speaking, all farmers disliked the Japanese and had disliked them for years.
He said that the Japanese were discussed thoroughly at a recent Farm Bureau meeting
which he attended. Over 100 farmers were there and all had agreed that now was the time
to do something about the Japanese situation in agriculture....
9
DOCUMENT #15
A statement from Jack Nakagawa, Recording Secretary of the Fruit and Vegetables
Union, Local #1510. Not Dated.
. ..We fully believe that our place is in the county of Los Angeles. There may be some
people who still believe that they should bow three times each morning toward the Land
of the Rising Sun, but as far as we're concerned, they can be shipped back on the next
boat, if they really feel that that is the land for them. But I believe this is the land for me
and I believe that the other members believe also that the United States of America is
really their country. Our country today is the hope of the world. The world really depends
on the United States of America.
Our Union pledges itself to fight for America and through this pledge to fight with those
in America in the defense and offensive of America. Thank you.
DOCUMENT #16
Excerpt from Department of Justice Press Release #6. January 29, 1942.
A number of areas on the west coast are being designated as prohibited areas from which
all German, Italian, and Japanese aliens are to be completely excluded. These areas have
been recommended for selection by the War Department after weeks of careful selection
under the personal direction of Lieutenant General J.L. DeWitt.
[Editor's Note: Within a week the order was amended so that only Japanese were
excluded. German and Italian aliens would be watched but not excluded.]
DOCUMENT #17
Excerpts from a radio address on the state of defense program by California Governor
Culbert L. Olson, January 28, 1942.
... Our war for victory and our civilian defense naturally require closest cooperation of
state government with the Army and Navy commands in California. Emergency
requirements upsetting the normal peacetime activities of the civilian population,
considered unnecessary for prompt and unobstructed movement of combat troops, forces,
and supplies of the Army and the Navy, and as precautions for civilian safety and
protection, must be adopted from time to time as emergency conditions and information
within the knowledge of the Army and Navy commands and disclosed to civil authorities
justify...
It should be known throughout California and throughout the Nation that the civilian and
the military authorities are doing everything within their power to make it safe to be in
California and that such restrictions and interferences with civilian activities are taken to
assure the safety of life in California.
10
DOCUMENT #18
A letter to President Roosevelt, January 29, 1942.
Dear Mr. President:
We must get rid of all Japs in California. For years we people on the western-coast have
preached about this menace to the rest of the nation, but no one believed us.
Now they occupy all the best farm ground in California, most are located in strategic
spots in our oil fields and on our coast line. An American does not stand a chance against
them in farming because their standard of living is so much lower than ours, therefore
they pay outrageous rents on the grounds they lease. We feel sorry for the second and
third generations, but they will never be true to our country for the simple reason that
they cannot be assimilated.
DOCUMENT #19
A radio address by Governor Olson, February 4, 1942.
...With the registration and identification of all who come within the classification of
alien enemies, it is believed that those who are of Italian or German extraction can be
also identified as to loyalty or disloyalty much easier than such identifications as to
loyalty or disloyalty can be determined among the Japanese aliens and their relations who
are born American citizens. All Japanese people, I believe, will recognize this fact. All
Japanese aliens and citizens must realize that plans are absolutely necessary for
protection against all possible enemies from within our borders. All loyal people within
that classification should cooperate in the execution of such plans, and thus manifest their
absolute loyalty regardless of incidental hardships or inconveniences.
But it is known that there are Japanese residents of California who have sought to aid our
Japanese enemy by communicating information or who have shown indications of
preparations for fifth column activities. How far reaching that may be, it is not known,
and it is impossible in the very nature of things, to determine. Therefore, it becomes
absolutely necessary that comprehensive and effective measures be taken against possible
sabotage and other fifth column activities by the Japanese in California. I am sure that all
loyal Japanese will understand this and will be willing to manifest and prove their loyalty
by cooperating in the perfection and execution of plans that will assure this protection to
our State and Nation, as well as for their own safety from unfair and abusive treatment.
DOCUMENT #20
From a radio address by Fletcher Bowron, Mayor of Los Angeles, February 5, 1942.
... Common sense and reason dictate that if there are enemy agents in our midst who will
be most useful in a plan as well worked out with such diabolic cunning and perfidy as
11
characterized the attack on Pearl Harbor and the destruction of American planes and
military objectives in the Philippines at the first attack, then such persons, to be most
valuable to Japan would endeavor to mislead all of us--to avert suspicion by any means
of their command. The most natural thing would be for the most dangerous of them to
condemn the Japanese war clique, the Axis powers, to loudly declare a prejudice against
Japan and proclaim a belief in American democracy with an emotional pledge of
allegiance to the Stars and Stripes. Of course they would try to fool us ....
