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

vh Nobu Suzuki Interview II Segment 16 (ddr-densho-1000-87-16)

Influx of servicemen changes neighborhoods and creates housing shortage after the war

References are made to several of Nobu Suzuki's personal papers, which are currently available for public perusal at the University of Washington's Manuscripts and University Archives.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-87-16/

vh Yasashi Ichikawa Interview II Segment 27 (ddr-densho-1000-112-27)

Returning to Seattle after the war, finding the Buddhist temple vandalized (Japanese language)

This interview was conducted in Japanese. The transcript is a translation of the original interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-112-27/

vh Hal Keimi Segment 14 (ddr-densho-1000-458-14)

Living conditions in a trailer park after leaving camp

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-458-14/

vh Hal Keimi Segment 15 (ddr-densho-1000-458-15)

Mother finds a job working for a white family

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-458-15/

vh Kay Matsuoka Segment 40 (ddr-densho-1000-48-40)

Returning to Fresno, California, after the war: struggling with illness and making a living

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-48-40/

vh Sumiko Higashi Interview Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-521-3)

Family's wartime and immediate postwar experiences

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-521-3/

vh Akiko Kurose Interview II Segment 11 (ddr-densho-1000-42-11)

Returning to Seattle after the war

Mrs. Kurose was undergoing treatment for cancer and required frequent breaks and medication to help her with pain management.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-42-11/

vh Fumiko M. Noji Segment 37 (ddr-densho-1000-72-37)

Returning to Seattle, a helpful train porter

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-72-37/

vh Hal Keimi Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1000-458-13)

Family members split up and leave camp at different times

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-458-13/

vh Frank Yamasaki Interview I Segment 34 (ddr-densho-1000-107-34)

Starting over after the war: denial of all things Japanese, and attitude toward pardon of draft resisters

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-107-34/

vh Nobu Suzuki Interview II Segment 15 (ddr-densho-1000-87-15)

Finding a home among friendly neighbors after returning to Seattle

References are made to several of Nobu Suzuki's personal papers, which are currently available for public perusal at the University of Washington's Manuscripts and University Archives.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-87-15/

vh Nobu Suzuki Interview II Segment 20 (ddr-densho-1000-87-20)

Japanese Resettlement Committee's efforts to assist returning Japanese with housing

References are made to several of Nobu Suzuki's personal papers, which are currently available for public perusal at the University of Washington's Manuscripts and University Archives.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-87-20/