Challenging Executive Order 9066

Constitutional Rights

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Collection: Fred Korematsu Interviews. Video. Densho Digital Repository. A collection of interviews withFred Korematsu spanning from 1983 to 1996.
  • Comic Book: Abe, Frank, Tamiko F. Nimura, Ross Ishikawa, and Matt Sasaki. We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration. Seattle: Chin Music Press, 2021. Graphic novel that follows multiple perspectives from people who resisted incarceration in some form: Jim Akutsu, Mitsuye Endo, and Hiroshi Kashiwagi. This book is an excellent introduction to resistance movements among Japanese Americans after 1942 and functions both as a nonfiction narrative story and an academic book that is packed with information.
  • Public Conversation: Fred Korematsu on Internment of Japanese Americans, His Case, & Its Legacy. Posted September 24, 2021 by Robert H Jackson Center. Video. Youtube, 9 min, 56 sec. An interview with Fred Korematsu at the Chautauqua Institution on September 26, 2002. The questioner was John Q. Barrett, Professor of Law at St. John's University and Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow at the Robert H. Jackson Center.
  • Transcript: John J. McCloy and William Marutani. Official Testimony of John J. McCloy, former Assistant Secretary of War, War Department, 1941 - 1945. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Washington D.C., Tuesday, November 3, 1981. Written Testimony. On page 32 of the November 3rd transcript (page 735 in the PDF), Commissioner Marutani explains that former U.S. Army's Provost Marshal General Allen Guillon stated that McCloy called the constitution “just a scrap of paper.” McCloy calls this hearsay and he and Marutani continue debating one another.
  • Testimony: Hearing Before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Washington D.C. July 14-16, 1981 . Audio. These audio recordings of the Washington D.C. hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) in July 1981 included testimony from government officials, such as John McCloy and Karl Bendetsen, who were key decision makers behind the signing and execution of Executive Order 9066.

Additional Resources

Resistance to Forced Removal

Featured Sources

  • Interview: Hirabayashi, Gordon. Gordon Hirabayashi Oral History. Interview by Roger Daniels. February 3, 1981. Audio & Transcription (p.47-48). Courtesy of the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Collection: Gordon Hirabayashi Interviews. Video. Densho Digital Repository. A collection of interviews with Gordon Hirabayashi spanning from 1983 to 2000.
  • Interview: Minoru Yasui. October 23, 1983. Video. Courtesy of Steven Okazaki. Densho Digital Repository. An interview with Minoru Yasui where he describes his life after Pearl Harbor.

Additional Resources

Resistance in Camp

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Document: Issei's hearing notice. 1942. Fort Missoula internment camp, Montana. Object ID: ddr-densho-25-71. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of the Yamada Family Collection, . Matahichi Iseri was arrested as an "enemy alien." Those arrested were required to appear before an alien enemy hearing board.
  • Document: Takeshita, Ben. “ A ‘No-No’ Segregee." Pacific Citizen, July 27, 1979. Short newspaper article in which Ben Takeshita discusses the shame he felt for being in Tule Lake and being labeled as a “No No.”
  • Interview: Dan Harada, Taneyuki. Deciding to answer “no-no” on the so-called “loyalty questionnaire.” Interview by Martha Nakagawa. November 30, 2010. Video. Densho Digital Repository. Interview with Taneyuki Dan Harada on answering no no out of protest.
  • Interview: Fukuhara, Francis Mas. Discussion about "draft resisters" vs. "no-no boys." Interview by Tom Ikeda and Elmer Good. September 25, 1997. Video. Densho Digital Repository. Interview with Francis Mas Fukuhara (a veteran) on misconceptions about the no-no boys, how not all draft dodgers were no-no boys and not all people who answered no-no avoided the draft.
  • Interview: Kobayashi, Kenge. The family decision to answer "no-no" on the so-called "loyalty questionnaire." Interview by Alice Ito. July 5, 1998. Video. Densho Digital Repository. Interview with Kenge Kobayashi who discusses JACL’s choice to condemn draft resistors and talks about how that group deserved an official apology from the JACL.
  • Interview: Noguchi, Andy. “ Description of the JACL resolution proposed in 1999 to recognize the constitutional stand of the wartime draft resisters. ” Interview by Frank Abe. August 29, 1999. Video. Densho Digital Repository. Interview with Andy Noguchi on the importance of the JACL apology to draft resisters
  • Interview: Weglyn, Michi. Reaction of the Japanese American community to the Heart Mountain resisters. Interview by Frank Abe and Frank Chin. Video. February 20, 1998. Video. Densho Digital Repository. Interview with Michi Weglyn who discusses how resisters have been looked down on but in the future they may be held up as heroes.
  • Interview: Yamanaka, K. Morgan. Answering "no-no" on the so-called "loyalty questionnaire." Interview by Tom Ikeda and Barbara Takei, April 7, 2011. Video. Densho Digital Repository. Interview with K. Morgan Yamanaka on being willing to serve, and loyal, but answering no-no because of how he was treated.
  • Photograph: Trial of the Heart Mountain draft resisters. June 12, 1944. Photograph. Object ID: ddr-densho-122-1. Densho Digital R epository,Courtesy of Frank Abe. Photograph from the first day of the trial of the 63 Heart Mountain draft resisters in Federal District Court, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
  • Testimony: Hara, Ben. Multiple Impact Panel. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 5, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives. 00:50:25 In this testimony, Ben Hara discusses his experience as a conscientious objector, his incarceration in Crystal City and placement on a deportation list, his experience being drafted, and the racism he faced while in the military and when he returned to San Francisco to work as an X-ray technician.

