A Look at Asian American Studies - Emery McKee - Ryan Caragher - Emma Rohrer - Gabe Velazquez

SHARING THE STORY OF JAPANESE AMERICANS

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the lives of Japanese American citizens and immigrants alike were radically changed. They were forced to sell off the assets they had and move to concentration camps where their freedoms and liberties were unjustly taken from them by military law. Although one might think that this would be a prime cause for revolt and resistance, these Japanese Americans had no support from anyone else in the U.S. Every major institution in the country condoned the concentration camps, and as a result, these imprisoned Americans had to make a decision. Would they adapt to the mistreatment in an effort to naturalize themselves in the country, or would they use their agency to resist and oppose the encroachment of their liberties in the U.S? As we follow Yuri Kochiyama’s life as a young adult, it becomes clear that at such a young age, she was a true leader of Japanese Americans. Instead of resenting the circumstances of the concentration camps, she stayed patriotic and attempted to develop her identity as a Japanese American. She admired the leaders of these camps, such as Mary Tsukamoto, who organized light-hearted activities for the prisoners so that they could distract themselves from the sadness of their situation. Yuri also contributed to the Denson Tribune, a paper distributed by the War Relocation Society. Her columns talked about the hardships that the Nisei, or Japanese born Americans, faced during their service in World War II. Later in life, she would collaborate with Malcolm X on the topic of racial equality, but her time in the camps would shape her perspective of the U.S. for the rest of her life.

I N S P I R E D B Y Y U R I K O C H I Y AMA