Paper Wishes

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

In the late 1800s, Japanese people began migrating to Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States in large numbers. By the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Japanese migrants were living in the United States. These migrants were the target of discrimination and harassment, especially in California. When Japan began trying to expand into Southeast Asia in the 1930s, tensions grew between Japan and the US, worsening prejudices against Japanese Americans. Believing it might end up in a war against Japan, the federal government began conducting surveillance of Japanese American communities. It created lists of people of Japanese descent. These “custodial detention lists” were intended to help the government quickly incarcerate Japanese Americans should war actually be declared.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US formally entered World War II on the side of the Allied powers. The federal government began rounding up perceived leaders within Japanese American communities. Soon, political leaders along the West Coast were calling for even more widespread incarceration of Japanese Americans. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, allowing the army to incarcerate whichever Japanese Americans it chose. General John L. DeWitt chose all Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. The army’s Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) began a neighborhood-by-neighborhood sweep in March 1942, beginning with the 227 Japanese American residents of Bainbridge Island, Washington. In Paper Wishes, Manami and her family are residents of Bainbridge Island and are among those taken from their homes at this time. Families like Manami’s were forced to leave behind nearly all of their possessions; these often fell into the hands of predatory neighbors, with West Coast Japanese Americans losing billions in property and savings.

Over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry—including 80,000 who were born in the United States and were legal citizens—were incarcerated in 10 concentration camps located throughout the West and in Arkansas, generally in deserts or swamplands. They were surrounded by barbed wire fences and guard towers. The prisoners lived in barracks and used communal bathrooms and dining facilities. Overcrowding and food shortages were chronic issues. Inmates were expected to work for very low wages cooking, cutting firewood, and maintaining the facilities. Despite the oppressive conditions, many prisoners worked hard to preserve family life and create as much beauty in their surroundings as possible. 

In the fall of 1942, a surge of resistance inside the camps caused concern in the federal government. The government sent around a questionnaire designed to gauge the loyalty of the prisoners. Some of those who passed the loyalty test were allowed to leave the camps and resettle in areas away from the West Coast, or to join the US military. In 1945, a Supreme Court ruling led to the camps finally being emptied. Japanese Americans were once again able to move freely around the country like any other citizens. It would take many, many years for them to recover financially, however, and most would carry lifelong emotional scars from their experiences.