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 (283)
Leaving camp (430)
Returning home (1151)

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1151 items

img Oregon Buddhist Church Annual Lotus Bazaar (ddr-one-1-110)

Black and white photographic negative of the game booths and crowd at the Oregon Buddhist Church's Annual Lotus Bazaar. The Oregon Buddhist Church is now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple. For print please see ONLC 4945 (ddr-one-1-716)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-110/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-270)

Black and white photographic negative of an unidentified dancer posing for the camera in front of mostly empty bleachers. 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-1-270/

img Northwest Buddhist Convention Banquet (ddr-one-1-415)

Black and white photographic negative of guests at the Northwest Buddhist Convention banquet dinner in the basement of the Seattle Buddhist Church. Sitting third from the right is Shiz (Fujita) Inaba, sitting opposite is Yosh Tanabe.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-415/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-265)

Black and white photographic negative of six Obon dancers sitting and smiling for the camera. From left to right: Aki (Shiraishi) Dong, Mary (Nakata) Fujii, Atsuko "Alice" Kida, Atsuko "Alice" (Matsumoto) Ando, Betty Nakashimada, and Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-265/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 12 "Seattle Seafair" (ddr-one-1-497)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 12 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 made up of two parts, first part of the float has two riders sitting …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-497/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 6 "Robert Bros" (ddr-one-1-502)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 6 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 four visible riders, three dressed in purple gowns, one dressed in a white wedding …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-502/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade Float- "Timber Carnival" (ddr-one-1-552)

Color slide of a float in the Rose Festival Parade driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside the Shoreline and Grant Hotels. The float is made of green foliage and has a large log with a lumberjack made of red and blue flowers on top. The sign on the side of the log …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-552/

img Northwest Buddhist Convention (ddr-one-1-431)

Black and white photographic negative of two Nisei women standing behind set banquet tables. From left to right: Noriko (Ichikawa) Kurashige, and May Matsumoto.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-431/

img Rose tray (ddr-one-1-526)

Color slide of two young girls in purple costumes kneeling and holding a large tray of pink rose buds with ribbons tied around their stems. The girls are kneeling before 1951 Rose Festival Queen Gloria Krieger who is dressed in a white jacket and hat and sitting in a golden chair. The woman holds a small …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-526/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-220)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers holding "uchiwa" (fan) above their heads in front of large crowd. From left to right line: Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba, and Nami (Miura) Koida, all others unidentified. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended by the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-220/

img Oregon Buddhist Church Annual Lotus Bazaar (ddr-one-1-105)

Black and white photographic negative of a crowd and banners at the Oregon Buddhist Church's Annual Lotus Bazaar (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple). Man in crowd with legs crossed talking to two unidentified women is Sam "Pompadour Sam" Sasaki. For print please see ONLC 4946 (ddr-one-1-717)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-105/

img Northwest Buddhist Convention Banquet (ddr-one-1-414)

Black and white photographic negative of guests at the Northwest Buddhist Convention banquet dinner in the basement of the Seattle Buddhist Church. Sitting on the far left is Shizuko "Shiz" (Ochiai) Ota Okazaki.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-414/

img Cowboys (ddr-one-1-447)

Color slide of three unidentified cowboys crouched on the ground surrounded by straw in front of a stable, a young black colt is laying near them on the right. In the back is an older horse inside the stable. According to donor processed on June 20, 1951.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-447/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-20)

Black and white photographic negative of the Sorelles, a high school social group. Left to right: Rose Haruye (Muramatsu) Ouchida, Kathleen "Kathie" Haruko (Matsuda) Sato, Aki (Shiraishi) Dong, Loretta (Fujii) Kaneko, Mary (Nakata) Fujii, Frances (Kinoshita) Mayeda, Grace (Sakano) Robbs, Sumi "Sue" (Kaga) Hasegawa, Lillian (Niimi) Mikariya, Masae “Elsie” (Morita) Onishi, Rose Namba, Jayne (Katada) Furukawa, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-20/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 21 "Assoc. Restaurants of Oregon" (ddr-one-1-538)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 21 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside the Blue Eagle Café on the corner of NW Second Ave. The float has two women and one man riding on it waving at the crowd. The float is made of white flowers and green foliage. On the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-538/

img Oregon Buddhist Church Annual Lotus Bazaar- Roulette Table (ddr-one-1-107)

