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Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, hoping to stop potential Japanese spying. Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps for nearly three years, living in barracks with barbed wire around the camp. After World War II, Japanese Americans faced many challenges while adjusting to life in America. They were treated with hostility and faced discrimination simply because of their Japanese heritage. During their time at the internment camps, the Japanese started to explore Westernization, and this began the cultural changes in everyday life for the Japanese Americans. Due to the strong emotions toward Japanese Americans after World War II, their cultural identity started to change as they tried to hold on to their traditional Japanese values while also trying to fit into American society.

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Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and her husband, James. Image by East Bay Times.

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Japanese values are defensive and very strict, which some people wanted to keep, and that caused many hardships when trying to fit into American culture. In the book Farewell to Manzanar, the Japanese protagonist, Jeanne Wakatsuki, had moved out of an internment camp in America in 1945 and is trying to fit into American culture. One day in 1952 Jeanne was chosen for Carnival queen and her father said, “No wonder those hakajin boys voted for you! It is just like those majorette clothes you wear in the street. Showing off your body. Is that the kind of queen you want to be?” (Houston 158). This quote is a great example of how people wanted to keep their values and some didn’t. The daughter, Jeanne, wanted to adopt American culture but was blocked by her dad, who is one of the people who wanted to keep Japanese culture. This is a great demonstration of the duality of Japanese Americans. There are many values that the Japanese have that are positive but some make it difficult for them to be accepted into American culture. Mainly, the values include defensiveness and strong faith in whatever they believe, such as you saw with Papa. In the article Imperial Japan: 1894-1945, Jonathan N. Lipman says, “Faced with all of this apparent chaos, many Japanese worried that the special Japanese spirit in which they had been taught to believe would disappear under the influence of Euro-American ideas and fashions.” (Lipman). This quote shows why some of the Japanese who moved to the U.S. did not want to adopt their culture when Lipman says “many Japanese worried that the special Japanese spirit would disappear under Euro-American ideas.” This demonstrates the strong-willed Japanese wouldn’t let their culture die and that's also why Papa was so harsh on Jeanne. In conclusion, the Japanese culture and beliefs were firmly held onto by most Japanese, out of fear of disappearing.

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Japanese children in an American public school, pledging allegiance to the American flag. Image by JSTOR Daily.

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In the book Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki was going through her school life, wanting to be invisible and prove herself to those around her that she wasn't much different from them. She wrote, “I lived with this double impulse: the urge to disappear and the desperate desire to be acceptable. I soon learned there were certain areas I was automatically allowed to perform in: scholarship, athletics, and school-time activities like the yearbook, the newspaper, and student government. I tried all of these and made good grades, became a news editor, and held an office in the Girls Athletic League.” (Houston 143). This quote shows the ways Jeanne tried to shift her culture and priorities to fit into the society she was placed in. Jeanne felt the need to assimilate into American culture and society, through her athletics, school activities, and clubs. With this, she picked up bits and pieces of the American culture to appear less different and foreign to those who perceived her. This caused her to slowly be alienated from her Japanese heritage due to having to reject some of the traditional Japanese core values and culture.

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A Japanese-American family posing for a photo while dressed in American-like clothing. Image by the Los Angeles Times.

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The Japanese-American people took up parts of American culture to appear less foreign and to face less discrimination from the American people. In the article “Reclaiming Japanese American Culture and Language After Decades of Erasure,” it states “Nisei in particular, who were born as American citizens to Japanese parents, felt the pressure to assimilate, and many immersed themselves in American culture, joining typical American clubs and sports teams, and speaking primarily English” (Noji 5). This quote indicates why Japanese Americans felt the need to pick up American culture while giving examples of how they did so. Nisei, born American citizens, felt they needed to assimilate into the culture around them. They felt pressure to join clubs and sports teams, along with adapting English as their main language. Due to this pressure, the Japanese-American people became more Americanized to avoid discrimination. These efforts to fit in caused their values and culture to change and separate from the traditional views held by their parents and heritage.

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Japanese immigrants. Image by Heart Mountain.

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The longer the Japanese stayed in the internment camps, the more many Japanese Americans made the decision to get comfortable and accept American culture, or resent it and try to hold on to their Japanese traditions. However many Americans weren’t ready to accept them. In the novel, Farewell to Manzanar, as the residents of the internment camps are being released, the speaker recalls, “Every day busloads left from the main gate, heading south with their quotas, filled to the brim with Mamas and Papas and Grannieswho had postponed movement as long as possible…” This quote expresses some Japanese Americans' complex emotions toward the camps. When first placed in the camps, the majority were outraged by the insinuation of guilt and lack of loyalty toward the American government and were still very in tune with their Japanese traditions. This statement shows that as time went on, some residents grew fonder of their newfound “home” and how they chose to adapt to their new surroundings and lifestyle. “When the war ended, we were released, and given a one-way ticket to anywhere in the United States. My parents decided to go back home to Los Angeles, but Los Angeles was not a welcoming place. We were penniless. Everything had been taken from us, and the hostility was intense.” (Takei 2). These quotes show that even after spending time in the camps, proving they weren’t working for the enemy, and nobally volunteering to serve their new “home” country and willing to fight their “old” country, that wasn’t enough to show many Americans that they could be trusted and treated as one of them. The word “non-alien” essentially means “not a citizen”, so by saying this the government was saying that those young men telling them they were willing to die for this country, they still couldn’t be trusted. Later in the article, he tells the audience that these men and his parents are his heroes, for expanding on what it means to be American, and not letting the negativity of small-minded people impair the life they knew they could live in America. This shows the strength of the Japanese people, and how their dedication to America allowed them and future generations to live with less hostility and more freedom than those in the past.

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A Japanese-American family walking through the streets of Little Tokyo in the 1950s. Image by The New York Times.

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As the Japanese population began to grow in the United States, they began to embrace and spread their culture, leaving a lasting mark on America.  After the war, the Japanese were allowed to return to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and rebuild their community. In the 1970s, business expanded in Little Tokyo, allowing connections with other corporations in the United States. Through those connections, Japanese culture began to spread across America. Americans admired Japanese art, such as kabuki, a form of Japanese classical theatre, animation, and architecture. Restaurants serving Japanese cuisine such as ramen and sushi were opened. As Japanese culture spread, Americans soon began to recognize and understand the beauty of Japan’s history. Japanese traditions became part of everyday American life, and Japanese Americans and their communities worked to share their culture, leaving a lasting impact on the United States after World War II.

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Japanese Americans persevered through tough times during and after the war. Facing everyday prejudice and pressure, many shifted towards Westernization to fit while others decided to preserve Japanese traditions, causing people like Jeanne Watasuki Houston to seek an identity among Americans while hanging on to their heritage. As years passed, Japanese Americans began to share their culture with Americans, and their contributions, like food, art, and architecture, became part of everyday American life. In the end, Japanese Americans embraced American culture while continuing to practice their traditions, leaving a cultural contribution to the United States.