The North American Post (北米報知 Hokubei Höchi ) is a newspaper based in Seattle, Washington 's International District . It was founded in 1902 and is the largest and oldest Japanese-language newspaper published in the Pacific Northwest .
120-479: Originally called the Hokubei JiJi (The North American Times), the newspaper was founded in 1902 by first generation immigrants and investors Kiyoshi Kumamoto, Kuranosuke Hiraide, Juji Yadagai, and Ichiro Yamamoto. Its chief editor was Sakutaro Yamada, and its original office was located in the basement of Hiraide Shoten on Jackson Street. The early paper focused on both regional and international topics of importance to
240-429: 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
360-673: 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
480-420: A designated area. (The lack of a specific mention of Japanese or Japanese Americans also characterized Public Law 77-503, which Roosevelt signed on March 21, 1942, to enforce the order. ) Nevertheless, EO 9066 was intended to be applied almost solely to persons of Japanese descent. Notably, in a 1943 letter, Attorney General Francis Biddle reminded Roosevelt that "You signed the original Executive Order permitting
600-453: 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
720-689: 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
840-580: 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
960-479: A minimizing of the trauma that the Japanese community endured during the WWII incarceration. Managing the wrongs committed to their community, Japanese Americans slowly managed to overcome their community's criminalization and incarceration and came to recognize February 19, the day President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, as a National Day of Remembrance for Americans to reflect on the events that took place. After
1080-601: A one-year prison sentence. Yasui appealed his case up to the Supreme Court, where it was held that the curfew was constitutional based on military necessity . In 1983, Peter Irons and Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga discovered crucial evidence that allowed for them to petition to reopen the Korematsu case. The evidence was a copy of Lieutenant Commander K.D. Ringle's original report by the US Navy, which had not been destroyed. The report
1200-584: A potentially close election. In December 1944, Roosevelt suspended the Executive Order after the Supreme Court decision Ex parte Endo . Detainees were released, often to resettlement facilities and temporary housing, and the camps were shut down by 1946. On February 19, 1976, President Gerald Ford signed a proclamation formally terminating Executive Order 9066 and apologizing for the internment, stated: "We now know what we should have known then—not only
1320-591: 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
SECTION 10
#17328552443581440-503: A result, approximately 112,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were evicted from the West Coast of the continental United States and held in American relocation camps and other confinement sites across the country. Roosevelt hoped to establish concentration camps for Japanese Americans in Hawaii even after he signed Executive Order 9066. On February 26, 1942, he informed Secretary of
1560-488: 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
1680-638: 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
1800-566: 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
1920-565: 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
2040-573: The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 , based on the CWRIC recommendations, was signed into law by Ronald Reagan . On November 21, 1989, George H. W. Bush signed an appropriation bill authorizing payments to be paid out between 1990 and 1998. In 1990, surviving internees began to receive individual redress payments and a letter of apology. This bill applied to the Japanese Americans and to members of
2160-755: 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 ,
2280-538: The FBI , Office of Naval Intelligence and Military Intelligence Division had been conducting surveillance on Japanese-American communities in Hawaii and the continental U.S. from the early 1930s. In early 1941, President Roosevelt secretly commissioned a study to assess the possibility that Japanese Americans would pose a threat to U.S. security. The report, submitted one month before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, found that, "There will be no armed uprising of Japanese" in
2400-502: 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
2520-710: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 , which canceled the Immigration Act of 1924 and reinstated the legality of immigration from Japan into the US. Many Japanese Americans hoped they would be going back to their homes, but soon realized that all of their possessions that they could carry with them were seized by the government. In place of their homes, the Federal government provided trailers in some areas for returning Japanese Americans. The populous Asian American community prior to
SECTION 20
#17328552443582640-512: 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
2760-443: 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
2880-544: 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
3000-542: 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 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
3120-554: 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 the territory's population , only 1,200 to 1,800 were incarcerated. Internment
3240-526: 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
3360-749: 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
3480-842: The Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220, and the Act of August 21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104); Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or
3600-598: The Aleut people inhabiting the strategic Aleutian islands in Alaska who had also been relocated. In the years after the war, the interned Japanese Americans had to rebuild their lives after having suffered heavy personal losses. United States citizens and long-time residents who had been incarcerated lost their personal liberties. Many also lost their homes, businesses, property, and savings. Individuals born in Japan were not allowed to become naturalized US citizens until after passage of
3720-472: The Attorney General under the said Proclamations in respect of such prohibited and restricted areas. I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area here in above authorized to be designated, including
North American Post - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-399: 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
3960-515: 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
