Key Terms

A mostly Japanese American military unit from Hawai’i formed in 1942. They fought in Italy during World War II and sustained a high number of casualties, later becoming part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team Read more

Many sources use “over 110,000” or “120,000” to describe the number of nikkei who were incarcerated, but research done by the The Irei: National Monument project has come to a more integrated and precise count. The larger number includes all nikkei and their family members who were held in any form of confinement site for any amount of time between the start of the Pacific War in 1942 and the closing of the Crystal City Texas internment camp in 1947. The different forms of confinement sites included in this count are as follows: WCCA Assembly Centers, 10 WRA concentration camps, U.S. Army Internment Camps, Department of Justice Camps, as well as anyone interned under the custodial detention program in county and city jails, temporary INS detention stations, and tuberculosis facilities.

Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship, equal protection under the law, and due process to all persons in the United States. Read more

A segregated Army combat unit of Japanese American men organized on March 23, 1943. Roughly 1,500 Japanese American men left concentration camps to volunteer for the 442nd and join the 10,000 volunteers from Hawai’i. Others volunteered for the Military Intelligence Service. Hundreds of women also served in the WAC, the Cadet Nurse Corps, and as translators. Approximately 800 people were killed or missing in action and the 442nd was recognized as the most decorated unit for its size and length of service. Veteran testimony at the CWRIC hearings carried immense weight. Read more

“A doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” Read more

First passed by the U.S. in 1798, this act restricted the rights of non-citizen residents and made it easier to apprehend, imprison, and deport them. During WWII, the act was used as the legal basis for confiscating land from and incarcerating Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants.

“Alien land laws are most often associated with western states' attempts to limit the presence and permanence of Japanese immigrants . . . by forbidding ‘aliens ineligible for citizenship’ from purchasing, and later from leasing property.” Read more

Set of laws passed in California and other states beginning in 1913 that limited the rights of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and South Asian immigrants by making it illegal for first-generation immigrants to purchase and lease land. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alien Land Laws were unconstitutional in 1952. Read more

“These efforts ranged from introducing discriminatory legislation that discouraged further Japanese immigration, encouraging and enforcing boycotts of Japanese businesses, and spreading propaganda.” Read more

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Antiwar Movement opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The movement included mass protests, teach‑ins, and draft resistance that helped change public opinion and pressure the government to withdraw troops and end the draft.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Asian American activists united to fight racism, establish ethnic studies programs, and create community organizations that addressed education, housing, and social services. Read more

A political organization of Asian American students formed by Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee in 1968 at the University of California, Berkeley. They aimed to unite Asian American students under one political identity.

Detention facilities hastily built to temporarily hold people of Japanese ancestry after Executive Order 9066 was signed, often located in racetracks or fair grounds and known for their poor living conditions. Those incarcerated in assembly centers were moved to more permanent concentration camps run by the War Relocation Authority between May and October of 1942. Read more

Assimilation is when a minority group or culture assumes the values, behaviors, and beliefs of a majority group or culture. Read more

(1921–1996) author and activist who defended Japanese American incarceration, opposed redress, and became a vocal critic during the CWRIC hearings, where she tried to grab the testimony of a former incarceree.

The sense of unity with others via culture and/or shared values that provide feelings of safety, solidarity, and care.

(1907–1989) senior War Department official who helped orchestrate the World War II removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. During his testimony before the CWRIC, he refused to take responsibility for his part in the decisions to incarcerate Japanese Americans en masse. Read more

(1926–) lawyer and chair of the CWRIC, appointed by President Jimmy Carter. She led the CWRIC hearings, supported monetary compensation, and defended the findings before Congress, helping to pave the way for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Read more

Emerged in the 1960s to promote racial pride and self-determination. It was inspired by Malcolm X and global anti-colonial struggles and faced heavy government repression. Read more

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese navy launched a surprise military attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor located on the island of O'ahu. Read more

(1924–2018) 41st President of the United States, whose administration was responsible for implementing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Read more

