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 Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-287)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers in straw hats performing an Odori folk dance. From left to right those facing the camera: Atsuko "Alice" (Matsumoto) Ando and Arthur Ojiro “Art” Sasaki. 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-1-287/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-230)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers performing in front of a crowd. Dancer first from left is Susan Shizuko (Yoshida) Kurimoto. 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-1-230/

img Spotted Deer (ddr-one-1-541)

Color slide of three spotted bucks and eight spotted does. Two of the bucks stare directly at the camera while the other nine deer eat grass, possibly inside Washington Park. According to donor processed on June 14, 1964.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-541/

img Dance (ddr-one-1-104)

Black and white photographic negative of unidentified couples sitting along a wall at a dance. Second person sitting on the bench from the left is Ruby (Takashima) Sumino, two from her is James "Jim" Kasuo "Kaz" Tsujimura.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-104/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-289)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers performing an Odori folk dance at Obon. From left to right: Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita, Nami (Miura) Koida, Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba, unidentified, Yachiyo Morita, and Sakae Kobayashi. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended by …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-289/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 51 "Restaurant Assoc." (ddr-one-1-154)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 51 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside the Shoreline Hotel and Cafe. The Blue Eagle Cafe is visible in the background of W Burnside and NW Second Ave. Float depicts a giant hotdog with a clown riding on top, two waitresses ride in front, one …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-154/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-229)

Black and white photographic negative of three Obon dancers posing for the camera. From left to right: Grace Mieko (Muramatsu) Ouchida, Kathleen “Kathie” Haruko (Matsuda) Sato, and Rose Haruye (Muramatsu) Ouchida. 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 …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-229/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-19)

Original black and white photographic print 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) …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-19/

img Dance (ddr-one-1-98)

Black and white photographic negative of two unidentified couples dancing together at an informal dance, possibly a Sorelles (a high school social group) event.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-98/

img Garden speech (ddr-one-1-527)

Color slide of 1951 Rose Festival Queen Gloria Krieger dressed in a white skirt, jacket and hat. She stands in front of a man in a white suit and two young girls in purple costumes. Forming an aisle are young women dressed in peach colored dresses, behind them stand men in white suits with various colored …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-527/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-239)

Black and white photographic negative of six Obon dancers posing for the camera with arms outstretched wearing 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 Church …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-239/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-18)

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, Astuko "Alice" (Matsumoto) Ando, Jean Matsumoto, and …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-18/

img Northwest Buddhist Convention Banquet- Kitchen (ddr-one-1-425)

Black and white photographic negative of women plating food in the kitchen of the Seattle Buddhist Church for the Northwest Buddhist Convention Banquet. Behind the stove from right to left: Irene (Yamaguchi) Tatsuta, Betty Kurimoto Yamasaki, and Noriko (Ichikawa) Kurashige.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-425/

img Flowers (ddr-one-1-440)

Color slide of yellow Oregon sunshine (wooly) sunflowers. According to donor processed on June 20, 1951.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-440/

img Methodist Banquet (ddr-one-1-343)

Black and white photographic negative of a formal banquet, an unidentified white man is standing at the center of the table, possibly giving a speech or toast. Sitting at the far head of the table is Reverend Francis Hayashi. This may have been a banquet in relation to the Northwest Methodist Rally.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-343/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 39 "Neptune's Court" (ddr-one-1-511)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 39 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 female riders sitting with only their torsos exposed. Their legs are covered by …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-511/

img Northwest Buddhist Convention Banquet- Kitchen (ddr-one-1-420)

Black and white photographic negative of guests at the Northwest Buddhist Convention banquet dinner in the basement of the Seattle Buddhist Church. Sitting from left to right at table in foreground: unidentified, Sumiye (Fukei) Kato, and Ken Kagita, others unidentified.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-420/

img Hanamatsuri (birth of Buddha celebration) Odori Performance (ddr-one-1-404)

Black and white photographic negative of an Odori folk dance performance on a stage for Hanamatsuri (birth of Buddha celebration) at Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as the Oregon Buddhist Temple). Dancers on stage from left to right: Mary (Nakata) Fujii, Shiz (Fujita) Inaba.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-404/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 4 "Now I lay me down to sleep" (ddr-one-1-482)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 4 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd gathered outside Bekins Storage, a sign for Edwards Furniture is visible in background. The float depicts a young girl praying at the edge of her bed. Along the side of the float reads "Now I lay me down." On …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-482/

img Wedding of Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto (ddr-one-1-39)

Original black and white photographic print of bride and groom standing and receiving guests. Left to Right: Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-39/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 33 "General Petroleum" (ddr-one-1-514)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 33 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 of white and blue flowers, with a large red Pegasus flying over top. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-514/

img Third Annual Oregon Nisei Bowling League Tournament Dance- Admission Table (ddr-one-1-113)

Black and white photographic negative of three women sitting at the Third Annual Oregon Nisei Bowling League Tournament Dance Admission table at McElroy's Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. From left to right: Frances (Kinoshita) Mayeda, Aki (Shiraishi) Dong, Sumi "Sue" (Kaga) Hasegawa.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-113/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-184)

Black and white photographic negative of the crowd and Obon dancers taken from behind the crowd. Obon dancers wave small Japanese and American flags. 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 …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-184/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- Float 28 "Truck 3" (ddr-one-1-160)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 28 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside the Blue Eagle Cafe on the corner of W Burnside and NW Second Ave. The float is of a large fireman's helmet with "Truck 3 PDF" written in flowers on the front. The Rose Festival Parade is an …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-160/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade Float- "Tight rope or bridge, Portland to Camas" (ddr-one-1-151)

Color slide of a Rose Festival Parade float driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside the Shoreline Hotel and Anchor Inn. Float depicts the crossing from Portland, Oregon to Camas, Washington with a tightrope walker standing on the Portland side holding a white parasol. Sign above float reads "Tight rope or bridge, Portland …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-151/