195-516: Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps , where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one of the smaller internment camps. It is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California's Owens Valley , between the towns of Lone Pine to
390-429: A Los Angeles Times editorial, A viper is nonetheless a viper wherever the egg is hatched... So, a Japanese American born of Japanese parents, nurtured upon Japanese traditions, living in a transplanted Japanese atmosphere...notwithstanding his nominal brand of accidental citizenship almost inevitably and with the rarest exceptions grows up to be a Japanese, and not an American... Thus, while it might cause injustice to
585-413: A Type A midget submarine for transport to the waters off Oahu. The five I-boats left Kure Naval District on November 25, 1941. On December 6, they came to within 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) of the mouth of Pearl Harbor and launched their midget subs at about 01:00 local time on December 7. At 03:42 Hawaiian time, the minesweeper Condor spotted a midget submarine periscope southwest of
780-673: A Jap" and testified to Congress: I don't want any of them [persons of Japanese ancestry] here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty... But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map. DeWitt also sought approval to conduct search and seizure operations which were aimed at preventing alien Japanese from making radio transmissions to Japanese ships. The Justice Department declined, stating that there
975-580: A Japanese task force (the Striking Force ) of six aircraft carriers – Akagi , Kaga , Sōryū , Hiryū , Shōkaku , and Zuikaku – departed Hittokapu Bay on Etorofu (now Iterup) Island in the Kuril Islands , en route to a position northwest of Hawaii, intending to launch its 408 aircraft to attack Pearl Harbor: 360 for the two attack waves and 48 on defensive combat air patrol (CAP), including nine fighters from
1170-408: A bank. A farm and orchards provided vegetables and fruits for use by the camp, and people of all ages worked to maintain them. By the summer of 1943, camp gardens and farms were producing potatoes, onions, cucumbers, Chinese cabbage, watermelon, eggplant, tomatoes, aster, red radishes, and peppers. Eventually, there were more than 400 acres of farms producing more than 80 percent of the produce used by
1365-673: A clothing allowance. The Manzanar Free Press was first published April 11, 1942, and was published through the October 19, 1945, issue. It was published with both Japanese and English sections, with the Japanese section added on July 14, 1942. Between the first issue and the May 31, 1942, issue, it was published at the Manzanar Assembly Center, which was operated by the Wartime Civil Control Administration . After that, it
1560-601: A consequence, Japan needed access to strategically important resources (e.g. iron, oil) that could not be extracted at sufficient levels in the home islands. Although Japan had begun to take a hostile stance against the United States after the rejection of the Racial Equality Proposal , the relationship between the two countries was cordial enough that they remained trading partners. Tensions did not seriously grow until Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931 . Over
1755-453: A few to treat them all as potential enemies, I cannot escape the conclusion...that such treatment...should be accorded to each and all of them while we are at war with their race. U.S. Representative Leland Ford ( R - CA ) of Los Angeles joined the bandwagon, who demanded that "all Japanese, whether citizens or not, be placed in [inland] concentration camps." Incarceration of Japanese Americans, who provided critical agricultural labor on
1950-407: A heating oil storage tank, although Block 33 lacked a recreation hall. In addition to the residential blocks, Manzanar had 34 blocks that had staff housing, camp administration offices, two warehouses, a garage, a camp hospital, and 24 firebreaks. The camp had school facilities, a high-school auditorium (that was also used as a theatre), staff housing, chicken and hog farms, churches, a cemetery,
2145-689: A large increase in the number of " picture brides ." As the Japanese American population continued to grow, European Americans who lived on the West Coast resisted the arrival of this ethnic group, fearing competition, and making the exaggerated claim that hordes of Asians would take over white-owned farmland and businesses. Groups such as the Asiatic Exclusion League , the California Joint Immigration Committee , and
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#17328484632742340-580: A large portion of Asia and the Pacific including a small portion of the U.S. West Coast (i.e., Aleutian Islands Campaign ) between 1937 and 1942, some Americans feared that its military forces were unstoppable. American public opinion initially stood by the large population of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast, with the Los Angeles Times characterizing them as "good Americans, born and educated as such." Many Americans believed that their loyalty to
2535-640: A longtime veteran of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a signature program of the Second New Deal . Many of his fellow employees had worked in that agency. Manzanar, according to one insider, was "manned just about 100% by the WPA." Drawing on experiences derived from New Deal era road building, Triggs, funded primarily through the WPA, supervised the installation of such features as guard towers and spotlights. The Owens Valley Reception Center
2730-411: A newly assigned officer at the thinly manned Intercept Center, presumed it was the scheduled arrival of six B-17 bombers from California. The Japanese planes were approaching from a direction very close (only a few degrees difference) to the bombers, and while the operators had never seen a formation as large on radar, they neglected to tell Tyler of its size. Tyler, for security reasons, could not tell
2925-526: A peace compromise. Striking the Pacific Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor had two distinct disadvantages: the targeted ships would be in very shallow water, so it would be relatively easy to salvage and possibly repair them, and most of the crews would survive the attack since many would be on shore leave or would be rescued from the harbor. A further important disadvantage was the absence of all three of
3120-411: A post office, a hospital, an orphanage, two community latrines, an outdoor theater, and other necessary amenities that one would expect to find in most American cities. Some of the facilities were not built until after the camp had been operating for a while. The camp perimeter had eight watchtowers manned by armed military police , and it was enclosed by five-strand barbed wire. There were sentry posts at
3315-536: A radio message from a midget submarine at 00:41 on December 8 claiming to have damaged one or more large warships inside Pearl Harbor. In 1992, 2000, and 2001 Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory 's submersibles found the wreck of the fifth midget submarine lying in three parts outside Pearl Harbor. The wreck was in the debris field where much surplus American equipment had been dumped after the war, including vehicles and landing craft. Both of its torpedoes were missing. This correlates with reports of two torpedoes fired at
3510-536: A relatively small number—though still totaling well over ten thousand—of people of German and Italian ancestry as well as Germans who were expelled from Latin America and deported to the U.S. Approximately 5,000 Japanese Americans relocated outside the exclusion zone before March 1942, while some 5,500 community leaders had been arrested immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack and thus were already in custody. On March 2, 1942, General John DeWitt, commanding general of
3705-570: A total of 11,070 were incarcerated there. The Manzanar facility was located between Lone Pine and Independence . The weather at Manzanar caused suffering for the inmates, few of whom were accustomed to the extremes of the area's climate. While the majority of people were from the Los Angeles area, some were from places with much different climates (such as Bainbridge Island in Washington ). The temporary buildings were inadequate to shield people from
3900-420: A vigorous debate inside the government over how, and indeed whether, to notify Washington of Japan's intention to break off negotiations and start a war, including a December 7 entry in the war diary saying, "[O]ur deceptive diplomacy is steadily proceeding toward success." Of this, Iguchi said, "The diary shows that the army and navy did not want to give any proper declaration of war, or indeed prior notice even of
4095-488: Is a control being exercised and when we have it it will be on a mass basis. He further stated in a conversation with California's governor, Culbert L. Olson : There's a tremendous volume of public opinion now developing against the Japanese of all classes, that is aliens and non-aliens, to get them off the land, and in Southern California around Los Angeles—in that area too—they want and they are bringing pressure on
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#17328484632744290-437: Is sometimes described as a declaration of war. While it was viewed by a number of senior American government and military officials as a very strong indicator negotiations were likely to be terminated and that war might break out at any moment, it neither declared war nor severed diplomatic relations. A declaration of war was printed on the front page of Japan's newspapers in the evening edition of December 8 (late December 7 in
4485-679: Is the Japanese American incarceration era, as specified in the legislation that created the Manzanar National Historic Site. The site also interprets the former town of Manzanar, the ranch days, the settlement by the Owens Valley Paiute , and the role that water played in shaping the history of the Owens Valley. Manzanar was first inhabited by Indigenous Americans nearly 10,000 years ago. Approximately 1,500 years ago,
4680-687: The Nihonmachi , or Japantowns of urban centers, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle . In the 1930s, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), concerned as a result of Imperial Japan's rising military power in Asia, began to conduct surveillance in Japanese American communities in Hawaii. Starting in 1936, at the behest of President Roosevelt, the ONI began to compile a "special list of those Japanese Americans who would be
4875-478: The 1940 British air attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto intensively. Over the next several months, pilots were trained, equipment was adapted, and intelligence was collected. Despite these preparations, Emperor Hirohito did not approve the attack plan until November 5, after the third of four Imperial Conferences called to consider the matter. At first, he hesitated to engage in war but eventually authorized
5070-566: The American Institute of Public Opinion , after incarceration was becoming inevitable, 93% of Americans supported the relocation of Japanese non-citizens from the Pacific Coast while only 1% opposed it. According to the same poll, 59% supported the relocation of Japanese people who were born in the country and were United States citizens, while 25% opposed it. The incarceration and imprisonment measures taken against Japanese Americans after
