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 Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-203)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers in a partial circle in front of a crowd that circles around the dancers. Obon dancers inner circle starting from the right: Tomi Tsujimura, Patricia “Pat” (Ikata) Iboshi, Noboru Takashima, Shizuko "Shiz" (Ninomiya) Onishi, and others unidentified. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-203/

img Community Picnic (ddr-one-1-386)

Black and white photographic negative of two people sitting at a picnic table during a community picnic at Viking Park hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as the Oregon Buddhist Temple). From left to right: Ben Kasubuchi, and Mary (Okita) Kasubuchi.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-386/

img Dance (ddr-one-1-100)

Black and white photographic negative of couples dancing together at an informal dance, possibly a Sorelles (a high school social group) event. Women seated along wall from left to right: Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba, May (Ebihara) Gelfand, Betty Ishida, Rose Haruye (Muramatsu) Ouchida, and Loretta (Fujii) Kaneko. Dancing on the far left is Betty Nakashimada and …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-100/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 29 "Sears" (ddr-one-1-532)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 29 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside the Blue Eagle Café on the corner of NW Second Ave. The float has a carriage made of white flowers with a red trim and purple wheels. The carriage is pulled by a horse made of white flowers. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-532/

img Horse outside (ddr-one-1-446)

Color slide of a brown horse with a blonde mane outside with a rope tied around its muzzle. According to donor processed on June 20, 1951.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-446/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-216)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers holding small Japanese flags performing before a crowd. Second Obon dancer from the left: Shig Yuzuriha. Third Obon dancer from the left: Nobyo Sato. 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-1-216/

img Roses (ddr-one-1-487)

Color slide of a red rose bush, in background white roses are visible. According to donor processed on July 3, 1952.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-487/

img Registration for Northwest Methodist Rally (ddr-one-1-85)

Black and white photographic negative of the registration table for the Northwest Methodist Rally. From left to right: Toyse "Toy" Miura, Ko Tambara, Nami (Miura) Koida, and George Nakata.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-85/

img Sorelles Beach Outing (ddr-one-1-400)

Black and white photographic negative of Lillian (Niimi) Mikariya (right) sunbathing at the Oregon Coast with an unidentified Nisei. Behind them is Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba playing with a beach ball at a beach outing planned by the Sorrelles (a high school social group).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-400/

img Corral (ddr-one-1-450)

Color slide of three horses laying down inside a wooden corral. According to donor processed on June 20, 1951.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-450/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- Float 27 (ddr-one-1-158)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 27 pulled by two horses down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside the Shoreline Hotel. The sign for the Blue Eagle Cafe is visible in the background. The float is of a large wagon with orange, yellow, blue and white flowers. Five men in top hats ride …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-158/

img Buddhist Convention (ddr-one-1-333)

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

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-333/

img Nisei women (ddr-one-1-426)

Black and white photographic negative of four unidentified Nisei women holding bags and notebooks and looking at the camera inside Seattle Buddhist Church.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-426/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- float 13 "Bozo's Circus" (ddr-one-1-141)

Color slide of Rose Festival Parade float 13 driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd gathered outside W.L. Reid Company Building Hardware Specialties and the Riverside Hotel and Cafe. The float has three tiers with a large clown made of flowers on the top tier and two female riders sitting on middle tier, one …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-141/

img Portrait of Mary Abe's family (ddr-one-1-77)

Black and white photographic negative of Mary Abe's family posed seated in her living room. Photo portrait of an unknown man on the side table. Back row left to right: Marge Horigami, Florence "Flo" (Teshima) Anazawa, remaining unidentified . Front row left to right: May (Abe) Endo unidentified woman.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-77/

img Obon Festival Dance Rehearsal (ddr-one-1-296)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dance rehearsal at Norse Hall in Northeast Portland. Obon dancers from left to right: Patricia “Pat” (Ikata) Iboshi, Marjory "Marge" (Ando) Smith, Carol (Takeda) Smith, and unidentified. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended by the wider …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-296/

img Family home (ddr-one-1-445)

Color slide of an unidentified woman in a blue dress and orange headscarf with three children standing in their doorway looking at the camera. One child is holding a gift bag in her hand. According to donor processed on June 20, 1951.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-445/

img Wedding of Sam Sakamoto and Hanaye (Fujiwara) Sakamoto (ddr-one-1-47)

Black and white photographic negative of two men in suits posed. From left to right: Keso Kuwahara and groom Sam Sakamoto.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-47/

img Ladies Bowling Team- Oregon Nisei Bowling League Photo #3 (ddr-one-1-563)

Black and white photographic negative of a Nisei women's bowling team. The team is posed in front of a Ford sedan with monogrammed shirts. From left to right: Yoko (Hishikawa) Iwata, Kathleen Sasaki, Sachi (Nakata) Nakashima, Takako Inukai and Toshi (Tamiyasu) Fukuhara. Original print ONLC 3428.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-563/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade- Rose Court (ddr-one-1-483)

Color slide of the Rose Festival Court's float driving down W Burnside in front of the Grant Hotel during the Rose Festival Parade. All women waving to the crowd, queen, Jeanne Wallace, seated in the back of the float waving a silver scepter. The Portland Rose Festival Parade is an annual event in which floats are …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-483/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-193)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers in front of crowd. Obon dancers: second from left Mrs. Okayama, third from left Mr. Yoshihara, fourth from left Beti ann (Minamoto) Wantroba. Seated first from left is Mr. Maekawa. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-193/

img Obon Festival- Odori folk dance (ddr-one-1-181)

Black and white photographic negative of Obon dancers in a line performing in front of a crowd. From left to right: Marjory "Marge" (Ando) Smith, Patricia “Pat” (Ikata) Iboshi, Loretta (Fujii) Kaneko, Joe Shiraishi, and Harue Akiyama. Obon is an annual event hosted by the Oregon Buddhist Church (now known as Oregon Buddhist Temple) and attended …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-181/

img Portland Rose Festival Parade Float- "Our Queen" (ddr-one-1-554)

Color slide of the Rose Festival Court float driving down W Burnside in front of a crowd outside Blue Eagle Café on NW Second Ave. The princesses sit on the float and hold red roses, the Rose Festival Queen, Gloria Krieger, sits behind them in a chair of blue and pink flowers. The front of the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-554/

img Obon Festival Crowd (ddr-one-1-279)

Black and white photographic negative of crowd 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-1-279/

img Roses (ddr-one-1-525)

Color slide of red and pink rose bushes. Image was most likely taken at the Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. According to donor processed on June 14, 1964.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-one-1-525/