Additional Resources

Seeking Accountability

Post-war Precursors

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Document: Kochiyama, Yuri. “ Song of Redress/Reparations to the tune of ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic.’” November 13, 1981. UCLA Asian American Studies Center. This document is a protest song written by activist Yuri Kochiyama that addresses the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. The lyrics reference Executive Order 9066, the forced removal and confinement of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, and the military service of Japanese American soldiers, framing redress and financial compensation as necessary responses to a government injustice.
  • Testimony: Kawahara, Harry. Panel on Voluntary Relocation. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 4, 1981. Video. Visual Communications Archive. 00:39:05-00:45:10 . In this testimony, JACL Redress Chair Harry Kawahara frames Japanese American incarceration as a government violation that left survivors with guilt and shame. He traces decades of organized efforts for restitution and legal recognition, describing a growing willingness among survivors to publicly share their experiences and seek redress.

Additional Resources

Civil Rights as Inspiration for Redress

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Interview: Bannai, Kathryn. Influence of the Civil Rights Movement on Sansei Activism. Interview by Elaine Kim and Bill Tashima. Video. March 17, 2022. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Kathryn Bannai discusses how, as a Sansei, she grew up hearing about the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power Movement, Vietnam War protests, and the assassination of Martin Luther King, which helped inspire her involvement in the Japanese American Redress Movement.
  • Newspaper Article: Kubota, Larry “ Yellow Power!." Gidra. April, 1969, Volume I, Number 1 edition, 2. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of Gidra. In this 1969 article, Kubota draws on the language and strategies of the Black Power Movement to argue that Asian Americans must challenge racism through collective action rather than quiet assimilation. Rejecting second-class citizenship and emphasizing solidarity with other oppressed groups, this article uses ideas drawn from the Civil Rights Movement to lay the groundwork for Asian American organizing and the Redress Movement.

Additional Resources

Public Memory & History of Incarceration

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Book: Bosworth, Allen R. America’s Concentration Camps. 1st ed. W. W. Norton & Company, 1967. One of the first books to provide an overview of Japanese American forced removal and incarceration.
  • Speech: Ina, Satsuki. “ Keynote Address at the 46th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage.” Posted on April 25, 201 5. Video. YouTube, 14 min, 21 sec. In this speech, Satsuki Ina asserts that the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II inflicted deep intergenerational trauma and that much of that suffering was silenced by a culture of shame and historical erasure. She calls for reclaiming that silenced history as an act of resistance and healing.
  • Testimony: Embrey, Sue . Community Organization Panel. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 6, 1981. Video. Visual Communications Archive. 01:41:00-01:50:54. In her testimony, Sue Embrey describes the Manzanar Committee’s pilgrimages and their role in fostering connections among formerly incarcerated people. She emphasizes that Japanese American communities along the West Coast were deeply disrupted, that many survivors cannot share their experiences, and that the pilgrimage site provides a space for collective remembrance and confrontation of past injustices.

Additional Resources

Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

Establishing the CWRIC

Featured Sources

  • Document: Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, “ Public Law 96-317." July 31, 1980. Object ID: ddr-densho-352-42. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of the Sasha Hohri Collection.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Document: Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Press Release. June 24, 1981. Object ID: ddr-densho-352-180. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of the Sasha Hohri Collection. Official press release from the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) with information about the hearings.
  • Interview: Yoshino, William. Yoshino William (12/6/2022). Interview by Mary Doi. Video. December 6, 2022. Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. 00:33:09-00:36:46. This interview explains the path taken to establish the CWRIC within Congress. Yoshino explains that Senator Inouye pushed for this approach because he believed it would help educate members of Congress and the public about the history of Japanese American incarceration. He also argued that establishing a commission would provide better grounds for legislation than putting legislation on the floor without context.
  • Photograph: Men Standing Behind President Jimmy Carter In White House, Signing Of Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Citizens Act Into Law. July 31, 1980. Photograph. Object ID: ddr-densho-393-4. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of the Ron Ikejiri Collection. Photograph of people witnessing Jimmy Carter sign the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Citizens Act into Law. Some of those present include Clifford Uyeda, Ted Stevens, Daniel Inouye, Ron Ikejiri, Barbara Ikejiri, Norman Mineta, Spark Matsunaga, and George Danielson.

