East-Coast Japanese Incarceration
Virginia SOL
USII.6 The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the major causes and events of World War II and the effects of America’s role by
b. explaining the causes and events that led to American involvement in the war, including the attack on Pearl Harbor;
f. identifying the roles and sacrifices of American armed forces, including prisoners of war, women, and segregated units, as well as other notable heroics, including, but not limited to the contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, the Women Airforce Service Pilots, the Navajo Code Talkers, and the Bedford boys;
g. evaluating the effects of the war on the home front, including, but not limited to women in the workforce, the incarceration of Japanese Americans, rationing, conservation, and war bonds
The East-Coast Japanese Incarceration Experience
To be Written.
A Case Study: Art Matsu
Arthur "Art" Matsu was born on April 30th, 1904 in Glasgow, Scotland to a Japanese father and Scottish mother. His family moved to Canada then Cleveland, Ohio during his youth. Throughout his adolescence, Art shows exceptional talent as an athlete. He was featured in a national article in July of 1917, highlighting his achievements in various sports, including baseball, football, track and field, and basketball. He became a multi-sport athlete in high school, and was recruited as an athlete by Princeton University and William & Mary. His choice to attend William & Mary made him the first Asian-American student to attend the college in 1923.
After graduating, Art became the first Japanese-American to play for the Daytona Triangles in the NFL. Later in life, he coached at Asheville High School (NC) and Benedictine High School (VA) before becoming an assistant coach at Rutgers University for the next two decades. Matsu later moved to Arizona in the late 1950s, where he worked as a scout for Arizona State University and as a real estate salesman until his death in May of 1987.
During Art's time at Rutgers, the United States entered World War II after the Pearl Harbor attacks in December 1941. A 1943 letter from Art to Dr. Robert C. Clothier details his strong desire to enlist in the U.S. Military despite lacking U.S. citizenship due to the Naturalization Act of 1790. He cites his strong conduct and dedication to America throughout his 38 years in the States and previous waivers granted to Italian and Japanese aliens by the government permitting them to serve. Art attempted to petition Senator Warren Barbour, who introduced a bill to the Senate on Art and Dr. Clothier's behalf.
OCR- Matsu Correspondence.pdfFrom the West to the East Coast: A Formerly Incarcerated's Legacy in Williamsburg
Satoshi Ito was born March 25th, 1937 to Sam Shigeru and Mary Ito. He grew up in Gardena, California. His mother was a picture bride born in Idaho who eventually returned to Japan in her youth and his father was a farm laborer who emigrated from Japan at 13.
Ito notes that neither of his parents had strong English skills and noted that their language barrier made transmitting Japanese culture to their children difficult.
On September 30th, 1942, five-year-old Ito and his parents were forced to leave Gardena under Executive Order 9066. They stayed in a horse stall on a racetrack as temporary housing before being sent to a prison camp in Rohwer, Arkansas.
Ito notes that American culture was unobtainable within the camps, and all news, media, and pop culture were quite literally outside his access. He describes a feeling of loss as he could never regain the time he lost while incarcerated. They were released after three years, and the family returned to Southern California.
After incarceration, the Ito family returned to Southern California. Ito’s father told him to pretend like he was Chinese to escape the discrimination targeted at Japanese after the war. Because they moved to a predominantly white area, Ito was able to assimilate at an early age into white middle class culture.
His parents returned agricultural work. He described how different his life was after incarceration, with living indoor plumbing in a residential neighborhood for the first time. He also noted his parents’ expectations to further his socio-economic status through education and not to “be like us.”
He began his post-secondary education at El Camino Community College, citing it as the cheapest option for his relatively poor family. He eventually transferred to California State University - Long Beach before obtaining his M.A. and PhD in Sociology at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.
Ito noted his early life shaped his empathy towards immigrant families and other minority groups. When applying to graduate programs, Ito was purposeful in leaving the west coast and what he called an “ethnic enclave” and become part of a “better nation and better world.” He found wider educational and teaching horizons at UNC Chapel Hill, which was a very politically active campus during Ito’s time.
This empathy and widened perspective was reflected in his work at W&M and the larger Williamsburg community. Ito began working at W&M in 1965 as an Instructor of Sociology before being promoted all the way to Professor Emeritus. He helped begin the Africana Studies department in the early 1990’s and taught a variety of classes on African-American experience, immigration, and sociological theory. He worked on the Human Rights Committee at Eastern State Hospital and served on the Anti-Racism Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia among other community involvements.
His dedication to education and advocacy continued after his retirement in 2002. He taught classes on Japanese incarceration during WWII and recent immigrant experience and remained active in the greater W&M community.
Satoshi Ito died on January 19th, 2022 in Williamsburg, Virginia. His legacy is one marked with activism, community involvement, and education. His life is a stellar example of cross-cultural unity and agency in the face of state-sanctioned discrimination.