Full and adequate protection for the safety of lives and property in this area undoubtedly
would work an injustice on many Japanese, both aliens and American born, who are
sincere, who really mean it in their hearts when they say it. But we are at war and our
country comes first. We must win that war and to do it we must take all precautions.
DOCUMENT #21
Walter Tsukamoto (past president of the Japanese American Citizens League) in reply to
a statement by Governor Olson, February 6, 1942.
I am an American citizen of Japanese ancestry. I am a reserve officer in the United States
Army. For the past thirteen years I have been a practicing attorney here in Sacramento
and I have been moderately successful; I have been enabled to own my home, to support
my wife and five children. I want your excellency to know that, as a typical American of
Japanese descent, I not only am grateful for what my country has permitted me as a
citizen to do, but also as a loyal citizen, I am ready to do my share in aiding my country
in this hour of crisis. I am prepared as a soldier to do whatever my commander in chief
orders. But I am also as deeply concerned to see that whatever is to be done will be done
in the American tradition with the fine sense of justice which is our historic ideal. I feel
that you will agree with me the importance of recognizing the intrinsic value of
citizenship, and in the treatment of the American Japanese in this emergency will be a
test of that value.
DOCUMENT #22
[Editor's Note: On February 3, 1942, General DeWitt requested that the Justice
Department declare much of Oregon and Washington a prohibited zone. Such a request,
if granted, would have necessitated a mass evacuation of aliens. The request was refused.
Following are excerpts from a letter written by Attorney General Biddle to Secretary of
War Stimson.]
Letter from Attorney General Biddle to Secretary of War Stimson. February 9, 1942.
The recommendations for prohibited areas included the cities of Portland, Seattle, and
Tacoma, and, therefore he contemplates the mass evacuation of many thousands of alien
enemies. No reasons were given for this mass evacuation... I have been advised that
Lieutenant General J.L. DeWitt is sending to you additional recommendations that all of
Los Angeles County be designated as a prohibited zone. The evacuation of all alien
12
enemies from this area would, of course, present a problem of very great magnitude. The
Department of Justice is not physically equipped to carry out any mass evacuation. It
would mean that only the War Department has the equipment and personnel to manage
the task.... The proclamations to apprehend, and, where necessary, evacuate alien
enemies, do not, of course, include American citizens of Japanese race. Should they have
to be evacuated, I believe that this would have to be done on the military necessity in the
particular area. Such action, therefore, should, in my opinion be taken by the War
Department and not by the Department of Justice.
DOCUMENT #23
Communication from Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy to Major (later
Colonel) Karl R. Bendetsen, chief of the Aliens Division, Provost Marshal General's
Office, February 11, 1942.
...We talked to the President and the President, in substance, says go ahead and do
anything you think necessary...if it involves citizens, we will take care of them too. He
says there will probably be some repercussions, but it has got to be dictated by military
necessity, but as he puts it, "Be as reasonable as you can."
DOCUMENT #24
Attorney General Francis Biddle to Secretary of War Henry Stimson, February 12, 1942.
...I have no doubt that the Army can legally, at any time, evacuate all persons in a
specified territory, if such action is deemed essential from a military point of view... No
legal problem arises when Japanese citizens are evacuated, but American citizens of
Japanese origin could not, in my opinion, be singled out of an area and evacuated with
the other Japanese....
However, the result might be accomplished by evacuating all persons in the area and then
licensing back those whom the military authorities thought were not objectionable from a
military point of view.
DOCUMENT #25
General DeWitt to Secretary of War Stimson, February 14, 1942.
I suggest that you procure from the President direction and authority to designate military
areas in the Western Theatre of Operations in order to exclude all Japanese, all alien
enemies, and all other persons suspected for any reason by the administering military
authorities of being actual or potential saboteurs, espionage agents, or fifth columnists ....
All enemy aliens should be evacuated and interned. Japanese born in the United States
[and thus citizens] should be offered an opportunity to accept voluntary internment, under
guard, at the place of internment of the aliens .... In the war in which we are now
engaged, racial affinities are not severed by migration. The Japanese race is an enemy
13
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. To conclude otherwise is to expect that children born of white parents on
Japanese soil sever all racial affinity and become loyal Japanese subjects, ready to fight,
and if necessary, to die for Japan in a war against the nation of their parents... It therefore
follows that along the vital Pacific Coast over 112,000 potential enemies, of Japanese
extraction, are at large today. There are indications 'that these are organized and ready for
concerted action at a favorable opportunity. The very fact that no sabotage has taken
place to date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken.