5265-565: The Attorney General of California (and a future Chief Justice of the United States), had begun his efforts to persuade the federal government to remove all people of Japanese ethnicity from the West Coast. Those who were as little as 1 ⁄ 16 Japanese were placed in incarceration camps. Bendetsen, promoted to colonel, said in 1942, "I am determined that if they have one drop of Japanese blood in them, they must go to camp." Upon
5460-664: The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 , which officially apologized and authorized a payment of $ 20,000 (equivalent to $ 52,000 in 2023) to each former detainee who was still alive when the act was passed. The legislation admitted that the government's actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria , and a failure of political leadership." By 1992, the U.S. government eventually disbursed more than $ 1.6 billion (equivalent to $ 4.12 billion in 2023) in reparations to 82,219 Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated. Due in large part to socio-political changes which stemmed from
5655-467: The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) to investigate whether the internment had been justified. In 1983, the commission's report, Personal Justice Denied, found little evidence of Japanese disloyalty and concluded that internment had been the product of racism . It recommended that the government pay reparations to the detainees. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed
5850-652: The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution . The Court limited its decision to the validity of the exclusion orders, avoiding the issue of the incarceration of U.S. citizens without due process, but ruled on the same day in Ex parte Endo that a loyal citizen could not be detained, which began their release. On December 17, 1944, the exclusion orders were rescinded, and nine of
6045-755: The Emperor of Japan ; the manifesto contended that Japanese language schools were bastions of racism which advanced doctrines of Japanese racial superiority. The manifesto was backed by the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West and the California Department of the American Legion , which in January demanded that all Japanese with dual citizenship be placed in concentration camps. By February, Earl Warren ,
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6240-639: The Guayule plant was built and operated. Before a hospital was built, doctors in the camp faced many difficulties, including treating internees for diseases such as measles, chickenpox, whooping cough, and diarrhea. Treatment facilities were often the barracks, which did not include running water or heating. Once the Manzanar Hospital was built, it included a kitchen, operating rooms, treatment wards, laboratories, and other facilities. All medical treatment in Manzanar
6435-585: The Hawaii Operation and Operation AI , and as Operation Z during its planning. The Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor was preceded by months of negotiations between the United States and Japan over the future of the Pacific . Japanese demands included that the United States end its sanctions against Japan , cease aiding China in the Second Sino-Japanese War , and allow Japan to access
6630-502: The Hearst newspapers , reflected the growing public sentiment that was fueled by this report: I am for the immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in the interior. I don't mean a nice part of the interior either. Herd 'em up, pack 'em off, and give 'em the inside room in the badlands... Personally, I hate the Japanese. And that goes for all of them. Other California newspapers also embraced this view. According to
6825-583: The Kido Butai ), with the attack on Kaneohe. A total of 353 Japanese planes reached Oahu in two waves. Slow, vulnerable torpedo bombers led the first wave, exploiting the first moments of surprise to attack the most important ships present (the battleships), while dive bombers attacked American air bases across Oahu, starting with Hickam Field , the largest, and Wheeler Field , the main United States Army Air Forces fighter base. The 171 planes in
7020-512: The Meiji Restoration —and a recession which was caused by the abrupt opening of Japan 's economy to the world economy —people emigrated from the Empire of Japan in 1868 in search of employment. From 1869 to 1924, approximately 200,000 Japanese immigrated to the islands of Hawaii, mostly laborers expecting to work on the islands' sugar plantations . Some 180,000 went to the U.S. mainland, with
7215-627: The Nanking Massacre swung Western public opinion sharply against Japan. The United States unsuccessfully proposed a joint action with the United Kingdom to blockade Japan. In 1938, following an appeal by President Roosevelt, American companies stopped providing Japan with implements of war. In 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina , attempting to stymie the flow of supplies reaching China. The United States halted shipments of airplanes, parts, machine tools , and aviation gasoline to Japan, which
7410-443: The Native Sons of the Golden West organized in response to the rise of this " Yellow Peril ." They successfully lobbied to restrict the property and citizenship rights of Japanese immigrants, just as similar groups had previously organized against Chinese immigrants. Beginning in the late 19th century, several laws and treaties which attempted to slow immigration from Japan were introduced. The Immigration Act of 1924 , which followed
7605-544: The Niihau incident immediately followed the attack on Pearl Harbor, when Ishimatsu Shintani, an Issei, and Yoshio Harada, a Nisei, and his Issei wife Irene Harada on the island of Ni'ihau violently freed a downed and captured Japanese naval airman, attacking their fellow Ni'ihau islanders in the process. Several concerns over the loyalty of ethnic Japanese seemed to stem from racial prejudice rather than any evidence of malfeasance. The Roberts Commission report, which investigated
7800-567: The Philippines , taking both actions in the hope of discouraging Japanese aggression in the Far East. Because the Japanese high command was mistakenly certain any attack on the United Kingdom's Southeast Asian colonies , including Singapore, would bring the United States into the war, a devastating preventive strike appeared to be the only way to prevent American naval interference. An invasion of
7995-413: The Philippines , which they felt were close to or within their sphere of influence . At the same time, Japanese strategic thinkers believed that Japan needed economic self-sufficiency in order to wage modern war. The experiences of World War I had taught the Japanese that modern wars would be protracted, require total mobilization and create vulnerabilities for trade embargoes and encirclement. As
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8190-554: The Tripartite Pact with Japan, Germany and Italy each declared war on the United States, which responded with a declaration of war against Germany and Italy . While there were historical precedents for the unannounced military action by Japan, the lack of any formal warning, as required by the Hague Convention of 1907 , and the perception that the attack had been unprovoked, led then- President Franklin D. Roosevelt , in
8385-700: The United Kingdom , the Netherlands , and the United States. Over the course of seven hours, Japan conducted coordinated attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines , Guam , and Wake Island ; and on the British Empire in Malaya , Singapore , and Hong Kong . The attack on Pearl Harbor started at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time (6:18 p.m. GMT). The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft (including fighters , level and dive bombers , and torpedo bombers ) in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers . Of
8580-592: The United States Asiatic Fleet , was given orders to that effect. The United States finally ceased oil exports to Japan in July 1941, following the seizure of French Indochina after the Fall of France , in part because of new American restrictions on domestic oil consumption. Because of this decision, Japan proceeded with plans to take the oil-rich Dutch East Indies . On August 17, Roosevelt warned Japan that America
8775-443: The light cruiser St. Louis at 10:04 at the entrance of Pearl Harbor, and a possible torpedo fired at destroyer Helm at 08:21. There is dispute over this official chain of events though. The "torpedo" that St. Louis saw was also reportedly a porpoising minesweeping float being towed by the destroyer Boggs . Some historians and naval architects theorise that a photo taken by a Japanese naval aviator of Battleship Row during
8970-512: The message — 1:00 p.m. on a Sunday, which was 7:30 a.m. in Hawaii ;— and attempted to alert Pearl Harbor. But due to communication problems the warning was not delivered before the attack. The first attack wave of 183 airplanes, led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida , was launched north of Oahu. Six airplanes failed to launch due to technical difficulties. The first wave included three groups of airplanes: As
9165-455: The territory's population , only 1,200 to 1,800 were incarcerated. Internment was intended to mitigate a security risk which Japanese Americans were believed to pose. The scale of the incarceration in proportion to the size of the Japanese American population far surpassed similar measures undertaken against German and Italian Americans who numbered in the millions and of whom some thousands were interned, most of these non-citizens. Following
9360-526: The "Japanese problem" was nonexistent. His final report to the President, submitted November 7, 1941, "certified a remarkable, even extraordinary degree of loyalty among this generally suspect ethnic group." A subsequent report by Kenneth Ringle (ONI), delivered to the President in January 1942, also found little evidence to support claims of Japanese American disloyalty and argued against mass incarceration. Roosevelt's decision to intern Japanese Americans
9555-749: The "alien enemy" roundups, were applicable to anyone that an authorized military commander might choose, whether citizen or non-citizen. Eventually such zones would include parts of both the East and West Coasts, totaling about 1/3 of the country by area. Unlike the subsequent deportation and incarceration programs that would come to be applied to large numbers of Japanese Americans, detentions and restrictions directly under this Individual Exclusion Program were placed primarily on individuals of German or Italian ancestry, including American citizens. The order allowed regional military commanders to designate "military areas" from which "any or all persons may be excluded." Although
9750-479: The 1940 Vinson-Walsh Act erased any chance of victory. Third, to deliver a blow to America's ability to mobilize its forces in the Pacific, battleships were chosen as the main targets, since they were the prestige ships of navies at the time. Finally, it was hoped that the attack would undermine American morale to such an extent that the American government would drop its demands contrary to Japanese interests and seek
