History

Before World War II (WWII), there was a large issue surrounding many countries regarding Japanese immigrants coming into their countries. The Americans experienced irrational fear surrounding the Japanese and became convinced that they were spies after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The United States of America, under President Franklin Roosevelt, issued executive order 9066 in 1942, removing all personal belongings of Japanese Americans from them and moving them into internment camps. If the order was not followed, the Japanese Americans would be charged with a misdemeanor and either face up to a year in prison or a $5,000 fine. The Japanese Immigrants residing on the Pacific Coast and around that area were targeted. From the period of March to August 112,000 people were sent to internment camps in the United States of America. Many of the internment camps, or relocation centers, were located in desolate areas inland. Places such as Tule Lake, California; Minidoka, Idaho; Manzanar, California; Topaz, Utah; Jerome, Arkansas; Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Poston, Arizona; Granada, Colorado; and Rohwer, Arkansas were the locations of the internment camps that the Japanese were moved to.

The Living Conditions

In many of the relocation centers, 4-5 families usually shared a small army-style barrack for about three years. There were cots and coal-burning stoves as minimum essentials for each of the barracks. The laundry and bathroom facilities were often shared, as well as the hot water was limited for them. On top of the conditions, the Japanese were surrounded by barbed wire fences, and armed American guards were instructed to shoot anyone who attempted to leave the camps. Although the conditions were harsh, it was rare that there was inhumane treatment or instances of someone being shot for trying to leave. The Japanese still tried hard to keep a sense of strength in the community as they would set up schools, churches, newspapers, and even farms. The children were able to participate in sports and activities as well. Even so, the toll of living under these conditions was tough and poorly affected the well-being of the Japanese residing in the United States of America during their forced migration to the internment camps and even after their release.

 The Effect 

 After the release of the Japanese Americans, many returned to their homes but many looked for new homes knowing they had nothing left, even in their hometown. Some tried to return to their old homes to no avail or only to find they didn’t have enough money. Others just migrated to the areas close to the internment camps and started new lives. To attempt to compensate the Japanese for the United States of America’s wrongdoing, President Ronald Regan issued the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 giving $20,000 to individual families and people of the Japanese Americans and the relatives of those who suffered through the internment camps. 

Someone might wonder if the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 made up for the mental hardships placed upon the families that were in the Japanese internment camps. The Japanese were put through a grueling period of being constantly riddled with disease, being forced to work, and being forced to live in specified areas under military supervision. These conditions put a great deal of stress and anxiety on the Japanese and made the whole population of Japanese individuals in America suffer due to pure suspicion of what the Japanese living in America could be up to. Because these people were thrown into the internment camps so quickly there was little time for everyone to receive vaccinations to help prevent the disease that would come after a large group of people was forced to live together. People being ill creates a very negative state of mental well-being. People are sick or trying to care for others that are sick. This creates a lot of stress for the Japanese people that were placed in camps. Long-term stressful conditions could start to cause depression and anxiety in the Japanese people after making it through the traumatic experience of living in internment camps. 

Shortly after the Second World War began, Japanese Canadians were faced with hardship and discrimination from the Canadian Government beginning in British Columbia. Over 90% of Japanese Canadians were arrested and ripped away from their home after the Canadian Government passed the War Measures Act. Canada’s government felt the efficient way for the internment camps to be successful was to sell the Japanese Canadian’s businesses and homes to pay for their detention. To fully understand the concept of the Japanese Internment camps and the hardship these individuals endured, we must begin to look at what was going on during this time. Japanese people have faced discrimination ever since the first Japanese man stepped foot on Canadian soil. This individual’s name was Manzo Nagano, he came to New Westminster in 1877. During this time, white settlers in British Columbia made an effort to exclude people who they considered to be “undesirables” to the country (Marsh, 2012).‌ As an outburst of hate towards Japanese Canadians grew, laws began to pass in order to prevent Japanese people from working within the mines and even voting.

 Unfortunately, On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States Naval base, Pearl Harbor, located in Honolulu, Hawaii where some Canadian troops were stationed. This event caused an uproar among the civilians living in Canada to gain fear of a potential Japanese invasion. This caused a huge distrust among Japanese Canadians which spread across the entire Pacific Coast (Marsh, 2012). Canadian politicians began to become enraged with the concept of Japanese people living within close proximity of their homes. A Canadian diplomat by the name of Escott Reid said, “They spoke of the Japanese ‘in the way that the Nazis would have spoken about Jewish Germans” (Marsh, 2012). 

On February 24, 1942, The Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King,  issued an Order-in-Council. This stated that any and all Japanese Canadians are to be removed and detained to be put into a “protective area” within the country. On March 16, 1942, the first group of Japanese Canadians was taken to Hastings Park in Vancouver. All women and children were housed in the Livestock Building while the men’s locations were unspecified. Tom Tamagi, who was a 22-year-old Japanese Canadian during this time, states he was, “a prisoner of my own country of birth. We were confined inside the high wire fence of Hastings Park just like caged animals” (Marsh, 2012). The number of Internment camps began to grow as new locations in Slocan, New Denver, Kaslo, Greenwood, and Sandon began to come about. The government began transferring the individuals who were kept in Hastings Park to be separated and taken to other internment camps. Those who were resistant to going to their internment camp were sent to prisoner-of-war camps which were in Petawawa, Ontario (Marsh, 2012). Although the Canadian internment camps were not surrounded by barbed wire fences, the conditions remained poor and overcrowding became a health issue within the camp. On January 19, 1943, the Canadian government passed an order that stated all Japanese property is to be liquidated under the government’s “protective custody.”

Anti-Japanese Racism became country-wide causing nations that were actively seeking workers to reject Japanese Canadians. Some did take Japanese individuals’ labor but pushed them to work in small shacks that were almost like chicken coops, uninsulated, and paid a pittance for their hard labor (Marsh, 2012). After years of racism and discrimination, in 1946 over 4,000 Japanese Canadians chose to leave Canada for Bombed Japan. The last official control on the Japanese Canadians was not lifted until 1948 when they were granted the right to vote. 

On June 29, 1984, the Prime Minister finally regretted their apology for what they did to the Japanese Canadians by saying, “ I do see how I can apologize for some historic event to which we… were not a party. We can regret that it happened” (Marsh, 2012). This later led Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to apologize on behalf of the Canadian Government for the wrongs it committed against Japanese Canadians on September 22, 1988. With all this being said, the most important accomplishment of the Japanese campaign was the abolishment of the War Measures Act which provided the right to remove Japanese from their home.

In the course of the last century, internment camps have had a profound impact on generations of people. Camps of internment are locations in which individuals or groups are forced to relocate and confine themselves, usually in response to political or military conflicts. It is worth noting that the Japanese-American internment camps during World War II, the detention centers for political dissidents during the Cold War, and various detention facilities for refugees and migrants around the world were among the most significant examples of internment camps in modern history. It is important to understand that continuous generation impacts affect people on a psychological, ecological, social, and even political level. 

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