The following is a presentation on the experience of Japanese-American incarceration during World War II in the Pacific Northwest, created by Kyle Stephens and Peter Gallagher in conjunction with the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. Using interviews, archived photographs, and testimonials, the lesson guides students through the experience of a Japanese-American incarcerated during the War, and the government's justification for doing so. Engaging questions and points for discussion are placed throughout the presentation.

1. By Kyle Stephens and Peter Gallagher
with help from the Oregon Nikkei Center
and the Densho Digital Archive.

3. •
What reasons does the U.S. Government give for
relocation and incarceration of Japanese-American
citizens?
• At one point, the narrator calls the process of incarceration
a “migration” of Japanese-Americans. How does his
language adhere to or differ from your own understanding
of a migration?
• The narrator repeatedly brings up the sacrifice the
Japanese-American citizens had to make for their country.
What sacrifices do they discuss? Were these sacrifices
voluntary, or compulsory?
• The narrator draws a parallel toward the end of the video
between Axis powers in their treatment of Americans and
the American government’s treatment of Japanese. What, if
any, problems do you see in the comparison of the two?

4. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on
February 19, 1942, two months after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor. The Order would begin the gradual
removal of Japanese-American citizens to temporary
relocation centers, from which they would be sent to
permanent incarceration camps.
 Read through a copy of Executive Order 9066, then
discuss the following questions:

• How would you describe the language of E.O. 9066? Is it specific,
or vague in its outline of the steps to be taken?
• What reason does the President give for the signing of the order?
• Given what you know about World War II up to this point, where
might the relocation take place? What would be the national
defense materials the President hopes to protect?

5. 


The Portland Assembly Center was built on the grounds of a
former stockyard on the banks of the Columbia River. The
living quarters at the Assembly Center were built on the same
grounds as the stockyard, which resulted in an incessant foul
smell of manure, huge black flies, and almost no personal
privacy.
Life at the Assembly Center was terrible. The smell, lack of
privacy, and uncertainty of the situation left many JapaneseAmericans feeling violated.
The Assembly Center was in use from May of 1942 until
September of the same year, when families boarded old
railroad cars over the course of a week and left for permanent
incarceration. Most of the inhabitants of the Portland Assembly
Center left for Minidoka Incarceration Camp on the Idaho
border.

6. Interior view of the Portland Assembly Center, courtesy of
Oregon Nikkei Endowment.

7. Aerial view of the Portland Assembly Center. Courtesy of Densho.

8.  Interview:
George Nakata Interview
 After watching the video, discuss these
questions in groups or as a class:
• How did Executive Order 9066 affect Nakata’s
family?
• Nakata asks his daughter at one point if she could
fit all she needed in to a single backpack or
suitcase. Make a list of the things you would
include in a bag you took to incarceration, then
share that list with your classmates.

9.  After
the Portland Assembly Center, many
Japanese-Americans were sent to the
Minidoka War Relocation Center, a
concentration camp located in Jerome
County, Southern Idaho. There, they would
spend the remainder of the war.
 The Minidoka War Relocation Center was
created in WWII for Americans of Japanese
descent.
 Minidoka housed over 9,000 JapaneseAmericans.
 Located in Southern Idaho (Jerome County)

16.  What
kind of response would you expect
from a student at Minidoka when asked to
write a paper about American Democracy,
the Constitution, Rights for citizens in
America, etc.?

17. Miyatake – “American Democracy
and What It Means to Me”
 How did this interview differ from your
expectations, if at all? Why?
 Henry

18.  Question
#27 asked:
• Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the
United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?
 Question
#28 asked:
• Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United
States of America and faithfully defend the United
States from any and all attack by foreign or domestic
forces, and forswear any form of allegiance to the
Japanese Emperor or any other foreign government,
power, or organization?

19.  Do
you think Question #27 or #28 could
have caused confusion for the person
taking the questionnaire? Why or Why
not?
 What do you think the consequences were
for saying Yes or No on #27? #28?

20. Akutsu Interview – Answers to the socalled “loyalty questions”
 Richard Sakurai Interview – Answers to the
so-called “loyalty questions”
 How did this interview differ from your
expectations, if at all? Why?
 Jim

21. The preceding slides attempted, through
interviews, documents, and images, to paint a
portrait of the trials of Portland’s JapaneseAmerican citizens as they experienced mass
incarceration under E.O. 9066.
 As a class or in groups, reflect on the following
questions:

• How did the incarceration evolve over the war, from the
Portland Relocation Center to Minidoka Relocation Center?
• What do you think were some of the lasting economic,
social, and psychological effects of incarceration?
• What are some modern parallels you might draw between
the events of World War II and today?

22.  The
Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center. Please
visit the Oregon Nikkei Center in Portland’s
historic Japantown (present-day Chinatown)
at 121 NW 2nd Ave, Portland, OR 97209.
Contact the Center for special rates and
accommodations for classes.
 The Densho Digital Archive
 Professor Peter Pappas
 The students at the University of Portland in
Social Studies Methods.