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"We hoped at first that it was German raiders. It's still unbelievable." Such was the first reaction of American-born Japanese University students who sat huddled around the radio in their clubhouse last night, and utterly bewildered, tried to imagine that the country of their ancestors had actually attacked the United States. U.W. Daily, Dec. 8, 19411 |
Dick Takeuchi was sent out to report the reactions of Japanese American students to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His article in the special war edition of the University of Washington Daily is filled with exclamations of shock and disbelief. But even in their shocked state and in the midst of declarations of loyalty students were keenly aware of the possible ramifications of war between the United States and Japan. In a prescient moment the words "concentration camp" is spoken: "As war, or undeclared war became a reality, the shock to these students was reflected and magnified in their parents, most of whom are Japanese citizens. That their parents may be confined in a concentration camp while they faced discrimination and suspicion was held not impossible by many of the students."2
Within days, even hours, the discrimination and suspicion that the students feared was evident. On the evening of December 7 the FBI began to round-up community leaders and police departments raided homes for contraband such as short-wave radios, hunting rifles and samurai swords. By the 9th more than 1,200 Japanese were in custody nationwide (as well as 865 Germans and 147 Italians).3 The arrests caused panic amongst the Japanese American community. According to Reverend Daisuke Kitagawa of St. Paul's Church outside Seattle, "every male lived in anticipation of arrest by the FBI, and every household endured each day in fear and trembling."4
Many of the arrested Japanese were Issei community leaders and businessmen with ties to Japan. Kenji Okuda, a student at the UW, recalls what happened to his father on the evening of December 7.5
That night about 7 or 8 o'clock, we were in the house, I think we'd finished dinner, there was a knock at the front door. The fellow identifies himself as an FBI agent. He wanted to speak to my Dad. My Dad's comment was, he was getting rather hard of hearing, What, the PI, the Post Intelligencer wants to meet me. No, the FBI. So the fellow came in the front door. Another fellow was with him, the deputy sheriff. Then, at the back door, 15-20 minutes later two more came. Then they asked permission to look through documents. A lot of it was in Japanese. They wanted to take them to get it translated. Then they asked my Dad to go with them. He went down and they were all assembled at the Immigration center downtown. I don't know how many were in the first round on the night of the 7th. Then they said we hope he can get out shortly. You go down and ask. It turned out that none of them ever got out. Most of them were shipped to Missoula, several months later.
Many church groups and universities united behind their Japanese American students. University of Washington President Lee Paul Sieg in an article in the Japanese American Courier stated, "I am confident that the great majority of them [Japanese Americans] will join with all Americans, regardless of ancestry, origin, creed or color, to bring this conflict to a successful conclusion." Berkeley President Robert Gordon Sproul, in the same issue, took a more vigorous stand, "The American citizen of Japanese ancestry is likely to be discriminated against because of superficial physical characteristics that have no influence whatsoever on the quality of his mind, the strength of his character, or the depth of his loyalty to the United States."6
Despite the calls for tolerance and support for the Nisei, Mike Masaoka, national secretary of the Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL) warned:7
Just because many of the restrictions are being relaxed, we must not dismiss the troubles of the past month as horrible nightmares and confidently await a return to our former status.The longer the war drags on--as casualty lists are published, West Coast cities are shelled or bombed, atrocities committed--the tougher our situation will become. Public sympathy may wear away, perhaps hate and prejudice will replace the present tolerance and forbearance.
We must grid our loins, tighten our belts and prepare for the hardest fight in our generation, a fight to maintain our status as exemplary Americans, who, realizing that modern war demands great sacrifices, will not become bitter or lose faith in the heritage which is ours as Americans, in spite of what may come; a fight that will not be won in a week, or months, or even years; a fight which will test our mettle and our courage; a fight in which we must make heroic sacrifices equal to those made on the battlefield, but also a fight in which we will be subjected to suspicions, persecutions, and possibly downright injustices.
Pearl Harbor became the defining moment for a generation of Americans, one of those dates, like the assassination of JFK, that resonates with memory. For Japanese Americans, Pearl Harbor and World War II, were watershed events rippling through issues of identity, culture and generational change. Ties that the Issei (first generation) maintained with their ancestral home through business and cultural associations, familial interactions and the use of the Japanese language, now became suspect. The Nisei (second generation) by virtue of their American citizenship, identity and language became leaders within the Japanese American community. Almost overnight the Issei were relegated to the sidelines (if not already detained by the police and FBI) as the Nisei became the spokesmen for the community. Frank Miyamoto, an associate in the Department of Sociology, acknowledged this transferral of power in an article entitled "War Places Second Generation in Lead Once Taken by Elders" published in the Japanese American Courier -- "Well, here it is at last. But where do we go from here, in particular, where do we Nisei go from here?" 8
Notes and Links
1. Takeuchi, Dick, "Can't Believe It's True -- Japanese Students." UW Daily, War Extra, Dec. 8, 1941.2. Ibid. The photograph illustrated the article and shows Dick Okada, Yutaka Semba, Ken Yasuda and Harold Inatomi.
3. Okihiro, Gary. Storied Lives: Japanese American Students and World War II, pg. 23.
4. Kitagawa, Daisuke. Issei and Nisei: The Internment Years, pg. 41.
5. Interview of Kenji Okada by Louis Fiset, August 9, 1995. Excerpts from the interview.
6. Sieg, Lee Paul, "Chance to Assert Loyalty Cites Sieg." Japanese American Courier, Jan. 1, 1942, pg. 1 and Sproul, Robert Gordon, "University Heads Asks Confidence." Japanese American Courier, Jan. 1, 1942, pg. 9.
7. Masaoka, Mike. "Danger Yet Ahead, Secretary Thinks." Japanese American Courier, Jan. 23, 1942, pg.
8. Miyamoto, Frank, "War Places Second Generation in Lead Once Taken by Elders." Japanese American Courier, Jan. 1, 1942, pg. 9.
