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 Fumiko Hayashida Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1001-1-6)

Returning home after leaving camp: "we were treated okay"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-1-6/

vh Michiko Amatatsu Noritake Interview Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1001-4-13)

Returning home, warm reception from neighbors

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-4-13/

vh Flora Ninomiya Segment 11 (ddr-densho-1000-473-11)

Leaving camp, receiving help from a family friend

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-473-11/

vh Flora Ninomiya Segment 12 (ddr-densho-1000-473-12)

Hearing of few families returning after the war

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-473-12/

vh Paul Nagano Segment 12 (ddr-densho-1000-65-12)

Re-establishing Japanese Christian churches on West Coast during the postwar resettlement period

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-65-12/

vh Henry Miyatake Interview II Segment 22 (ddr-densho-1000-54-22)

Returning to Seattle: "I was glad to be out"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-54-22/

vh Henry Miyatake Interview II Segment 21 (ddr-densho-1000-54-21)

Returning home, assistance of War Relocation Authority

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-54-21/

vh Henry Miyatake Interview II Segment 20 (ddr-densho-1000-54-20)

Postwar employment, cutting lawns

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-54-20/

vh Henry Miyatake Interview II Segment 26 (ddr-densho-1000-54-26)

Trying to be more "American" after the war

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-54-26/

vh Stanley N. Shikuma Interview II Segment 1 (ddr-densho-1000-520-1)

A frightening incident in the community right after World War II

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-520-1/

vh Peggy Tanemura Interview Segment 17 (ddr-densho-1000-85-17)

Coping with a housing shortage in Seattle after the war

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-85-17/

vh Peggy Tanemura Interview Segment 15 (ddr-densho-1000-85-15)

Living in Seattle's Japanese Language School after World War II

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-85-15/

vh Peggy Tanemura Interview Segment 14 (ddr-densho-1000-85-14)

Leaving camp and returning to Seattle

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-85-14/

vh Takashi Hori - Yoshito Mizuta - Elmer Tazuma Segment 43 (ddr-densho-1000-25-43)

The decline of Japanese American-managed hotels

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-25-43/

vh Takashi Hori - Yoshito Mizuta - Elmer Tazuma Segment 44 (ddr-densho-1000-25-44)

The closing of numerous Japanese-run hotels

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-25-44/

vh Alan Kumamoto Segment 8 (ddr-densho-1000-464-8)

Returning to Los Angeles, father's work in a drug store

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-464-8/

vh Hatsuko Mary Higuchi Segment 7 (ddr-densho-1000-456-7)

An upsetting experience on a city bus

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-456-7/

vh Hatsuko Mary Higuchi Segment 5 (ddr-densho-1000-456-5)

Helping mother on the family's farm after father's passing

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-456-5/

vh Hatsuko Mary Higuchi Segment 4 (ddr-densho-1000-456-4)

Recalling difficult times after returning to California

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-456-4/

vh Ben Takeshita Segment 9 (ddr-densho-1000-467-9)

Leaving camp and returning to California while Kibei brother goes to Japan

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-467-9/

vh Archie Miyatake Interview Segment 31 (ddr-densho-1000-299-31)

Helping family to reestablish photography business after returning home

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-299-31/