# Did any of the Japanese get their homes and/or businesses back? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300 "2012-06-16T00:15:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/1 "2012-06-16T00:15:48Z")
Let’s say Mr Kobayashi and I have been neighbors for over 20 years here in southern California. Then FDR decides to throw out the US Constitution and toss American born Mr. Kobayashi and his family in jail for the crime of having the same appearance as our wartime enemy, Japan. I go over to him and tell him to give me the key to his house (or business) and that I’ll take care of it until sanity returns to the country. Could I be arrested for aiding the enemy if I did this? Any records of whites doing this for their Japanese American neighbors and actually giving the property back after the war? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/2 "2012-06-16T00:43:11Z")
Anecdotal story. There were multiple Japanese American families where I grew up in bumfuck northern California. The Hosakawa family I remember. They lost everything when sent to the camps, and then returned back to the same bumfuck little farming community where they lost everything and started over from scratch. Figured it was better to return to a place they knew, and could make a living in, and start over with nothing. No good Samaritan story from Colusa California I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/3 "2012-06-16T00:43:43Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Let’s say Mr Kobayashi and I have been neighbors for over 20 years here in southern California. Then FDR decides to throw out the US Constitution and toss American born Mr. Kobayashi and his family in jail for the crime of having the same appearance as our wartime enemy, Japan. > > I go over to him and tell him to give me the key to his house (or business) and that I’ll take care of it until sanity returns to the country. > > Could I be arrested for aiding the enemy if I did this? > > Any records of whites doing this for their Japanese American neighbors and actually giving the property back after the war? Boy, that was a weekend I won’t forget. The [American Friends Service Committee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Friends_Service_Committee) and one miss [Clara Breed](http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/japanese_internment/index.html) were among those to speak out for interned Japanese. While not arrested, they didn’t win any popularity contests. > [@](#): > > Her actions, like those of the many people who reached out and helped Japanese Americans during this time, were all the more remarkable because of the widespread fear and hatred that was associated with anything Japanese. > **[Dear Miss Breed | Japanese American National Museum](https://www.janm.org/exhibits/breed)** > > "Dear Miss Breed..." the letters begin. Over 250 of them in all, these faded and creased remnants of history tell the story of young Japanese Americans incarcerated in America's World War II concentration camps and illustrate how the commitment of a... ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/4 "2012-06-16T00:52:55Z")
If your neighbor had in fact been accused, tried and found guilty of being a spy, I would assume the government would not take kindly to your actions. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/5 "2012-06-16T01:04:11Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > If your neighbor had in fact been accused, tried and found guilty of being a spy, I would assume the government would not take kindly to your actions. It seems no Japanese Americans were convicted of espionage in WW2. > [@](#): > > One of the reasons that they threw us into the terrible living conditions was that they believed that we were spies for Japan during World War II, which in the end only ten people were convicted of spying for Japan, all of whom were Caucasian. [http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/soc248/JapaneseIntern.html](http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/soc248/JapaneseIntern.html) > [@](#): > > Throughout the course of World War II, not a single incident of espionage or treason was found to be committed by Japanese Americans. The difficulty of committing treason while incarcerated cannot alone explain this absence of wrongdoing; Japanese Americans living in Hawaii were spared relocation because of the logistical difficulty of transporting a third of the state’s population to the mainland. With their numbers exceeding the entire Japanese population on the mainland, Japanese Americans in Hawaii proved an essential part of the state’s labor force and defense. > **[Historical Overview of the Japanese American Internment](http://www.momomedia.com/CLPEF/history.html)** ---
**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/6 "2012-06-16T02:43:38Z")
This is a most excellent question but I doubt we will ever get a definitive answer of the financial losses sustained by interned Japanese-Americans, nor of the restitution they were able to obtain. Interestingly, the US Government anticipated some of these issues and, at least on paper, made some provision for the detainee’s property. The quotation below comes from this link [http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/relocbook.html](http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/relocbook.html) which is from a US government handbook “Relocation of Japanese-Americans” dated 1943: > [@](#): > > When 110,000 people of Japanese descent were evacuated from the Pacific coast military area during the spring and summer of 1942, they left behind in their former locations an estimated total of approximately $200,000,000 worth of real, commercial and personal property. These properties range from simply household