As World War II began, there were more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent living in the country, mainly along the West Coast. After the “surprise” attack on Pearl Harbor, rumors spread that Japanese in America would hinder the war effort through “fifth column” (espionage or sabotage) actions. Reacting to old suspicions, ignorant fears, and racial prejudice toward all Asians, the federal government ordered Japanese Americans—regardless of loyalty or American citizenship—to abandon their homes and business and be placed in “Relocation Centers.” Nearly 110,000 people were incarcerated in centers that resembled concentration camps: They were located in remote areas that had armed guards, barbed-wire fencing, communal living arrangements in wooden barracks, and poor food. Among those relocated was Charles Kikuchi, an American-born child (Nisei) of Japanese immigrants (Issei), who kept a diary of his internment at Tanforan, a temporary assembly area in northern California. Kikuchi’s diary (which you can read excerpts from by clicking here) reveals the tensions of life in the camp as well as his own torn loyalties between his family and Japanese ancestry and his American citizenship.After you have read the document, I would like you to reflect on and discuss the following: Why does Charles Kikuchi believe the internment will be harmful to Japanese Americans? Where were Kikuchi’s loyalties? Why could Kikuchi see humor in some Americans’ reaction to internment, yet be fearful of nativist groups like the Native Sons of the Golden West? What does Kikuchi’s diary reveal about the situation of Japanese Americans during World War II? Were the relocation camps necessary? Your thoughts…
20 comments:
Kikuchi thinks the internment camps are segregating the Japanese and making it easy for the public to criticize and look down on them. Kikuchi's loyalties were fully American, and he did not understand why the war had suddenly brought him and his family under suspicion. He sees humor in that some ppl "say things that arise out of their bewildered feelings" but cannot hide their American lives.
i can't believe there were "internment camps" in America. Japanese people were sent to live in horse stall which, if they were lucky, would not be littered with manure. They had to walk in heavy rain and deep slushy mud. "Land of the Free"?...
Kikuchi was afraid that the Japanese americans would loose Americanism. Kikuchi also stated that when she went to the bank, the woman was not bitter or arrogant at all to her.
He seems pretty hopeful about it in a way. Of course he would feel segregated and untrusted because of the fact that he is of Japanese decedent, but he is trying to look at both sides. When i was reading his journal entry, it didn't seem like it was horrifically horrible. He said that to retain his loyalty to his country and family. That means he can not be selfish and individualistic to a strong degree. He also thought that there were interesting people in the camp, like the Americans. i guess that meant that if you were part Japanese, even a little, then you would be in that camp. The US was really afraid then. I don't think that those camps were necessary at all. For call they knew, the Japanese American citizens could all have been on the US side 100%.
kikuchi was an american. his loyalty was to america. he had was born in america, and was legally a citizen, and so what reason would he have to be on japan's side? his attitude toward these camps was that of: segregation again? what did we do? is there really a rational reason to do this?
he also says that groups such as the native sons of the golden west should be the ones placed in concentration camps. he knows that they are more dangerous to the public than the japanese-AMERICANS who were put into these camps will ever be.
kikuchi also knows that by squishing all the japanese into one area, the government is doing nothing to help the japanese-AMERICANS retain their americanism. they will be using more and more japanese when they speak because of the first generation immigrants. kikuchi says that maintaining his american nature will be a difficult task considering the conditions, but he realizes that's the only way he'll get by if he ever gets out of the camps.
i think these camps were absurd and based off of an irrational fear. paranoia takes on a mind of it's own. it sickens me how everyone in this war is acting the same. to think... i knew about these camps before... but i never really took them too seriously. now i realize that the u.s. is never the good guy in history. we appear that way in elementary school text books. but that's censoring for ya. everything they don't want to instill in the minds of young children revealed to older ones!
wow this is really aweful!! I feel so ashemed that we did this, not Germany but the United States. It suprises me that their housing was horse stalls, if the Americans even had that courtesy. His only was the pretty much survive under that circumstances is to become "americanized". Even though he wants to preserve his Japanese culture as much as possible, he feels that his people are educated and can be good American citizens better than other "so-called americans!"
omg. the american people were acting like this all was totally okay. these japanese decents were being treated like dirt! this sickens me. i honestly had no idea that we had internment camps so learning this just makes me feel sick about being under a government that thought this all was okay for almost 40 years..
i dont believe that these camps were necessary in any way possible. we had no real threat detected unless there was already an attack, in which case you cant always blame the whole race, per say. just like current day iraq, we are blaming the whole country which is beyond stupid because of a small group.