DOCUMENT #26
Resolution of the Grand Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, February 14,
1942.
Whereas, a state of war exists between the United States of America and the Empire of
Japan, and
Whereas, there are in areas vital to national defense many persons who by blood and
descent are related to nationals of said Empire of Japan and are sympathetic to the cause
of our enemy and are willing to perform acts inimical to the welfare and safety of the
people of the United States of America, and
Whereas, it is the consensus of this body that steps forthwith be taken to obviate events of
subversive character by such persons of Japanese blood and ancestry, now therefore be it
Resolved, by the board of Grand Officers of the Native Sons of the Golden West in
regular session assembled, that all Japanese, including Japanese citizens of the United
States, be removed immediately from the Pacific Coast combat and defense areas....
14
DOCUMENT #27
A letter to Attorney General Biddle, February 16, 1942.
Sir:
As an American born citizen of long residence (30 years) in the Puget Sound area, I wish
to protest against the wholesale evacuation of enemy aliens from this area. From a wide
acquaintance with people of almost every nationality, I am convinced that the vast
majority are perfectly loyal and friendly and that a general deportation would work
incalculable hardships in these persons, besides interfering very seriously with the
production of very necessary food supplies, such as fresh vegetables etc. If they were
barred from certain rather small areas such as navy yards, air bases, defense plants, etc.,
coupled with a close surveillance over their activities, I believe all harm could be
avoided, and the loyalty of the ninety and nine preserved and increased. The knowledge
that they were being fairly treated, even in war time, would have a tremendous effect on
them I am sure.
In writing this I cannot be accused of any partisan bias because I have already reported to
the F.B.I. in Seattle a Japanese family that seemed of a little doubtful loyalty. Knowing
your previous fair and honest attitude in this matter, I sincerely hope you will not allow
the jingoes who are always with us to crowd you into any illconsidered action.
With highest regards,
15
DOCUMENT #28
Earl Warren, Attorney General of California.
An inspection of these maps [county by county maps of Japanese held property in
California] shows a disturbing situation. It shows that along the coast from Marin County
to the Mexican border virtually every important strategic location and installation has one
or more Japanese in its immediate vicinity... Undoubtedly the presence of many of these
persons in their present locations is mere coincidence, but it would seem equally beyond
doubt that the presence of others is not coincidence.... It will interest you to know that
some of our airplane factories in this state are entirely surrounded by Japanese....
Unfortunately [many] are of the opinion that because we have had no sabotage and no
fifth column activities in this State... that means that none have been planned for us.. But
I take the view that this is the most ominous sign in our whole situation. It convinces me
more than perhaps any other factor that the sabotage that we are to get, the fifth column
activities that we are to get, are timed just like Pearl Harbor was timed and just like the
invasion of France, and of Denmark, and of Norway, and all of those other countries.
I believe that we are just being lulled into a false sense of security and that the only
reason we haven't had disaster in California is because it has been timed for a different
date .... Our day of reckoning is bound to come in that regard.
DOCUMENT #29
A letter to Attorney General Biddle, February 16, 1942.
Wholesale evacuation of the Japanese people from this state would be a calamity for
California agriculture and a great injustice to 36,000 Japanese farmers. We believe the
interests of all concerned would be best served if the Japanese people were allowed to
remain where they are under surveillance of the F.B.I., etc.
Yours truly,
DOCUMENT #30
Statement from the Methodist Preachers Association Coumittee of Seattle, Washington.
These people are no more responsible for this war than we are. No acts of theirs now or
in the past have given us the slightest reason to impugn their good citizenship. They now
find themselves in an exceedingly difficult position, and it would be unfortunate and
tragic if we, through any mistaken sense of patriotism, should in the slightest degree offer
them insult or injury. Many of these people are native born Americans, thoroughly loyal
and ardent in their devotion to this country.
16
DOCUMENT #31
Congressman Costello of California and Brooks of Louisiana in the House of
Representatives, February 18, 1942.
Mr. Brooks: Is it a fact Japanese are living contiguous to these Army bases out there on
the coast at the present time, that are not under surveillance, and not being removed?
Mr. Costello: I say to the gentleman that they are scattered all over the Pacific Coast.