9945-570: The American-held Philippines , Guam , and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya , Singapore , and Hong Kong . From the Japanese point of view, it was seen as a preemptive strike "before the oil gauge ran empty." Preliminary planning for an attack on Pearl Harbor to protect the move into the "Southern Resource Area", the Japanese term for the Dutch East Indies and Southeast Asia generally, began early in 1941 under
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#173284846327410140-502: The Americans killed or wounded during the attack were legally non-combatants, given that there was no state of war when the attack occurred. Of the American fatalities, nearly half were due to the explosion of Arizona 's forward magazine after she was hit by a modified 16-inch (410 mm) shell. Author Craig Nelson wrote that the vast majority of the U.S. sailors killed at Pearl Harbor were junior enlisted personnel. "The officers of
10335-665: The Americans, and were not necessary. Fleet composition and preparedness information in Pearl Harbor were already known from the reports of the Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa . A report of the absence of the American fleet at Lahaina anchorage off Maui was received from the Tone ' s floatplane and the fleet submarine I-72 . Another four scout planes patrolled the area between the Japanese carrier force (the Kidō Butai ) and Niihau , to detect any counterattack. Fleet submarines I-16 , I-18 , I-20 , I-22 , and I-24 each embarked
10530-500: The City of Los Angeles began acquiring water rights in the Owens Valley. In 1913, it completed construction of its 233-mile (375 km) Los Angeles Aqueduct , In dry years, Los Angeles pumped ground water and drained all surface water, diverting all of it into its aqueduct and leaving Owens Valley ranchers without water. Without water for irrigation, the holdout ranchers were forced off their ranches and out of their communities; that included
10725-399: The Japanese foreign service" transmitting information to Japan. It was unlikely that these "spies" were Japanese American, as Japanese intelligence agents were distrustful of their American counterparts and preferred to recruit "white persons and Negroes." However, despite the fact that the report made no mention of Americans of Japanese ancestry, national and West Coast media nevertheless used
10920-515: The Japanese war effort, pressure mounted upon the administration as the tide of public opinion turned against Japanese Americans. A survey of the Office of Facts and Figures on February 4 (two weeks prior to the president's order) reported that a majority of Americans expressed satisfaction with existing governmental controls on Japanese Americans. Moreover, in his autobiography in 1962, Attorney General Francis Biddle , who opposed incarceration, downplayed
11115-513: The Navy all lived in houses and the junior people were the ones on the boats, so pretty much all of the people who died in the direct line of the attack were very junior people", Nelson said. "So everyone is about 17 or 18 whose story is told there." Among the notable civilian casualties were nine Honolulu Fire Department firefighters who responded to Hickam Field during the bombing in Honolulu, becoming
11310-546: The Pacific Fleet from interfering with the Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya and enabling Japan to conquer Southeast Asia without interference. The leaders of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ascribed to Alfred Thayer Mahan 's " decisive battle " doctrine, especially that of destroying the maximum number of battleships. Second, it was hoped to buy time for Japan to consolidate its position and increase its naval strength before shipbuilding authorized by
11505-459: The Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers ( Enterprise , Lexington , and Saratoga ). Despite these concerns, Yamamoto decided to press ahead. Japanese confidence in their ability to win a short war meant that other targets in the harbor, especially the navy yard, oil tank farms and submarine base, were left unscathed, since by their thinking the war would be over before the influence of these facilities would be felt. On November 26, 1941,
11700-412: The Pearl Harbor attack, was released on January 25 and accused persons of Japanese ancestry of espionage leading up to the attack. Although the report's key finding was that General Walter Short and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel had been derelict in their duties during the attack on Pearl Harbor, one passage made vague reference to "Japanese consular agents and other... persons having no open relations with
11895-573: The Pearl Harbor entrance buoy and alerted the destroyer Ward . The midget may have entered Pearl Harbor. However, Ward sank another midget submarine at 06:37 in the first American shots in the Pacific Theater. A midget submarine on the north side of Ford Island missed the seaplane tender Curtiss with her first torpedo and missed the attacking destroyer Monaghan with her other one before being sunk by Monaghan at 08:43. A third midget submarine, Ha-19 , grounded twice, once outside
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#173284846327412090-575: The Pearl Harbor strike despite dissent from certain advisors. Final authorization was not given by the emperor until December 1, after a majority of Japanese leaders advised him the Hull note would "destroy the fruits of the China incident, endanger Manchukuo and undermine Japanese control of Korea". Before the attack, he became more involved in military matters, even joining the Conference of Military Councillors, which
12285-514: The Philippines was also considered necessary by Japanese war planners. The American War Plan Orange had envisioned defending the Philippines with an elite force of 40,000 men; this option was never implemented due to opposition from Douglas MacArthur , who felt he would need a force ten times that size. By 1941, American planners expected to have to abandon the Philippines at the outbreak of war. Late that year, Admiral Thomas C. Hart , commander of
12480-436: The President tasked Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson with replying. A conference on February 17 of Secretary Stimson with assistant secretary John J. McCloy , Provost Marshal General Allen W. Gullion , Deputy chief of Army Ground Forces Mark W. Clark , and Colonel Bendetsen decided that General DeWitt should be directed to commence evacuations "to the extent he deemed necessary" to protect vital installations. Throughout
12675-646: The Salinas Vegetable Grower-Shipper Association, told The Saturday Evening Post in 1942: We're charged with wanting to get rid of the Japs for selfish reasons. We do. It's a question of whether the White man lives on the Pacific Coast or the brown men. They came into this valley to work, and they stayed to take over... If all the Japs were removed tomorrow, we'd never miss them in two weeks because
12870-674: The U.S. and by law, they were automatically considered U.S. citizens. The members of this Nisei generation constituted a cohort which was distinct from the cohort which their parents belonged to. In addition to the usual generational differences, Issei men were typically ten to fifteen years older than their wives, making them significantly older than the younger children in their often large families. U.S. law prohibited Japanese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens, making them dependent on their children whenever they rented or purchased property. Communication between English-speaking children and parents who mostly or completely spoke in Japanese
13065-477: The US 2,264 Japanese Latin American citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry. The deportation and incarceration of Japanese Americans was popular among many white farmers who resented the Japanese American farmers. "White American farmers admitted that their self-interest required the removal of the Japanese." These individuals saw incarceration as a convenient means of uprooting their Japanese American competitors. Austin E. Anson, managing secretary of
13260-412: The United States into the Second World War , enabled the implementation of the dedicated government policy of incarceration, with the action and methodology having been extensively prepared before war broke out despite multiple reports that had been consulted by President Roosevelt expressing the notion that Japanese Americans posed little threat. Although the impact on US authorities is controversial,
13455-453: The United States was unquestionable. However, six weeks after the attack, public opinion along the Pacific began to turn against Japanese Americans living on the West Coast, as the press and other Americans became nervous about the potential for fifth column activity. Though some in the administration (including Attorney General Francis Biddle and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ) dismissed all rumors of Japanese American espionage on behalf of
13650-488: The United States), but not delivered to the American government until the day after the attack. For decades, conventional wisdom held that Japan attacked without first formally breaking diplomatic relations only because of accidents and bumbling that delayed the delivery of a document hinting at war to Washington. In 1999, however, Takeo Iguchi, a professor of law and international relations at International Christian University in Tokyo, discovered documents that pointed to
13845-427: The United States, United Kingdom, and Netherlands supplied one million U.S. gallons (3.8 million liters) of aviation fuel, lifted their sanctions against Japan, and ceased aid to China. The American counter-proposal of November 26 (November 27 in Japan), the Hull note , required Japan to completely evacuate China without conditions and conclude non-aggression pacts with Pacific powers. On November 26 in Japan,
14040-506: The United States, just before 8:00 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, December 7, 1941. At the time, the United States was a neutral country in World War II . The attack on Hawaii and other U.S. territories led the United States to formally enter World War II on the side of the Allies the day following the attack, on December 8, 1941. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as
14235-498: The WRA that often criticized those in charge at the camp and the living conditions in the camp. Unskilled workers earned US$ 8 per month ($ 149.2 per month as of 2024), semi-skilled workers earned $ 12 per month ($ 224 per month as of 2024), skilled workers made $ 16 per month ($ 298 per month as of 2024), and professionals earned $ 19 per month ($ 354 per month as of 2024). In addition, everybody received $ 3.60 per month ($ 67 per month as of 2024) as
14430-531: The West Coast in August 1942. In addition to imprisoning those of Japanese descent in the US, the US also interned people of Japanese (and German and Italian) descent deported from Latin America. Thirteen Latin American countries—Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru—cooperated with the US by apprehending, detaining and deporting to