Additional Resources

Who was on the commission?

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Interview: Marutani, William. “ Deciding to accept the commission appointment." Interview by Becky Fukuda and Gary Kawaguchi. Video. September 11, 1997. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, commissioner William Marutani discusses his decision to accept the commission appointment.
  • Interview: Macbeth, Angus “ Description of the commission members." Interview by Tetsuden Kashima and Becky Fukuda. Video. September 11, 1997. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Macbeth discusses the commission members heading the CWRIC. After the commission was established, Macbeth worked as Special Counsel to the commission and oversaw the publication of the Commission’s official report and recommendation, Personal Justice Denied.

Additional Resources

  • Article: Niiya, Brian. "Arthur J. Goldberg.” Densho Encyclopedia. June 29, 2015.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. "Robert F. Drinan.” Densho Encyclopedia. June 29, 2015.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. “ Dan Lungren.” Densho Encyclopedia. January 29, 2016.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. “ Ishmael Gromoff.” Densho Encyclopedia. August 24, 2020.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. “ Arthur S. Flemming.” Densho Encyclopedia. January 9, 2024.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. "Hugh B. Mitchell.” Densho Encyclopedia. April 16, 2024.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. “ Edward W. Brooke.” Densho Encyclopedia. June 23, 2024.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. "Joan Z. Bernstein.” Densho Encyclopedia. June 23, 2024.
  • Article: Niiya, Brian. “ William Marutani. ” Densho Encyclopedia. November 22, 2025.

Personal Justice Denied

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Interview: Macbeth, Angus "Personal Justice Denied": uncovering the past, creating a powerful report." Interview by Tetsuden Kashima and Becky Fukuda. Video. September 11, 1997. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Macbeth, special counsel to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), discusses the process through which Personal Justice Denied was developed and published.

Additional Resources

Three Grassroots Organizations

Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Document: “Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Hearings.” Washington, D.C. July 14-16, 1981, November 2-3, 1981. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, MD. This is the transcript for the Washington, D.C., hearings where multiple members of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) testified.
  • Interview: Harano, Ross. Ross Harano (3/22/2018). Interview by Anna Takada. March 22, 2018. Video. Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. 00:31:00-00:33:00. In this interview, Harano discusses his experience as a Sansei whose family rarely discussed their experiences in camp and describes how he learned more about the history of Japanese American incarceration after he got involved with the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).
  • Interview: Kinoshita, Cherry. Issues surrounding the decision to seek monetary compensation. Interview by Becky Fukuda and Tracy Lai. September 26, 1997. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Kinoshita discusses some of the controversies within the Japanese American community about how best to pursue redress and whether or not to seek monetary reparations.
  • Interview: Tateishi, John, The early days of the redress movement. Interview by Tom Ikeda, July 5, 2008. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Tateishi discusses how he got involved with the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the Redress Movement. He also describes how he got appointed as chair of the redress committee for "criticizing" the JACL’s initial approach to redress.
  • Interview: Yoshino, Ron. Ron Yoshino (2/7/2023). Interview by Mary Doi. February 7, 2023. Video. Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. In this interview, Yoshino discusses his involvement in the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and touches on the relationship between the JACL and the National Council for Japanese American Redress (NCJAR).
  • Interview: Yoshino, William. Yoshino William (12/6/2022). Inte rview by Mary Doi. December 6, 2022. Video. Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. In this interview, Yoshino explains how and why members of the Japanese American community sought to establish the CWRIC.

Additional Resources

National Council for Japanese American Redress (NCJAR)

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Interview: Cole, Diana Morito. Meeting William Hohri. Interview by Virginia Yamada. September 30, 2019. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Cole describes meeting William Hohri and asserts that it was his tenacious pursuit of greater monetary redress through a class action lawsuit that ultimately pushed the U.S. government to offer an apology and reparations.
  • Interview: Hohri, William. “ The lawsuit set the standard for restoring people's rights ” Interview by Darcie Iki and Mitchell Maki. June 12, 1998. Video. Discover Nikkei, Courtesy of the Watase Media Art Center, Japanese American National Museum. In this interview, Hohri defends his decision to pursue a class action lawsuit over the legislative commission approach.
  • Interview: Hosokawa, Bill. Initial opposition to "reparations." Interview by Alice Ito. July 13, 2001. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Hosokawa discusses his initial opposition to reparations because he felt that it “cheapened our sacrifice ,” but describes how he later changed his mind and resolved to support redress and an official apology.
  • Interview: Samson, Mary. Mary Samson (6/30/2021). Interview by Emma Saito. June 30, 2021. Video. Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. In this interview, Samson discusses working with the National Council for Japanese American Redress (NCJAR) and outlines some of the ways that NCJAR’s approach to redress differed from the approach of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).
  • Testimony: Omori, Merry Fujihara. Panel on Reparations, Remedies, and Crystal City Internment Camp. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Chicago, IL. September 22-23, 1981. V ideo. Northeastern Illinois University Archives. In this testimony, Merry Fujihara Omori, former chairperson for the NCJAR,, gives an impassioned testimony during the Chicago hearings in which she clashes with commissioner Joan Bernstein and is ultimately forced to stop talking because she goes over her allotted time.