They are close to all of these Army camps and war industries, and they are not being
removed. By removing the aliens from the immediate proximity of the camps and aircraft
factories you would not solve that problem, because you can move them only a mile or
two away and you cannot there. The only solution to the problem is to remove them from
the area completely, alien and citizen alike, all those persons who are likely to commit
sabotage. As a matter of fact, they can be removed and settled on other lands, on
agricultural lands, and can be made comfortable and made to provide their own
livelihood. Those things can be done and the Japanese will be better off...
DOCUMENT #32
A letter to Attorney General Biddle, February 19, 1942.
Dear Sir:
As a native of California who grew up in a rural area of the state, I am very well
acquainted with the industry and self sacrifice of the Japanese to gain what they have in
this state.
I wish to protest now against the recent efforts to deprive innocent Japanese farmers of
their civilian rights. I believe the large majority of the Japanese in California are loyal to
the United States and to our democratic ideals, but the surest way to destroy that loyalty
is to persecute them unjustly. For too long California has discriminated against the
minority races and I cannot help but believe that that has been the main cause of our
trouble with Japan at present. If we are ever to live together in peace and security, the
domination of one race over another must cease.
DOCUMENT #33
From Executive Order 9066, authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe military areas,
signed by President Roosevelt, February 19, 1942.
17
...Now therefore, By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States,
and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the
Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time
designate, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the
appropriate Military Commander may determine, from 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 restriction the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military
Commander may impose in his discretion....
DOCUMENT #34
Senator John E. Rankin of Mississippi in the Senate--Undated.
This is a race war, as far as the Pacific side of this conflict is concerned, and we might as
well understand it. The white man's civilization has come into conflict with Japanese
barbarism. You cannot regenerate a jap, convert him, change him, or make him the same
as a white man any more than you can reverse the laws of nature... This is a question we
have to settle now, and we might as well understand it. I am in favor of catching every
Japanese in America, Alaska, and Hawaii now and putting him in concentration camps
and shipping him back to Asia as soon as possible.
DOCMUENT #35
Senator Tom Stewart of Tennessee in the Senate, February 26, 1942.
America is at war and will have to fight to the bitter end. The Japanese are among our
worst enemies. They are cowardly and immoral. They are different from Americans in,
every conceivable way, and no Japanese who ever lived anywhere should have a right to
claim American citizenship. A Jap is a Jap anywhere you find him, and his taking an oath
of allegiance to this country would not help, even if he should be permitted to do so.
They do not believe in God and have no respect for an oath. They have been plotting for
years against the Americas and their democracies.
DOCUMENT #36
Governor Olson, to the House Select Committee Investigating National Defense
Migration. From Hearing #31.
We do feel that there are loyal Japanese. I think as high as 5,000 of them are serving in
the armed forces of the United States now.
18
I don't think there is any question but what a large part of the population of the Japanese
people in California are so completely divorced from any natural feeling of loyalty or
sympathy to the militarist of Japan, and its brutal aggressive methods, as to be wholly
horrified at the way their racial nation has gone... But, of course, we would be naive
indeed if we did not recognize that there is also a large part -- we don't know how large,
nobody can say, but we get it from our Japanese-American citizens themselves -- there is
a considerable part of the Japanese population who are distinctly in sympathy with Japan
and do constitute an element that would engage in military assistance, or any other kind
of assistance in fifth column opportunities, if the opportunity were given to aid Japan in
the present war with us. The loyal Japanese people realize also that the average
Caucasian can't distinguish between the Japanese. They all look alike.
DOCUMENT #37
A Statement from the Buddhist Missions of North America.
The suddenness of the unwarranted and inhuman attack upon these United State of
America leaves us, the Buddhist in America, with but one decision: the condemnation of
that attack.
There now remains but one duty for us. The loyalty to the United States which we have
pledged at all times must now be placed into instant action for the defense of the United
States of America. This is the least that can be done to show our appreciation for the
peace and religious freedom that has been given to us in the past.
Our prayers are with the President Franklin D. Roosevelt who said "We are going to win
the war and we are going to win the Peace that follows."
Yes, America must be defended at all costs!
DOCUMENT #38
"The Japanese in California Agriculture" by Lloyd H. Fisher and Ralph L. Nielsen.
March 16, 1942.
...An evacuation of Japanese from the western section of California cannot fail to have
important consequences for the agricultural economy of California.... the proportion of
the value grown by Japanese would be between thirty and thirty-five percent....
