A Study On The Forced Relocation Of Japanese By The US During The Pacific War

In the Late 19 th and early 20 th century, Japanese began to immigrate to the US in large numbers. As a replacement for the Chinese labors, they were initially welcomed by the people of the United States, but because Japanese mainly lived in the US West Coast, and their excellent performance in agriculture, especially in vegetable farming, resulted in the illusion of a large-scale invasion of Japanese people. The US West Coast racism activists quickly set off an anti-Japanese wave. From the "Gentlemen’s Agreement" to "Alien Land Law", to the 1924 "Immigration Act", Japanese in the US were gradually excluded to the state of being ineligible to the land in the United States, and ineligible to obtain US citizenship. However, because at this time, the first Japanese generation in the US had given birth to the second-generation, namely, the Nisei, so the majority of Japanese did not return to Japan, but chose to continue residing in the United States.On December 7th 1941, the Japanese secretly attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, which quickly set off an anti-Japanese wave in the US, and Japanese in the US fell in a nightmarish dilemma overnight. Though after Pearl Harbor, some suspected overseas Japanese had been arrested immediately, but the constantly intercepted "magic messages" from Japan indicated that the Japanese-Americans had become the focus of Japanese government intelligence network development. In view of the past survey about the loyalty of the Japanese and the objective facts that some West Coast important military and civilian facilities were rather weak in the defense, the American western zone military headquarters decided to take preventive measures against the West Coast Japanese. Under the stimulus of Japanese submarine constant harassment on the west coast, and in the unremitting military coordination with the Ministry of Justice, President Roosevelt, on February 19, 1942, issued Executive Order No. 9066, granting the army the power of dividing closed military zones and the right to take appropriate migration measures and control measures about the people living inside. According to this order, the US West Coast headquarters designated the US west coast as a closed military zone, and decided to move out of all Japanese residents in the restricted area. In order to strengthen the military action efforts, the United States Congress passed the Public Law No. 503, providing that any violation of the provisions of Executive Order No. 9066 is in violation of US law, and it will be subject to imprisonment, fines or other penalties.The US army initially allowed Japanese to migrate by themselves, but this process was extremely slow and the migration could not be finished in a short time. In addition to the reluctance of the Japanese to move out immediately, the resisting attitude of the American people outside of west coast areas were the main factors impeding the free migration of Japanese. As a result, only about 9,000 Japanese fulfilled their free relocation. At this time, the constantly intercepted unknown signal from the west coast and the prohibited items found at the Japanese residence increasingly worried the US military that the Japanese in the US would probably secretly help the Japanese attack the US West Coast. To ensure the safety of the West Coast, the US military decided to stop the free migration of Japanese and resorted to forced measures to carry out the migration.The Japanese then was ordered to move within 48 hours to the temporary Assembly centers under military control. Since at that time, many Japanese relocation centers had not yet been built, many Japanese had to stay in those substandard temporary Assembly centers for a long time before they could be migrated again. After about six months(until November 1942), the Japanese were finally able to be all moved out from the Assembly centers to the relocation centers. The US government established the War Relocation Authority(WRA) to take charge of the daily life affairs of the Japanese and the military stationed some troops outside the centers, responsible for security issues.The WRA appointed a project manager to each Relocation center to manage various issues there, and a provisional committee of Japanese and block managers of Japanese descents were elected, to assist the project manager’s job. Although several riots occurred in the relocation centers later, but were quickly calmed down; despite the poor education, entertainment and living conditions in the Relocation centers, the basic dietary needs of the Japanese were met with no problems. Generally, the Japanese actively participated in the production and construction of the Relocation Centers, and many centers have gradually become communities full of vitalities from the initial desolate neighborhoods.Because of a severe wartime shortage of human resources, the WRA decided to use this opportunity to relocate the Japanese to the other areas of the United States. Starting from doing seasonal work, to experiment the Japanese-leave grant policy, to permanently carrying out the resettlement project, the WRA was gradually exploring feasible ways to resettle the Japanese. Under the pressure of war and the national anti-Japanese tensions, the WRA initially was very cautious about the Japanese leave procedures and the process was complex. With the war situation becoming clear and Japan could no longer be a threat to the US west coast; the WRA began to streamline the approval process for the Japanese to leave the relocation centers. The young Japanese could take full advantage of multiple job opportunities provided by the Authority, actively apply to move out of relocation centers, while the elder and the younger Japanese were mostly staying in centers, which gradually make the relocation job tougher. At that time, there was no longer the necessity to hold the Japanese in detention, which was especially true after the completion of the segregation program. The WRA was eager to lift the military ban on Japanese people, and looked forward to closing relocation centers as soon as possible. Eventually, with the joint efforts of secretary of war, the Minister of Justice and the WRA, the US authorities on December 17, 1944 announced the lifting of the military ban on Japanese people in the west coast. The Japanese didn’t crowd back to the West Coast at the beginning of the lifting of the military ban. Some people still followed the original plan to move to places outside the West Coast, while others were watching and waiting for the best time to return to the West Coast. The return process of Japanese people to the West Coast indeed encountered resistance, and anti-Japanese activists even wanted to stop ethnic Japanese to return to the West Coast through threats of violence or other means. Relocation Authorities delivered speeches around, propagandizing Japanese soldiers’ heroic deeds in the war and the sufferings Japanese people endured in the forced migration as well as the sacrifices and contributions done by the Japanese for the safety of the US. Finally, with the US government’s intervention and the vigorous campaign of the media, the anti-Japanese tide slowly faded in the West Coast. The Japanese began to return to the West Coast in large scale. Although there were instances where few refused to evacuate from the relocation centers, with the persuasion and punishment measures from the WRA, all Japanese were able to evacuate from the relocation centers on schedule.Undoubtedly, the Japanese not only suffered greatly materially but also mentally in the forced migration process, but the Japanese basically held a submissive attitude in line with the governments forced migration behavior. Some people even went to the battlefield to show their loyalty to the United States with excellent fighting performances. We can say that the Japanese regained the respect and recognition of the American people with their endurance of difficulties and sacrifice to the country. Undoubtedly, in a particular historical period, national security, not democracy, should be the primary concern of a country. Therefore, to ensure the safety of its people on the west coast, to guarantee the safety of the whole country, although contrary to the US Constitution basic principles, the US President had no choice but to take the forced immigration under that circumstance. However, when Japan no longer constituted a threat of war to the United States, the US military and government authorities continuing to delay the lifting of the military ban should be greatly condemned, which can show the US authorities was ignoring the poor living conditions of the Japanese in the relocation centers, ignoring the Japanese practice of human rights, and there is suspicion of racist practices in this too.