Additional Resources

National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR)

Featured Sources

  • Testimony: Kizu, June. Community Organization Panel . In hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 5, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archive. 01:33:02-01:35:26.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Document: Commission Hearing on WARTIME RELOCATION–Join Us! August, 1981. Local ID: jncrr_01_04_033. Jim Matsuoka for Civil RIghts and Redress Collection in CSU Dominguez Hills Department of Archives and Special Collections. Flyer for events sponsored by the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR) during the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) hearings.
  • Document: FREE BUSES TO COMMISSION HEARINGS. August, 1981. Local ID: rncrr_01_02_004. Roy Nakano Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress Collection in CSU Dominguez Hills Department of Archives and Special Collections. NCRR, Event flyer for free bus rides to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) hearings provided by the Nikkei for the Gardena Chapter of the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations.
  • Interview: Embrey, Sue. Multiple organizations' contributions to the redress movement. Interview by Glen Kitayama. September 11, 1997. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Embrey provides an overview of different organization’s approaches, perspectives, and contributions to the Japanese American Redress Movement. She emphasizes the importance of lobbying and the combined impact of launching different campaigns around the same time in the 1980s.
  • Interview: Nakano, Bert. National Coalition for Redress and Reparations (NCRR), efforts to mobilize community . Interview by Emi Kuboyama. January 24, 2020. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this segment of an interview with Bert Nakano, as well as other segments of his oral history, Nakano describes how he got involved in the Redress Movement, why the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR) was formed as an alternative to the Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL), and how the NCRR helped organize the Los Angeles, CA, CWRIC hearings.
  • Interview: Ochi, Kay. Work with the National Coalition for Redress Reparations (NCRR) . Interview by Emi Kuboyama. January 24, 2020. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this segment of an interview with Kay Ochi, along with Segment 3 and Segment 5, Ochi describes the history of the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR), their approach to redress, and their strategy for organizing CWRIC hearings.
  • Photograph: June Kizu at 1986 Day of Remembrance . February 23, 1986. Photograph. Local ID: yncrr_album_01_56_002_01. CSU Dominguez Hills Department of Archives and Special Collections, Courtesy of Janice Yen Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress Collection. Photograph of NCRR representative June Kizu at the 1868 Day of Remembrance.
  • Photograph: NCRR banner outside the hearings. 1981. Photograph. Courtesy of National Coalition for Redress / Reparations (NCRR). This photo, in the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations’ collection of photos from the 1981 Los Angeles, CA hearings, shows a large sign for NCRR held outside of the commission hearings.
  • Testimony: Nishio, Alan . Community Impact Panel, Little Tokyo People's Rights Organization and NCRR. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, August 4-6, 1981. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archive. 00:12:31. In this testimony, Nishio offers suggestions for reparations as a representative for the Little Tokyo People’s Rights Organizations and the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR).

Additional Resources

Speaking Truth to Power

Preparing to Testify

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Interview: Biala, Kathy. Biala, Kathy (12/12/2022). Interview by Katherine Nagasawa. December 12, 2022. Video. Courtesy of Japanese American Service Committee ( JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. In this interview, Biala discusses how her uncle Hiroshi Kadokura was eager to testify. She expresses how this decision was surprising to her as it was out of character for him to want to speak out as a non-assertive person.
  • Interview: Tomihiro, Chiye. Getting people to testify at the Chicago hearings. Interview by Becky Fukuda and Gary Kawaguchi. Video. September 11, 1997. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of Densho Digital History Collection. In this interview, Tomihiro talks about her experiences becoming more involved in the Redress Movement after feeling inspired as a witness chair at the Commission Hearings. She describes the difficulties she faced in getting people to testify, especially the older Issei.
  • Testimony: Ichioka, Yuji. Education Panel. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 6, 1981. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives . 01:57:02- 02:14:17. In this testimony, Ichioka describes how he was apprehensive about testifying and explains that it was the testimonies of fellow Nisei that inspired him to share his family's own story. He then recounts his family’s story.