...With the productive facilities of California agriculture already strained to meet the
production goals, the additional burden on these facilities which may result from removal
of Japanese and enemy aliens will undoubtedly be heavy....
The obvious necessity for evacuating Japanese from certain areas of California should not
obscure the fact that it will be difficult to replace them in California agriculture.... Even if
the complicated property relationships are settled with speed and dispatch and new
19
tenants are found for Japanese operated farms without delay the incoming operators and
managers cannot in the immediate future be expected to maintain the level of production
characteristic of Japanese operators on truck farms.
The economic consequences of restrictions upon Japanese cannot be measured by the
volume of physical evacuation alone. Since any disposition of the Japanese problem
must, in the nature of the case, be subject to modification there are disruptions of normal
business arrangements that reach beyond those physically affected by evacuation. Any
Japanese is now a bad commercial risk irrespective of where his business may be located
and there is, as has been indicated, a growing withdrawal of normal business facilities
which will present obstacles to the continued gainful employment of all Japanese whether
within or without restricted zones.
DOCUMENT #39
A letter to Attorney General Biddle, March 16, 1942.
... In the first place, this wholesale, indiscriminate evacuation seems to me to be basically
wrong. In the case of the Nisei it is a complete abrogation of American citizens' rights -if we are going to sell out our democratic principles our Constitution and our Bill of
Rights to totalitarianism, why don't we just go over to the Nazis right now and say, "Well,
boys, here we are," instead of going through the agony of a war to do it? As for the Issei-by what right do we discriminate against them as aliens when we won't allow them to
become citizens? The situation of the German-Jewish refugees is bitterly ironical, and
shows an utter disregard of our moral obligations to these people who come over here to
escape despotic racial persecution, only to have the very specter they fled become
indiscriminately applied toward them in this supposedly "free" country. For the huge
majority of all of those "enemy aliens" to whom this evacuation law applies it is
completely unfair and unjust. It is the absolute antithesis of democracy in the way it is
being applied, solely on the basis of race and color.
DOCUMENT #40
Executive Order #9102, establishing the War Relocation Authority in the Executive
Office of the President. March 20, 1942.
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution... and in order to provide for
the removal from designated areas of persons whose removal is necessary in the interests
of national security, it is ordered as follows: ... The Director of the War Relocation
Authority is authorized and directed to formulate and effectuate a program for the
removal, from the areas designated from time to time by the Secretary of War or
appropriate military commander under the authority of Executive Order No. 9066, of
persons whose removal is necessary in the interests of national security....
20
DOCUMENT #41
From a letter from the Japanese American Citizens League to Mr. Milton S. Eisenhower,
head of the War Relocation Authority, April 6, 1942.
...Sixthly, the Japanese people by and large, are more American than Oriental. Our parent
generation has spent more than 80% of their lives here in the United States. Only a few
have ever returned to Japan. Most of them are more loyal to these United States in their
patient, quiet way than a majority of those who are demanding that we be put into
concentration camps because we are allegedly disloyal and dangerous. As for us citizens,
we can only say that we, as a group, know no other allegiance or country. We were born,
educated, made friends, established homes and businesses, etc. here. Although our
physical characteristics may mark us apart, most of us desire to assume, with every other
American, our share in the winning of this war. In all projects, the fact that most of us are
American and desire to be treated as such should be a primary consideration.
DOCUMENT #42
Austin Anson, Secretary-Manager of the Growers-Shipper Association, May 9, 1942.
We're charged with wanting to get rid of the Japs for selfish reasons, and we might as
well be honest. We do. It's a question of whether the white man lives on the Pacific Coast
or the brown men. They came into this valley to work, and they stayed to take over. They
undersell the white man in the market. They can do this because they raise their own
labor. They work their women and children while the white farmer has to pay wages for
his help. If all the Japs were removed tomorrow, we'd never miss them in two weeks,
because the white farmer can take over and produce everything the Jap grows. And we
don't want them back when the war ends either.
21
DOCUMENT #43
Judge-Frank G. Tyrell in the Grizzly Bear, the newspaper of the Native Sons of the
GD.Iden West, July, 1942.
The laws and, indeed, the very culture of Japan make it impossible for one of that race to
become a loyal, trustworthy citizen of the United States...They have been accorded
citizenship... but what of it? Under Japanese theory and law, by birth they are nationals of
Japan and as they must always retain that citizenship, Japan sees to it that they are taught
and trained in the civics, the ethics, the religion, and the culture of Japan....