appliances to extensive commercial and agricultural holdings. > > At the time of evacuation, many of the evacuees disposed of their properties, especially their household goods, in quick sales that frequently involved heavy financial losses. The majority, however, placed their household furnishings in storage and retained their interest in other holdings even after they were personally transferred to relocation centers. Since these people are not in the position of absentee owners and since many of their properties are highly valuable in the war production effort, the War Relocation Authority is actively assisting them to keep their commercial and agricultural properties in productive use though lease or sale and is helping them in connection with a wide variety of other property problems. > > To carry out this work, the Authority maintains an Evacuee Property Office in San Francisco with branches in Los Angeles and Seattle and employs an Evacuee Property Officer on the staff at each relocation center. Two principal types of service are rendered. In connection with personal properties, such as household furnishings, the Authority provides–at the option of the evacuee owners–either storage in a Government warehouse located within the evacuated area or transportation at Government expense to a point of residence outside. In connection with real estate, commercial holdings, farm machinery, and other similar properties, the Authority acts more in the role of intermediary or agent. At the request of evacuee property-holders, it attempts to find potential buyers or tenants, arranges for the rental or sale of both commercial and agricultural holdings, checks inventories of stored personal goods, audits accounts rendered to evacuees, and performs a variety of similar services. Any person who is interested in buying or leasing the property of evacuees should communicate with the nearest Evacuee Property Office in the West Coast evacuated area. The locations of these offices are: > > Whitcomb Hotel Building, San Francisco, Calif. > Room 955, 1031 South Broadway, Los Angeles, Calif. > Room 6609, White Building, Seattle, Wash. > > Whenever possible, these offices will try to put potential buyers or tenants in touch with potential sellers or lessors among the evacuee population. It is should be emphasized, however, that the WRA has no authority to requisition the property of evacuees and cannot force any resident of a relocation center to sell or lease against his will. Final agreement on terms is solely a matter between the parties directly involved. It would be really interesting to see how well this worked in practice. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 did, among other things, offer the former internees a formal apology “on the behalf of the American people” and the means to obtain a one-time $20,000 “redress payment” for their troubles. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/5daacb/32.png) [@Old\_Goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Goat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/7 "2012-06-16T03:23:51Z")
For the most part, the Japanese turned their property over to the US government. My father and my uncle are quoted in the Seattle Times warning of whites trying to buy up stuff at 10 cents on the dollar (mostly inventory). They recommended turning everything over to the government. Real estate was turned over to the government. The real problem came after the evacuation order was recended. Due to the housing shortage, we had a heck of a time getting back into the family home. My father tells us that in January 45 he ‘sneaked’ back to Seattle with his friend to scout out the situation. The manager of the hotel wouldn’t let them in, even though his buddy owned the place. Had to sleep in a broom closet in the basement. After the war there were 23,00o claims totaling $131 million brought against the government for losses due to the evacuation. (per wikipedia). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/8 "2012-06-17T18:02:52Z")
I haven’t read it, but this novel addresses some of these issues. My wife read it and liked it. > **[Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Ford, Jamie: 9780345505347: Amazon.com:...](https://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Corner-Bitter-Sweet-Jamie/dp/0345505344)** > > Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet \[Ford, Jamie\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/9 "2012-06-17T19:03:17Z")
I’ve heard two stories from people I know, good and bad. The bad one was a guy I used to work with. His parents and grandparents were moved into the camps, and left their property in care of a neighbor-- who promptly sold/stole it. I can’t recall the details, but they were left with nothing and had to start over. (I also remember him pausing the story to point out that his family had come over during the gold rush and had been here longer than the neighbors) The good one was a friend of mine’s family. They had a young Japanese American guy working for them at their vineyard. When his family was sent to the camps, they said “You can store your stuff here, and there will be a job waiting for you when you get back.” IIRC they had like three households worth of stuff in the barn for the whole duration of the war-- and when the camps were emptied, he went back to work for them. (And he’s still there, 85 years old, living in a small house on their property, growing the most immensely delicious tomatoes you’ve ever eaten). No one got in any trouble for the storage of stuff that I heard of. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/10 "2012-06-17T19:43:24Z")
If anyone here feels comfortable sharing their personal stories, I’d be very interested in reading them. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/11 "2012-06-18T12:43:54Z")