4080-548: The Navy Knox that he had "long felt most of the Japanese should be removed from Oahu to one of the other islands." Nevertheless, the tremendous cost, including the diversion of ships from the front lines, as well as the quiet resistance of the local military commander General Delos Emmons , made this proposal impractical and Japanese Americans in Hawaii were never incarcerated. Although the Japanese-American population in Hawaii
4200-412: 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
4320-436: 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
4440-646: 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
4560-674: 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
4680-477: 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
4800-517: The US Army but was denied. He was arrested in December 1941 for violating the military curfew, leading to his arrest and freezing of his assets. Looking to test the constitutionality of the curfew, Yasui turned himself into the police station as 11pm, five hours past the curfew. Yasui was found guilty of violating this curfew and was fined $ 5000 for not being a US citizen, despite being born in Oregon. He served
4920-470: 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,
North American Post - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-453: 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
5160-567: The United States. "For the most part," the Munson Report said, "the local Japanese are loyal to the United States or, at worst, hope that by remaining quiet they can avoid concentration camps or irresponsible mobs." A second investigation started in 1940, written by Naval Intelligence officer Kenneth Ringle and submitted in January 1942, likewise found no evidence of fifth column activity and urged against mass incarceration. Both were ignored by military and political leaders. Over two-thirds of
5280-486: 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
5400-609: 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,
5520-524: 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
5640-531: 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
5760-506: The actions of Japanese Americans in the United States. At this point, Japanese Americans were not allowed to apply for citizenship in the United States, despite having lived in the United States for generations. This proclamation declared all Japanese American adults as the "alien enemy," resulting in strict travel bans and mass xenophobia toward Asian Americans. Tensions rose in the United States, ultimately causing President Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. The Order
5880-598: 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
6000-505: The appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary, in
6120-425: 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
SECTION 50
#17328552443586240-415: 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
6360-545: 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
6480-505: 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
6600-600: The authority heretofore granted under Executive Order No. 8972, dated December 12, 1941, nor shall it be construed as limiting or modifying the duty and responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with respect to the investigation of alleged acts of sabotage or the duty and responsibility of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, prescribing regulations for
6720-409: The basis of government misconduct on November 10, 1983. In 2010, the state of California passed a bill that would name January 30 Fred Korematsu Day , making this the first day to be named after an Asian American. Korematsu v. United States was officially overturned in 2018, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor , describing the case as "gravely wrong the day it was decided." February 19, the anniversary of
6840-542: 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
6960-594: 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 the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution . The Court limited its decision to
7080-465: The conduct and control of alien enemies, except as such duty and responsibility is superseded by the designation of military areas hereunder. Franklin D. Roosevelt The White House, February 19, 1942. Originating from a proclamation that was signed on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941, Executive Order 9066 was enacted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to strictly regulate
7200-754: The country called “relocation centers”. There were two in Arkansas, two in Arizona, two in California, one in Idaho, one in Utah, one in Wyoming, and one in Colorado. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was responsible for assisting relocated people with transport, food, shelter, and other accommodations and delegated Colonel Karl Bendetsen to administer the removal of West Coast Japanese. Over
7320-401: The decision to incarcerate was based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership". The Commission recommended legislative remedies consisting of an official Government apology and redress payments of $ 20,000 to each of the survivors; a public education fund was set up to help ensure that this would not happen again ( Pub. L. 100–383 ). On August 10, 1988,
SECTION 60
#17328552443587440-497: 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
7560-720: The end of 1948 the North American Post was issued weekly and then started publishing three times a week. In March 1950, it increased to a daily issued five days a week. At the end of 1950s, newspaper circulation was about 3,000. In 1951, Henry Takemitsu Kubota became the Post's publisher. He received the Fourth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1975 in recognition of his work. Kubota remained publisher until his retirement in 1979. In 1960, associate editor Takami Hibiya became
7680-506: 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
7800-616: The exclusions so the Army could handle the Japs. It was never intended to apply to Italians and Germans." Public Law 77-50 was approved (after only an hour of discussion in the Senate and thirty minutes in the House) in order to provide for the enforcement of the executive order. Authored by War Department official Karl Bendetsen —who would later be promoted to Director of the Wartime Civilian Control Administration and oversee
7920-416: 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
8040-408: The first time since World War II. A group of community investors rallied to provide an infusion of funds, and the paper reorganized as The North American Post Publishing Company. Yoshito Fujii was named its president and publisher. One of the investors, former Uwajimaya CEO Tomio Moriguchi , later became the paper's publisher and president. In 2001, the Post relocated its office to its current site,
8160-552: 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
8280-489: The forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to "relocation centers" further inland—resulting in the incarceration of Japanese Americans ." Two-thirds of the 125,000 people displaced were U.S. citizens. Notably, far more Americans of Asian descent were forcibly interned than Americans of European descent, both in total and as a share of their relative populations. German and Italian Americans who were sent to internment camps during
