Impact of the Camps
"One of the most hauntingly pressing issues facing Japanese Americans today is their concentration camp experience during World War II. Yet, the major group of survivors -- the Nisei -- generally do not confront the implications of it within themselves or with their own children. In many respects the Nisei have been permanently altered in their attitudes, both positively and negatively, in regard to their identification with the values of their bicultural heritage; or they remain confused or even injured by the traumatic experience."
- "Identity Crisis of the Sansei and the Concentration Camp," Nobu Miyoshi
- "Identity Crisis of the Sansei and the Concentration Camp," Nobu Miyoshi
When interned, Japanese Americans were forced to leave their jobs, homes, and possessions. Most did not know where they were being taken or for how long they would be displaced. Stripped of their civil rights and branded traitors simply because of their heritage, Japanese Americans were emotionally abused from this experience. Long lasting psychological impacts of the camps were numerous.
Within the camps, Japanese Americans faced dehumanizing conditions like inadequate food and medical care, poor housing, and little education for children. Treated like prisoners, they drew on traditional Japanese values. Many drew upon the strength of "gaman," the internalization and suppression of emotion.
The oldest group interned were first generation immigrants, barred from citizenship due to Asian Exclusion Act. They were often the leaders in the Japanese American communities, so branded high risk by the government. Many were arrested separately and taken to DOJ camps as enemy prisoners. These Japanese Americans were especially impacted psychologically because of the loneliness and worry due to being separated from their families.
The camps challenged Japanese family traditions and values. The focus of the nuclear family was deemphasized as peers stayed together in the camps. The head of the family was not the household and civic leader, instead they had little power. Men were not the main wage earners anymore as women could work for the same pay as men, again challenging traditional family roles.
Hatsue and Kabu are part of the group called Neisi, American born U.S. citizens. As young adults still growing up, internment made them question their American identity. Drawing from personal experience and academic expertise, Amy Iwasaki Mass said that Nisei felt "betrayed by a trusted source [which] led to deep depression, a sense of shame, a sense of 'there must be something wrong with me.'"
Within the camps, Japanese Americans faced dehumanizing conditions like inadequate food and medical care, poor housing, and little education for children. Treated like prisoners, they drew on traditional Japanese values. Many drew upon the strength of "gaman," the internalization and suppression of emotion.
The oldest group interned were first generation immigrants, barred from citizenship due to Asian Exclusion Act. They were often the leaders in the Japanese American communities, so branded high risk by the government. Many were arrested separately and taken to DOJ camps as enemy prisoners. These Japanese Americans were especially impacted psychologically because of the loneliness and worry due to being separated from their families.
The camps challenged Japanese family traditions and values. The focus of the nuclear family was deemphasized as peers stayed together in the camps. The head of the family was not the household and civic leader, instead they had little power. Men were not the main wage earners anymore as women could work for the same pay as men, again challenging traditional family roles.
Hatsue and Kabu are part of the group called Neisi, American born U.S. citizens. As young adults still growing up, internment made them question their American identity. Drawing from personal experience and academic expertise, Amy Iwasaki Mass said that Nisei felt "betrayed by a trusted source [which] led to deep depression, a sense of shame, a sense of 'there must be something wrong with me.'"