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Zijun (Lesley) Zhou

Dr. Carlisi
ESL 33B
23 April 2015
Japanese-American Internment and its Long-term Effects
More than half a century ago, American president, Theodore Roosevelt issued the order
9066, authorizing the removal of over 40,000 Japanese and more than 70,000 JapaneseAmericans from the west coast to ten internment camps for military necessity during World
War II (Daniels 3). The presidents decision to do so was based on Japans involvement with the
United States during the war, which consisted of a surprise attack on U.S. soil, killing over 2,000
innocent American citizens (Daniels 3-4). The unforeseen attack left a bitter taste in the mouths
of many Americans. In the wake of the bombings, the president felt an immense amount of
pressure from the general public to take action by protecting them from other risks.
While more than seven decades have passed since the infamous Pearl Harbor air raid,
many Americans have long forgotten the effects of these internment camps while some are
unaware they even existed. Few people understand to what extent Japanese-Americans have
suffered from the internment camps, and how the long-term effects have aided in formulating
much of Japanese-American culture. The internment camps have left post-traumatic effects on
the Japanese-American internees, and their descendants living in the western coast of the United
States. These long-term effects are what have contributed to stereotypical behaviors and
preferences now associated with Japanese-American culture. Many of the stereotypical
Japanese behaviors consist of limited verbal communication, distant family structures, and
over politeness etc. It is evident that if American society today had a better understanding of the

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devastating and long-term effects of the Japanese internment camps, many would understand the
culture on a much deeper level.
In order for society to understand the effects of the camps, they must first understand the
factors that contributed to the tragic internment of many Japanese-Americans during World War
II, most significantly were the anti-Chinese movement, the anti-Asian attitudes, and the impact
of WWII.
Prior to the tensions that arose during WWII, Americans certainly struggled with
acceptance of Asian culture along with that of other minority ethnic groups such as Indian
Americans and Mexican Americans in the West. In 19th Century, Chinese Americans were
Chinese Americans were considered unfair competitors by organized labor and sometimes
assaulted by individuals and mobs (Japanese Internment). In the 1870s, California governor,
John Bigler blamed the Chinese for depressed wage levels, and politicized anti-Chinese
animosity. Bigler issued an act called, The Chinese Exclusion Act, in 1882 banning the Chinese
from employment. Thus very few Chinese could enter the country under the 1882 law. The
Chinese Exclusion Act was the beginning of the anti-Asian movement in America that then
continued for nearly a century (Lopore 121, Daniels 4-19). The stereotypes towards Chinese and
Chinese Americans have already existed and it started to extend to the Japanese, even the whole
Asian community. In the 1890s, there was a significant Japanese immigration to the United
States due to the Meiji Restoration; acute antipathy towards Chinese immigrants structured the
West Coast response to the Japanese immigration (Japanese Internment).
The discrimination continued as the Japanese and Japanese-Americans began to possess
relatively high wealth and high social status among other ethnic groups in America. Before the
Pearl Harbor bombings, the Japanese community in the west coast of America was gaining

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importance and prosperity, as they became successful entrepreneurs, business owners, farmers,
hotel owners and managers despite the fact that many white Americans tried to limit their job
opportunities. (Anti-Japanese Organizations"). In the beginning of twentieth century, the
growing Japanese immigration and the triumph of Japan in Russo-Japanese War has increased
Americans fear to imaginary hostile invaders loyal to Japanese Emperor (Japanese
Internment). These hostile attitudes and historical factors have painted a cause for the
concentration camps.
The most significant moment in U.S. history that led to these camps was the surprise
attack by the Japanese Royal Army on Pearl Harbor. When WWII broke out, the U.S. did not
declare war with Japan or any other country right away because the U.S. did not want to get
involved in the war at all. However, after Dec 7th, 1941, the whole image of WWII changed right
after Japan dropped the bombs at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This solidified the hate that Americans
held towards the Japanese, thus hundreds of Japanese lives were in jeopardy after that moment.
The United States government soon started investigating and arresting suspects of espionage,
without any evidence, the president then issued an order to send more than 110,000 innocent
people to internment camps in order to please the general public. That is, immigrants from
Japan and U.S.-born persons of Japanese descent were no longer allowed to live, work, or travel
on the West Coast (Chin 493). Without knowing the historic anti-Japanese stereotypes and the
Peal Harbor Attack were both significantly responsible for President Roosevelts decision, we
cannot interpret and eliminate the misunderstanding that some Americans have towards Japanese
and Japanese-American culture today.
Many people are unaware of the traumatic effects the internment camps had on the
internees, and the long-term effects they have had on their families. The camps have caused post-

