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 (277)
Leaving camp (372)
Returning home (1150)

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1150 items

img Dance (ddr-one-1-101)

Black and white photographic negative of a room full of unidentified couples dancing together at an informal dance.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-101/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade Float- "Pacific Telephone" (ddr-one-1-533)

Color slide of the side of the Pacific Telephone float in the Rose Festival Parade driving down W Burnside and the intersection of NW Second Ave, the corner of the Shoreline Hotel is visible in the background. The side of float has purple, white and red flowers and reads "Pacific Telephone." On the float five women …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-533/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 35, "Boyd's Coffee" (ddr-one-1-465)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 35 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd gathered outside the Noon Bag Company, two advertisements are visible on the side of the building. The float is made out of pink flowers and has a large wheel on top that is upside down, but reads "Boyd's Coffee". …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-465/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-5)

Original black and white photographic print of the Sorelles, a high school social group. Back Row (left to right): Elsie Okazaki, Agnes (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, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-5/

img New Tokyo Bar (ddr-one-1-84)

Black and white photographic negative of unidentified bar patrons at the New Tokyo Bar. Bartender George Ninomiya is behind the bar.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-84/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- Crowd (ddr-one-1-448)

Color slide of crowd and light post outside the Shoreline Hotel and Anchor Inn on W Burnside. Presumably the crowd has gathered to watch the Portland Rose Festival Parade. The Rose Festival Parade is an annual event in which floats are made out of flowers and paraded down the streets of Portland. According to donor processed …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-448/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-192)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers with arms raised in front of a crowd. Right row second from the left: Mr. Yoshihara, right row third from left: 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 …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-192/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade Float (ddr-one-1-469)

Color slide of a Rose Festival Parade float driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd gathered outside the Noon Bag Company building. A woman stands behind a white cake made of flowers on the float and waves a red ribbon. The Portland Rose Festival Parade is an annual event in which floats are made …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-469/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-247)

Black and white photographic negative of three Japanese American women posing in costumes used to dance during Obon. They are holding tenugui (towels used in traditional Japanese folk dance). From left to right: Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita, Atsuko "Alice" (Matsumoto) Ando, Atsuko "Alice" Kida. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-247/

img Buddhist Convention (ddr-one-1-332)

Black and white photographic negative of large crowd of Buddhists gathered outside Collin's Field House in Seattle, Washington for a Buddhist convention. Seated in front row from left to right: Yasashi Ichikawa, Reverend Seiji Kobara from Seattle, Reverend Shoko Masunaga, Reverend Akira Jotetsu Ono, Reverend Tatsuya Ichikawa, Reverend Bishop Kenryu Tsuji, Reverend Eiyu Terao from Spokane, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-332/

img Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-69)

Color slide of three people posing in Odori costumes (traditional Japanese folk dance), fourth is in western style clothes. From Left to right: Ida (Hobara) Sugahiro, Katie (Iwamoto) Tamiyasu, Wendy (Hongo) Peace, and Lily (Tsujimura) Hongo Fujita.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-69/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-226)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers in large circle facing a podium in the center with "uchiwa" (fan) in hand. A large crowd watches on from left side of image. 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-1-226/

img Nisei at Epworth United Methodist Church (ddr-one-1-439)

Black and white photographic print of Nisei at Epworth United Methodist Church most likely during the Northwest Methodist Rally. Front row left to right: unidentified, Martha (Kondo) Miyasaki, Mitsy (Kiyomura) Takeoka, Atsuko "Alice" Kida and Nami (Miura) Koida. Back row: unidentified, Yone (Kanda) Terada, Gloria (Osawa) Fujii, Mary (Kondo) Yamano, Miriam (Koyama) Kiso, and Masae "Elsie" …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-439/

img Obon Festival Dance Rehearsal (ddr-one-1-309)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers rehearsing an Odori folk dance in front of a small audience inside Norse Hall in Northeast Portland. Obon dancers from left to right: Tom Shigeto Tamiyasu, and Arthur Ojiro “Art” Sasaki. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-309/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 12 "Tobogganing Kiwanis" (ddr-one-1-473)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 12 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 float depicts four riders on a toboggan riding down a snowy hill. A young boy sits on the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-473/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-213)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers in a partial circle, a crowd encloses the dancers. Obon dancers right to left outer circle: Yoshino Fujii, Tamuro Miura, unidentified, Nobuko Yoshida, and Loretta (Fujii) Kaneko. Obon dancers right to left inner circle: fourth in Jimmy Yoshida, Patricia “Pat” (Ikata) Iboshi, Joe Shiraishi, and Yoneko (Aono) Sugimura. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-213/

img Valentine's Day potluck at Oregon Buddhist Church (ddr-one-1-56)

Color slide of two men sitting at table inside the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) at a Valentine's day potluck celebration. From left to right: Jack Yasutome and Jack Ouchida.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-56/

img Sorelles Beach Outing (ddr-one-1-395)

Black and white photographic negative of Tom Fujii (left) and Shig Tada (right) sitting on Yoji Kiso at the Oregon Coast at a beach outing planned by the Sorrelles (a high school social group). Aki (Shiraishi) Dong is laying in the sand next to Yoji Kiso.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-395/

img Obon Festival Dance Rehearsal (ddr-one-1-316)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers rehearsing an Odori folk dance inside Norse Hall in Northeast Portland. Dancers from left to right: Betty Nakashimada, Aki (Shiraishi) Dong, Mabel (Maekawa) Ota, Carol (Takeda) Smith, unidentified, Tomi Tsujimura, Susan Shizuko (Yoshida) Kurimoto. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-316/

img Oregon Buddhist Church Annual Lotus Bazaar- Card Darts (ddr-one-1-109)

Black and white photographic negative of young boys gathered around a card dart booth at the Oregon Buddhist Church's Annual Lotus Bazaar. Man running game on the right side is identified as Harry Nakamura. The Oregon Buddhist Church is now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple. For print please see ONLC 4944 (ddr-one-1-715).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-109/

img Sorelles Beach Outing (ddr-one-1-396)

Black and white photographic negative of four Nisei burying Aki (Shiraishi) Dong in the sand at a beach outing planned by the Sorrelles (a high school social group). From left to right: Shig Tada, Yoji Kiso, Sumi "Sue" (Kaga) Hasegawa and Tom Fujii.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-396/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 18 "Barrians" (ddr-one-1-491)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 18 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 five women in gowns sitting on top waving at the crowd, one man is …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-491/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-266)

Black and white photographic negative of four Obon dancers smiling for the camera. From left to right: Kathleen "Kathie" Haruko (Matsuda) Sato, Ruth Saito, Susanne Mineko (Sasaki) Myers, and Grace (Tachibana) Ishikawa. 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-1-266/

img Northwest Methodist Rally Portland (ddr-one-1-321)

Black and white photographic negative of the attendees of the Northwest Methodist Rally in Portland on November 23-25, 1951. The group is posed in front of the old Epworth Methodist Church building. Front row left to right starting third from left: Rupert Fujii, Shig Tada, and Reverend Francis Hayashi, other unidentified. Second row left to right: …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-321/

img Laying at the Oregon Coast (ddr-one-1-55)

Color slide of two women laying on a towel at the Oregon Coast. On the left is May (Ebihara) Gelfand.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-55/