2023 report presenting the findings of the California Reparations Task Force and proposed remedies for injustices committed against African Americans. The recommendations include financial reparations, policy changes, and public education initiatives, based on historical and contemporary evidence of racial discrimination. Read more

Body established in 2020 by Assembly Bill 3121 to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans, particularly descendants of enslaved people. The nine-member group gathered testimony, reviewed evidence, and recommended remedies and public education strategies to convey its findings. Read more

Grassroots coalition seeking proper redress and public acknowledgment for Japanese Latin Americans forcibly removed from Latin America and incarcerated in U.S. Department of Justice camps during World War II. Read more

(1924–2024) 39th President of the U.S. who signed the bill authorizing the formation of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) in 1980. Read more

The act of limiting free speech performed by the dominant group, usually based upon ideological grounds and alleged to be an act of protection.

This 1882 act banned Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. for 10 years. The ban was passed by Congress, signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur, and then extended until it was repealed in 1943 . Read more

Temporary processing centers used during World War II where Japanese Americans were registered, questioned, and assigned to assembly centers or relocation camps before being transported to permanent incarceration sites. Read more

“A series of orders issued by Gen. John L. DeWitt as head of the Western Defense Command (WDC) directing the exclusion of ‘all persons of Japanese ancestry, including aliens and non-aliens’ from designated areas on the West Coast.” Read more

Signed into law on August 10, 1988, this federal act granted $20,000 in compensation to each surviving U.S. citizen or permanent resident of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II. Based on the recommendations of the CWRIC, the act also included an official presidential apology and an education fund dedicated to informing the public about the history of incarceration. Read more

Mass movement in the 1950s and 1960s in which African Americans and allies organized boycotts, marches, sit-ins, legal challenges, and grassroots campaigns to dismantle racial segregation and discrimination. Read more

Type of legal action in which a group of plaintiffs with similar claims against the same entity brings a case on behalf of the larger group. Often used to seek remedies for widespread harm, such as the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. See NCJAR.

The shared history and experiences of a specific group that becomes a part of that group’s cultural identity.

Bipartisan commission established in 1980 to investigate the wartime incarceration of Nikkei in the U.S. and the removal of the Unangax̂ (Aleut) in Alaska. The commission heard testimonies from over 750 witnesses in 10 cities across the U.S. and reviewed evidence gathered by researchers, which were used to produce an official report titled Personal Justice Denied and a set of recommendations. Read more

A group bound by common values, culture, interests, and/or needs that often works collectively for the good of the group.

The process of adhering to rules or structures imposed by others.

A place for confining people deemed enemies of a nation under harsh conditions that disregard acceptable legal norms of arrest and imprisonment. Read more

Coram Nobis, meaning "before us," references cases from the 1980s that overturned convictions against three Japanese American men who violated curfew or forced removal orders after Executive Order 9066 was issued during World War II. Read more

Internment camp in Texas established during World War II and run by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Read more

(1916–2006) Nisei who was stuck in Japan during World War II and worked as a radio host during that time. After the war, she was accused of treason, convicted, and imprisoned for six years of a ten-year sentence. In the 1970s, Japanese Americans convinced of her innocence launched a campaign on her behalf and she was granted a presidential pardon in 1977. Read more

Annual events beginning in 1978 when people gather to mark the signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Observances honor those affected, promote awareness of civil rights, and connect past injustices to ongoing struggles. Read more

Nonprofit organization with projects, databases, and web resources designed to preserve, research, and share Japanese American history. Densho staff preserve a vast archive of documents and oral histories that cover a wide range of topics related to Japanese American history.