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traumatic effects even though the imprisonment has been over for more than half a century.
Compared to the ones who did not go to the internments, the internees and their offspring have
suffered greatly and likely even more than we know.
The internments have also indirectly affected the children and grandchildren of the
internees. The effects include long-run economic consequences, family communication and
distance, ethnic preference of marriage, and self-confidence of the internees (Chin 491- 493;
Nagata, Trierweiler, and Talbot 22-24). It is not hard to find that many Japanese and JapaneseAmericans are not active in verbal communication and show overly politeness when
communication is needed. Authors Donna Nagata and Wendy Cheng claim that, Japanese
American concentration camps created race-related trauma and the repeated exposure to racial
discrimination will linger with the internees for life-time with accumulation (45-48).
Along with these traumatic effects, the internments have also caused financial burdens to
the internees families. Before the evacuations, the majority of Japanese and Japanese-Americans
owned a great number of properties since most of them were farm owners, hotel owners, and
entrepreneurs despite the harsh racism they endured. However, many internees lost their
properties and income after the three-year-duration of the incarceration. Many of internees had to
sell their properties for a very low price since the government only gave them one week to
manage their properties. After the internment, many internees found their stored properties were
stolen or damaged. Compared to the Japanese residents of Hawaii, the labor market withdrawal
induced by the internment reduced the annual earnings of males by as much as 9% -13% 25
years afterwards (Chin 492-493). Even today, Japanese-Americans are very conservative with
their financial management. Few of them would invest their money in high-risk business and
matters.

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These stereotypes surrounding Japanese Americans continues into their home life as
well. In Asian culture, family communication is regarded as one of the most intimate parts of
family life, and the Japanese-American internees and their offspring have found difficulty in
communicating because of the concentration experience. After the interment, the survivors
returned to their daily lives but it did not mean their lives returned to normal. Natasga and Cheng
found that second generation Japanese-American parents have less interest in talking about their
internment experience with their children (273). The miserable experience of being expelled
from their homes and sent to concentration camps has remained the untouchable pain for the
family. When it comes to the race-related topics or issues, Japanese or Japanese-Americans tend
to find their own way to swallow their prides. The internee parents have a hard time
communicating with their children on the topic of race-related traumas and how to teach them
to racially socialize (Nagata and Cheng 267). In a melting pot country such as the United
States, it is very hard to live in ones own ethnic group without socializing with people from
other ethnic groups if one tends to seek a better education and career opportunities. With the
limitations put on them by their parents and grandparents, todays Japanese-Americans may
struggle with developing their communication skills. Some Americans may often think that
Japanese-American families are dysfunctional because they do not follow traditional open
discussions that many American families do. However, if they were to consider the painful past
effects of these camps, that essentially engrained silence and protection in their detainees, then
Americans may potentially hold a different view.
Some Japanese-American parents even try to prepare their children by raising their
childrens awareness of racial prejudice. More research found two-parent internee families
claimed that they believe the internment has caused family distance and family communication

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problems. The average family conversation only lasts 5-30 minutes, and only less than 30% of
the topics are related to internment (Nagata, Trierweiler, and Talbot 23). Studies also suggest
that Japanese parents prefer more nonverbal or indirect ways of communication, and when it
comes to socialization, they would prefer teaching their children to maintain harmony. This has
affected Japanese culture and language being passed from one generation to the next generation
and limited Japanese-Americans as they attempt to socialize their children to help them blend
into a dominant society. Americans oftentimes misunderstand or hold stereotypes towards
Japanese-Americans behaviors of keeping silence or not participating in discussions in general.
However, few Americans connect these behaviors with their and their parents internment camp
experience decades ago and try to understand their silence and harmony passed along by their
ancestors.
There are also stereotypes regarding inter-racial marriages in a melting-pot country like
United States. In modern American society, there are many mixed-race marriages while Japanese
Americans maintain a low mixed-race marriage rate compared to other ethnic groups. There are
stereotypes regarding inter-racial marriages Research also found that self-camp third generation
Japanese-Americans would prefer marring a Japanese-American (Nagata, Trierweiler, and
Talbot 23). This suggests that there is a possible sense of insecurity in third-generation JapaneseAmericans as they have been raised by those who were closely influenced by the internment and
the environment they grew up. This fact actually further suggests us the traumatic effects have
lasted for decades and possibly will last for more decades. This preference formed a stereotype
of incapable of assimilation against Japanese and Japanese-Americans, which even leads
Americans to formulate ideas of Japanese are stubborn and overly cautious as a whole.