14625-609: The West Coast, created a labor shortage which was exacerbated by the induction of many white American laborers into the Armed Forces. This vacuum precipitated a mass immigration of Mexican workers into the United States to fill these jobs, under the banner of what became known as the Bracero Program . Many Japanese detainees were temporarily released from their camps – for instance, to harvest Western beet crops – to address this wartime labor shortage. Like many white American farmers,
14820-524: The Western Defense Command, publicly announced the creation of two military restricted zones. Military Area No. 1 consisted of the southern half of Arizona and the western half of California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as all of California south of Los Angeles. Military Area No. 2 covered the rest of those states. DeWitt's proclamation informed Japanese Americans they would be required to leave Military Area 1, but stated that they could remain in
15015-583: The White farmers can take over and produce everything the Jap grows. And we do not want them back when the war ends, either. The Leadership of the Japanese American Citizens League did not question the constitutionality of the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast . Instead, arguing it would better serve the community to follow government orders without protest, the organization advised
15210-598: The agriculture of California and other Western states, by introducing irrigation methods which enabled them to cultivate fruits, vegetables, and flowers on previously inhospitable land. In both rural and urban areas, kenjinkai, community groups for immigrants from the same Japanese prefecture , and fujinkai , Buddhist women's associations, organized community events and did charitable work, provided loans and financial assistance and built Japanese language schools for their children. Excluded from setting up shop in white neighborhoods, nikkei -owned small businesses thrived in
15405-504: The aircraft carriers and return to combat. Fighters were to assume CAP duties where needed, especially over American airfields. Before the attack commenced, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched reconnaissance floatplanes from heavy cruisers Chikuma and Tone , to scout Oahu and Lahaina Roads, Maui, respectively, with orders to report on American fleet composition and location. Reconnaissance aircraft flights risked alerting
15600-425: The approximately 120,000 affected to go peacefully. The Roberts Commission Report, prepared at President Franklin D. Roosevelt's request, has been cited as an example of the fear and prejudice informing the thinking behind the incarceration program. The Report sought to link Japanese Americans with espionage activity, and to associate them with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Columnist Henry McLemore , who wrote for
15795-591: The area was settled by the Owens Valley Paiute, who ranged across the Owens Valley from Long Valley on the north to Owens Lake on the south, and from the crest of the Sierra Nevada on the west to the Inyo Mountains on the east. When European American settlers first arrived in the Owens Valley in the mid-19th century, they found a number of large Paiute villages in the Manzanar area. John Shepherd, one of
15990-415: The attack falls into a broader trend of anti-Japanese attitudes on the West Coast of the United States. To this end, preparations had already been made in the collection of names of Japanese American individuals and organizations, along with other foreign nationals such as Germans and Italians, that were to be removed from society in the event of a conflict. The December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor , bringing
16185-407: The attack on Pearl Harbor that was declassified in the 1990s and publicized in the 2000s to the public, shows the fifth midget submarine firing a torpedo at West Virginia and another at Oklahoma . These torpedoes were twice the size of the aerial torpedoes so it was possible that both torpedoes heavily contributed to the sinkings of both ships and especially helped to capsize Oklahoma as Oklahoma
16380-545: The attack on Pearl Harbor the president disregarded the advice of advisors, notably John Franklin Carter , who urged him to speak out in defense of the rights of Japanese Americans. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led military and political leaders to suspect that Imperial Japan was preparing a full-scale invasion of the United States West Coast . Due to Japan's rapid military conquest of
16575-410: The attack. Ammunition lockers were locked, aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip in the open to prevent sabotage, guns unmanned (none of the Navy's 5"/38s , only a quarter of its machine guns, and only four of 31 Army batteries got in action). Despite this low alert status , many American military personnel responded effectively during the attack. Ensign Joseph Taussig Jr. , aboard Nevada , commanded
16770-660: The auspices of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto , then commanding Japan's Combined Fleet . He won assent to formal planning and training for an attack from the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff only after much contention with Naval Headquarters, including a threat to resign his command. Full-scale planning was underway by early spring 1941, primarily by Rear Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka , with assistance from Commander Minoru Genda and Yamamoto's Deputy Chief of Staff, Captain Kameto Kuroshima. The planners studied
16965-505: The auspices of martial law, both "enemy aliens" and citizens of Japanese and "German" descent were arrested and interned (incarcerated if they were a US citizen). Presidential Proclamation 2537 (codified at 7 Fed. Reg. 329 ) was issued on January 14, 1942, requiring "alien enemies" to obtain a certificate of identification and carry it "at all times". Enemy aliens were not allowed to enter restricted areas. Violators of these regulations were subject to "arrest, detention and incarceration for
17160-405: The barracks. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, a Manzanar survivor, described the living conditions in her book: "After dinner we were taken to Block 16, a cluster of fifteen barracks that had just been finished a day or so earlier—although finished was hardly a word for it. The shacks were built of pine planking covered with tarpaper. They sat on concrete footings, with about two feet of open space between
17355-542: The bombing of Pearl Harbor and pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act , Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526 and 2527 were issued designating Japanese, German and Italian nationals as enemy aliens. Information gathered by US officials over the previous decade was used to locate and incarcerate thousands of Japanese American community leaders in the days immediately following Pearl Harbor (see section elsewhere in this article " Other concentration camps "). In Hawaii, under
17550-440: The camp for Tayama as well as Tokie Slocum and Togo Tanaka, two other suspected collaborators. When they were unable to find any of them, the searchers began returning toward the jail. While the smaller search parties were searching the camp, the camp director had been trying to negotiate with the five representatives. This appeared to work initially, but the crowd gradually became more angry and started throwing bottles and rocks at
17745-442: The camp their families would be staying in. Manzanar was in operation as an internment camp from 1942 until 1945. Since the last of those incarcerated left in 1945, former detainees and others have worked to protect Manzanar and to establish it as a National Historic Site to ensure that the history of the site, along with the stories of those who were incarcerated there, is recorded for current and future generations. The primary focus
17940-481: The camp. In early 1944, a chicken ranch began operation, and in late April of the same year, the camp opened a hog farm. Both operations provided welcome meat supplements to the diet. Shortly after being interned, Togo Tanaka and Joe Masaoka were hired by anthropologist Robert Redfield as documentary historians for the camp. In addition to his work at the Manzanar Free Press , he filed hundreds of reports to
18135-485: The camp. The water at Manzanar was unclean, and caused many inmates to suffer from dysentery. Some of those interned at the camp supported the policies implemented by the War Relocation Authority , causing them to be targeted by others in the camp. On December 6, 1942, a riot broke out and two internees were killed. Togo Tanaka was one of those targeted, but he escaped by disguising himself and mingling into
18330-401: The camps, and many were forced to sell some or all of their property, including their homes and businesses. At the camps, which were surrounded by barbed wire fences and patrolled by armed guards, internees often lived in overcrowded barracks with minimal furnishing. In its 1944 decision Korematsu v. United States , the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the removals under
18525-586: The coast. Manzanar was the first of the ten concentration camps to be established, and began accepting detainees in March 1942. Initially, it was a temporary "reception center", known as the Owens Valley Reception Center from March 21, 1942, to May 31, 1942. At that time, it was operated by the US Army's Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA). The first director of the camp was Calvin E. Triggs ,
18720-680: The commanding officer of one of the submarines, was captured. Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire later that day (December 8 in Tokyo ), but the declarations were not delivered until the following day. The British government declared war on Japan immediately after learning that their territory had also been attacked, while the following day (December 8), the United States Congress declared war on Japan . On December 11, though they had no formal obligation to do so under
18915-449: The construction of what were later called "relocation centers" by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), to house those who were to be excluded. This order resulted in the forced relocation of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were native-born American citizens ; the rest had been prevented from becoming citizens by federal law. Over 110,000 were incarcerated in the ten concentration camps located far inland and away from
19110-500: The crowd that was searching for him. Others were outraged that their patriotism was being questioned simply because of their ethnic heritage. Despite the hardships endured, the internees gradually "turned [the] concentration camp into a community" by "[spending] their days creating beautiful things". The barracks at Manzanar had no cooking areas, and all meals were served at block mess halls. The mess hall lines were long and stretched outside regardless of weather. The cafeteria-style eating
19305-443: The crowd. The five representatives demanded that Ueno be released, but the camp director did not immediately agree. After the crowd began getting more unruly, the director finally agreed to release Ueno if the crowd agreed he should still stand trial, no one attempted to break him out of the camp jail, the five representatives would discuss any further wants with the director, the protesting crowds would disperse and not reassemble, and