Department of Justice camps held Japanese, German, and Italian aliens who the FBI labeled as dangerous after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Unlike their Italian and German counterparts, most Japanese Americans held in these camps were sent to War Relocation Authority camps if granted parole after trial. Read more

Department of Justice camps held Japanese, Germans, and Italians who the FBI labeled as dangerous after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Unlike their Italian and German counterparts, most Japanese Americans held in these camps were sent to War Relocation Authority camps if granted parole or released for work after administrative hearings. Read more

(1880–1962) led the Western Defense Command during World War II and orchestrated the forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Influenced by racial bias, he declared Nikkei inherently disloyal, opposed their enlistment and return to the West Coast, and supervised the implementation of Executive Order 9066. Read more

A change resulting in a break from the normal course of a system, process, or event.

In the context of World War II incarceration, this refers to Japanese American men who refused conscription while they were imprisoned in War Relocation Authority camps. People’s motivations for resisting the draft varied, but their resistance was often due to anger over imprisonment, doubts about the status of their citizenship rights, or family obligations. Read more

Legal principle requiring the government to follow fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property, guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments.

(1920–2006) Nisei from Sacramento, California, whose habeas corpus case Ex parte Endo (1944) led the Supreme Court to rule that the federal government could not “indefinitely detain” “concededly loyal” US citizens. The case led to the closure of the WRA concentration camps and the return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast. Read more

Legal designation for nationals of countries with whom the U.S. is at war. During World War II this designation applied to people from Japan, Germany, and Italy. While enemy aliens were subject to arrest and internment by U.S. authorities, often without formal charges or trial, only people of Japanese descent, regardless of citizenship, were imprisoned en masse. Also see Alien Enemies Act. Read more

The forced removal of individuals for the purpose of their safety, or the perceived safety of others. In the context of Japanese American incarceration history, now considered an euphemistic term.

Read more

Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, the order authorized the mass removal and incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast. Read more

Memoir written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston that tells the story of Jeanne’s family’s forced removal and incarceration at Manzanar. The memoir was later turned into a movie. Read more

During World War II, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated and arrested select Japanese residents in the U.S. after the attack on Pearl Harbor and monitored and investigated Japanese Americans throughout the war. Read more

Federal organization responsible for monitoring and regulating interstate and international communications via radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable throughout the U.S. and its territories. Read more

“A fifth column is a group of people residing in a given country who work to actively support a wartime enemy of that country from within by engaging in espionage or sabotage or who engage in such activities in anticipation of war.” Read more

The safety provided by having an adequate amount of money within one’s societal structure.

In the fall of 1964, UC Berkeley students led the Free Speech Movement to challenge campus rules banning political advocacy on campus. The movement was characterized by mass protests and an occupation of the administration building. Read more

Informal agreement (1907-1908) between Japan and the U.S. that restricted immigration of Japanese laborers but allowed for the immigration of resident Issei’s family members. In exchange, the U.S. agreed to stop public school segregation of Japanese students in San Francisco, CA. The agreement was informal because the United States wanted to implement anti-Asian immigration policies without angering the increasingly influential Japanese government. Read more

A World War II concentration camp on a Native American reservation in Arizona that held over 13,000 Japanese Americans, mostly from California. Read more

Fifth Generation Japanese American.

(1880–1946) Provost Marshal General — the U.S. Army’s chief law enforcement officer — and described by some as the most forceful early advocate for the mass removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Historian Roger Daniels described him as incarceration’s "most crucial supporter" and historian Peter Irons as its "dogmatic, diehard advocate." Just nineteen days after Pearl Harbor, Gullion was the first to formally propose uprooting all people of Japanese ancestry — alien and citizen alike — from the West Coast, and he relentlessly pressured DeWitt, McCloy, and others to accept that position, sending his assistant Karl Bendetsen to operationalize his vision on the ground. As legal historian Eric Muller has argued, Gullion's outsized role in the genesis of Executive Order 9066 is often overlooked in popular accounts that focus on Bendetsen. The historical record is clear, however, that it was Gullion who drove the policy forward.

