The Thought: The story of Japanese-American incarceration did not end when the camps closed. Japanese-Americans faced significant difficulties readjusting to life after World War II, and worked hard to rebuild their lives.
Description: Students will explore the experiences of Japanese-Americans in the decade following the end of World War II through reading and listening to firsthand narratives.
Student Objectives:
1. Describe difficulties and opportunities faced by Japanese-Americans in the decade after World War II ended.
2. Identify different ways Japanese-Americans worked to rebuild their lives after the incarceration ended.
3. Analyze the effects of incarceration on both the individuals who lived through it and the following generations.
Timeframe: Each activity is designed to last 30-45 minutes.
Materials: Kaz Ishimitsu audio and transcript, Oral History Cards, Densho Oral Histories [Dorothy Sato, Tats Kojima, May Namba, Roy Ebihara], Worksheet 6.1
Readings: Beacon Hill Boys by Ken Mochizuki (pg. 41-43 and 175-178)
Vocabulary:
historical trauma
legacy
propaganda
resettlement
Sansei
Additional Resources: Divided Destiny: A History of Japanese Americans in Seattle by David A. Takami, A More Perfect Union [Click on Justice: Post-War], Fact Sheet: Historical Trauma, A Fearless Fight Against Historical Trauma the Yup’ik Way
Teacher Preparation: Read pg. 75-78 of Divided Destiny: A History of Japanese Americans in Seattle. Watch the recommended Densho oral histories and select which ones to present to your students. Review the information on the Fact Sheet: Historical Trauma.
Activity 1: Returning Home
1. Ask students how they think the ruling in Mitsuye Endo’s case (discussed in Lesson 5) affected Japanese-Americans in incarceration camps. Explain that in December 1944, the Roosevelt administration announced that the incarceration camps would close and Japanese-Americans would be allowed to return to the West Coast. [Some people had been allowed to leave camps earlier to join the military, attend school, or accept jobs outside of the Exclusion Area.] Camps started to close in 1945, and the Tule Lake was the last to close in March 1946. Ask students what factors they think influenced the decision to close the incarceration camps. (Answers include the ruling in Mitsuye Endo’s case, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s service record, the war was expected to end soon with an Allied victory, and Japanese-Americans’ continued protests against their incarceration.)
2. Give students the following scenario:
You have been in an incarceration camp for three years. The government announces that the camp will soon close. You will be given $25 ($322.54 in 2015 dollars) and a one-way bus or train ticket back home. That amount of money was $10 less than the average monthly rent. You do not know if your home or business is still standing, and you have heard reports of violence and discrimination against Japanese-Americans on the West Coast.
Ask students to answer the following questions:
a) How do you feel about leaving the camp?
b) Will you return to your former home? If not, where will you go?
c) What difficulties will you face readjusting to life outside the camp? How will you deal with these challenges?
d) What will you do to build a life for yourself and your family?
3. Have students share their answers with the class. Explain that after World War II, Japanese-Americans faced housing and job shortages, anti-Japanese discrimination, and the loss of their homes and businesses. These losses were especially difficult on the Issei immigrants, as they had worked for decades to establish their lives in the United States, lost everything, and found it very difficult to start over. Churches and other organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee worked to assist Japanese-Americans in finding housing and jobs.
4. Extension: Divide the class into two groups: those who would choose to return home after the incarceration, and those who would start over in a different location. Have students write down the pros and cons of their decision. Hold a class debate, inviting students from each group to state their reasons and respond to each other. Ask students to focus on the concept of identity: If you choose to return home or move somewhere new, what does that indicate about your self-identity?
Activity 2: Oral Histories
1. Tell students they will be listening to excerpts of an interview with Kaz Ishimitsu, a Japanese-American who, as a 16-year-old, returned to Seattle from the Minidoka camp in 1945. [A transcript is provided for teachers.] Ask students to listen for challenges and opportunities Kaz faced as he returned to Seattle, and write them down as they listen.
2. Play the recording of Kaz Ishimitsu. Have students share what opportunities and challenges they heard Kaz discuss.
3. Play the recording again, and discuss the following questions as a class.
a) How did the experience of returning home affect Kaz and his father differently?
b) According to Kaz, what influence did the media have on the returning Japanese-Americans and the general public?
c) Why do you think going to college was important to Kaz?
d) Judging from his voice and speaking style, how does Kaz feel about his experiences? (This interview was recorded in 1993, almost fifty years after the events described.)
4. Divide students into eight groups. Give one Oral History Card to each group. Ask each group to read their card and discuss how the narrator feels about the events they are describing. Have each group choose one member to read the card out loud to the class. After reading each card, ask the class to decide whether the card describes a challenge, an opportunity, or both.
5. Tell students that although many people returned home after World War II, others chose to settle elsewhere. Have students watch the oral histories of Dorothy Sato, Tats Kojima, May Namba, and Roy Ebihara, and discuss the follow questions:
a) Why did each person choose to go to a new location?
b) What did each person like about their new home? What did they dislike?
c) Did they face discrimination? If so, what form did it take?
d) How does each person feel about their experiences?
e) How were these people’s experiences similar? How were they different?
Activity 3: How We Talk About Events Matters
1. Ask students to freewrite on the following question: “If you were incarcerated because of your ancestry and had just been released, how would you talk about your experiences to others who had not been incarcerated? Would you keep it a secret or talk openly about it?” Discuss their answers in small groups or as a class.
2. Tell students they will be reading excerpts from the novel Beacon Hill Boys. This story takes place in 1972 and focuses on the experiences of high school student Dan Inagaki. Dan is a Sansei (third-generation Japanese-American), born after World War II. [Although the novel is fictional, it is based on the author’s experiences growing up in Seattle.]
3. Pass out Worksheet 6.1. Have students read pages 41-43 of Beacon Hill Boys and fill out Part A of the worksheet. Discuss their answers as a class.
4. Have students read pages 175-178 and fill out Part B of the worksheet. Ask students to share their answers. Focus on the last question, about how the incarceration camps affected following generations, and explain this is a concept known as historical trauma: multigenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural group. Historical trauma affects many different groups of people, including Native American and other aboriginal peoples, refugees, people of color, and Holocaust survivors.
5. Write the following question on the board: “Why is it important to talk about traumatic events, even though it’s difficult?” Invite students to come up and write answers on the board, and discuss as a class.
6. Ask students how they think attitudes about the incarceration camps changed over time. Point out that in the 1960s and 1970s, civil rights, women’s rights, and ethnic pride movements were gaining popularity; how might this affect how Japanese-Americans felt about their experiences? This will be the subject of the next lesson.