They are, in their present state of development, utterly incapable of assimilation. They
will, if permitted to colonize here, soon out populate us in any given area. Their low
valuation of human life, their innate cruelty, and their low standard of living make them
undesirable citizens, even if they were capable of the high duties of born freemen. The
exceptions among them only prove the rule.
DOCUMENT #44
Conversation between Hiram Johnson, Senator and past Governor of California, and
Edward J. Ennis, a representative of the Justice Department.
Johnson: We have to get the damn Japs out.
Ennis: Senator, you don't really think they are dangerous.
Johnson: Well, not really dangerous.
Ennis: Well, are they unscrupulous?
Johnson: No, not unscrupulous. They just work too damn hard and we can't compete.
DOCUMENT #45
An interview with Attorney General Biddle, October, 1943.
The best evidence that you could possibly have to demonstrate how powerful were the
influences of public opinion is the very fact that General DeWitt and the other generals
did not become interested in evacuation until several months after the war began. The
very fact that they did not push evacuation immediately after Pearl Harbor and did push it
only after there was a considerable public clamor is such a self-apparent fact that many
people overlook it. Yet I think it is that simple.
Of course, I tell you frankly that -- in so far as the information we had -- I do not think
evacuation was necessary. But at the same time, we were not appraised of the actual
22
military situation and General DeWitt may have had more grounds for fearing an attack
on our shores than I thought, or think he had.
Furthermore, I think that if evacuation had not taken place, we would have had a very
nasty situation on the West Coast--very bad for the Japanese themselves, I mean--just
terrible.
DOCUMENT #46
The ruling by the Supreme Court in Hirabayashi v. the United States, 1943.
The adoption by government, in the crisis of war and of threatened invasion, of measures
for the public safety, based upon the recognition of facts and circumstances which
indicate that a group of one national extraction may menace that safety more than others,
is not wholly beyond the limits of the Constitution and is not to be condemned merely
because in other and in most circumstances racial distinctions are irrelevant...Whatever
view we may entertain regarding the loyalty to this country of the citizens of Japanese
ancestry, we cannot reject as unfounded the judgment of the military authorities and of
Congress that there were disloyal members of that population, whose numbers and
strength could not be precisely and quickly ascertained. We cannot say that the
warmaking branches of the government did not have ground for believing that in a
critical hour such persons could not readily be isolated and separately dealt with.
DOCUMENT #47
Edison Uno, past president of the J.A.C.L., in the introduction to Executive Order 9066
by Maisie and Richard Conrat.
And what of my children? They were too young to know anything of all this; they had no
ancient memories. I was a child when I first went to camp with my mother, brothers, and
sisters. When I was my oldest daughter's age, I was already in "prison." And I knew that I
was there for no crime other than the color of my skin and the shape of my eyes. I knew,
too, that the excuse my captors gave -- that I was there for my own protection -- was
sheer hypocrisy, that there was some deeper and more sinister reason for my
incarceration, though as with all children I could not fully comprehend why. But surely
my parents must have. Their internment must have weighed on them like the very rock of
Sisyphus.
DOCUMENT #48
Excerpt from General DeWitt's Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast,
1942 published 1943.
There were hundreds of reports nightly of signal lights visible from the coast and of
intercepts of unidentified radio transmissions.... The situation was fraught with danger to
the Japanese themselves. The combination of spot raids revealing hidden caches of
23
contraband, the attacks on coastwise shipping, the intercept of illicit radio transmissions,
and nightly observation of visual signal lamps from constantly changing locations, and
the success of the enemy offensive in the Pacific had so aroused the public along the west
coast... that it was ready to take matters into its own hands ...it had become essential to
provide means which would remove the potential menace to which [the Japanese]
subjected the west coast.
[Editor's Note: The signal lights, caches of contraband, and illicit radio transmissions all
turned out to be figments of the authorities' harried imagination. In speaking of the spot
raids, a Justice Department memo said "We have not...uncovered through these searches
any dangerous persons that we could not otherwise know about."]
DOCUMENT #49
Forward to Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942 published
1943.
...Great credit, in my opinion, is due General DeWitt and the Army for the humane yet
efficient manner in which this difficult task was handled. It was unfortunate that the
exigencies of the military situation were such as to require the same treatment for all
persons of Japanese ancestry, regardless of their individual loyalty. But, in emergencies,
where the safety of the Nation is involved, consideration for the rights of individuals
must be subordinated to the common security. As General DeWitt points out, great credit
is due our Japanese population for the mannner in which they responded to and complied
with the orders of exclusion.
Henry L, Stimson
Secretary of War