Altered Lives, Enduring Community: Japanese Americans Remember Their World War II Incarceration

282 Pages·2004·17.19 MB·English

by  Stephen S. Fugita, Marilyn Fernandez

THE SCOTT AND LAURIE OKI SERIES
IN ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES
THE SCOTT AND LAURIE OKI SERIES
IN ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES
From a Three·Cornered World: New and Selected Ibems, by James Masao
Mitsui
Imprisoned Apart: The World Ultrr II Correspondence of an Issei Couple,
by Louis Fiset
Storied Lives: Japanese American Students and World War II, by Gary Y.
Okihiro
Phoenix Eyes and Other Stories, by Russell Charles Leong
Paper Bullets: A Fictional Autobiography, by Kip Fulbeck
Born in Seattle: The Campaign jor Japanese American Redress, by Robert
Sadamu Shimabukuro
Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War IIJapanese American
Relocation Sites, by Jeffery F. Burton et al.
Judgment without Trial: Japanese American Imprisonment during World War II,
by Tetsuden Kashima
Shopping at Giant Foods: Chinese American Supermarkets in Northern
California, by Alfred Yee
Altered Lives, Enduring Community:Japanese Americans Remember Their World
Ultrr II Incarceratwn, by Stephen S. Fugita and Marilyn Fernandez
Sweet Cakes, LongJourney: The Chinatowns of ,R,rtland, Oregon, by Marie
Rose Wong
Altered Lives,
Enduring Community
JAPANESE AMERICANS REMEMBER THEIR
WORLD WAR II INCARCERATION
Stephen S. Fugita
Marilyn Fernandez
University of Washington Press
Seatde and London
This book is published with the assistance of a grant from the Scott and Laurie Oki
Endowed Fund for the publication of Asian American Studies.
Copyright (') 2004 by the University of Washington Press
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by joanne Poon
12 II 1009 08 07 06 05 04 5432 I
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
University of Washington Press
PO Box 50096, Seattle, WA 98145
www.washington.edu/uwpress
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLlCATION DATA
Fugita. Stephen.
Altered lives, enduring community : Japanese Americans remember their
World War II incarceration I Stephen S. Fugita, Marilyn Fernandez.
p. cm.-(The Scott and Laurie Oki series in Asian American studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-.195-98380-9 {alk. paper)-IsBN 0-.195-98381-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Japanese Americans-Evacuation and relocation, 194.1-194,5.
2. japanese Americans-Cultural assimilation. 3. japanese Americans-
Ethnic identity. 4. japanese Americans-Social conditions-20th century.
,5. japanese Americans-Economic conditions-20th century. 1. Fernandez,
Marilyn. H. Title. HI. Series.
D769.8.A61'78 2003
940.,53'Iio89956073-dc22 2003065757
The paper used in this publication is acid-free and recycled from 10 percent post-
consumer and at least 50 percent pre-consumer waste. It meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-I984.
This book is dedicated to
S. Frank Miyamoto,
pioneer, sensei, and friend
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
I Introduction 3
2 The Pre-World War II Community 14
3 The Incarceration 47
4 Military Service and Resistance 85
5 Resettlement 10 5
6 Marriage and Family Formation 134
7 Occupational Patterns 156
8 Religion and Making Sense of the Incarceration 173
9 Looking Back 194
Appendixes 211
Notes 231
Glossary 234
References 235
Index 249
vii
Acknowledgments
This book is the culmination of the efforts of a team of individuals. Tom
Ikeda, the director of Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, has
supported the data collection from the Project's inception. He provided lead-
ership and committed resources at numerous critical junctures. Becky
Fukuda identified and selected the pool of quotes from Densho visual his-
tory narrators and critiqued portions of the manuscript. Erin Kimura and
Larry Hashirna contacted, coordinated, and conducted survey interviews.
Erin also entered the data into the statistical analysis program. Dana Hoshide
made available the photographs. The following individuals served as survey
interviewers: Ivy Arai, Dee Goto. Alyssa Grossman, Sheri Nakashima, and
Tomoyo Yamada. Others who provided valuable comments on portions of
the manuscript were Art Hansen, Lance Laird, Tim Lukes, Setsuko Matsunaga
Nishi. Stephen Warner, Joe Yasutake. and especially Frank Miyamoto. Frank
spent countless hours drawing upon his unique knowledge to strengthen
the manuscript. This manuscript was smoothly shepherded through the Uni. .
versity of Washington Press by Naomi Pascal and Marilyn Trueblood. Mary
Ribesky skillfully copyedited the text. Santa Clara University provided both
the computing facilities for data analysis and a supportive environment in
which to write. The survey respondents and visual history narrators who
generously shared their rich experiences and perspectives, of course, made
this effort possible. Finally, on a personal note, we would like to express our
appreciation to our spouses, Karen Fugita and Peter D'Souza, for their con. .
tinuous support. Any errors or faulty interpretations, of course, remain ours.
ix