Research Our Records

Home > Research Our Records > Asian American and Pacific Islander Records at the National Archives > WWII Incarceration > Martial Law

World War II Japanese American Incarceration: Martial Law

​For the duration of the war, the Territory of Hawai'i was placed under martial law and the military assumed all civilian government functions. In addition to identifying and processing enemy nationals and U.S. citizens with alleged subversive intent, the military government severely curtailed constitutional rights. This included registering individuals over the age of six, suspending the civilian criminal court, and compiling intelligence reports on many local residents. As the only area where significant numbers of Japanese Americans lived without barbed wire fences, records related to Hawai’i during the war provide insight into how the Nikkei (Japanese emigrants and their descendants), along with other territorial residents, were subjected to restrictive measures under martial law.

For more information and to request access to the records below, click the National Archives Identifier to access the records description in the National Archives Catalog and contact the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) office identified under “Archived Copy.” 

Records related to the Military Government of the Territory of Hawai’i are part of the U.S. Army Forces in the Middle Pacific (World War II) (Record Group 494).

On This Page

Enemy Aliens and Internment
Other Military Government Functions

 

Enemy Aliens and Internment

U.S. Army Forces in the Middle Pacific (World War II) (Record Group 494)

Alien Processing Center

Internee Case Files, December 15, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1073970)

Index to Persons, Places, and Subjects, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873227)

Records of Dr. Jiro Yoshizawa, 1941–1942 (National Archives Identifier: 1089758)

Records of Japanese Civilian Evacuation Transfer Units, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 1089721)

Evidence Submitted to the Internee Hearing Board in Certain Japanese Internment Cases, 1941 (National Archives Identifier: 1089684)

Registers of Internee Mail, 1942–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 1088874)

Daily Record Books of the Sand Island Detention Camp, March 12, 1942–December 23, 1942 (National Archives Identifier: 1087204)

Records Relating to the Alien Internment Boards, 1941–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 1087200)

Lists of Names of Japanese Alien Internees, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1089727)

Minutes of the Meetings of the Internee Review Board, June 1943–September 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1088878)

Internee Release Forms, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1088866)

Daily Reports Relating to Detainees and Internees, December 1941–December 1944 (National Archives Identifier: 1088860)

General Records, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1087128)

Copies of Orders Releasing Internees from Parole, November 27, 1942–October 10, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1086783)

Office of Internal Security. Hawaii District.

Paroled Internee Case Files, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873213)

Alien Registration Bureau (Selective Service Registration)

Index of Paroled Enemy Aliens, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 7873232)

Index of Aliens with Unreturned Morning Passes, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 7873229)

Index of Persons Interned in Detention Camps, 1943–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 7873231)

Index of Aliens with Temporary Resident Permits, 1943–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 7873230)

Card Indexes and Lists Relating to Residence or Occupation of Enemy Aliens, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1104752)

Memorandums and Related Records Pertaining to Enemy Alien Temporary Gathering Permits, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1104014)

Records Relating to Enemy Alien Morning Passes, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1103838)

Records Relating to American Citizens and Aliens with Foreign Military Service, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1096601)

Correspondence with the Office of Civilian Defense, 1943–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1096598)

Records Relating to Violations of Selective Service Laws, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1096593)

Military Governor/Commander of the Military Area of Hawai'i

Correspondence Relating to the Transportation of Civilians to Hawai'i, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 7873265)

Index for Correspondence Related to Civilian Transportation, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 7873264)

Correspondence Relating to the Transportation of Japanese Americans to and from Hawai'i, November 1943–September 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873271)

Correspondence Relating to Evacuation of Civilians from Hawai'i, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873270)

Lists of Civilian Processed by the San Francisco Office, November 1944–July 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873274)

Reading Files, January 1945–August 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873259)

Reading Files of Robert C. Richardson, June 1, 1943–October 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1079797)

Reading Files of Delos C. Emmons, December 7, 1941–June 2, 1943 (National Archives Identifier: 1079702)

Executive Section

Includes records related to citizen and alien registration, investigations on subversion by persons of Japanese descent, and internees, among other topics:

  • Records Relating to General Orders, 1941–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 1079821)
  • General Orders, December 11, 1941–November 2, 1943 (National Archives Identifier: 1079759)
  • Daily Reports of Investigations, November 1944–October 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1080028)
  • General Records, 1942–1950 (National Archives Identifier: 1080032)
  • Classified Correspondence and Related Records, 1941–1946 (National Archives Identifier: 1079876)
  • General Correspondence, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1079878)
  • Correspondence and Related Records, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1079861)

Office of the Property Comptroller

Records relate to property confiscated.

