"A Different Kind of Hardship": Landscapes of Japanese American Resettlement During World War II

Abstract

abstract: At the beginning of World War II, the United States illegally imprisoned 120,000 Japanese Americans and placed them in concentration camps for the duration of the war. What is less known about the incarceration is that more than one-quarter of the camp population, or approximately thirty-five thousand individuals, was encouraged to leave the camps and relocate to rural communities, small towns, and cities largely in the Mountain West, Midwest, and East Coast. This article focuses on the living conditions and experiences of Japanese Americans during this wartime resettlement period as they adjusted to life outside the camps and encountered a wide range of housing types, including tent camps, rooming houses, college dormitories, hostels, and, often, crowded and substandard apartments located in urban areas. Many Japanese Americans faced numerous challenges in these new environments, notably a discriminatory real estate industry and limited job opportunities. This discussion of the physical landscapes encountered during the resettlement period helps provide a more complete and richer understanding of the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during the war.