19500-561: The day before the note's delivery, the Japanese task force left port for Pearl Harbor . The Japanese intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with their planned military actions in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom , the Netherlands , and the United States. Over the course of seven hours, there were coordinated Japanese attacks on
19695-405: The daytime highs, and high winds are common day or night. The area's mean annual precipitation is barely five inches (12.7 cm). The ever-present dust was a continual problem due to the frequent high winds; so much so that people usually woke up in the morning covered from head to toe with a fine layer of dust, and they constantly had to sweep dirt out of the barracks. "In the summer, the heat
19890-602: The deadliest event ever recorded in Hawaii. It was also the deadliest foreign attack against the United States in its history until the September 11 attacks of 2001. Important base installations, such as the power station, dry dock , shipyard , maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section ) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines were lost, and 129 servicemen killed. Kazuo Sakamaki ,
20085-497: The duration of the war." On February 13, the Pacific Coast Congressional subcommittee on aliens and sabotage recommended to the President immediate evacuation of "all persons of Japanese lineage and all others, aliens and citizens alike" who were thought to be dangerous from "strategic areas," further specifying that these included the entire "strategic area" of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. On February 16
20280-451: The eight United States Navy battleships present, all were damaged and four were sunk. All but USS Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers , three destroyers , an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer . More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,393 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded, making it
20475-629: The evening hours of that same day, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested selected "enemy aliens ", including more than 5,500 Issei men. Many citizens in California were alarmed about potential activities by people of Japanese descent. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 , which authorized the Secretary of War to designate military commanders to prescribe military areas and to exclude "any or all persons" from such areas. The order also authorized
20670-506: The example of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act , effectively banned all immigration from Japan and other "undesirable" Asian countries. The 1924 ban on immigration produced unusually well-defined generational groups within the Japanese American community. The Issei were exclusively those Japanese who had immigrated before 1924; some of them desired to return to their homeland. Because no more immigrants were permitted, all Japanese Americans who were born after 1924 were, by definition, born in
20865-416: The executive order did not mention Japanese Americans, this authority was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were required to leave Alaska and the military exclusion zones from all of California and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, with the exception of those inmates who were being held in government camps. The detainees were not only people of Japanese ancestry, they also included
21060-459: The executive order, the entire West Coast was designated a military exclusion area, and all Japanese Americans living there were taken to assembly centers before being sent to concentration camps in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas. Similar actions were taken against individuals of Japanese decent in Canada . Internees were prohibited from taking more than they could carry into
21255-466: The existing orchards for fruit. During the time Manzanar was in operation, 188 weddings were held, 541 children were born in the camp, and between 135 and 146 individuals died. Life in the camp became more difficult as sickness spread throughout it. The housing sector of the camp was just 500 acres and held more than ten thousand prisoners at its peak. The compactness of the camp led many people to fall ill even though they were given vaccines upon arrival to
21450-417: The first of the new settlers, homesteaded 160 acres (65 ha) of land 3 miles (5 km) north of Georges Creek in 1864. With the help of Owens Valley Paiute field workers and laborers, he expanded his ranch to 2,000 acres (810 ha). In 1905, George Chaffey , an agricultural developer from Southern California , purchased Shepherd's ranch and subdivided it, along with other adjacent ranches. He founded
21645-532: The first target; instead, they expected the Philippines to be attacked first. This presumption was due to the threat that the air bases throughout the country and the naval base at Manila posed to sea lanes, as well as to the shipment of supplies to Japan from territory to the south. They also incorrectly believed that Japan was not capable of mounting more than one major naval operation at a time. The Japanese attack had several major aims. First, it intended to destroy important American fleet units, thereby preventing
21840-552: The first to be placed in a concentration camp in the event of trouble" between Japan and the United States. In 1939, again by order of the President, the ONI, Military Intelligence Division , and FBI began working together to compile a larger Custodial Detention Index . Early in 1941, Roosevelt commissioned Curtis Munson to conduct an investigation on Japanese Americans living on the West Coast and in Hawaii. After working with FBI and ONI officials and interviewing Japanese Americans and those familiar with them, Munson determined that
22035-449: The first wave approached Oahu, it was detected by United States Army SCR-270 radar positioned at Opana Point near the island's northern tip. This post had been in training mode for months, but was not yet operational. The operators, Privates George Elliot Jr. and Joseph Lockard , reported a target to Private Joseph P. McDonald , a private stationed at Fort Shafter 's Intercept Center near Pearl Harbor. Lieutenant Kermit A. Tyler ,
22230-476: The first wave. The first wave was to be the primary attack, while the second wave was to attack carriers as its first objective and cruisers as its second, with battleships as the third target. The first wave carried most of the weapons designed to attack capital ships, mainly specially adapted Type 91 aerial torpedoes which were designed with an anti-roll mechanism and a rudder extension that let them operate in shallow water. The aircrews were ordered to select
22425-403: The five would work to dispel and quiet the protesters. Ueno was then returned to the camp jail in the early evening. When the five representatives went to verify that Ueno was in the jail, the crowd again returned to protest. Instead of dispersing as asked, they broke into groups to try to find Tayama and kill him. When they were unable to find him in the hospital, they began searching all through
22620-593: The floorboards and the ground. Gaps showed between the planks, and as the weeks passed and the green wood dried out, the gaps widened. Knotholes gaped in the uncovered floor." In the book, she goes on to explain the size and layout of the barracks. They were divided into six units that were sixteen long by twenty feet wide, and a single light bulb hung from the ceiling. They had an oil stove for heat as well as two army blankets each, some mattress covers and steel army cots. These apartments consisted of partitions with no ceilings, eliminating any chance of privacy. Lack of privacy
22815-578: The following days), and became known as the "Manzanar Revolt" or "Manzanar Riot". Some of the tension that precipitated the riot was related to work availability and the pay of those jobs, with Nisei and members of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) getting preferential treatment. After several months of tension between those who supported the JACL and a group of Kibei (Japanese Americans educated in Japan), rumors spread that sugar and meat shortages were
23010-508: The gardens at the Block ;22 mess hall to discuss what they should do, and another meeting was scheduled for a few hours later. Between two and four thousand people gathered at the meeting where they listened to speeches and chose five people to present their grievances to the camp director. The crowd decided to follow the five representatives, which caused the camp director to tell the military police to muster in order to be available to control
23205-481: The government to move all the Japanese out. As a matter of fact, it's not being instigated or developed by people who are not thinking but by the best people of California. Since the publication of the Roberts Report they feel that they are living in the midst of a lot of enemies. They don't trust the Japanese, none of them. DeWitt, who administered the incarceration program, repeatedly told newspapers that "A Jap 's
23400-486: The ground. Almost none were actually ready to take off to defend the base. Eight Army Air Forces pilots managed to get airborne during the attack, and six were credited with downing at least one Japanese aircraft during the attack: 1st Lieutenant Lewis M. Sanders and 2nd Lieutenants Philip M. Rasmussen , Kenneth M. Taylor , George S. Welch , Harry W. Brown , and Gordon H. Sterling Jr. Of 33 Consolidated PBY Catalinas in Hawaii, 30 were destroyed, while three on patrol at
23595-431: The harbor entrance and again on the east side of Oahu, where it was captured on December 8. Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki swam ashore and was captured by Hawaii National Guard Corporal David Akui , becoming the first Japanese prisoner of war . A fourth had been damaged by a depth charge attack and was abandoned by its crew before it could fire its torpedoes. It was found outside the harbor in 1960. Japanese forces received
23790-421: The highest-value targets (battleships and aircraft carriers ) or, if these were not present, any other high-value ships (cruisers and destroyers). First-wave dive bombers were to attack ground targets. Fighters were ordered to strafe and destroy as many parked aircraft as possible to ensure they did not intercept the bombers, especially in the first wave. When the fighters' fuel got low, they were to refuel aboard
23985-484: The hog." Camp, school, and individual gardens eventually helped supplement the menu in the mess halls. Internees also snuck out of the camp to go fishing, often bringing back their catches to the camp. Harry Ueno accused camp administrators and leaders in the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) of stealing food meant for the internees and then selling it on the black market . During the December 1942 camp riot , Ueno
24180-410: The imprisonment of such a large proportion of the islands' population would adversely affect the economic prosperity of the territory. The Japanese represented "over 90 percent of the carpenters, nearly all of the transportation workers, and a significant portion of the agricultural laborers" on the islands. General Delos Carleton Emmons , the military governor of Hawaii, also argued that Japanese labor