  • Internee Property Case Files, 1943–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1112476)
  • Records Relating to Funds Belonging to Internees, 1943–1947 (National Archives Identifier: 1113881)
  • Correspondence and Receipts Relating to Japanese Mission Property, 1943–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1113025)
  • Records Concerning the Signal Office Relating to Surrendered or Impounded Radio Equipment, 1943–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1112602)
  • Records Related to Claims for Surrendered Radios, Camera Equipment, and Other Personal Property, 1943–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1112582)
  • Records Pertaining to the Release of Surrendered or Impounded Firearms and Ammunition, 1943–1946 (National Archives Identifier: 1112493)

General Records, 1943–1947 (National Archives Identifier: 1116867): Records relate to surrendered or impounded personal property.

Other Military Government Functions

Records related to other military government activities over the civilian population, other than internment and monitoring enemy aliens.

U.S. Army Forces in the Middle Pacific (World War II) (Record Group 494)

Central Identification Bureau

Lists of Persons Classified 1A by Selective Service, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1105383)

Records Relating to Persons Considered Undesirable Employees, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1105386)

Office of the District Engineer

General Records Relating to the Third Field Area, 1941–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 7873356)

Inspector General

Reports, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873189)

Reports of Investigations, 1939–1941 (National Archives Identifier: 7873188)

Provost Court

Lists of Japanese and Army Curfew Cases, 1942–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 7873075)

Diary of Continued Cases, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873074)

Summons and Related Records of Provost Court Cases, 1942 (National Archives Identifier: 7873429)

Orders Relating to Sentences of Provost Court Cases, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 7873428)

Provost Court Case Files of Persons Formerly on Probation, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873431)

Provost Court Case Files, 1942–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 7873430)

Adjutant General

Correspondence Pertaining to Soldiers of Japanese Extraction, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 26309542): This series consists of correspondence pertaining to Japanese Nisei citizens who enlisted in the military. 

For additional records from the Adjutant General’s office, here are the query results from the National Archives Catalog.

Censorship Section

Index to Persons and Subjects Relating to Censorship, 1944–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873233)

Copies of Commercial Cables Sent, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873092)

General Records Relating to Policies and Procedures, 1944–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1104916)

Copies of Commercial Cables Sent and Received, April 1945–August 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1104849)

Correspondence, Reports, and Related Records Pertaining to Condemned Mail, April 1945–August 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1104847)

General Correspondence, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1104839)

Training Manuals and Procedure Handbooks, 1944–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1104836)

Executive Section

Maps of Honolulu and Blueprints of Air Raid Shelters and Buildings, December 7, 1941–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 1079980)

Proclamations, Press Releases, Executive Orders, and Regulations Relating to the Office of the Military Governor, December 7, 1941–July 24, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1079860)

Special Orders, October 24, 1944–October 23, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1079837)

Security Orders and Related Records, October 24, 1944–August 16, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1079835)

Reading Files of the Executive to the Military Governor of the Territory of Hawai’i, Brig. Gen. William R. C. Morrison, April 1, 1943–October 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1079706) and Register (National Archives Identifier: 1079814)

Office of Internal Security. Hawaii District.

Subject Files, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7873210): Includes records related to the Morale Division that had evolved from the pre-war interracial advisory group. This committee served as an intermediary between the Army and local residents.

Civilian Evacuation Plans, 1942 (National Archives Identifier: 7873212). 

For additional records from the Office of Internal Security, here are the query results from the National Archives Catalog.

Top