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White woman taking care of Japanese baby after her mother was denied entry into the US. Webster & Stevens, Public Domain.

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Between the late 1860s and 1924 there were large numbers of Japanese who immigrated to the United States. Unlike European immigrants, who usually arrived on the East Coast, the Japanese immigrants usually arrived on the West Coast. Japanese Americans faced discrimination and racist policies. The racist Immigration Act of 1924 banned the immigration of almost all Japanese.

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A colorized photograph of Japanese Forces during their invasion of China, 1937. Cassowary Colorizations, Public Domain.

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During the 1930s tension grew between the US and Japan. In 1937, the Japanese formally allied themselves with Nazi Germany. They invaded China that same year. In 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. As World War II broke out in Asia and Europe, the US imposed an embargo on Japan, cutting off all trade. This further strained the relations between the US and Japan. Still, Americans hoped that the US could remain out of war combat.

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By 1940, the Japanese American community was categorized into the Issei, individuals who had been born in Japan and immigrated to the US, and the Nisei, individuals born in the US to Japanese immigrant parents. The Nisei, who grew up in the US, were US citizens and generally spoke English fluently. First- and second-generation Japanese Americans often settled in cities on the West Coast or began farming in California, Washington, and Oregon. They often obtained college educations and held respected occupations in business, education, and other fields

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As tension between the US and Japan increased, some questioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans. As war with Japan appeared imminent, President Franklin Roosevelt asked Curtis Munson to investigate the loyalty of Japanese Americans living on the West coast. Munson traveled across California and the Pacific Northwest interviewing city officials, military officers, and FBI agents gathering information on the loyalty of Japanese Americans. His findings were called the Munson Report.

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Anti-Japanese propaganda during World War II, Public Domain.

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On December 7, 1941, without a declaration of war, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack plunged the US into World War II and created hostile feelings toward Japan and the Japanese. Japanese Americans, both Issei and Nisei, were sometimes targeted for retribution. Their loyalty was questioned by government officials, in letters to the editor, and in political cartoons. Some people feared that they would become part of the “5th Column” a term that meant people living within a community that would help the enemy. The offensive racial slur, “Japs,” was applied to them in many public venues.

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Not everyone was hostile toward Japanese Americans. Some people, especially members of other minority groups who faced their own racial oppression, were sympathetic.

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Headlines in the newspapers after President Roosevelt's Executive Order.

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In January 1942, President Roosevelt received the Munson Report, which downplayed the threat of Japanese Americans. Yet, in February, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 ordering the forced removal of “any or all persons” from locations deemed by military officials to be vulnerable. Even though the order did not specify the removal of “Japanese Americans” almost everyone understood that was what the president intended.

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A Japanese-owned business selling its inventory before being evacuated from their home, Public Domain.

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In response to President Roosevelt’s executive order, large tracts of California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona were designated as “exclusion zones,” where Japanese Americans were not be allowed to remain. Japanese Americans were given only a few weeks to sell their homes, belongings, farms, and businesses, usually at a fraction of their value, or to make arrangements for others to look after their property. Japanese Americans were moved temporarily into Civilian Assembly Centers as more permanent camps were being constructed.

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A view of the Topaz Relocation Center, Francis Stewart, Public Domain.

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The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was created in March 1942 to oversee the expulsion of Japanese Americans. The WRA chose ten remote sites for camps, including Topaz, Utah, Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and Jerome, Arkansas, throughout the US interior. As Japanese Americans were being removed from their homes, the camps were quickly being built. In some cases, the Japanese Americans who arrived at the camps helped to build them.

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Japanese American boys playing football in the Topaz Relocation Camp, Tom Parker, Public Domain.

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Between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese Americans were removed from their homes on the West Coast. The relocation centers became small cities with thousands of residents. Families in shared barracks had little space or privacy. They ate in common mess halls and used common restrooms. Armed guards patrolled the perimeters of the complex.

Most Japanese Americans in the camps survived by establishing schools, Christian and Buddhist churches, baseball leagues, theaters, and newspapers. Some suffered from depression or anxiety. Some died in the camps

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Some Japanese Americans found ways to protest their mistreatment by refusing to cooperate with WRA programs or by organizing demonstrations. Some protested through the US legal system. In the 1944 Supreme Court case of Korematsu v. the United States the Supreme Court found that President Roosevelt’s order was constitutional and that the need for national security outweighed the civil rights of those who had been removed.

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Shortly after the creation and occupation of the camps, the WRA began to consider ways to reintroduce Japanese Americans into civilian communities. Some internees left the camps to go to college, others worked on farms outside of camps, and some were even recruited to serve in the armed forces. President Roosevelt’s Exclusionary Order was rescinded in January, 1945, at which time about a quarter of those who had been interned had already been released. Those who remained received $25 and a train ticket to their former homes. Most of them had nothing to return to. Those who were in particularly difficult circumstances were allowed to remain in the camps temporarily. Gradually all of the services were ended and the internment camps were closed.

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A view of the crowd in the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, U.S. Information Agency, Public Domain.

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During the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and 70s some Japanese Americans demanded that the wrongs committed against them be corrected. In 1980 Congress created the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civiliansto study the decisions involved in giving Order 9066. They issued a report entitled Personal Justice Denied summarizing their findings

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President Reagan signs the Japanese Reparations Bill, Public Domain.

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In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation that provided $20,000 for all surviving detainees. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush issued a formal apology to survivors from the US government.