8400-424: 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
8520-442: The government. Adults were offered "camp jobs" with wages of $ 12 to $ 19 per month, and many camp services such as medical care and education were provided by the camp inmates themselves. In 1943 and 1944, Roosevelt did not release those incarcerated in the camps despite the urgings of Attorney General Francis Biddle , Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes . Ickes blamed the president's failure to act on his need to win California in
8640-410: 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
8760-439: The incarceration drastically decreased as many felt there was no life to go back to, choosing to start over somewhere else. With the residual effects of being incarcerated without committing a crime, the Japanese American community experienced strong trauma and continuing racism from their fellow Americans. Though they did receive redress of $ 20,000 per surviving incarcerate, many Japanese Americans feared increased Xenophobia and
8880-451: The incarceration of Japanese Americans —the law made violations of military orders a misdemeanor punishable by up to $ 5,000 in fines and one year in prison. Using a broad interpretation of EO 9066, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt issued orders declaring certain areas of the western United States as zones of exclusion under the Executive Order. In contrast to EO 9066, the text of these orders specified "all people of Japanese ancestry." As
9000-484: 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
9120-416: 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
9240-480: 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 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
9360-403: The judgment of the Secretary of War or the said Military Commander, and until other arrangements are made, to accomplish the purpose of this order. The designation of military areas in any region or locality shall supersede designations of prohibited and restricted areas by the Attorney General under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, and shall supersede the responsibility and authority of
9480-452: 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
9600-419: 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 addition, during the crucial period after Pearl Harbor
9720-399: The local Japanese community, and provided a space to publish community obituaries, marriage announcements, and other notices. In 1913, ownership of the paper was transferred from Kiyoshi Kumamoto to Sumikiyo Arima and Shoichi Suginoo. Suginoo sold his interest in the paper to Arima in 1918, before returning to Japan. Arima's sons Sumiyoshi and Sumio both served as president of the paper during
9840-459: 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
9960-531: 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
10080-624: The original Seattle location of the Asian supermarket Uwajimaya . The paper now puts out two issues a week: the Saturday edition is Japanese-only; the Wednesday edition has both English and Japanese sections. On November 16, 2015, the Hokubei Hochi Foundation announced that digitized issues of both Hokubei Jiji (North American Times) and Hokubei Hochi (North American Post) would be made available to
10200-540: The paper's editor after Haruo Hashiguchi died. He held the position until his retirement in 1984. Japan’s Prime Minister Takeo Miki ’s friendship with Hibiya gave Hibiya special access during Miki’s visit and resulted in a special Post edition covering the Prime Minister’s activities in Seattle. In March, 1981, the newspaper reduced its frequency to three times a week. In July of that year, the Post suspended production for
10320-528: The people of Japanese ethnicity who were incarcerated were American citizens. Many of the rest had lived in the country between 20 and 40 years. Most Japanese Americans, particularly the first generation born in the United States (the Nisei ), identified as loyal to the United States of America. No Japanese-American citizen or Japanese national residing in the United States was ever found guilty of sabotage or espionage . There were 10 of these internment camps across
10440-480: The president had failed to speak out for the rights of Japanese Americans despite the urgings of advisors such as John Franklin Carter . During the same period, Roosevelt rejected the recommendations of Attorney General Francis Biddle and other top advisors, who opposed the incarceration of Japanese Americans. The text of Roosevelt's order did not use the terms "Japanese" or "Japanese Americans," instead giving officials broad power to exclude "any or all persons" from
10560-510: The public online. This is a result of "nearly four years of work by sponsors Hokubei Hochi Foundation, University of Washington Libraries (Suzzallo and Paul Allen) and Digital Initiatives". This article about a Washington (state) newspaper is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Japanese American Internment During World War II , the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by
10680-478: 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
10800-497: 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
10920-568: The signing of Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, all Japanese Americans were required to be removed from their homes and moved into military camps as a matter of national security. Fred Korematsu , 23 at the time, was someone who elected not to comply, unlike his parents who left their home and flower nursery behind. Instead, Korematsu had plastic surgery to alter the appearance of his eyes and changed his name to Clyde Sarah, claiming Spanish and Hawaiian heritage. Six months later, on May 30, Korematsu
11040-511: The signing of Executive Order 9066, is now the Day of Remembrance , an annual commemoration of the unjust incarceration of the Japanese-American community. In 2017, the Smithsonian launched an exhibit about these events with artwork by Roger Shimomura . It provides context and interprets the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II. In February 2022, for the 80th anniversary of the signing of
11160-400: The spring of 1942, General John L. DeWitt issued Western Defense Command orders for Japanese Americans to present themselves for removal. The "evacuees" were taken first to temporary assembly centers , requisitioned fairgrounds and horse racing tracks where living quarters were often converted livestock stalls. As construction on the more permanent and isolated War Relocation Authority camps
11280-641: 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
