World War II Japanese American Incarceration: Additional Resources
Terminology
Many have grappled with how to properly tell the story of Japanese Americans during World War II without perpetuating euphemistic terms that the U.S. government and others employed at the time. Terms such as “relocation,” “evacuation,” and “internment” obscure the experiences of those who were forcibly removed from their homes along the Pacific Coast and incarcerated.
Densho and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), both Japanese American community organizations, have created guides for accurate language to discuss Japanese American incarceration. Their resources are below, as well as National Park Service glossaries that have been developed with their guidance.
Terminology (Densho)
The Power of Words (Japanese American Citizens League)
Terminology and the Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II (National Park Service)
Glossary of terms related to Japanese American Confinement (National Park Service)
Archives Library Information Center (ALIC) and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Partners
Japanese Relocation and Internment (ALIC)
Japanese Heritage Resources on Other Web Sites (ALIC)
U.S., World War II Japanese American Internment Camp Documents, 1942–1946 (Ancestry)
Microfilm Publication C53 (access to Ancestry.com is available free-of-charge, from any NARA facility nationwide)
U.S., Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942–1946 (Ancestry)
Microfilm Publication M1965, National Archives Identifier: 1055789 (access to Ancestry.com is available free-of-charge, from any NARA facility nationwide)
Genealogy Resources
National Archives - Resources for Genealogists
If you are just beginning archival research, this page provides guidance about getting started.
My Koseki
This website provides tools to locate Japanese family registers (koseki – 戸籍) – which will enable researchers trace their roots back to Japan.
Asian GenWeb
Part of the WorldGenWeb, this site links to genealogical information sources in 26 Asian countries.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Genealogy Program
For information on Alien Files (A-Files) not maintained by the National Archives.
Genealogy.com
Provides contact information, web sites, and books to assist in genealogy research.
Stuart Terashita's Japanese American Genealogy Home Page
This website offers advice for Japanese Americans on beginning their genealogical searches in the United States using: Social Security Administration information, death certificates, ship manifests, funeral home information, cemetery listings, obituaries, and World War II internment records. It also offers advice on how to uncover family history using Japanese web pages and records.
"Tracing the Roots: Using a Regional Office of the National Archives"
An article written by Rodger Rosenberg for the National Japanese American Historical Society. Describes the records available for researching Japanese American ancestors at the field offices of the National Archives.
Publications and Commemorative Sites
Articles and Other Writings
"Abundant dreams diverted"
Seattle Times article recapping the history of Japanese in Washington State in the early 1900s and their subsequent evacuation to relocation camps in the 1940s.
Records at the National Archives at Seattle and other West Coast Facilities Relating to the Japanese American Incarceration Experience (three parts), 2013
The Decision to Evacuate the Japanese from the Pacific Coast
An extensive and detailed army analysis by Stetson Conn of the circumstances surrounding the internment of Japanese Americans.
National Park Service Publications
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Theme Studies, 2023
Report to the President: Japanese American Internment Sites Preservation, 2001
Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites, 1999 (rev. July 2000)
Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California (Japanese Americans), 1988
War Relocation Authority Facilities
Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages
War Relocation Authority Facilities (National Park Service)
Amache National Historic Site (National Park Service) - Also known as Granada
Heart Mountain Interpretive Center (Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation)
Manzanar National Historic Site (National Park Service)
Minidoka National Historic Site (National Park Service)
Poston Preservation (Poston Community Alliance) - Also known as Colorado River
Poston Elementary School, Unit 1 (National Park Service)
Rohwer Heritage Site (Arkansas State University)
Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery (National Park Service)
Topaz Museum - Also known as Central Utah
Tule Lake National Monument (National Park Service)
DOJ-INS Internment Camps
Kooskia Internment Camp Project (University of Idaho)
Japanese, German, and Italian American Enemy Alien Internment (Texas Historical Commission)
Includes information and images of World War II Enemy Alien Internment camps in Texas, including Crystal City.
Japanese American Organizations and Resources
Densho
Includes a digital repository of oral histories and other primary source materials, as well as educational materials and resources for researchers.
Japanese American Service Committee , Chicago, IL
Japanese American National Museum , Los Angeles, CA
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
National Japanese American Historical Society
Operates the Military Intelligence Service Historic Learning Center
National Japanese American Memorial Foundation
Go For Broke – National Education Center
Japanese American Veterans Association
Includes a digital document project featuring records scanned from the National Archives.
Hawai’i Internee Directory (Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i)
Landscapes of Injustice
Displacement and dispossession of Japanese Canadians
Visual Materials and Exhibits
Photographs
Ansel Adams's Photographs of Japanese American Internment at Manzanar (Library of Congress)
Masumi Hayashi Photography , Family Album Project
Exhibits
A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution (Smithsonian's National Museum of American History)
Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives (JARDA) (Calisphere)
Japanese American Internment (Calisphere)
Uprooted: Japanese American Farm Labor Camps During World War II
The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco:
- Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry
- Evacuation and Internment of San Francisco Japanese
- Excerpts from General DeWitt's "Final Report on the Evacuation of the Japanese"
- Evacuees Operate Factory Vegetable Farm at Rivers
Beyond the Barbed Wire: Japanese Americans in Minnesota
University Collections and Research Guides
Japanese American Incarceration Archives (University of Arkansas)
United States War Relocation Authority Collection (University of Arizona)
War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement (University of California, Berkeley)
Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records (University of California, Berkeley)
California State University Japanese American Digitization Project (CSUJAD)
Japanese Americans in World War II (Fresno State University)
The Lawrence de Graaf Center for Oral and Public History: Japanese American Collections (California State University, Fullerton)
Japanese American Archival Collection (Sacramento State University)
Japanese American Incarceration Camp Research Guide (San Diego State University)
Topaz Japanese American Relocation Center Digital Collection (Utah State University)
Guide to the Japanese American Relocation Centers Records, 1935–1953 (Cornell University)
United States Japanese “Relocation Center” Papers and Records, 1942–1945 (Colorado College)
Azalia Emma Peet Papers (Smith College)
Japanese American Internment Collections (University of the Pacific)
Mitsugi M. Kasai Memorial Japanese American Archive (University of Utah)
Topaz Camp Collections (University of Utah)
Topaz Japanese American Relocation Center Digital Collection (University of Utah)
United States War Relocation Authority Central Utah Project Records, 1941–1945 (University of Washington)
Minidoka Relocation Camp Photograph Collection, 1942–1943 (University of Washington)
Japanese American Exhibit and Access Project (University of Washington)
Frank Chin Oral History Collection, 1974–1986 (Washington State University)