Volume XI, Number 1 Winter 1999

Internment and the Church

Incarceration and the Church: An Overview
by Shizue Seigel

The Japanese American Churches
by Shizue Seigel

The Eviction of Terminal Island
by Virginia Swanson and Walter Balderston

Archives Vital for Redress Case
by Deborah Malone

Incarceration and the BCA
by Duncan Ryuken Williams

Six Years of Internment: Fragments from a Journal by Rev. Yoshiaki Fukuda

Chicago Resettlement
by Barry Saiki and Rev. Arthur Takemoto

Harvey Itano’s Independence Day
by Tom Bodine

In Memoriam: Tom Kawaguchi
by Roslyn Tonai and John Juji Hada, Ph.D.
Source Materials: Internment and the Church

New Members and Donations
In Memoriam: Dr. Raymond Uchiyama &
Arthur Morimitsu

Exhibits and programs
Japanese Latin American Redress Update
by Julie Small

This issue describes the impact of the government’s policy of mass detention on the religious and spiritual lives of Japanese Americans and on their churches during World War II.

Among those affected by the wartime incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry were tens of thousands who belonged to various religious groups – members of various Buddhist sects, Christians - both Protestant and Catholic - and Shinto followers. For many Nikkei the racial animosity which branded certain Asian-based religious groups as greater "enemy aliens" than Christians was a signal for them not only to abandon their religious traditions, but to seek assimilation by maintaining a "low profile."

Many religious groups in the wider community, especially on the West Coast, responded immediately in providing assistance and support to the internees throughout the entire period of eviction, incarceration and resettlement. Among these, the Quakers and Mormons were specially involved in responding to the needs of the interned during this crisis.

In the camps, a religious leadership quickly came together to provide services and spiritual sustenance. In the absence of the older ministers, who were separated and sent elsewhere, many new leaders were young seminarians, clergy and laypersons who rallied and were able to provide some form of tangible support in all of the detention camps.

To go back in history to capture it is like trying to capture water in cupped hands, knowing that in time its essence will be dissipated. The full story of the incarceration of a community is as diverse as the individuals who make it up – the cruel deprivation of civil rights, the stripping away of self-respect, and the condemnation of spirit contrast with acts of kindness, courage and dedication.

Perhaps this issue will help explain the diversity of emotions connected to the incarceration through the eyes of the various churches that experienced it, and leave for us a greater, more profound sense of pride for those whose sacrifices helped to keep the spiritual values of a condemned community whole and alive.

Ken Kaji
Co-ordinating Editor for this issue
Member, Editorial Board