The relocation camps were not needed at all. For the USA to accuse all of a race to be 'bad' for one action of its' own is very unfair. Its judgemental and that is not what a free country is about. Kikuchi meantions that the Japanease are not able to achieve "Americanization" when they are treated terribly like this, and i couldnt agree more. This particular act of camps to me would seem like it would give the USA a bad image.
KIkuchi is very confused on why he is being put in these camps. He thinks it is unfair because he is loyal to the American government. On the other hand he tries to think positively too and is not selfish at all.
I was completely shocked when you told us about all of the japanese internment camps. I didn't know that this happened in the united states where everyone is supposed to be free. So many times americans point fingers at other countries but more into this class i realize that the united states has also done some pretty dirty things.
Wow what has happened to the US there dropping atomic bombs and they have internment camps? I think that Kikuchi doesn't understand why he was put in the camps but he tries to look at the positives not the bad thing.
Like the Germans the Americans have a opressed a minority group which does not deserve the punishment that the government gives them. Kikuchi was a loyal American citizen and it was terrible how he and his family were sent to the camps. He didn't understand why they were under suspicion, and i wouldn't blame him because it just seems absurd. Opressing these people will most likely make them loss their Americanism.
kikuchi's was completely loyal to the u.s and he didn't get why he had to go to an internment camp when all that did was segregate japanese from americans when the japanese were juat as american as anyone else.
it wasn't nessesary at all because we were the ones to start conflicts ith the japanese not them with us and if we were under attack why blame or suspect only of the japanese when it cold have actually been anyone not just them. his might have made it harder for them because when they were freed it might have been hard for them to integrate into society again.
He seems to be almost too understanding or something. Ha... He thinks that the Japanese should not be in these camps because they did nothing wrong but the fact that they are being forced into these camps could cause the disloyalty that was not there before they were discriminated against.
Sapp.
Kikuchi believes the relocation camps are dangerous to Japanese Americans because it will build disloyalty towards them from the Americans once they are free. Also, he fears that they wont be able to "Americanize" because they are surrounded by Japanese Americans. He finds humor in the Americans because they say things out of their bewildered feelings. Im not entirely sure, but i think he is saying that the Japanese Americans are criticizing the Americans because they are so distraught, but they are being hypocritical because they technically ARE Americans.
To be honest. I first learnded baout these in 8th grade. ITs rediculous. People usually think of Us as the good guys. Then, why would we do something so hateful and mean?
internment camps are concentration camps no doubt. because they are gather one race in one area and make them starve. and that was so cruel how they treated him just because he was a jap. and they were paraniod about him turning on them and giving them secrets i guess.
He believes that the camps are not necessary and are just a way for the Americans to place blame onto a small portion of the population. He was not angry at any one person, he understands why they are doing it but still cant believe that it is actually happening. He describes America as a place where so many people came to get away from their troubles and this is what they get in return...to be segregated into internment camps where they are only hopeful that the horse manure is cleaned out before hand...disgusting humanity.
This class has taught me so much that I probably would have never known if I didnt take it. I think that the Japanese in the US dont unerstnad the reason they are being punished. Like you said "all asians arent the same", these were loyal Japanese people to the United States that were ingorantly put into these camps.
this group together of all japanese people creastes almost a bond between, they all can speak japanese and are sharing culture. This means they are becoming more japanese influenced and turnin away from the US in those aspects.
Kikuchi obviously doesnt like the Japanese internement camps but at the same time i think hes just confused. He doesnt really know why there is a war going on and why the Americans are suspiciuos of him and his family, even though he is an American citizen adn loyal to the american government.
Kikuchi mentions how he thinks it's absolutely absurd how there is a new found division between the Caucasians and the Japanese if they're all in the same boat. They're all American citizens and have no reason or desire to want to help the Japanese, yet the Caucasian Americans were being so paranoid about who to trust after Pearl Harbor. He also says how it's impossible to achieve "Americanization" with so much unnecessary segregation between the races.
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