Additional Resources

Testifying

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Document: “ Commission workshop. ” 1981. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of California State University, Sacramento, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. A flyer in Japanese and English promoting a workshop that aims to prepare people for oral and written testimonies.
  • Document: “ Newspaper ad encouraging Japanese American to testify at hearings. ” August 1981. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of Frank Abe. A newspaper advertisement that encourages Japanese Americans to testify and particularly calls for veterans and families who have lost sons in combat to speak out.
  • Document: “ Witness preparation information packet to submit written testimony and testify before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. ” May 14, 1981. Courtesy of California State University Japanese American History Digitization Project, Densho Digital Repository. An informational packet that contains information on how to prepare for written and oral testimonies.
  • Testimony: Nakagawa, Masato, Morimitsu, Arthur, Sato, Eddie and Sato, Sam. Panel on Reparations and Redress. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Chicago, IL. September 22-23, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Northeastern Illinois University Archives. The testimonies of Japanese American veterans of the 442nd recalling their experiences and their disappointments with the nation they served.
  • Transcript: Ozaki, Sam. “ Sam Ozaki.” Carli Digital Collections, 1981. Written Testimony. Transcription Courtesy of the Japanese-American Redress Collection, Northeastern Illinois University. Written transcript of Sam Ozaki’s testimony at the Chicago Commission Hearings.

Additional Resources

Intergenerational Processing

Featured Sources

  • Interview: Ozaki, Rebecca. Ozaki, Rebecca (3/16/2023). Interview by Mary Doi andKatherine Nagasawa. March 16, 2023. Video. Courtesy of Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. 00:28:10-00:29:43.

S upplementary Primary Sources

  • Interview: Doi, Lisa. Family background. Interview by Japanese American Service Committee and Chicago Japanese American Historical Society. September 6, 2019. Video. Courtesy of the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) and Chicago Japanese American Historical Society (CJAHS). In this interview, Doi, a Yonsei and advisor for this project, discusses growing up in Chicago where her family was resettled post-World War II and hearing stories about camp life.
  • Interview: Gainor, Gabrielle Nomura. Grandfather's activist and educator history. Interview by Ana Tanaka and Dr. Kyle Kinoshita. December 17, 2021. Video. Courtesy of Seattle JACL Oral History Collection, Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Gainor, a Gosei , reflects on her late grandfather John Nomura and his activist work. She explains how her grandfather was born inside camp and grew up working with United Farm Workers.

Additional Resources

Breaking the Silence

Issei

Featured Sources

  • Testimony: Saito, Tetsu. Japanese Language Testimony. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, Los Angeles, CA. August 6, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives. 00:32:52-00:44:13.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Testimony: Ogata, Mamoru. Japanese Language Testimony. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, Los Angeles, CA. August 6, 1981. Vi deo. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives . 01:06:09-01:17:31. Ogata was an Issei resident of Gardena, CA, who requested $25,000 minimum in reparations for all that he lost and suffered during the war. He describes losing his farm and living in fear at Poston with his family.
  • Testimony: Yamashita, Kiyo. Japanese Language Testimony. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, Los Angeles, CA. August 6, 1981. Video Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives. 00:49:45-00:57:12. Yamashita, an Issei, explains the discrimination he faced for being a Japanese ship captain. After Pearl Harbor, FBI agents raided his house and put him in a detention facility before transporting him to an internment camp in Bismarck, ND, along with German and Italian prisoners of war. After Saito swore allegiance to the U.S., he was permitted to return to his family. He describes the pain and betrayal he felt at being imprisoned and separated from his family despite the fact that his son was in the U.S. army.

Additional Resources

Giving Voice to Tragedy

Featured Sources

  • Testimony: Okamoto, Martha. Little Tokyo Towers Evening Session. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 4, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives. 00:09:04-00:18:10.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Collection: Linda Tamura oral history interviews with Issei in the Hood River Valley, Oregon. The Oregon Historical Society Digital Collections. Au dio. These are the recordings of interviews with eleven Issei that Linda Tamura used to write her book The Hood River Issei. Each folder includes the interviewee's name and can be clicked on to reveal a dropdown list of audio files and transcripts of their oral history.
  • Testimony: Ishiyama, Toaru. Panel on Impact on Family (Survey/Experience). In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Chicago, IL. September 22-23, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Northeastern Illinois University Archives. 00:00:00-00:16:01. In this testimony, Ishiyama gives his perspective as a psychologist and camp survivor by discussing the negative impacts that incarceration had on Japanese American identity and self perception in the long term.
  • Testimony: Kimura, Grace Watanabe. Panel on Media Reaction, and Panel on Economic Loss, Education Loss, and Property Loss. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Chicago, IL. September 22-23, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Northeastern Illinois University Archives. 00:44:14-00:49:57. In this testimony, Kimura explains how Executive Order 9066 caused the separation of her family from her father who was battling cancer.
  • Testimony: Komatsu, Ikuo . Panel on Impact on Family (Survey/Experience). In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Chicago, IL. September 22-23, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Northeastern Illinois University Archives. 00:16:13-00:25:22. In this testimony, Komatsu expresses to the Commission how camp life destroyed his family.
  • Testimony: Ota, Mabel Takaka. Panel on Health Impact. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 4, 1981. V ideo. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives. 01:16:30- 01:28:30. In this testimony, Ota discusses the poor medical treatment she and her father received in camp.
  • Testimony: Yoshida, Ewan. Multiple Impact Panel. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles, CA. August 5, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives. 01:07:00- 01:14:11. In this testimony, Yoshida details how his father was arrested and taken to an unknown camp when he was only eleven years old, leaving him an orphan. He never again sees his father after that and continues to search for him.