(1906-1992) Linguist, educator, and U.S. Senator who became the most visible and controversial Nisei of the late 20th century for opposing redress efforts. Born and educated in Canada, hee played a minor role in assisting wartime Japanese American resettlement and acknowledged that “relocation” into camps was unjust. However, as president of San Francisco State University, he opposed student activism connected to the Asian American Political Alliance and the Third World Liberation Front. He also testified during the Los Angeles, CA CWRIC hearings that internment was a “three-year vacation” for Issei and a positive force for Nisei assimilation, despite never having been incarcerated himself. Read more

(1956-) Sansei activist and longtime organizer in the San Jose, CA, Japanese American community who helped build the grassroots movement for redress and was a founding member of the NCRR.

Located in Wyoming, one of the ten WRA concentration camps built to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War II. Japanese Americans in Heart Mountain protested the draft for Nisei and formed the Fair Play Committee to advocate for a restoration of citizenship rights. Read more

(1924–2018) Nisei activist whose archival research uncovered evidence that the U.S. government deliberately suppressed evidence before the Supreme Court, including a discovery of a surviving copy of John L. DeWitt's original Final Report. Her documentation provided key evidence that was central to the coram nobis cases, the NCJAR lawsuit, and the CWRIC’s 1982 report, Personal Justice Denied. Read more

(1918-2012) prominent Nisei civil rights figure who challenged the curfew and exclusion. In 1942, he violated curfew and turned himself in to the FBI so that he would be tried and given an opportunity to use his case to test the legality of curfew and exclusion. He appealed his case to the Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled against him in Hirabayashi v. United States in 1943 but limited the ruling to his violation of the curfew. He served a 90-day sentence at Tucson Federal Prison. In 1986, Hirabayashi reopened his case through a writ of coram nobis and his conviction was vacated in 1987. Read more

(1927-2010) prominent civil rights activist and leader of the National Council for Japanese American Redress (NCJAR). Hohri represented the NCJAR during the CWRIC hearings and acted as the lead plaintiff for NCJAR’s class action lawsuit. During WWII, Hohri was incarcerated in Manzanar with his family before resettling in Chicago. Read more

(1915–2007) Nisei journalist, author, and JACL columnist who chronicled Japanese American experiences and wrote Nisei: The Quiet Americans. Initially a critic of the redress movement, he supported redress after the CWRIC issued its report Personal Justice Denied in 1982. Read more

(1933–2009) novelist and nonfiction writer who co‑authored the memoir Farewell to Manzanar with his wife Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston.

(1934–2025) Nisei author whose memoir Farewell to Manzanar, co‑written with her husband James D. Houston, became one of the first widely read chronicles of Japanese American incarceration during World War II and helped educate generations about this chapter of U.S. history. Read more

Introduced in 1989 by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and sponsored by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), H.R. 40 is a bill to establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. Read more

Cold War law that ended some of the anti-Asian immigration and naturalization policies of the early 20th century while also expanding the U.S. government’s ability to target and detain people labeled as “subversive.” Also called the “McCarran-Walter Act.” Read more

Federal agency under the Department of Justice responsible for immigration enforcement. During World War II the INS investigated, arrested, and interned noncitizen enemy aliens, including Issei and Japanese Latin Americans.

The confinement of individuals commonly understood as a form of punishment resulting from criminal acts. Individuals or groups may be wrongfully incarcerated as a result of the politics and ideologies of the dominant group.

An unfair act or condition that violates the rights of an individual or group.

(1924-2012) Nisei World War II veteran and U.S. Senator from Hawai’i who proposed the creation of the CWRIC which later led to the passage of redress legislation. He helped reclassifyCivil Liberties Act of 1988 payments into an entitlement program not subject to annual appropriation budgets. He also served as a senior Senate leader, championing veterans’ issues, Asian American causes, and U.S.-Japan relations. Read more

Refers to the detention t of non-citizen enemy aliens without trial or formal charges during wartime. While the term is often used to describe the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II, most scholars now use the term “incarceration” because the majority of those incarcerated were U.S. citizens by birth and their parents were aliens ineligible for citizenship.