24375-465: The incarcerated people had to endure primitive, sub-standard conditions and lack of privacy. They had to wait in line for meals, at latrines, and at the laundry room. Each camp was intended to be self-sufficient, and Manzanar was no exception. Cooperatives operated various services, such as the camp newspaper, beauty salons and barber shops, shoe repair, libraries, and more. In addition, there were some who raised chickens, hogs, and vegetables, and cultivated
24570-484: The incarceration, and as a result, he decided not to enforce it in the state and he also discouraged residents from harassing their fellow citizens, the Nisei . He turned against the Japanese by mid-February 1942, days before the executive order was issued, but he later regretted this decision and he attempted to atone for it for the rest of his life. Even though the incarceration was a generally popular policy in California, it
24765-416: The influence of public opinion in prompting the president's decision. He even considered it doubtful "whether, political and special group press aside, public opinion even on the West Coast supported evacuation." Support for harsher measures toward Japanese Americans increased over time, however, in part since Roosevelt did little to use his office to calm attitudes. According to a March 1942 poll conducted by
24960-464: The latter perceived as an unfriendly act. The United States did not stop oil exports, however, partly because of the prevailing sentiment in Washington that given Japanese dependence on American oil, such an action was likely to be considered an extreme provocation. In mid-1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Hawaii. He also ordered a military buildup in
25155-452: The local Japanese American population in the event of war, “every Japanese citizen or non-citizen on the Island of Oahu who meets these Japanese ships or has any connection with their officers or men should be secretly but definitely identified and his or her name placed on a special list of those who would be the first to be placed in a concentration camp." In the weeks immediately following
25350-424: The main entrance. Many of the camp administration staff lived inside the fence at the camp, though the military police lived outside the fence. Typical businesses such as a cooperative store and other shops and a camp newspaper were operated by the internees. A camouflage net factory, to provide the nets to various military units, was operated on the site. An experimental plantation for producing natural rubber from
25545-459: The majority of them settling on the West Coast and establishing farms or small businesses. Most arrived before 1908, when the Gentlemen's Agreement between Japan and the United States banned the immigration of unskilled laborers. A loophole allowed the wives of men who were already living in the US to join their husbands. The practice of women marrying by proxy and immigrating to the U.S. resulted in
25740-504: The meeting, warning that it was the only way to preserve the conciliatory Konoe government and peace in the Pacific. However, his recommendation was not acted upon. The Konoe government collapsed the following month when the Japanese military rejected a withdrawal of all troops from China. Japan's final proposal, delivered on November 20, offered to withdraw from southern Indochina and to refrain from attacks in Southeast Asia, so long as
25935-399: The message took too long for the Japanese ambassador to deliver it at 1:00 p.m. Washington time, as ordered, and consequently the message was not presented until more than one hour after the attack had begun — but American code breakers had already deciphered and translated most of the message hours before it was scheduled to be delivered. The final part of the message
26130-531: The movements and daily lives of Japanese Americans. Included in the forced removal was Alaska , which, like Hawaii, was an incorporated U.S. territory located in the northwest extremity of the continental United States. Unlike the contiguous West Coast, Alaska was not subject to any exclusion zones due to its small Japanese population. Nevertheless, the Western Defense Command announced in April 1942 that all Japanese people and Americans of Japanese ancestry were to leave
26325-444: The name of the newspaper, the War Relocation Authority (WRA) controlled the content of the paper and used it to publish announcements from the camp administration, news from other camps, orders, rules and guidelines from the WRA, and upcoming camp events, in addition to the regular content. Some content was not allowed to be published. The standard content included articles about life in the camps, sports scores and coverage, coverage of
26520-580: The newspaper include Togo Tanaka , who was the English section editor of the Rafu Shimpo before being incarcerated. Tanaka also delivered the Free Press before working as a journalist for them. While working as a reporter for the Free Press , Tanaka wrote hundreds of articles documenting the everyday life in the camp. Beginning on July 22, 1942, Chiye Mori , poet and journalist, was listed as an editor. Despite
26715-520: The next decade, Japan expanded into China , leading to the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Japan spent considerable effort trying to isolate China and endeavored to secure enough independent resources to attain victory on the mainland. The " Southern Operation " was designed to assist these efforts. Starting in December 1937, events such as the Japanese attack on USS Panay , the Allison incident , and
26910-603: The next three years. The 61 remaining children in Maryknoll, Shonien and the Salvation Army Home were slated for removal. On June 23, 1942, they were bused, under armed guard, with several adult caretakers, from Los Angeles to Manzanar. Over the next few months, approximately thirty more children from Washington, Oregon and Alaska, mostly orphans who had been living with non-Japanese foster families, would arrive in Manzanar. After being uprooted from their homes and communities,
27105-428: The official photos allowed out by the WRA rarely showed them. The New Year tradition of mochitsuki —pounding glutinous rice into mochi—was regularly covered by the camp newspaper . Craftsman in the camp carved geta for many of the residents, though the official photography only pointed out that they were useful for keeping above the dusty ground. Although most quietly accepted their fate during World War II, there
27300-666: The only fire department members on American soil to be attacked by a foreign power in history. Fireman Harry Tuck Lee Pang of Engine 6 was killed near the hangars by machine-gun fire from a Japanese plane. Captains Thomas Macy and John Carreira of Engine 4 and Engine 1, respectively, died while battling flames inside the hangar after a Japanese bomb crashed through the roof. An additional six firefighters were wounded by Japanese shrapnel. The wounded later received Purple Hearts (originally reserved for service members wounded by enemy action while partaking in armed conflicts) for their peacetime actions that day on June 13, 1944;
27495-487: The opening line of his speech to a Joint Session of Congress the following day, to famously label December 7, 1941, " a date which will live in infamy ". War between the Empire of Japan and the United States was seen as a possibility since the 1920s. Japan had been wary of American territorial and military expansion in the Pacific and Asia since the late 1890s, followed by the annexation of islands, such as Hawaii and
27690-484: The operators of the six B-17s that were due (even though it was widely known). As the first wave approached Oahu, they encountered and shot down several American aircraft. At least one of these radioed a somewhat incoherent warning. Other warnings from ships off the harbor entrance were still being processed or awaiting confirmation when the Japanese air assault began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time (3:18 a.m. December 8 Japanese Standard Time , as kept by ships of
27885-588: The outbreak of war with the Empire of Japan in December 1941. About 127,000 Japanese Americans then lived in the continental U.S. , of which about 112,000 lived on the West Coast . About 80,000 were Nisei ('second generation'; American-born Japanese with U.S. citizenship) and Sansei ('third generation', the children of Nisei ). The rest were Issei ('first generation') immigrants born in Japan, who were ineligible for citizenship. In Hawaii , where more than 150,000 Japanese Americans comprised more than one-third of
28080-486: The peace of the Pacific through cooperation with the American Government has finally been lost. The Japanese Government regrets to have to notify hereby the American Government that in view of the attitude of the American Government it cannot but consider that it is impossible to reach an agreement through further negotiations. United States naval intelligence officers were alarmed by the unusual timing for delivering
28275-460: The perimeter fence, which was topped by barbed wire. The grid layout used in the camp was standard, and a similar layout was used in all of the relocation centers. The residential area was about one square mile (2.6 km), and consisted of 36 blocks of hastily constructed, 20-foot (6.1 m) by 100-foot (30 m) tarpaper barracks, with each family (up to eight people) living in a single 20-foot (6.1 m) by 25-foot (7.6 m) "apartment" in
28470-434: The public spaces of the camp (such as between barracks). The camp administration even allowed some gardens to be created outside the camp. These helped create a sense of community and gave the internees a place to heal. Remnants of some of the gardens, pools, and rock ornaments are still present at Manzanar, and there are plans to restore at least some of them. One of the most popular pastimes for those incarcerated at Manzanar
28665-478: The report to vilify Japanese Americans and inflame public opinion against them. Major Karl Bendetsen and Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt , head of the Western Defense Command , questioned Japanese American loyalty. DeWitt said: The fact that nothing has happened so far is more or less . . . ominous, in that I feel that in view of the fact that we have had no sporadic attempts at sabotage that there
28860-634: The resources of the Dutch East Indies . Anticipating a negative response, Japan sent out its naval attack groups in November 1941 just prior to receiving the Hull note —which states the United States desire that Japan withdraw from China and French Indochina . Japan intended the attack as a preventive action. Its aim was to prevent the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with its planned military actions in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of
29055-479: The result of black marketing by camp administrators. To make matters worse, JACL leader Fred Tayama was beaten by six masked men on the evening of December 5. Harry Ueno, the leader of the Kitchen Workers Union, and two others suspected of involvement, were arrested. The other two suspects were questioned and released, but Ueno was removed from Manzanar. About 200 internees met on the morning of December 6 in