Additional Resources

The Quiet Americans?

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Testimony: Mass, Amy Iwasaki. Mental Health Professionals Panel In Hearing Before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles CA, August 6, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archive. 00:06:25- 00:15:35. In this testimony, social worker Mass discusses how the trauma of incarceration was so overwhelming for individuals that their brains created a defensive mechanism to repress their experiences and forget the truth of what happened to them.
  • Testimony: Sato, Sam. Panel on Reparations and Redress. In the hearings before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Chicago IL. September 22-23, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Northeastern Illinois University Archives. 00:39:10-00:44:51. In this testimony, Sato recalls going to camp alone, separated from his ill parents and brother who enlisted in the 442nd Regimental Combat Infantry. He calls for redress for the injustices he suffered during his childhood when he was taken from his family and denied a last visit with his sick mother.

Additional Resources

Bringing Forward Marginalized Voices

Forced Displacement of Unangax̂ (Aleut) People

Featured Sources

  • Testimony: Tu, Alexandra. Multiple Impact on Aleuts. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation a nd Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Seattle, WA. September 9, 1981–September 11, 1981. Video. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, MD - Motion Pictures. 00:35:01-00:42:30.
  • Testimony: Gisvold, Charlotte. Multiple Impact on Aleuts.In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Seattle, WA. September 9, 1981–September 11, 1981. Video. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, MD - Motion Pictures. 00:27:07-00:32:57.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Document: “ Aleut Women's Petition . ” October 19th, 1942. Pribilof Island Logbooks, Records of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Record Group 22. Identifier: 2641505. National Archives and Records Administration at Seattle, WA. In this petition, Unangax̂ (Aleut) women describe the dire conditions at Funter Bay, including impure water, overcrowded rooms, lack of bathing or laundry facilities, inadequate food, and insufficient clothing for children, appealing for better living conditions.
  • Document: Roden, Henry. “ Letter describing Unangax̂ living conditions at Funter Bay, Alaska, September 20, 1943 .” September 20, 1943. Identifier: ASA_A100_RG101_SR727_VS471_4. Alaska. Office of the District and Territorial Governor. Alaska State Archives. Page 2. This letter from Attorney General of Alaska Henry Roden describes the overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions of Unangax̂ (Aleut) evacuees from St. George Island housed at Funter Bay.
  • Interview: “ Oral History With Unangax̂ (Aleut) Internment Survivor Larry Chercasen.” Posted on April 21, 2020 by World War Two Alaska. Video. Youtube, 10 min, 34 sec. In this video, Unangax̂ (Aleut) survivor Larry (Lawrence) Casson recounts his childhood evacuation from the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands and his incarceration in camps in Southeast Alaska during World War II. He describes being forcibly removed from his home, the deaths of family members from disease in the camps, and returning to a village that had been severely damaged during his absence.
  • Interview: Solicited Testimony Files Witness Files, Videotape of Unalaska Aleut Interview. 1981. Video. Identifier: 39775. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, MD - Motion Pictures. 00:53:20-00:54:34. In this interview, Father Ishmail V. Gromoff reflects on the treatment of Unangax̂ (Aleut) and places the Unangax̂’s forced removal and treatment in camps within a broader historical pattern of injustice against minorities.
  • Memoir: Golodoff, Nick. Attu Boy: A Young Alaskan's WWII Memoir. Boulder : University Press of Colorado, 2015. A memoir written by Nick Golodoff, an Alaskan boy who was taken to a POW camp after the Japanese military captured the Alaskan island of Attu. Golodoff recounts life before the war, pre-war fears, life as a child prisoner, and his eventual return as one of twenty-five survivors of the camp he was held in.
  • Newspaper Article: “ Fr. Gromoff: himself an Aleut evacuee.” The Pacific Citizen, June 26, 1981. Newspaper article from the JACL’s official newspaper, The Pacific Citizen, detailing the personal history of Father Ishmail V. Gromoff who was an Unangax̂ (Aleut) Russian Orthodox priest and member of the Commission of Wartime Relocation who was evacuated during the war.

