Japanese Internment

The internment of Japanese-Americans by the United States government during World War Two remains, to this day, one of the worst cases of human rights violation by the United States. With about 120,000 Japanese-Americans transported to live in internment camps and many more left to become victims of discrimination, there was a strong anti-Japanese sentiment among the American public. Here are all the important things you need to know about the Japenese Internment. Let's go!

Japanese Internment Definition

The Japanese Internment was a clear case of this definition, as it was during the Second World War that the Japanese-American population was targeted by the U.S. government, which makes the phenomenon of Japanese Internment a politically motivated action.

Japanese Internment Date

The internment of Japanese-Americans officially began on 19 February 1942 with the signing of Executive Order 9066. The type of discrimination against Japanese-Americans would continue for four more years. The official date for the end of Japanese Internment is 20 March 1946, marking the day when the last internment camp where the Japanese-Americans were held, was closed.

Effects and Cause of the Japanese Internment

On 7 December 1941, a surprise attack was precipitated by the Japanese Imperial 1st Air Fleet, attacking the U.S. fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked the U.S., then a neutral country, into entering the Second World War.

Fig. 1: Attack on Pearl Harbor

As a minority in pre-civil rights-movement America, the Japanese, like other minorities in the country, were treated as second-class citizens by the general public. The attack on Pearl Harbor exacerbated negative views of Japanese-Americans. This was aided by the U.S. War Department, which painted Japanese-Americans as potential saboteurs and agents of the Japanese Empire.

One of the main advocates of the Japanese Internment was General John L. DeWitt. General DeWitt headed the Western Defense Command and believed that the internment of Japanese-Americans would prevent the repetition of Pearl Harbor. Just as DeWitt believed, the War Department believed it was more favourable to relocate and keep thousands of Japanese in internment. An opposing view was presented by the U.S. Department of Justice which opposed the War Department's treatment of innocent Japanese-Americans from which the majority were either American-born or naturalised American citizens.

Fig. 2: General John DeWitt

On 19 February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order, officially, sought to "prevent espionage on American shores". This would be done by relocating some 120,000 Japanese-Americans away from the Pacific states of California, Oregon and Washington, states with noticeable Japanese-American minority populations, to internment camps deeper into the U.S. territory.

Japanese Internment Camps

President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 also established the War Relocation Authority which established camps where the Japanese-Americans were transported to live. The Japanese-Americans were "officially" "evacuated" but in reality, they were forcibly removed from their homes. What made their removal forcible were the six days that they were given to gather their belongings and prepare to be sent to the internment camps. Many even sold their homes albeit for very small amounts.

Fig. 4: Japanese internment camp in California

The camps were often isolated from populated areas, mostly in deserts. The camps were surrounded by barbed wires and watchtowers with armed guards, which is why the internment camps are also referred to as concentration camps.

Due to their isolation, the camps were prone to fall victim to harsh weather. This became a problem in the winter as no proper heating system was in place and hundreds of Japanese-Americans had to share singular heating stoves to keep themselves warm. The living conditions, in general, were also sub-par. Entire families had to share small rooms with limited ventilation, army-grade bedding and constant surveillance made the internment camp feel more like a prison than it was.

Fig. 5: Japanese-American farmers at an internment camp

Yet, despite all the hardships, the Japanese-Americans made turned the camps into homes. They began establishing schools, newspapers and even farms on camp territories. What is most interesting is that despite the treatment of Japanese-Americans around the U.S. an estimated 33,000 young Japanese-American men enlisted in the army.

Fig. 6: Japanese-American regiment in WWII

In the end, despite the hardships that were endured by some 120,000 Japanese-Americans in these camps, they were let go by 1946. The last internment camp was closed on 20 March 1946 which ended the period that is known as the Japanese Internment. Yet, though they returned, many Japanese-Americans found their homes repossessed or sold. Although many were no longer kept in camps, they now had to rebuild their lives from the bottom all over again.

Japanese Internment Facts

• The Japanese weren't the only victims of internment so were several thousand Italian and German immigrants.
• In California, laws on Japanese-Americans were so strict that even someone who was even 1/16th Japanese could be incarcerated.
• The Japanese-Americans finally got justice in 1976 and 1988. With the former, President Gerald Ford officially repealed Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. And in the latter, President Ronald Reagan and Congress issued formal apologies and awarded over 80,000 Japanese-Americans 20,000 US Dollars as reparations for the ill-treatment of Japanese-Americans during the internment years.