29250-497: The second restricted zone. Removal from Military Area No. 1 initially occurred through "voluntary evacuation." Japanese Americans were free to go anywhere outside of the exclusion zone or inside Area 2, with arrangements and costs of relocation to be borne by the individuals. The policy was short-lived; DeWitt issued another proclamation on March 27 that prohibited Japanese Americans from leaving Area 1. A night-time curfew, also initiated on March 27, 1942, placed further restrictions on
29445-608: The second wave attacked the Army Air Forces' Bellows Field , near Kaneohe on the windward side of the island, and Ford Island. The only aerial opposition came from a handful of P-36 Hawks , P-40 Warhawks and some SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the carrier Enterprise . In the first-wave attack, about eight of the forty-nine 800‑kg (1760 lb) armor-piercing bombs dropped hit their intended battleship targets. At least two of those bombs broke up on impact, another detonated before penetrating an unarmored deck, and one
29640-584: The ship's antiaircraft guns and was severely wounded but remained at his post. Lieutenant Commander F. J. Thomas commanded Nevada in the captain's absence and got her underway until the ship was grounded at 9:10 a.m. One of the destroyers, Aylwin , got underway with only four officers aboard, all ensigns, none with more than a year's sea duty; she operated at sea for 36 hours before her commanding officer managed to get back aboard. Captain Mervyn Bennion , commanding West Virginia , led his men until he
29835-421: The soldiers. The military police responded with tear gas to disperse them. As people ran to avoid the tear gas, some in the crowd pushed a driverless truck toward the jail. At that moment, the military police fired into the crowd, killing a 17-year-old boy instantly. A 21-year-old man who was shot in the abdomen died a few days later. At least nine to ten other prisoners were wounded, and a military police corporal
30030-684: The south and Independence to the north, approximately 230 miles (370 km) north of Los Angeles. Manzanar means "apple orchard" in Spanish. The Manzanar National Historic Site , which preserves and interprets the legacy of Japanese American incarceration in the United States, was identified by the United States National Park Service as the best-preserved of the ten former camp sites. The first Japanese Americans arrived at Manzanar in March 1942, just one month after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 , to build
30225-464: The surrounding communities—included original productions by internees as well as traditional Japanese works of kabuki and noh . Internees, many of whom were relocated from their landscaping businesses in the Los Angeles area, personalized and beautified their barren surroundings by building elaborate gardens and parks, which often included pools, waterfalls, and rock ornaments. Competitions were often held between landscapers as they created gardens in
30420-504: The ten camps were shut down by the end of 1945. Japanese Americans were initially barred from U.S. military service, but by 1943, they were allowed to join, with 20,000 serving during the war. Over 4,000 students were allowed to leave the camps to attend college. Hospitals in the camps recorded 5,981 births and 1,862 deaths during incarceration. In the 1970s, under mounting pressure from the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and redress organizations , President Jimmy Carter appointed
30615-521: The termination of negotiations ... and they clearly prevailed." In any event, even if the Japanese had decoded and delivered the 14-Part Message before the beginning of the attack, it would not have constituted either a formal break of diplomatic relations or a declaration of war. The final two paragraphs of the message read: Thus the earnest hope of the Japanese Government to adjust Japanese-American relations and to preserve and promote
30810-641: The territory for incarceration camps inland. By the end of the month, over 200 Japanese residents regardless of citizenship were exiled from Alaska, most of them ended up at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Southern Idaho . Eviction from the West Coast began on March 24, 1942, with Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1, which gave the 227 Japanese American residents of Bainbridge Island, Washington six days to prepare for their "evacuation" directly to Manzanar. Colorado governor Ralph Lawrence Carr
31005-471: The three firefighters killed did not receive theirs until December 7, 1984, on the 43rd anniversary of the attack. This made the nine men the only non-military firefighters to receive such an award in American history. Already damaged by a torpedo and on fire amidships, Nevada attempted to exit the harbor. She was targeted by many Japanese bombers as she got under way and sustained more hits from 250 lb (113 kg) bombs, which started further fires. She
31200-656: The town of Manzanar in 1910, along the main line of the Southern Pacific . By August 1911, the town's population was approaching 200. The company built an irrigation system over an area of 1,000 acres (400 ha) and planted about 20,000 fruit trees. By 1920, the town had more than 25 homes, a two-room school , a town hall, and a general store . Also at that time, nearly 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of apple, pear, and peach trees were under cultivation; along with crops of grapes, prunes, potatoes, corn and alfalfa; and large vegetable and flower gardens. As early as March 1905,
31395-599: The town of Manzanar, which was abandoned by 1929. Manzanar remained uninhabited until the United States Army leased 6,200 acres (2,500 ha) from the City of Los Angeles for the Manzanar War Relocation Center. After the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor , the United States Government swiftly moved to begin solving the " Japanese Problem " on the West Coast of the United States. In
31590-548: The war, and so on. People made life at Manzanar more tolerable through recreation. They participated in sports, including baseball , football , basketball , soccer , volleyball , softball , and martial arts . A nine-hole golf course was built at the camp. Lou Frizzell served as the musical director, and under his mentorship Mary Nomura became known as the "songbird of Manzanar" for her performances at dances and other camp events. Theatre performances—for internees, camp administration and WRA staff, and even for some members of
31785-628: The war, interned Japanese Americans protested against their treatment and insisted that they be recognized as loyal Americans. Many sought to demonstrate their patriotism by trying to enlist in the armed forces. Although early in the war Japanese Americans were barred from military service, by 1943 the army had begun actively recruiting Nisei to join new all-Japanese American units. Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized military commanders to designate "military areas" at their discretion, "from which any or all persons may be excluded." These "exclusion zones," unlike
31980-417: The weather. The Owens Valley lies at an elevation of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Summers on the desert floor of the Owens Valley are generally hot, with temperatures often exceeding 100 °F (38 °C). Winters bring occasional snowfall and daytime temperatures that often drop into the 40 °F (4 °C) range. At night, temperatures are generally 30 to 40 °F (16.7 to 22.2 °C) lower than
32175-576: The white businessmen of Hawaii had their own motives for determining how to deal with the Japanese Americans, but they opposed their incarceration. Instead, these individuals gained the passage of legislation which enabled them to retain the freedom of the nearly 150,000 Japanese Americans who would have otherwise been sent to concentration camps which were located in Hawaii. As a result, only 1,200 to 1,800 Japanese Americans in Hawaii were incarcerated. The powerful businessmen of Hawaii concluded that
32370-640: Was "'absolutely essential' for rebuilding the defenses destroyed at Pearl Harbor ." Recognizing the Japanese American community's contribution to the affluence of the Hawaiian economy, General Emmons fought against the incarceration of the Japanese Americans and had the support of most of the businessmen of Hawaii. By comparison, Idaho governor Chase A. Clark , in a Lions Club speech on May 22, 1942, said "Japs live like rats, breed like rats and act like rats. We don't want them ... permanently located in our state." Initially, Oregon's governor Charles A. Sprague opposed
32565-449: Was a dud. Thirteen of the forty torpedoes hit battleships, while four hit other ships. Men aboard the ships awoke to the sounds of alarms, bombs exploding, and gunfire, prompting them to dress as they ran to General Quarters stations. (The famous message, "Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is not drill.", was sent from the headquarters of Patrol Wing Two, the first senior Hawaiian command to respond.) American servicemen were caught unprepared by
32760-435: Was a major problem, especially since the camp had communal men's and women's latrines. Former Manzanar inmate Rosie Kakuuchi said that the communal facilities were "[o]ne of the hardest things to endure", adding that neither the latrines nor showers had partitions or stalls. Each residential block also had a communal mess hall (large enough to serve 300 people at one time), a laundry room, a recreation hall, an ironing room, and
32955-576: Was arrested for allegedly beating another internee who was a member of the JACL. Most of the adults were employed at Manzanar to keep the camp running. In order for the camps to be self-sufficient, the adults were employed in a variety of jobs to supply the camp and the military. Jobs included clothing and furniture manufacturing, farming and tending orchards, military manufacturing such as camouflage netting and experimental rubber, teaching, civil service jobs such as police, fire fighters, and nursing, and general service jobs operating stores, beauty parlors, and
33150-600: Was baseball. The men there formed almost 100 baseball teams, and the women formed 14. Regular seasons were established, teams were divided into leagues, and championship games were held. The teams included both professional and amateur players. Some of the players viewed playing baseball as a way to prove their loyalty to America, treating it like wearing an American flag. Photographer Ansel Adams took his photo (right) as part of his effort to show how those incarcerated at Manzanar "overcome [their] sense of defeat and despair." Many Japanese cultural celebrations were continued, though
33345-520: Was based on military requirements. Meals usually consisted of hot rice and vegetables, since meat was scarce due to rationing . In 1944, a chicken ranch and a hog farm began operation, providing the camp with meat. As many of the internees were farmers, they used their knowledge of fertilizers, irrigation, land reclamation, and cultivation to successfully grow productive gardens. They made their own soy sauce and tofu . Many families had small gardens outside their barracks. The food varied in quality, but