Additional Resources

Internment of Japanese Latin Americans

Featured Sources

  • Testimony: Kudo, Elsa. Panel on Japanese from Peru. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Chicago, IL. September 22-23, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Northeastern Illinois University Archives. 00:25:57-00:31:05.
  • Interview: Kudo, Elsa . Kudo, Elsa (11/26/2022). Interview by Katherine Nagasawa. Video. November 26, 2022. Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collections. 00:26:00-00:29:09.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Book: Higashide, Seiichi. Adios to Tears: the Memoirs of a Japanese-Peruvian Internee in U.S. Concentration Camps. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993. In this memoir, Higashide recounts his experiences as a Japanese Latin American forcibly brought to the U.S. during World War II. It details his life in internment camps, the challenges he faced, and the lasting effects of displacement on him and his community.
  • Collection: National Japanese American Historical Society. Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project (JPOHP) Collection. National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) Digital Archives. An oral history project that houses the oral histories of Japanese Latin Americans who faced incarceration and discrimination based on their ethnicity during World War II.
  • Interview: Ozawa, Atsumi. Reuniting with Father on Ship to the United States. Interview by Tom Ikeda. June 17, 2011. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Atsumi Ozawa describes her family’s removal from Lima, Peru, to a warship bound for the U.S. She recounts her mother’s miscarriage during the train ride to the ship, her responsibility for her younger siblings during her mother's absence, being reunited with her father who had previously been detained, and the strict separation of men and women under armed guard aboard the ship.
  • Photograph: Crystal City Softball Team. 1946. Photograph. Object ID: ddr-densho-91-8. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of the A. Shibayama Family Collection. This photograph shows the Crystal City Internment Camp softball team in 1946. All players pictured are Japanese Peruvians except for one Japanese American in the front row, second from left. In the front row, third from left, is Art (Isamu) Shibayama, a Japanese Peruvian who later became a community organizer and advocate for Japanese Latin American redress.

Additional Resources

Exclusion of Japanese Latin Americans from Redress

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Court Case: “ Mochizuki v. United States, United States Court of Federal Claims.” 43 Fed. Cl. 97, 1999 U.S. Claims LEXIS 31, 1999 WL 72777. In this court record, Japanese Latin American plaintiffs in the Mochizuki v. United States case describe being forcibly removed from their home countries during World War II and interned in US camps. The case ultimately settled, with the US government admitting a wrong was committed but only paying $5,000 to each survivor.
  • Document: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. “ Report No. 26/20. Case 12.545.” Merits (PU BLICATION). Isamu Carlos Shibayama et al. United States. April 22, 2020. 3-4. This report examines how Art (Isamu), Kenichi, and Takeshi Shibayama were excluded from full reparations under the Civil Liberties Act due to their immigration status. The Commission found this nationality-based exclusion violated their rights to equality and an effective remedy, as US courts failed to provide meaningful review, and recommended full reparations, acknowledgment, and disclosure of related government records.
  • Interview: Shibayama, Art. Feelings Upon Finding Out That Redress Would be Denied to Japanese Latin Americans. Interview by Alice Ito. October 26, 2003. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this video, Japanese Latin American activist Art (Isamu) Shibayama discusses how being denied redress was a continuation of the injustice he experienced at the hands of the US government. He states that denial on the grounds of immigration status is completely illogical because he was forced to enter the US.

Additional Resources

Enough?

Calculating Compensation

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Supplementary Primary Sources

Additional Resources

Receiving Redress

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Collection: Chicago Chapter JACL: Redress Activities. 1970-1985. Courtesy of Chicago JACL, Densho Digital Repository. This collection includes 800 primary sources related to the JACL’s fundraising, outreach, and correspondence with regard to the Redress Movement. Many documents include discussions about compensation and the formation of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC).
  • Document: Redress Compensation Eligibility Form. April 1991. Object ID: ddr-densho-153-21. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of Marjorie Matsushita. This form was sent by the Department of Justice’s Office of Redress Administration (ORA) to those eligible for compensation under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. It provided instructions on what documents must be submitted to the ORA before compensation was granted.

Additional Resources

Was it Enough?

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Collection: Kinoshita Collection. 1943-1990. Courtesy of the Kinoshita Family Collection, Densho Digital Repository. This collection of primary sources includes photographs from the Minidoka concentration camp as well as documents related to the Redress Movement from the 1970s onward, including material detailing the JACL’s conventions in which they discussed what kind of compensation they should pursue.
  • Interview: Kinoshita, Cherry. Reflecting on the accomplishments of redress. Interview by Becky Fukuda. September 26, 1997. Video. Densho Digital Repository. In this interview, Kinoshita discusses her feelings about what Japanese Americans won during the Redress Movement and reflects on whether it will lead to the long-term impact she hoped for.

Additional Resources

Legacies and Limitations of Redress

In Solidarity: Supporting Black American Reparations

Featured Sources

  • Testimony: Masaoka, Kathy. H.R.40 Testimony by Kathy Masaoka (NCRR/NP). Posted February 21, 2021, by NCRRLA. Video. Youtube, 7 min, 17 sec. Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress and Nikkei Progressives support for H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, Los Angeles, CA. February 17, 2021. Video. NCRRLA.
  • Video: Tamaki, Don. Reparations Task Force Meeting via Videoconference (Part 1 of 3). Swearing in for the California Reparations Task Force, California. June 1, 2021. Video. Youtube. 01:18:56-01:23:50.
  • Document: California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. “ The California Reparations Report.” California Department of Justice, Sacramento, CA. June 29, 2023.

