Returning home

When the camps closed, Japanese Americans were handed $25 and put on trains headed for the places they had been forcibly removed from nearly four years earlier. Harassment was common -- many returning Japanese Americans were greeted with signs reading "No Japs Allowed." Other discovered their property had been vandalized or stolen. Homes and businesses that had been boarded up or left in the care of others were abandoned and stripped of furnishings and goods. For the majority, who did not have homes to return to, housing was the most serious problem. Housing discrimination was severe in many areas and persisted to varying degrees until the civil rights legislation of the 1960s. Former camp inmates with no other options moved into hostels and converted community institutions with conditions not much better than the camps they had just left. Although this period was stressful, it is remembered as a time when people came together to share what they had.

World War II (231)
Leaving camp (287)
Returning home (1049)

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1049 items

img Sorelles Beach Outing (ddr-one-1-398)

Black and white photographic negative of Nisei at the Oregon Coast sitting in the sand at a beach outing planned by the Sorrelles (a high school social group). Front row from left to right: Masae "Elsie" (Morita) Onishi, Joe Namba, and Nobyo Sato. Back row from left to right: Jean Matsumoto, Grace (Sakano) Robbs, and Atsuko …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-398/

img Wedding of Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto (ddr-one-1-45)

Black and white photographic negative of wedding attendants posed. Left to right: Tamaye (Fujiwara) Nomi and Yoichi "Jack" Nomi.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-45/

img Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-73)

Color slide of unidentified Japanese Americans outside performing a Odori (traditional Japanese folk dance) at night.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-73/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-252)

Black and white photographic negative of nine Obon dancers posing for the camera. From left to right: unidentified, Kuni Kitayama, Sakae Kobayashi, Hisako (Onishi) Saito, Hisano Sakamoto, unidentified, Tomi Tsujimura, Yoshino Fujii, unidentified. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended by the wider Nikkei …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-252/

img Boy Scouts (ddr-one-1-91)

Black and white photographic negative of an unidentified boy scout troop at Obon Festival. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended by the wider Nikkei community.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-91/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-12)

Black and white photographic negative of the Sorelles, a high school social group. Back Row (left to right): Elsie Okazaki, Anges (Inouye) Kitayama, Atsuko "Alice" Kida, Atsuko “Alice” (Matsumoto) Ando, Nami (Miura) Koida, Kimi Wakabayashi, Grace Mieko (Muramatsu) Ouchida, Masae “Elsie” (Morita) Onishi, and Betty Nakashimada. Middle Row (left to right): Rose Haruye (Muramatsu) Ouchida, Kathleen …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-12/

img Oregon Buddhist Church 50th Anniversary Celebration Chigo Procession (ddr-one-1-53)

Color slide of Chigo "children's" procession past the US Custom House building in Northwest Portland. Children carry flowers and are accompanied by Buddhist ministers in black or white robes. Adults from left to right: Bishop Daiyu Y. Henjyoji, unidentified, Reverend Shoko Masunaga from Seattle and Reverend Eiyu Terao from Spokane. Children from left to right: unidentified, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-53/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-275)

Black and white photographic negative of three unidentified Obon dancers posing for the camera. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended by the wider Nikkei community.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-275/

img Third Annual Oregon Nisei Bowling League Tournament Dance- Women seated (ddr-one-1-121)

Black and white photographic negative of women sitting around two tables at the Third Annual Nisei Bowling League Tournament Dance at McElroy's Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. The women are chatting with drinks on the table. From left to right women facing the camera: unidentified, Mieko Fujita, Aki (Shiraishi) Dong, Takako Inukai, and Sumi "Sue" (Kaga) Hasegawa.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-121/

img Obon Festival Dance Rehearsal (ddr-one-1-297)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers rehearsing an Odori folk dance inside Norse Hall in Northeast Portland. Dancers form two circles, leader of outer circle is Tomi Tsujimura, leader of inner circle is Harue Akiyama, the Odori dance teacher. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-297/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 36 "Cinderella" (ddr-one-1-510)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 36driving down SW Third Ave in front of a large crowd gathered outside a Signal gas station and San Francisco Tailor, behind the Signal gas station is the old Multnomah Hotel. The float depicts part of the story of Cinderella as she is leaving the Prince's ball at midnight. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-510/

img Community Picnic (ddr-one-1-380)

