Japanese American Relocation in World War II
A Reconsideration

Lotchin argues that the World War II relocation of Japanese-Americans was motivated by fear of Japan, rather than racism.

Roger W. Lotchin (Author)

9781108419291, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 May 2018

362 pages, 20 b/w illus. 1 map
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.5 cm, 0.62 kg

'This study examines the Japanese American internment experience during WWII from a tenuous historical position: that it was done because of war and nationalism, not racism. Lotchin defines the different groups in this interned community: Issei, who immigrated at the turn of the 20th century, were denied citizenship by law, and often favored Japanese culture; Nisei, the sons and daughters of the Issei, who were American citizens by birth; and Kibei, Nisei who spent time in Japan, learned proper Japanese, and often favored the Japanese cause. In 1942, fearing a fifth column that would welcome Japanese invaders, the army and California believed that removal was the only answer. … The author labels as ideologues modern historians who define internment only as an act of racism. This is an edgy study, and the author sits on a difficult side of history. Summing Up: Recommended.' R. C. Doyle, Choice

In this revisionist history of the United States government relocation of Japanese-American citizens during World War II, Roger W. Lotchin challenges the prevailing notion that racism was the cause of the creation of these centers. After unpacking the origins and meanings of American attitudes toward the Japanese-Americans, Lotchin then shows that Japanese relocation was a consequence of nationalism rather than racism. Lotchin also explores the conditions in the relocation centers and the experiences of those who lived there, with discussions on health, religion, recreation, economics, consumerism, and theater. He honors those affected by uncovering the complexity of how and why their relocation happened, and makes it clear that most Japanese-Americans never went to a relocation center. Written by a specialist in US home front studies, this book will be required reading for scholars and students of the American home front during World War II, Japanese relocation, and the history of Japanese immigrants in America.

Introduction: relocation, a racial obsession
Part I. The Reach of American Racism?: 1. Racism and anti-racism
2. The ballad of Frankie Seto: winning despite the odds
3. Chinese and European origins of the West Coast alien dilemma
4. Impact of World War II: a multicausal brief
5. The lagging backlash
6. The looming Roberts Report
7. Races and racism
Part II. Concentration Camps or Relocation Centers? Definitions versus Historical Realities: 8. Definition versus historical reality: concentration camps in Cuba, South Africa, and the Philippines
9. Resistance or cooperation?
10. Bowling in Twin Falls – an open-door leave policy
11. Daily life: food, labor, sickness, and health
12. Wartime attitudes toward relocation
13. Family life, personal freedom, and combat fatigue
14. Economics and the dust of Nikkei memory
15. Consumerism: shopping at Sears
16. The leisure revolution: Mary Kagoyama, the sweetheart of Manzanar
17. Of horse stalls and modern 'memory' – housing and living conditions
18. Politics
19. Culture: of Judo and the Jive bombers
20. Freedom of religion
21. Education, the passion of Dillon Myer
22. The right to know, information and the free flow of ideas
23. Administrators and administration
Part III. The Demise of Relocation: 24. Politics of equilibrium – friends and enemies on the outside
25. Endgame: termination of the centers
26. Conclusion: the place of race
27. Appendix: Historians and the Racism and Concentration Camp Puzzles by Zane l. Miller.

Subject Areas: Second World War [HBWQ], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History of the Americas [HBJK], Asian history [HBJF]