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World War II Japanese American Incarceration: Property and Census Records

Even as Nikkei (Japanese emigrants and their descendants) communities experienced a monumental economic loss, with estimates reaching the billions, their personal loss was deepened with the breach of privacy caused by the disclosure of confidential census data. Federal records detail some aspects of the damage—including property seized by the government, property purportedly protected by the War Relocation Authority, and the Census Bureau’s complicity in supplying data to surveillance agencies. Records also document property held by Japanese Latin Americans.

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.”  

 

World War II Incarceration - Resources for Genealogists

Conducting genealogical research on formerly incarcerated Japanese and Japanese Americans can present a challenge for even the most adept researcher. Additional details can be found under the World War II Japanese American Incarceration: Researching an Individual or Family page.

On This Page

Property Records
Census Records

 

 

Property Records

Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State (Record Group 84)

Records Regarding Japanese Assets in Brazil, 1946–1947 (National Archives Identifier: 1518878); Hungary, 1945–1948 (National Archives Identifier: 1667787); and Peru, 1945–1949 (National Archives Identifier: 1756427)

Records Relating to the Protection of Japanese Interests in Brazil, 1946–1947 (National Archives Identifier: 1518878): Includes the archives of the former Japanese Embassy, the sale of Japanese property, Japanese assets, and Japanese interests.

Office of the Alien Property Custodian (Record Group 131)

Below represent a sample list. For additional records related to seized Japanese owned businesses, here are the query results from the National Archives Catalog for Record Group 131.

  • Administrative Records, 1941–1955 (National Archives Identifier: 72012516): Records document internees from Hawai’i and alien property reports.
  • Copyright Cards, ca. 1942– ca.1967 (National Archives Identifier: 12006466): Records include tracking cards for vested Japanese films. 
  • Investigative Case Files, 1943–1955 (National Archives Identifier: 6664399): Records relate to Japanese firms and individuals who were subject to having their properties vested.
  • Japanese Bank Records, 1942–ca. 1955 (National Archives Identifier: 6622110): Records detail the liquidation and settlement of bank accounts by the Office of Alien Property.

Last call to pick up suits and gowns before shades were pulled down in "Little Tokyo," in Los Angeles, prior to forced removal of residents of Japanese ancestry.

Store closing sign in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles (National Archives Identifier: 196318)

Farm Service Agency (Record Group 145)

    Records document confiscated property held by Japanese and Japanese American farmers.

    In Los Angeles County, CA:

    • Administrative Files Relating to the Requisition of Idle Farm Machinery, 1941–1946 (National Archives Identifier: 1487736)
    • Records Relating to the Purchase of Idle Farm Machinery, 1942–1943 (National Archives Identifier: 1487759)
    • Case Files for the Requisition of Equipment Owned by Farmers of Japanese Ancestry, ca. 1943–ca. 1946 (National Archives Identifier: 1487711)

    In Orange County, CA:

    • Case Files for the Requisition of Idle Farm Machinery, 1943–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1433333) 
    • Subject Files Relating to the Requisition of Idle Farm Machinery, 1941–1947 (National Archives Identifier: 1432929)

    War Relocation Authority (WRA) (Record Group 210)

    Subject-Classified General Files, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1544843): WRA’s management and disposal of properties.

    List of property owned by Japanese Americans prior to mass removal.

    • Evacuee Real Property Inventory Cards, 1942–1946 (National Archives Identifier: 1544846)
    • Evacuee Contraband Property Inventories, 1944–1944 (National Archives Identifier: 1544852)
    • Lists of Evacuee Properties in California Counties, March 1, 1942–April 14, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 5607299)

    Records document the management and disposal of properties overseen by the Federal Reserve Bank’s Evacuee Property Department. View the recorded Public Program on “Locating the Relocated” from the WWII Incarceration main page with useful tips on accessing these records.

    • Portland Branch Evacuee Property Files, March 18, 1942–June 30, 1946 (National Archives Identifier: 40143322) 
    • San Francisco Branch Evacuee Property Files, March 18, 1942–June 30, 1946 (National Archives Identifier: 38221779)

    Office of Defense Transportation (Record Group 219) 

    Subject Files, 1944 (National Archives Identifier: 7585254): Includes documents related to trucks seized from incarcerated Japanese American farmers for sale to actively producing farmers.

    Office of Foreign Funds Control (Record Group 265)

    Property reports filed by enemy alien nationals residing in Hawai’i.

    • Internee Reports, 1942–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 57362847) and Index (National Archives Identifier: 57362848)
    • Individual Financial Asset Reports, 1941–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 57362835) and Index (National Archives Identifier: 57362836)

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

    Office of the Property Comptroller, Military Government of the Territory of Hawai’i.

    • General Records, 1943–1947 (National Archives Identifier: 1116867)
    • 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)
    • Internee Property Case Files, 1943–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 1112476)

    ​Census Records

    Bureau of the Census (Record Group 29)

    Records Relating to the War History Project, March 1946–September 1946 (National Archives Identifier: 2990053)

    Subject Files, ca. 1899–1950 (National Archives Identifier: 2990148)

    • [14] Agriculture-1945 Census-POW Camps and Relocation Centers (file unit National Archives Identifier: 25496737)

    Records Relating to the War History Project, March 1946–September 1946 (National Archives Identifier: 2990053): 

    • Includes records related to statistics collected between February 26–June 7, 1942, on Japanese Americans who were removed from the Pacific Coast States.

    Department of Commerce (Record Group 40)

    General Correspondence, 1903–1950 (National Archives Identifier: 564429)

    Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (LP-FDR)

    Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Papers, 1866–1960 (National Archives Identifier: 589184)​

    • General Correspondence 1933–1945 (National Archives Identifier: 921956)
    • Diaries of Henry Morgenthau, Jr., April 27, 1933–July 21, 1945 (National Archives Identifier: 7497644)
      • Morgenthau, Henry Jr. 1943b. Letter from the Treasury Secretary to Jesse Jones, August 4, 1943. [Book 655, August 10–12, 1943, Microfilm reel 190, frame 198.]
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