Black and white photographic negative of Nisei sitting at a picnic table enjoying a community picnic at Viking Park hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as the Oregon Buddhist Temple). From left to right: Ted Tatsuo Tamaki, Shizuko "Shiz" (Ochiai) Ota Okazaki, Eddie Tamiyasu, Nobuko (Ochiai) Susaki, and unidentified.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-380/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-210)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers wearing straw hats in front of large crowd. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended by the wider Nikkei community. This image was taken at Holladay Park in Portland, Oregon.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-210/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 32 "Vancouver, WA" (ddr-one-1-515)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 32 driving down SW Third Ave in front of a large crowd gathered outside a Signal gas station and San Francisco Tailor, behind the Signal gas station is the old Multnomah Hotel. The float is showing a woman in a silver Roman gladiator costume fighting a dragon with a …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-515/

img Model shot (ddr-one-1-457)

Color slide of an unidentified white woman sitting on bales of straw for the annual Oregon Camera Club's Festival of Models photo shoot. According to donor processed on September 12, 1952. For black and white negative please see ONLC 5187

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-457/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 34 "Saturday Nite Bath" (ddr-one-1-466)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 34 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd gathered outside the Noon Bag Company and White Stag Manufacturing buildings. The float depicts a bathroom, with two women- one sitting inside a bathtub made of flowers, the other sitting at a vanity holding a pink ribbon. A man's …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-466/

img Prize Table (ddr-one-1-424)

Black and white photographic negative of a large prize table at a bingo event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now know as the Oregon Buddhist Temple). Woman bent over on left side is Mitsy (Kiyomura) Takeoka, man sitting on far right side facing camera is identified as Zenzaburo Ochiai.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-424/

img Northwest Buddhist Convention Banquet (ddr-one-1-413)

Black and white photographic negative of the head table at the Northwest Buddhist Convention banquet dinner in the Seattle Buddhist Church's basement. From left to right: Reverend Tatsuya Ichikawa (from Seattle, Washington), Reverend Eiyu Terao (from Spokane, Washington), Reverend Shinjo Ikuta (from Vancouver, British Columbia), Reverend Tesshin Shibata (from White River, Washington), Reverend Akira Jotetsu Ono …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-413/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 11 "Goin' Fishin'" (ddr-one-1-475)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 11 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd gathered outside the Noon Bag Company building. On the side of the building is an advertisement for San Juan Slacks. The Grant Hotel is visible in the background. The float depicts a child using a large fishing rod made …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-475/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 31 "Portland Traction" (ddr-one-1-516)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 31 driving down SW Third Ave in front of a large crowd gathered outside a Signal gas station and San Francisco Tailor, behind the Signal gas station is the old Multnomah Hotel. The float has three mermaids seated around the front of the float, and a man dressed as …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-516/

img Buddhist Convention (ddr-one-1-336)

Black and white photographic negative of three unidentified women outside Collin's Field House in Seattle, Washington for a Buddhist convention. George Oba is coming up from behind the women. Woman on the far right is holding a program with the date Feb 29- Mar 2, 1952 written on the cover.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-336/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-14)

Original black and white photographic print of the Sorelles, a high school social group. Back Row (left to right): Elsie Okazaki, Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba, Jean Matsumoto, Lillian (Niimi) Mikariya, Rose Haruye (Muramatsu) Ouchida, Kathleen “Kathie” Haruko (Matsuda) Sato, Frances (Kinoshita) Mayeda, Grace Mieko (Muramatsu) Ouchida, and Mitsy (Kiyomura) Takeoka. Third Row: Nami (Miura) Koida, Miriam …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-14/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-22)

Black and white photographic negative of the Sorelles, a high school social group. Left to right: Grace (Ebihara) Akiyama, Betty Nakashimada, Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita, Nami (Miura) Koida, Masae "Elsie" (Morita) Onishi, Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba, Mitsy (Kiyomura) Takeoka, Betty Ishida, Elsie Okazaki, Agnes (Inouye) Kitayama, Atsuko "Alice" Kida, Atsuko "Alice" (Matsumoto) Ando, Jean Matsumoto, and …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-22/

img Dance (ddr-one-1-350)

Black and white photographic negative of unidentified couples dancing in front of large windows with blinds drawn.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-350/

img Obon Festival Dance Rehearsal (ddr-one-1-318)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers rehearsing an Odori folk dance inside Norse Hall in Northeast Portland. Obon dancers from left to right: Shig Yuzuriha, Hiro Okayama, Yonezo Fujii, and Tom Shigeo Tamiyasu. First seated women in the audience on far left is Sakae (Fujii) Ando. Obon is an annual event hosted by the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-318/