Snow Falling on Cedars

Content Warning: This guide references violence, combat, and Anti-Japanese racial prejudices.

The December 7, 1941, Japanese Pearl Harbor attack launched the United States into active combat on the side of the Allied forces in World War II. The Pearl Harbor attack also led the US government to question the allegiance of Japanese immigrants living in the United States and Japanese Americans. Indeed, prior to the outbreak of war, the FBI had kept close watch on some US residents whom it believed to harbor German or Japanese sympathies.

In February 1942, President Roosevelt, citing national-security concerns, issued an executive order asserting that all people of Japanese descent along the west coast of the nation be relocated to concentration camps. The government termed these camps “relocation centers,” and they were situated inland, in remote or desolate areas. People of Japanese descent were ordered to prepare for relocation, rushing to pack what personal items they could carry and, when possible, making arrangements for their homes, land, or other property. In many cases, however, this was not possible, and many Japanese and Japanese Americans lost everything due to their forced incarceration. An estimated 112,000 people were relocated by August 1942. Seventy-thousand were American citizens. Importantly, the executive order required only that a person have Japanese ancestry to be relocated (“Japanese American Incarceration During World War II.” National Archives).

The camps themselves were military-like, with housing resembling stark army barracks. Families had little agency or privacy: Meals were served communally in a mess hall, and the living quarters generally had no running water or bathroom facilities. Camps typically provided schooling for the children while adults were expected to work—either by farming or working other manual jobs to ensure the continued operation of the camp. Conditions at the camps proved fatal in several instances due to lack of medical care.

Due to the large support for the Allied forces and the strong animosity toward Japan elicited by the Pearl Harbor attack, support for the forced imprisonment of Japanese and Japanese Americans was overwhelming. Some Japanese opted to enter into military service as a sign of their loyalty to the United States, but this did little to reaffirm their allegiance in the eyes of the public. However, no incidences of espionage were ever discovered among a Japanese citizen (“Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History.” Library of Congress).

Historically, the concentration camps are regarded as a shameful and illegal violation of citizens’ civil liberties. In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, which served as a formal apology on behalf of the government and provided reparations to living survivors or their descendants. February 19 has been designated the National Day of Remembrance of these incarcerations (“Redress and Reparations for Japanese American Incarceration.” The National WWII Museum, 13 Aug. 2021).