Monument erected at the former site of the Manzanar concentration camp that was designed by Catholic stonemason Ryozo Kado and Buddhist minister Shinjo Nagatomi to memorialize those who died in camp. Read more

(1940– ) Attorney and political science professor who conducted archival research alongside Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga and instigated the coram nobis cases to overturn the wartime convictions of Japanese Americans. During his research, he also discovered correspondences between Department of Justice lawyers that served as key evidence for the coram nobis cases, NCJAR lawsuit, and CWRIC’s report Personal Justice Denied. Read more

A Japanese language term meaning “first generation,” which refers to Japanese immigrants in the United States who were born in Japan. Read more

A derogatory term used to refer to people of Japanese ancestry.

People of Japanese ancestry living in Latin American countries. During World War II, more than 2200 Japanese Latin Americans were abducted, forcibly deported to the U.S., and interned by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Approximately 80 percent were from Peru. Although Japanese Latin Americans participated in the 1981 redress hearings before the CWRIC, they were not awarded redress from the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The organization Campaign for Justice continues their fight for redress. Read more

Project that records and preserves firsthand testimonies of Japanese Peruvians affected by wartime deportation, internment, and displacement. Read more

One of two Arkansas-based concentration camps run by the War Relocation Authority (WRA). Jerome was open for the shortest duration of any WRA camp and was located less than thirty miles from Rohwer concentration camp, which is where many of Jerome’s inmates were moved after it closed on June 30, 1944. Read More

Japanese Americans born in the U.S. who were sent to Japan for education and later returned to the United States.

(1921-2014) Prominent Japanese American human rights activist in Harlem (1960s-1999) and Oakland (1999-2014). She worked with Malcolm X and Black Power organizations in addition to leading the Asian American Movement and redress movements in New York City. During World War II, she organized an extensive letter-writing campaign to Nisei soldiers. Read more

(1919-2005) Nisei civil rights activist who defied Japanese American exclusion orders during World War II and challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 in Korematsu v. United States (1944). He was arrested for refusing relocation and curfew restrictions, and the Supreme Court upheld his conviction, citing military necessity. In the 1980s, a coram nobis case exposed government suppression of evidence and overturned his conviction. Read more

Questionnaire created by the War Department and War Relocation Authority (WRA) in 1943 given to adult incarcerees to ascertain their ties to Japan and likely degree of loyalty to the U.S. The two most controversial questions, questions 27 and 28, asked respondents if they were willing to serve on combat duty and swear unqualified allegiance to the U.S. and forswear any form of allegiance to the Emperor of Japan. Read more

Words or phrases that contain strong emotional connotations or implied meanings designed to influence an audience’s perception or evoke a particular emotional response without relying on facts.

The desire for a person, place, or thing that is out of reach.

In 1943, the War Department and War Relocation Authority (WRA) created and disseminated a questionnaire to all adult incarcerees that asked Japanese Americans to disavow any loyalty to Japan and pledge their complete loyalty to the United States. Read more

(1946– ) a Republican congressman and vice-chair of the CWRIC. He agreed with the commission’s findings but opposed monetary redress, making him the sole dissenting member of the CWRIC recommendations. Read more

(1925–1965) Black nationalist leader and human rights activist who championed racial justice, Black pride, and self-determination. Rising to prominence in the Nation of Islam, he later embraced a broader human rights perspective before his assassination in 1965. Read more

World War II concentration camp in California where over 10,000 Japanese Americans were held. Known for harsh conditions and unrest, it is now preserved as the Manzanar National Historic Site. Read more

Nonprofit organization founded in 1970 by former Manzanar inmates and volunteers to educate the public about the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. The committee helps preserve the Manzanar site as a National Historic Site and organizes annual pilgrimages and educational programs. Read more

(1923-2004) lawyer, judge, and only Japanese American commissioner on the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). Read more

founding member and co-chair of the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR).

(1941–2005) U.S. Congressman from California who helped pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Later in his career he became a key advocate for free trade and children’s health programs. Read more