Library Guides: Data 4AC: Data and Justice: Topics

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Japanese American Incarceration

This topic page provides resources on Japanese American incarceration during World War II that center the perspectives of Japanese Americans and their descendants that often reveal under-amplified experiences and stories of resistance within internment camps. Rather than focusing on incarceration as a historical event, these resources also speak to the intergenerational legacy of incarceration or "camp" for the Japanese American community and how the experience has shaped resistance movements and solidarity today.

The Power of Words (Japanese American Citizens League)
The Power of Words is an educational campaign to understand language euphemisms used to describe the Japanese American World War II experience and the preferred terminology that more accurately describes the dire realities of the experience. Members of the Power of Words committee prepared a draft handbook for presentation to the National Council. On July 7, 2012, the National Council unanimously adopted the handbook as presented. The Power of words was most recently updated in December 2020!
Densho
Densho documents the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II before their memories are extinguished. We offer these irreplaceable firsthand accounts, coupled with historical images and teacher resources, to explore principles of democracy, and promote equal justice for all. Densho is a Japanese term meaning “to pass on to the next generation,” or to leave a legacy. The legacy we offer is an American story with ongoing relevance: during World War II, the United States government incarcerated innocent people solely because of their ancestry.
Order 9066 Podcast: Chapter 6: Resistance
This episode focuses on Japanese Americans who protested their incarceration and defied the pressure to prove their patriotism.
Rabbit in the Moon
Documentary film on Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII that highlights resistance and lesser-told stories.
Resistance at Tule Lake
The dominant narrative of the World War II incarceration of Japanese-Americans has been that they behaved as a "model minority," that they cooperated without protest and proved their patriotism by enlisting in the Army. Resistance at Tule Lake, a new feature-length documentary from Third World Newsreel and directed by Japanese American filmmaker Konrad Aderer, overturns that myth by telling the long-suppressed story of Tule Lake Segregation Center. RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE tells the long-suppressed story of 12,000 Japanese Americans who dared to resist the U.S. government's program of mass incarceration during World War II. Branded as "disloyals" and re-imprisoned at Tule Lake Segregation Center, they continued to protest in the face of militarized violence, and thousands renounced their U.S. citizenship. Giving voice to experiences that have been marginalized for over 70 years, this documentary challenges the nationalist, one-sided ideal of wartime "loyalty."

We Hereby Refuse by Frank Abe; Tamiko Nimura; Matt Sasaki (Illustrator); Ross Ishikawa (Illustrator)
Publication Date: 2021
"Deftly upends the compliant narrative with impeccably documented stories of resistance and rebellion ... Made urgent yet again, the trio's courageous refusals to accept the U.S.--their!--government's heinous miscarriage of justice should irrefutably embolden new generations ... Their collective history will resonate with older teens. Also highly recommended for high-school and college classrooms." -- Terry Hong, Booklist "It leaves you simultaneously furious, questioning ideas of loyalty and citizenship ... and deeply moved. May all of us learn, and share, these stories." -- Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times Three voices. Three acts of defiance. One mass injustice. The story of camp as you've never seen it before. Japanese Americans complied when evicted from their homes in World War II -- but many refused to submit to imprisonment in American concentration camps without a fight. In this groundbreaking graphic novel, meet JIM AKUTSU, the inspiration for John Okada's No-No Boy, who refuses to be drafted from the camp at Minidoka when classified as a non-citizen, an enemy alien; HIROSHI KASHIWAGI, who resists government pressure to sign a loyalty oath at Tule Lake, but yields to family pressure to renounce his U.S. citizenship; and MITSUYE ENDO, a reluctant recruit to a lawsuit contesting her imprisonment, who refuses a chance to leave the camp at Topaz so thather case could reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Based upon painstaking research, We Hereby Refuse presents an original vision of America's past with disturbing links to the American present.
Encyclopedia of Japanese American Internment by Gary Y. Okihiro (Editor)
Publication Date: 2013
This book addresses the forced removal and confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II--a topic significant to all Americans, regardless of race or color. The internment of Japanese Americans was a violation of the Constitution and its guarantee of equal protection under the law--yet it was authorized by a presidential order, given substance by an act of Congress, and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Japanese internment is a topic that we as Americans cannot afford to forget or be ignorant of. This work spotlights an important subject that is often only described in a cursory fashion in general textbooks. It provides a comprehensive, accessible treatment of the events of Japanese American internment that includes topical, event, and biographical entries; a chronology and comprehensive bibliography; and primary documents that help bring the event to life for readers and promote inquiry and critical thinking. Provides comprehensive, authoritative, concise, and clearly written information about the internment of Japanese Americans in a single volume Combines first-hand accounts by participants in this tragic and historic experience with detailed descriptions of assembly centers, concentration camps, and military and Justice Department internment camps to enable readers to imagine what being interned was like Describes historic events; examines the legal, political, and social ramifications; supplies biographies of key individuals; and discusses the significance of Japanese internment in Asian American history Serves as an effective introduction to the subject of Japanese American internment for high school and undergraduate students as well as general readers

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