People in Motion: The Postwar Adjustment of the Evacuated Japanese Americans (1947)

The title page. There's no a actual date on it or the next page, although there's a stamped mark of 1947.

The Table of Contents. As I usually do, I'll just be noting the high points. The book is over 280 pages long, by the way.

The foreword. The rest of the foreword deals with the technical aspects of the study.

The study starts right off noting that the Japanese Americans were not the monolithic segment that had been thought.

The report says that the 'advanced guard' of Japanese Americans who left the centers were the college students and those whom 'almost any treatment on the outside was preferable to confinement,' these people generally being the ones who went out to harvest crops.

One of the main things slowing movement outside was the fear of violence on the outside of the camps.

The Midwest, apparently, had a great need for workers. (A large portion of the male workers had been drafted or voluntarily joined the armed forces.)

One of the only books I have found that actually bothers to bring up this question. If all these Japanese Americans were so dangerous that they had to be moved off the coast and into the internment camps, then how could they be released to work in war industries? The idea that someone didn't know what they were talking about had to have arisen to some people. Either the government and the media had lied, or they both were pretty incompetent as far as their views went of Japanese Americans.

The government tried to backtrack on their position.

The book talks about the various committees that helped resettlers. I've gone through the various newsletters produced in the internment camps and there are a large number of articles about such-and-such committee (often church led) in such-and-such a city that has established a program to help people wanting to relocate from the camp to the city.

The book talks about how important it was that the first resettlers from the camps made a favorable impression where they went. Once they had achieved a measure of success (and this seemed to be the vast majority of the time), then would then send word back to the camp. The people there would then see how things went and might make a decision to try the same thing themselves, which would then lead to more people leaving camp, and so on.

The book then notes that the success of the Japanese American combat team in Italy also helped improve acceptance for those wanting to leave the camps. A major problem of the time was the availability of housing.

Many went East, California and the rest of the west coast was eventually opened for them to return there, also.

Some of those who went back to the west coast did not receive a welcome, to say the least.

Where the evacuees ended up. Some who had originally gone to the East went back to their former homes, or at least areas, later. It wasn't that the East was bad, they just wanted to return to their original home area.

It seems that those who resettled in the East established stable populations, incoming and outgoing fairly balanced. The book notes that, for those who did not have property or family ties to a particular western area tended to stay where they had relocated. Part of the 'home' feeling for the west was that this was the area they were kicked out of, and thus exerts an even stronger pull on some to return there.

There book notes the growing acceptance of the Japanese Americans. It had been interrupted, of course, by the war.

There is still some anti-Japanese sentiment on the West Coast due to the long history of anti-Japanese prejudice that was there.

Some of the history of non-acceptance on the West Coast.

Words of praise for the Nisei soldiers. There are lots more in the book. There are also examples of unions opening themselves to Nisei membership.

Myer points out the relocation program did have some positive effects. An example of something done for the wrong reasons ending up having good effects anyhow.

Why the issue of citizenship was so important. Then the book goes into the Alien Land Laws.

How the economic situation changed for the Japanese Americans on the West Coast. Basically it's sort of a forced-integration that was established.

Other changes caused.

Economic losses endured by the Japanese Americans. The book goes on to talk about early redress efforts. I think the Japanese attitude 'it can't be helped' (shikata ga nai, I think) actually helped some of the Japanese Americans adjust to the losses they had suffered. The losses were in the past, nothing (at the time) could be done about them, so move on into the future.

Pre-war agriculture on the West Coast and the Japanese.

Post-war agriculture and its effects on the Japanese. It then goes on to examine specific areas the Japanese returned to. After that it examines various states the Japanese relocatees moved to.

What happened to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Then it goes into a long section on specific kinds of businesses that the Japanese returned to, and how that worked out.

The Japanese women were able to find jobs easier than the men.

A specific example of how the Japanese males had more trouble getting a job than did the women. The article then goes on to examine the economic return and growth in San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York City and Seattle. This portion goes into considerable detail.

Issei employment.

There were some questions asked in interviews. The Nisei said that their income had increased compared to before the evacuation, but the Issei said their's had not. An explanation of why is given. The next section of the book goes in to housing adjustment. Again, as with the economic section, a variety of specific cities are examined.

Perhaps the most important area is social adjustment. The article notes that there were fewer Little Tokyo-like areas, and the only-Japanese socializing from the pre-war days has changed to a more widespread-type of socializing.

Talking about the pre-war social adjustment, the book notes the solidarity of the Japanese and how they lived together not just physically but also economically. This did tend to limit their reactions with the larger community and set them apart from the other residents in the area. Some Japanese associations did develop which tried to link the Japanese community to the larger area community.

Another reason why the Japanese community was so tight-knit. The Nisei, though, were beginning to break through that mold, even before the war.

How the Issei viewed their families before the war.

The JACL.

This points out why the Nisei were not able to influence events much when the war broke out. They just weren't old enough, or in positions of authority.

The tight control of the Japanese community by the Issei was broken due to the evacuation.

The situation at the internment camps helped break down the Japanese family structure and behaviorial expectations. The author then notes that the Nisei left the camps before the Issei, giving the Nisei time to establish themselves and were able to adjust to their new communities earlier and better. The Nisei also tended to select their own mates when marrying, even further weakening the Issei hold over things concerning the family.

The book then talks about the education of the Nisei and how they took it very seriously, with many Nisei college students leaving the camps for colleges elsewhere. Generally, their acceptance was pretty favorable at the colleges.

The book then goes in to various Japanese organizations. A lot of the section is devoted to the JACL. Organizations for Nisei veterans are also discussed. Christian and Buddhist organizations are discussed after that.

There was pressure for dispersion even within individual communities of Nisei.

From the Appendix, an example of how one city's Japanese American population decreased due to the evacuation.



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