Return: Reconstruction and Reconciliation

Courtesy of Cornell University

Although many internees sued, the only success was from government employee Misuye Endo. In the 1945 decision Exparte Endo, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against internment, effectively closing the camps.

"We are of the view that Mitsuye Endo should be given her liberty... we conclude that, whatever power the War Relocation Authority may have to detail other classes of citizens, it has no authority to subject citizens who are concededly loyal to its leave procedure."

- Justice William O. Douglas in the Opinion of Ex Parte Endo,

Misuye Endo, courtesy of Densho

Although some returned to former homes while others settled near the camps, the effects of displacement were inescapable. Returners found destroyed businesses alongside persisting anti-Japanese sentiments, but also support from opponents of the evacuation three years prior.

“Finally getting out of the camps was a great day. It felt so good to get out of the gates, and just know that you were going home…finally. Home wasn't where I left it though. Getting back, I was just shocked to see what had happened, our home being bought by a different family, different decorations in the windows; it was our house, but it wasn't anymore."

- Aya Nakamura

Courtesy of National Archives (left) and Museum of History and Industry (right)

“The Japanese were a menace until removed, and will become a menace again when returned. The Japs must not come back.”

“On the sole ground of disloyalty, all Japanese should be removed from the United States and its territories.”

- excerpts from Remember the Pearl Harbor League pamphlet

“OUR OBJECTIVE: BANISH JAPS FOREVER FROM THE USA”

- The Standard publication headline

"We should be reminded that hundreds of American citizens of Japanese ancestry have given their lives for the country, and many more are fighting for us now."

- William F. Devin, Seattle mayor

"One of the most pathetic casualties of this war is the plight of Japanese families on the Pacific Coast, transferred inland by military edict...The Japanese on the Pacific Coast are honorable, industrious, and law-abiding."

- Allan Lorimer, Seattle pastor

In this frontier of rebuilding and restoration, Japanese Americans were conflicted. To many Issei and Nisei, the camps were an embarrassment: one to hide and forget.

"We came out of these camps with a sense of shame and guilt, of having been considered betrayers of our country. There were no complaints, no big rallies or demands for justice because it was not the Japanese way."

- John Tateishi

"Raising their [elders] voices in protest was anathema to their cultural vaues." - John Tateishi

"Hunt Hotel," which housed 30 families in Seattle, courtesy of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington

Yet others led great efforts to rebuild the community that had been lost, embracing Japanese tradition as a way to reclaim their identity and explore it outside of the confines of internment. The community supported each other, with organizations like the Hunt Hotel operating out of Japanese Language Schools to provide housing services for those uprooted.

"Hunt Hotel", Aki Sogabe, courtesy of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington

Returns to family land, courtesy of BIJAC

Nidoto Nai Yoni

Frontiers in History

National History Day 2023

Return: Reconstruction and Reconciliation