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The camps not only affected the family structure of Japanese-American culture, but in
many cases the internment experience made the former Japanese-American internees and their
offspring develop a deep sense of shame and fear of failure. Research has found that self-camp
and two-parent third-generation Japanese Americans reported a lower level of confidence
compared to non-camp third-generation Japanese Americans (Nagata and Cheng, 268). This
negative influence could last for decades for Japanese-Americans, as the internment experience
will always be something the community will not be proud of. Report of Commission on
Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC ) shows that many former internees
lost farms and businesses after the internment and were left with no money to live, so many of
them committed suicide ( Nagata, Trierweiler, and Talbot 29) and left the whole family to the
wife, the old, and children. This deep sense of shame is also closely related to JapaneseAmericans stereotypical fear of failure.
It is not uncommon in Asian cultures, especially in Japanese culture that the
male/husband is supposed to provide for the whole household. If he fails to do so, it will make
him lose face losing his pride and dignity. I have heard of numerous real stories such as my
classmates father who committed suicide because he was fired from his job, and he lost all of
his familys fortune. When the bread earner of the family loses their income, it not only imposes
the financial and emotional burden on the wife and children, but a tremendous feeling of failure
on the male leader of the household. When the camps incarcerated these young men and women,
it began the deep-rooted need to maintain their personal property and employment. It also
developed a fear of failure, and shame if the person actually does fail. This feeds into Americas
stereotype that Japanese-Americans are overly cautious and do not take risks at all.

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Americas creation of these internment camps, caused serious traumatic pain to both the
American-Japanese and Japanese, but perhaps less conspicuously helped to develop todays
views on traditional Japanese-American culture. Japanese internment existed in the past;
however, it still has posttraumatic effects on Japanese-Americans and their descendants today.
While many people have suffered from post-traumatic effects, their suffering has helped many
understand the pain associated with stereotypes towards certain races. Specifically offering
support for countries such as China, Korea, and many other Asian countries invaded by Japan
during WWII. As a Chinese student myself, all of the history education I received on WWII
throughout my schooling in China emphasized one thing the crimes that cruel Japanese soldiers
committed in China. The racial hatred for the Japanese was deep-rooted for every Chinese
student for half a century because all of the propaganda that reminded us of the pain that the
Chinese went through during the WWII. It is fascinating now to learn from a different
perspective how many Japanese people suffered as well. Even more impactful is to see how
tremendously the Japanese-Americans are still the victims of the war, and even more so, the
victims of stereotypes and racism due to the internment camps from a war that has long passed.

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Works Cited
Chin, Aimee. "LongRun Labor Market Effects of Japanese American Internment during World
War II on WorkingAge Male Internees." Journal of Labor Economics 23.3 (2005): 491525.
Daniels, Roger. Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II. Macmillan,
2004.
Lee, Frederick I. "Japanese Internment." Anti-immigration in the United States: A Historical
Encyclopedia. Ed. Kathleen R. Arnold . Westport: Greenwood, 2011. Credo Reference.
Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
LePore, Herbert P. Anti-Asian Exclusion in the United States During the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries: The History Leading to the Immigration Act of 1924. Edwin Mellen
Press, 2013.
Nagata, Donna K., and Wendy JY Cheng. "Intergenerational communication of race-related
trauma by Japanese American former internees." American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry (2003).
Nagata, Donna K., Steven J. Trierweiler, and Rebecca Talbot. "Long-term effects of internment
during early childhood on third-generation Japanese Americans." American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry 69.1 (1999): 19.
Speidel, Jennifer. "Anti-Japanese Organizations." After Internment Japanese American's Right to
Return. 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.