33540-596: Was considered unusual for him. Additionally, he actively sought more information about the war plans. According to an aide, he openly displayed happiness upon hearing about the success of the surprise attacks. By late 1941, many observers believed that hostilities between the United States and Japan were imminent. A Gallup poll just before the attack on Pearl Harbor found that 52% of Americans expected war with Japan, 27% did not, and 21% had no opinion. While American Pacific bases and facilities had been placed on alert on many occasions, officials doubted Pearl Harbor would be
33735-491: Was consistent with Roosevelt's long-time racial views. During the 1920s, for example, he had written articles in the Macon Telegraph opposing white-Japanese intermarriage for fostering "the mingling of Asiatic blood with European or American blood" and praising California's ban on land ownership by the first-generation Japanese. In 1936, while president, he privately wrote that, regarding contacts between Japanese sailors and
33930-407: Was cut down by fragments from a bomb which hit Tennessee , moored alongside. The second planned wave consisted of 171 planes: 54 B5Ns, 81 D3As, and 36 A6Ms, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki . Four planes failed to launch because of technical difficulties. This wave and its targets also comprised three groups of planes: The second wave was divided into three groups. One
34125-428: Was deliberately beached to avoid risking blocking the harbor entrance if she sank there. California was hit by two bombs and two torpedoes. The crew might have kept her afloat, but were ordered to abandon ship just as they were raising power for the pumps. Burning oil from Arizona and West Virginia was drifted down toward her and probably made the situation look worse than it was. The disarmed target ship Utah
34320-451: Was heavily starchy and low quality, including Vienna sausages , canned string beans , hot dogs , and apple sauce . Outside of the sausages and hot dogs, meat was rare, usually consisting of chicken or mutton that was heavily breaded and fried. Frank Kikuchi, an internee at Manzanar, stated that some of the newspapers lied to the American public by telling them that the "Japs [in the camps] are getting steaks, chops, eggs, or eating high off
34515-413: Was holed by a torpedo. The light cruiser Honolulu was damaged but remained in service. The repair vessel Vestal , moored alongside Arizona , was heavily damaged and beached. The seaplane tender Curtiss was also damaged. The destroyer Shaw was badly damaged when two bombs penetrated her forward magazine. Of the 402 American aircraft in Hawaii, 188 were destroyed and 159 damaged, 155 of them on
34710-453: Was holed twice by torpedoes. West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes, the seventh tearing away her rudder. Oklahoma was hit by four torpedoes, the last two above her belt armor , which caused her to capsize. Maryland was hit by two of the converted 16" shells, but neither caused serious damage. Although the Japanese concentrated on battleships (the largest vessels present), they did not ignore other targets. The light cruiser Helena
34905-505: Was made by Japan, but this was not Admiral Yamamoto's intention. He originally stipulated that the attack should not commence until thirty minutes after Japan had informed the United States that peace negotiations were at an end. However, the attack began before the notice could be delivered. Tokyo transmitted the 5000-word notification (commonly called the "14-Part Message") in two blocks to the Japanese Embassy in Washington. Transcribing
35100-428: Was mostly substandard compared to the food the internees ate prior to incarceration. Togo Tanaka described how people "got sick from eating ill-prepared food." Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga described trying to take care of her newborn daughter, saying that the child was so sick that, while "[m]ost infants double their weight, birth weight, at six months", her daughter "had not doubled her weight in a year". The food in Manzanar
35295-573: Was named by the 1980s Congressional Committee on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) as a cause of the deterioration of the family due to children wanting to eat with their friends instead of their families, and families not always being able to eat together. There was a strict meal schedule, with one young detainee noting "We eat from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM o'clock in the morning 12:00 PM-1:00 PM in afternoon and 5:00 PM-6:00 in night and on Sunday we eat 8:00 AM-9:00." Food at Manzanar
35490-584: Was no probable cause to support DeWitt's assertion, as the FBI concluded that there was no security threat. On January 2, the Joint Immigration Committee of the California Legislature sent a manifesto to California newspapers which attacked "the ethnic Japanese," who it alleged were "totally unassimilable." This manifesto further argued that all people of Japanese heritage were loyal subjects of
35685-689: Was not universally supported. R.C. Hoiles , publisher of the Orange County Register , argued during the war that the incarceration was unethical and unconstitutional: Attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese victory 1941 1942 Second Sino-Japanese War The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu , Hawaii,
35880-465: Was often difficult. A significant number of older Nisei, many of whom were born prior to the immigration ban, had married and already started families of their own by the time the US entered World War II. Despite racist legislation which prevented Issei from becoming naturalized citizens (or owning property , voting, or running for political office), these Japanese immigrants established communities in their new hometowns. Japanese Americans contributed to
36075-791: Was prepared to take opposing steps if "neighboring countries" were attacked. Japan and the United States engaged in negotiations during 1941, attempting to improve relations. In the course of these negotiations, Japan offered to withdraw from most of China and Indochina after making peace with the Nationalist government. It also proposed to adopt an independent interpretation of the Tripartite Pact and to refrain from trade discrimination, provided all other nations reciprocated. Washington rejected these proposals. Japanese Prime Minister Konoe then offered to meet with Roosevelt, but Roosevelt insisted on reaching an agreement before any meeting. The American ambassador to Japan repeatedly urged Roosevelt to accept
36270-405: Was provided at no charge. Manzanar Children's Village , an orphanage housing 101 Japanese-American orphans from June 1942 to September 1945, operated within the camp. Children incarcerated there were from multiple orphanages in the Los Angeles area as well as locations in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Infants born to unmarried mothers in other WRA camps were also sent to Children's Village over
36465-526: Was published at the Manzanar Relocation Center until it ceased publication. The paper was originally published as four pages biweekly which were hand-typed and mimeographed . The circulation increased as the number of people in the camp grew, the release increased to three issues weekly, and a printing press was acquired, allowing the paper to be typeset beginning on July 22, 1942. The page count also increased to six. Journalists who reported for
36660-427: Was some resistance in the camps. Poston , Heart Mountain , Topaz , and Tule Lake each had civil disturbances about wage differences, black marketing of sugar, food shortages, intergenerational friction, rumors of "informers" reporting to the camp administration or the FBI, and other issues. The most serious incident occurred at Manzanar on December 5–6, 1942 (with some of the actions on both sides carrying over into
36855-676: Was tasked to attack Kāneʻohe, the rest Pearl Harbor proper. The separate sections arrived at the attack point almost simultaneously from several directions. Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over. 2,008 sailors were killed and 710 others wounded; 218 soldiers and airmen (who were part of the Army prior to the independent United States Air Force in 1947) were killed and 364 wounded; 109 Marines were killed and 69 wounded; and 68 civilians were killed and 35 wounded. In total, 2,403 Americans were killed, and 1,178 were wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk or run aground, including five battleships. All of
37050-506: Was the only battleship that day to suffer catastrophic damage to her belt armor at the waterline from a torpedo. Admiral Chester Nimitz, in a report to Congress, confirmed that one midget submarine's torpedo (possibly from the other midget submarine that fired torpedoes but failed to hit a target) which was fired but did not explode was recovered in Pearl Harbor and was much larger than the aerial torpedoes. Others dispute this theory. The attack took place before any formal declaration of war
37245-478: Was the only elected official to publicly denounce the incarceration of American citizens (an act that cost his reelection, but gained him the gratitude of the Japanese American community, such that a statue of him was erected in the Denver Japantown's Sakura Square ). A total of 108 exclusion orders issued by the Western Defense Command over the next five months completed the removal of Japanese Americans from
37440-438: Was torpedoed, and the concussion from the blast capsized the neighboring minelayer Oglala . Two destroyers in dry dock , Cassin and Downes , were destroyed when bombs penetrated their fuel bunkers . The leaking fuel caught fire; flooding the dry dock in an effort to fight fire made the burning oil rise, and both were burned out. Cassin slipped from her keel blocks and rolled against Downes . The light cruiser Raleigh
37635-569: Was transferred to the WRA on June 1, 1942, and officially became the "Manzanar War Relocation Center". The first Japanese Americans to arrive at Manzanar were volunteers who helped build the camp. By mid–April, up to 1,000 Japanese Americans were arriving daily, and by July, the population of the camp neared 10,000. About 90 percent of the incarcerated were from the Los Angeles area, with the rest coming from Stockton , California ; and Bainbridge Island , Washington . Many were farmers and fishermen. Manzanar held 10,046 adults and children at its peak, and
37830-510: Was unbearable," said former Manzanar inmate Ralph Lazo . "In the winter, the sparsely rationed oil didn't adequately heat the tar paper-covered pine barracks with knotholes in the floor. The wind would blow so hard, it would toss rocks around." The camp site was situated on 6,200 acres (2,500 ha) at Manzanar, leased from the City of Los Angeles, with the developed portion covering approximately 540 acres (220 ha). Eight guard towers equipped with machine guns were located at intervals around
38025-525: Was wounded by a ricocheting bullet. Internment of Japanese Americans#WRA Relocation Centers During World War II , the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country . About two-thirds were U.S. citizens . These actions were initiated by Executive Order 9066 , issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, following
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