Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism

The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, provoked an external reaction by the United States government against the Imperial Government of Japan and an internal response by American authorities against persons of Japanese ancestry, including Japanese American citizens.

The American declaration of war against Japan following Pearl Harbor was soon followed by a presidential declaration of exclusion against Japanese Americans residing on the country's west coast. These Americans were collectively declared a potential threat to national security during World War II (WWII), evacuated from the west coast, and sent to concentration camps. Despite being reviled and ostracized during this period in American history, Japanese Americans persevered and were eventually honored with a national memorial in Washington, DC, at the beginning of the 21st century. The Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During WWII is a unique, dual-purpose national memorial that tells the story of a grievously mistreated group of people but also of a nation attempting to acknowledge and make amends for the injustice perpetrated against its citizens. The Memorial also demonstrates the malleability of the American collective memory, evolving from a view of Japanese Americans as treacherous and untrustworthy to one now of a heroic and patriotic group that merited a national memorial. As such, the Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism highlights the power of monuments to honor and provide healing and be redemptive.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 effectively ended Chinese immigration resulting in a large influx of Japanese immigrants in the western portion of the United States. U.S. Census figures indicated an exponential increase from 2,039 Japanese arrivals in 1890 to 110,010 in 1920. This mass migration prompted a strong reaction from a West Coast American populace again taken aback by another large wave of Asian immigrants. As Japanese immigrants replaced the Chinese as cheap labor, they were racialized and vilified, with scholar Kristin Has stating the anti-Asian mood was best summed by San Francisco Mayor James Phelan, who said that "[Japanese immigrants] must be excluded because they are non-assimilable; they are a permanently foreign element…in time of trial they will not fight for Uncle Sam, but betray him to the enemy." This backlash led to a series of actions designed to limit immigration and the owning or leasing land for those already here.

These events helped set the stage for a confluence of events that would lead to the complete marginalization of Japanese Americans and the egregious violation of their civil rights by a federal government that cast aside constitutional norms following the surprise-attack bombing of Pearl Harbor. War hysteria and fears of domestic espionage or sabotage magnified anti-Japanese sentiment and prompted politicians to request federal action against a perceived domestic Japanese threat. Daniels notes that California Attorney General (and future Supreme Court Justice) Earl Warren warned that the Japanese situation in California was the "Achilles heel of the entire civilian defense effort." At the same time, the West Coast congressional delegation urged the removal of "all persons of Japanese lineage, aliens and citizens alike, from the strategic areas of California, Oregon and Washington." The political pressure urged President Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which authorized the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast.

The United States government ended up forcibly removing and incarcerating approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry in ten isolated internment camps scattered throughout the country. Individuals had to fire-sell or simply abandon their personal belongings, property, and businesses, with some families being separated and sent to different camps. Most were placed in minimal, shared living quarters, usually barracks, with no privacy. Internee Bill Hosokawa described the living arrangements as "rude, crowded, uncomfortable chicken coops that passed for residential quarters" and an "appalling experience of confinement behind barbed wire in a concentration camp."

Despite the U.S. government classifying Japanese individuals as enemy aliens, it did not preclude willing Japanese-Americans from fighting for the United States in the war. In 1943, the War Department authorized the formation of the all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), composed of Japanese American volunteers, which became the most decorated military unit, for its size and length of service, in American military history. Additionally, a select group of Japanese Americans formed to serve as translators for the Military Intelligence Service in the Asian theater, where they would monitor enemy communications, translate captured Imperial Japanese military documents and interrogate captured soldiers. The distinguished Japanese American military service during World War II would play an essential role in the eventual rehabilitation of the Japanese American community during the postwar years.

After the war, Japanese Americans worked to rebuild their shattered economic lives, pursue educational opportunities, and reintegrate themselves back into American society. In the late 1960s and 1970s, during the social turmoil generated by the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement, the next generation of Japanese Americans began to assert themselves. A key milestone in the redress came to fruition on July 31, 1980, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Act into law. The empowered Commission extensively reviewed government documents pertaining to the Japanese internment decision and heard the wrenching testimonies of many incarcerated Japanese Americans. In December 1982, the CWRIC released a 467-page report titled Personal Justice Denied. It concluded that "Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity….The broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership…A grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who….were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World War II." Six months later, the CWRIC recommended that the United States Congress and President offer a national apology to the interned Japanese Americans and compensation of $20,000 to each surviving evacuee and internee. These recommendations were not official until President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The Act, and the subsequent appropriation authorizing redress payments, marked an important step in the rehabilitation and redemption of Japanese Americans within American society.

Go For Broke National Veterans Association, a Japanese American WWII veterans' group, organized the effort to secure a national memorial on federal land following the passage of the Civil Liberties Act. They enlisted the help of Japanese American politicians, most notably WWII veteran Senator Daniel Inouye and former internee Congressman Norman Mineta, to honor the veterans that fought in the war. However, the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC) discouraged the proposal to erect a strictly military monument, stating that future commemorative works should demonstrate the lasting national significance of the subject involved. To address the concerns of the NCMAC, the federal representatives revised their proposal from being a purely military celebration of service to being a cautionary tale, "a grave reminder of what we are capable of in times of crisis." NCMAC accepted the revised proposal that "shifted from a single military focus to one embracing the larger events surrounding the Japanese American people as a whole."

The Memorial, designed by architect Davis Buckley and dedicated on November 9, 2000, has a circular walkway bordered by walls containing the names of the incarceration camps and the number of people confined there. Next, visitors see a wall of honor that includes the names of the approximately 800 Japanese American soldiers who died during World War II. The centerpiece of the Memorial is a sculpture of two cranes entangled in barbed wire, symbolizing the plight of the incarcerated Japanese Americans. The space also contains a large reflecting pool containing five boulders, representing the number of generations of Japanese Americans alive at the time of signing of the Civil Liberties Act.

The Memorial serves the dual purpose of commemorating the sacrifice of incarcerated Japanese American citizens while also honoring the ultimate sacrifice of Japanese American soldiers who served despite the discriminatory actions of the American government. It highlights the fortitude and loyalty of the Japanese American citizenry by equating their sacrifices with heroism and patriotism. Moreover, the Memorial also recognizes a nation attempting to make amends for its unjust treatment of Japanese Americans during the war. Upon arriving, visitors read Ronald Reagan's inscribed words, spoken during the signing of the Civil Liberties Act, "Here we admit a wrong. Here we affirm our commitment to equal justice under the law." This admission of national guilt is also redemptive, for it demonstrates the nation's ability and willingness to recognize and atone for its sins and to reaffirm its commitment to constitutional ideals. Congressman and former internee Robert Matsui's inscription reinforces this point by stating, "Our actions are essential for giving credibility to our constitutional system and reinforcing our tradition of justice."

(Edited by Brad Poss and Laura Bailey)

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