11400-593: The use of Federal troops and other Federal Agencies, with authority to accept assistance of state and local agencies. I hereby further authorize and direct all Executive Departments, independent establishments and other Federal Agencies, to assist the Secretary of War or the said Military Commanders in carrying out this Executive Order, including the furnishing of medical aid, hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter, and other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services. This order shall not be construed as modifying or limiting in any way
11520-532: 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 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
11640-746: The war were sent under the provisions of Presidential Proclamation 2526 and the Alien Enemy Act, part of the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 . The text of Executive Order 9066 was as follows: Executive Order No. 9066 Executive Order Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as amended by
11760-628: 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
11880-469: 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 the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) to investigate whether
12000-515: 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
12120-512: The years leading up to World War II. Peak daily circulation of the North American Times was about 9,000. Commemorations for the paper's 5,000th and 10,000th issues were held in 1918 and 1934 respectively. Prior to World War II, the North American Times employed around 50 staff and correspondents. The paper was issued daily from 1902 until March 12, 1942, when it ceased publication due to the internment of its staff and core readership. It
12240-640: 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
12360-432: Was a curfew starting at 8pm and ended at 6 am for all those of Japanese descent. University of Washington student, Gordon Hirabayashi , refused to abide by the order in an act of civil disobedience, resulting in his arrest. Similar to Korematsu's case, it was appealed and up to the Supreme Court. It was held by the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision that his arrest was constitutional on the basis of military necessity. He
12480-583: Was appointed to conduct an official governmental study of Executive Order 9066, related wartime orders, and their effects on Japanese Americans in the West and Alaska Natives in the Pribilof Islands . In December 1982, the CWRIC issued its findings in Personal Justice Denied , concluding that the incarceration of Japanese Americans had not been justified by military necessity. The report determined that
12600-542: Was arrested for violating the order, leading to a trial in a San Francisco Federal Court. His case was presented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which attempted to challenge whether this order was constitutional or not. After losing the case, Korematsu appealed the decision all the way to the Supreme Court, where in a 6–3 decision, the order remained for reason of "military necessity." Included in FDR's order
12720-442: Was completed, the population was transferred by truck or train. These accommodations consisted of tar paper-walled frame buildings in parts of the country with bitter winters and often hot summers. The camps were guarded by armed soldiers and fenced with barbed wire (security measures not shown in published photographs of the camps). Camps held up to 18,000 people, and were small cities, with medical care, food, and education provided by
12840-518: Was consistent with Roosevelt's long-time racial views toward Japanese Americans. 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, in regard to contacts between Japanese sailors and
12960-491: 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
13080-528: 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 the camps, and many were forced to sell some or all of their property, including their homes and businesses. At
13200-582: Was in response to the question of Japanese loyalty to the US. It was stated in the report that Japanese Americans did not truly pose a threat to the US government, showing that the passage of Executive Order 9066 was entirely based on the false pretense that Japanese Americans were "enemy aliens." This new found evidence was a document that failed to be destroyed by the US government in which included government intelligence agencies citing that Japanese Americans posed no military threat. The cases of Korematsu , Hirabayashi , and Yasui were reopened and overturned on
13320-416: 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 the executive order, the entire West Coast
13440-626: Was nearly 40% of the population of the territory and Hawaii would have been first in line for a Japanese attack, only a few thousand people were detained there. This fact supported the government's eventual conclusion that the mass removal of ethnic Japanese from the West Coast was motivated by reasons other than "military necessity." Japanese Americans and other Asians in the U.S. had suffered for decades from prejudice and racially motivated fears . Racially discriminatory laws prevented Asian Americans from owning land , voting, testifying against whites in court , and set up other restrictions. Additionally,
13560-584: 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
13680-481: Was not universally supported. R.C. Hoiles , publisher of the Orange County Register , argued during the war that the incarceration was unethical and unconstitutional: Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized
13800-465: 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
13920-512: Was sentenced six months in prison as a result of his civil disobedience. Earning his JD in 1939 from the University of Oregon, Minoru Yasui was the first Japanese American attorney admitted to the state of Oregon's bar. He began working as a consulate in Chicago for the Japanese government, but resigned shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Returning to Oregon, where he was born, he tried to join
14040-440: 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
14160-465: Was that evacuation wrong but Japanese Americans were and are loyal Americans. On the battlefield and at home the names of Japanese Americans have been and continue to be written in history for the sacrifices and the contributions they have made to the well-being and to the security of this, our common Nation." In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation to create the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). The CWRIC
14280-479: Was the only Japanese language newspaper in the United States to publish on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This took place in spite of managing editor Sumio Arima being arrested by the FBI on the previous day. Following World War II, in 1946, the paper was restarted under the name Hokubei Hochi (The North American Post). Its publishers was Sadahiko Ikoma and Kunizo Maeno. Sumio Arima returned briefly as editor-in-chief. From 1946 to
14400-478: 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
#357642