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 Wedding of Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto (ddr-one-1-36)

Original black and white photographic print of Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto's wedding reception. About 11 people sitting around banquet tables. Wedding party seated along back wall; from left to right: Yoichi "Jack" Nomi, Tamaye (Fujiwara) Nomi, Sam Sakamoto, Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto, Keso Kuwahara, Lilly (Kobayashi) Irinaga. Rest of the guests are unidentified. For negative …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-36/

img Obon Festival (ddr-one-1-256)

Black and white photographic negative of Nobuko (Ochiai) Susaki speaking with an unidentified white woman. Man seated in far back right identified as Elmer Nishimoto. 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-1-256/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 39 (ddr-one-1-462)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 39 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd gathered outside the Shoreline Hotel and Anchor Inn. In the background a sign for the Blue Eagle Cafe is visible. The float is of a large rainbow with women dressed in each color sitting around the top of the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-462/

img Wedding of Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto (ddr-one-1-41)

Original black and white photographic print of Bridal party standing in front of the alter. Left to right: Tamaye (Fujiwara) Nomi, Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto, and Lilly (Kobayashi) Irinaga.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-41/

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 Buddhist Convention (ddr-one-1-334)

Black and white photographic negative of large crowd of Buddhists gathered outside Collin's Field House in Seattle, Washington for a Buddhist convention. First row: Kiku Fujita, unidentified, Nancy from Tacoma, and Yasuko (Hashimoto) Morita. Second row, far right is Irene (Fujii) Mano. Third row far right: Sumiye (Fukei) Kato. Fourth row far left: Yosh Tanabe, Ted …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-334/

img Sorelles Group Photo (ddr-one-1-17)

Original black and white photographic print 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, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-17/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-273)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers performing an Odori folk dance at Obon. 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-1-273/

img Nisei at Epworth United Methodist Church (ddr-one-1-327)

Black and white original photographic print of Nisei women at Epworth United Methodist Church rolling up newspapers possibly during the Northwest Methodist Rally. From left to right: Martha (Kondo) Miyasaki, Miriam (Koyama) Kiso, Grace (Sakano) Robbs, Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita, unidentified, and Masae "Elsie" (Morita) Onishi. For negative please see ONLC 3144 (ddr-one-1-326)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-327/

img Obon Festival- Dancers (ddr-one-1-278)

Black and white photographic negative of three Obon dancers smiling for the camera. From left to right: Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba, Nami (Miura) Koida, and Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita. 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-1-278/

img Sunday School (ddr-one-1-92)

Black and white photographic negative of Sunday School class. Students work on coloring project with adult teachers, image of Buddha hangs on wall. Class not taught at the Oregon Buddhist Church, exact location is unknown.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-92/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 22 "Retail Trade Bureau" (ddr-one-1-135)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 22 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside W.L. Reid Company Building Hardware Specialties. The float has a circus theme with three seals made of black flowers balancing balls of red and yellow flowers on their noses. The float has three riders on top, two women …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-135/

img Nisei at Epworth United Methodist Church (ddr-one-1-326)

Black and white photographic negative of Nisei women at Epworth United Methodist Church rolling up newspapers, possibly during the Northwest Methodist Rally. From left to right: Martha (Kondo) Miyasaki, Miriam (Koyama) Kiso, Grace (Sakano) Robbs, Jean Yasuko (Kida) Tomita, unidentified, and Masae "Elsie" (Morita) Onishi. For print please see ONLC 3145 (ddr-one-1-327).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-326/

img Northwest Methodist Rally Portland (ddr-one-1-324)

Black and white photographic negative of the attendees of the Northwest Methodist Rally in Portland on November 23-25, 1951. Inscription on photograph reads "Northwest methodis Rally Portland Nov. 23-". 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 …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-324/