Black and white photographic negative of a crowd playing Roulette at the Oregon Buddhist Church's Annual Lotus Bazaar. The Oregon Buddhist Church is now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple. For print please see ONLC 4947 (ddr-one-1-718)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-107/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-261)

Black and white photographic negative of two lines of dancers performing an Odori (traditional Japanese folk dance) at Obon. Right line from left to right: Mr. Tsujimura, Atsuko "Alice" Kida, Susanne Mineko (Sasaki) Myer. Left line, third from left: Don Oishi. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-261/

img Sorelles Beach Outing (ddr-one-1-391)

Black and white photographic negative of a group of Nisei at a beach outing planned by the Sorrelles (a high school social group). Sitting left to right: unidentified, Masae "Elsie" (Morita) Onishi, Nobyo Sato, unidentified, Grace Mieko (Muramatsu) Ouchida, Loretta (Fujii) Kaneko, Mas Ouchida, May (Ebihara) Gelfand, and unidentified. Standing left to right: Kathleen "Kathie" Haruko …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-391/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-187)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers in front of small crowd. Fourth dancer from the left is Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba. 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, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-187/

img Reed College (ddr-one-1-360)

Black and white photographic negative of Ayame Ogimi and her brother Carlos Ogimi staring at a large document or drawing on a table in front of them. This photograph was taken at Reed College where Ayame and Carlos were both students. Original print ONLC 3176 (ddr-one-1-358).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-360/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-180)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers with "uchiwa" (fan) in front of large crowd. Some spectators seated on chairs, most on grass. Among the seated spectators next to an empty chair with her name on it is Portland Mayor Dorothy McCullough Lee. Dancers: Third from the left is Joe Shiraishi, fourth from the left …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-180/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- Victoria Girl's Drill Corps (ddr-one-1-176)

Color slide of Victoria's all girls drill team marching in the Rose Festival Parade on W Burnside in front of a crowd outside a Bekins Storage. The women are dressed in white uniforms with pink and purple capes. The Rose Festival Parade is an annual event in which floats are made out of flowers and paraded …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-176/

img Northwest Buddhist Convention Banquet (ddr-one-1-418)

Black and white photographic negative of guests at the Northwest Buddhist Convention banquet dinner in the basement of the Seattle Buddhist Church. Sitting at the head table from left to right: Reverend Sunya Pratt (from Tacoma, Washington), Reverend Tatsuya Ichikawa (from Seattle, Washington), Reverend Eiyu Terao (from Spokane, Washington), Reverend Ikuta from (Vancouver, British Columbia), Reverend …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-418/

img Adelphons Group Photo (ddr-one-1-3)

Black and white photographic negative of the Adelphons, a young women's service group of the Portland Chapter of the Japanese American Citizen's League, in formal attire. Back Row (left to right): Sumiko “Sue” (Kawasaki) Fujino, unidentified, Minnie (Oyama) Abe, Ochiyo (Nishioka) Hasuike, unidentified, Mary (Furusho) Iwasaki, Tamae "Butch" Yamamoto, Kathryn (Kawata) Niita, Irene (Kawata) Nakagawa, Sophie …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-3/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-242)

Black and white photographic negative of six Obon dancers posing for the camera with one arm touching their straw hats. From left to right: Shizuko "Shiz" (Ochiai) Ota Okazaki, Jean (Tsujimura) Takashima, Atsuko "Alice" Kida, Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita, Atsuko "Alice" (Matsumoto) Ando, and Eddie Tamiyasu. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-242/