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Janet Varela Garista

Final Research Paper
19 May 2023

Japanese concentration camps and their effect on mental health

This paper will address some of the psychological effects that the Japanese

Americans suffered when forced into concentration camps and how it impacted their

mental health later in life. I have conducted research based on Japanese American

incarceration victims and their individual stories and analyses from Japanese American

psychologists. Before I get started, I will provide a brief overview of how the relocation

camp started.

Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19,

1942, allowed the expulsion of all people of Japanese descent from the western United

States. Over 110,000 Japanese Americans were categorized as "disloyal," forced to

leave their neighborhoods, jobs, and houses, and sent to live in segregated camps in

deserts. Two-thirds of those imprisoned were citizens of the United States by birth.

Therefore, neither citizenship nor age was a consideration. Later investigations would
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conclude that the decision to detain was not motivated by a legitimate military need but

rather by "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.

Many will argue that the relocation camps were done to protect the japanese

Americans and save them from being murdered by the Caucasian Americans because

of all the hate the japanese Americans were receiving because of their ethnicity, even if

they were born and raised in the U.S., they where still seen as the enemy.

Unsurprisingly, the camps negatively impacted their mental health and well-being before

they were sent to camp and once they got out. The psychological stress of helplessness

began developing within 24 hours of the pearl harbor attack. Many japanese Americans

were forced to deal with the stress of enforced dislocation and the abandonment of their

homes, possessions, and businesses.

The relocation camps and racism they were receiving affected the japanese

Americans' views of themselves and their culture. Donna K. Nagata, Kaidi Wu, and

Jaqueline Kim are three female phycologists that focus on researching the impact of the

relocation camps. In their article "the japanese American Wartime Incarceration:

Examining the Scope of racial trauma," they stated that "Two additional forms of trauma,

historical and cultural, surfaced after the incarceration ended and are associated with

long-term intergenerational impacts. (Mohatt, Thompson, Thai, & Tebes, Pg.38)" The

two forms of trauma that the author's state are historical and cultural.
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Historical trauma is defined as trauma that is shared by a group of people and has

impacted numerous generations. This type of trauma affected Issei, Nissei, and Sansei

the most. This form of trauma within the japanese american community was triggered

when they lost everything they had after they were taken to the relocation camps. The

Issei generation lost all their hard work and effort to have a stable life in America; for

Nissei, the nonacceptance by the nation they loved, the country they honored as theirs,

ended up betraying them. Moreover, for the Sansei generation, it was the trauma of

living within wired walls and being confused about their self-identity.

Historical trauma was also passed down; for example, most of the Nisei generation

would not talk about their experience in the relocation camps to protect their kids from

the traumatic memories and things they went through. Still, because of the lack of

communication, the sansei generation was losing knowledge about who they were,

Because of the nisei generation's effort to blend in after the camps meant losing any

connections they had with their culture and ended up with the sansei generation not

knowing much about their culture and language. Another article I read, "Ethnic and

racial identity in Multiracial," by Karen L. Suyemoto, stated, "Nisei's reactive attempt to

emphasize their American values and identity during and after the camps, and

de-emphasize their japanese cultural heritage. (Suyemoto 5)".

Cultural trauma occurs when group members believe they have experienced an

incident that alters their sense of self in the future. In this case, the thing they changed
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was their self-image. This trauma started in the Japanese American community

because they wanted to prove they were American enough to be accepted. The

japanese Americans knew that if they wanted to be accepted, they would have to fit in,

so they started by disregarding anything manufactured in Japan and avoided

associating even with fellow japanese americans to blend in with the American culture

so their kids would not experience the same discrimination and exclusion they went

through.

The Nisen and Issei generation felt like they were losing their identity because

incarceration affected them, causing them to forget to pass down Japanese culture.

After all, they were focused on educating their children on the American culture so their

kids would not struggle to fit in, and so they will not feel dehumanized as they thought.

Nisei's identity struggles were caused by social pressure to choose whether they were

Japanese or American. Japanese Americans were victimized by racism after the camp

ended and would receive much hate, so the japan america kids would wear pins that

stated, "I am American. "

This caused significant issues. This trauma resulted in a culture of silence; this

affected the Sansei and Yonsei generation because many Nisei encouraged an

American identity for their Sansei children rather than motivating a Japanese-related

identity. Karen L. Suyemoto is a Sansei generation and stated." Growing up, I had no

contact with the Japanese American community. Until college, I had no friends or
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acquaintances who were japanese american. (Suyemoto 11)" just like Karen L.

Suyemoto, who never had any contact with her heritage until she got to college many

other sansei and yonsei have gone through the same and caused many to have some

identity crises because of the cultural silence. The silence created a gap in the sansei

generation and their identity development; they often wondered where they fit in. How

can they feel japanese if they do not know anything about their culture, or how could

they think American if they are treated differently?

Amy Iwasaki, Author of 'Psychological Effects of the Camps," stated, "As human

beings grow and develop psychologically, our self-concept is determined by how other

people who are important to our lives treat us and respond to us. (Iwasaki 159)" This is

an excellent example of how incarceration caused japanese americans to feel the need

to do anything possible to fit in and forget about their own culture just to be accepted.

Many japanese Americans affected by the camp carry a psychological burden on how

they used to be treated. They experienced significant stress, worry, and loneliness

because many families were separated for long periods. They lacked trust in the

American government and felt betrayed, causing them to feel humiliated for being

Japanese and blame themselves for the cause of the war and feel as if they brought

dishonor to the japanese community.

Even after everything occurred, the Nisei children, who were in their late teens and

early twenties, concentrated on creating a future for themselves and trying their best to
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help their issei parents despite considerable racism-related obstacles and severe

economic hardships resulting from the incarceration. The silence seen in trauma

survivor groups all around the world was an attempt by the community as a whole to

"socially Amnesia" the event. However, silence does not imply that the trauma has been

healed (Nagata, Kim, & Nguyen, 9).

At the moment, the ones who are willing to be part of their culture and find out what

happened by taking history classes are the Sansei and Yonsei generation. The Sansei

and Yonsei generations are currently those who are willing to learn about their past and

become a part of their culture. The Japanese American community is slowly recovering

by speaking about imprisonment rather than keeping quiet. Their first step toward

recovery is realizing they were never the enemy and replacing self-blame with public

system blame.

Work Cited

Nagata, Donna. "Psychological effects of camp." Densho Encyclopedia. 22 Jul 2020, 15:41 PDT. 20 May 2023, 09:04
<https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Psychological%20effects%20of%20camp>.

Nagata, Donna K., Jacqueline H. J. Kim, and Kaidi Wu. “The Japanese American Wartime Incarceration: Examining the
Scope of Racial Trauma.” The American Psychologist 74.1 (2019): 36–48. Web.

Suyemoto, Karen. “Ethnic and Racial Identity in Multiracial Sansei: Intergenerational Effects of the World War II Mass
Incarceration of Japanese Americans1.” Genealogy (Basel) 2.3 (2018): 26–. Web.

Amy Iwasaki Mass. “Psychological Effects of the Camps on Japanese Americans.” Japanese Americans. REV -
Revised, 2. University of Washington Press, 2013. 159–. Print.

Yoshikawa, Lynda E. M. “The Legacy Continues after 60 Years: The Transgenerational Effects of the Japanese
American World War II Incarceration on Third Generation Males.” ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2005. Print.
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