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Art: Yukimoto-Saltman, Sara. “ Black Reparations and Solidarity Campaign ” 2022. Tsuru for Solidarity. This graphic recording by artist Sara Yukimoto Saltman, made on May 21, 2022, pictures Yuri Kochiyama and Malcom X in a call for solidarity between Black and Japanese Americans.
  • Bill: H.R. 40: Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. 1989- ( United States of America). This webpage details a bill in 2025 brought to Congress for the sake of establishing a commission to study and develop a plan to provide reparations for African Americans. Efforts to establish a commission are, as of 2026, ongoing and no law has yet been passed.
  • Interview: Lin, Cori Nakamura. Lin, Cori Nakamura (5/19/2021). Interview by Katherine Nagasawa. May 19, 2021. Vi deo. Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) Legacy Center Digital Collecti ons . In this interview, Lin describes her work with non-profits involved in supporting immigrant communities and discusses her involvement in BLM (Black Lives Matter) activist spaces.
  • Newspaper Article: “ ALIEN RULING MOMENTOUS Alien Land Law of State Sustained, Declares Attorney General Webb." Lompoc Review. November 24, 1922, Volume IV, Number 40 edition, 5. California Digital Newspaper Collection. This 1922 Newspaper article describes a Supreme Court ruling that upheld Alien Land Laws barring first-generation Japanese immigrants from owning land in California.
  • Testimony: Lungren, Daniel. CWRIC Comments. In the hearings before the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), Los Angeles CA, August 4, 1981. Video. Courtesy of Visual Communications Archives. 01:09:28. In this segment during the CWRIC hearings in Los Angeles, Commissioner Daniel Lungren specifically raises the question of whether reparations should be given to descendants of those in camp and brings up that doing so would set a precedent for the descendents of enslaved peoples to pursue reparations.
  • Video: Japanese Americans and African Americans Advancing the Movement for Reparations and H.R. 40. Posted March 25, 2021 by ACLU. Video. YouTube, 2 hours and 25 min. This roundtable features a discussion about the impact and possibility of reparations for African Americans with representatives from National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) and National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) as well as Japanese American activists from National Coalition for Redress\Reparations (NCRR), Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and Tsuru for Solidarity.

Additional Resources

Visualizing Redress

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Collection: Redress and Reparations - Still Images. Densho Digital Repository. Collection of photographs and newspaper clippings in Densho’s Digital Repository that visually document the history of the Japanese American redress.

Additional Resources

“Never Again”: Extending the Legacy of Japanese American Activism

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Additional Resources

Game Sources

Featured Sources

Supplementary Primary Sources

  • Video: “ Japanese Relocation.” Narrated by Milton S. Eisenhower. 1943. Producer, Office of War Information. Distributed by the War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, MD. This short film is narrated by Milton Eisenhower, the first director of the War Relocation Authority (WRA). He describes the incarceration process and justifies the forced removal as a matter of military necessity, saying that Japanese Americans were willing to go to camp for the good of America.
  • Document: Ringle, Kenneth. “ Report on the Japanese Question.” January 26, 1942. Object ID: ddr-densho-122-558. Densho Digital Repository, Courtesy of Frank Abe. Produced by Kenneth Ringle, an intelligence officer for the Navy who was responsible for investigating the threat posed by Nikkei in the United States. The so-called “Ringle report” concluded that there was no compelling evidence to suggest that all people of Japanese descent living in the U.S. posed a threat to national security and argued that people’s loyalty could only be determined on an individual basis.
  • Document: “Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Hearings.” Washington, D.C. July 14-16, 1981, November 2-3, 1981. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, MD. This is the transcript for the Washington, D.C. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings, where many of the so-called “architects” of incarceration, such as Karl Bendetsen and John DeWitt, testified before the commission and attempted to justify the choices they made about Japanese American incarceration during the war.
  • Interview: Bendetsen, Karl R. Karl R. Bendetsen Oral History Interviews. Interview by Jerry N. Hess. Written Transcript. October 24, 1972 & November 9, 1972. Harry S. Truman Library Archives. The first two interviews in the collection feature Bendetsen discussing his personal justification for supporting incarceration.
  • Letter: McCloy, John J. “Letter to Mr. Paul T. Bannai, Executive Director of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, from John McCloy.” July 24, 1981. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, MD. This is a letter in response to Paul Bannai after he requested that McCloy testify at the first CWRIC hearing. While McCloy did not go, he made it clear that incarceration and the decisions that led to it were made 40 years ago and it was difficult to convey what the tensions were like at that time. He expressed the belief that if the Commission could understand the tension and pressures that they would believe that incarceration had been necessary.

Additional Resources