I recall reading something That in Canada, most “evacuees” were not allowed back to British Columbia coastal areas until several years after the war. The initial wartime ban was used to enforce a form of apartheid for quite a while after the war, to keep communities pure of any evil enemy taint. (hint: sarcasm) Their property was confiscated by the government, who then proceeded to sell it (to local whites) for 10 cents on the dollar. Returning Canadians got nothing back. It’s not like the government was keeping it in trust until they could reclaim it. To be fair, some items like fishing boats you could not just tie up and leave there for 5 or 6 years no maintenance and expect them to be worth anything; and spending money and scarce manpower to look after “Japanese” property was not high on the government list. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/12 "2012-06-18T13:06:18Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > It seems no Japanese Americans were convicted of espionage in WW2. > > [http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/soc248/JapaneseIntern.html](http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/soc248/JapaneseIntern.html) > [Historical Overview of the Japanese American Internment](http://www.momomedia.com/CLPEF/history.html) There was Iva Ikuko Toguri D’Aquino, aka “Tokyo Rose”, who was convicted of treason, but later pardoned. Also many of the “no no boys” were sent to prison, but I think mostly for draft related convictions. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/13 "2012-06-18T13:15:05Z")
Sakuma Brothers Farms in Skagit Valley was preserved for them by the neighboring farmers, and they returned to valley after internment in California. What a truly horrifying time in our history. ---
**Author:** ![Shosy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Shosy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shosy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/14 "2012-06-18T14:42:48Z")
My family surrendered their property, a farm in Fresno, CA, (and my father was 4th generation; his father had served in WWI…as a laborer, not as a soldier, I’m not so sure it was possible for him to enlist as a soldier) but thats because it was impractical to maintain 3000 acres while being in an internment camp. My father got out as soon as he enlisted in the army and my uncles got out the following year when they were drafted. Anyway, many interned Japanese-Americans kept their property though the war by having friends and neighbors maintain it during the war. This was more true of small businesses and urban housing rather than farms. It was dependent on the circumstances, if you had a non-Japanese family you felt you could trust, etc. If you simply had a home and a mortgage, you of course wouldn’t be able to pay it, so you normally sold it. If your home happened to be, say in San Diego, then maybe you could find someone to rent it out to the explosion of Naval personnel in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/15 "2012-06-18T15:25:55Z")
George Takei, Sulu on _Star Trek_, was interned at age 4, along with his family. No mention here as to what became of their property: [http://www.theworld.org/2010/02/actor-george-takei-remembers-his-internment/](http://www.theworld.org/2010/02/actor-george-takei-remembers-his-internment/) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/16 "2012-06-18T17:54:13Z")
Wikipedia on Japanese-Canadians: > [@](#): > > In 1943, the Canadian “Custodian of Aliens” liquidated all possessions belonging to the ‘enemy aliens’. The Custodian of Aliens held auctions for these items, ranging from farm land, homes and clothing. Japanese Canadians lost their fishing boats, bank deposits, stocks and bonds; basically all items that provided them with financial security.[19] Japanese Canadians protested that their property was sold at prices way under the fair market value at the time.[20] Prime Minister King responded to the objections by stating that the “Government is of the opinion that the sales were made at a fair price.”[21] > > As one contemporary[who?] points out, there was economic benefits to be made with the internment of the Japanese. More precisely, white fishermen directly benefited due to the impounding of all Japanese owned fishing boats. Fishing for salmon was a hotly contested issue between the white population and Japanese population. Not to mention: > [@](#): > > In April 1945, the end of the war was plausible and an official movement to remove Japanese Canadians from British Columbia commenced. Japanese Canadians were given the choice to move east of the Rockies or be repatriated to Japan. Many chose to move east … > > Repatriation began in May 1946 and 3,964 Japanese Canadians were deported back to Japan.[28] The government was willing to offer free passage to those who were willing to be deported to Japan Apparently, according to one article I recall reading, declassified documents suggested the federal government did not really believe there was any threat or reason to worry about Canadian citizens of Japanese origin and were not keen to set up prison camps; but agreed to inter them to satisfy the demand from provincial officials, who were operating more on prejudice, greed, and a desire to prevent riots against the Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Shosy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Shosy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shosy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/17 "2012-06-18T18:13:27Z")
For some reason I’m thinking of a scene from “All in the Family” when the cops catch the neighbor “creeping around” or some such and Archie says “that aint no black guy thats my neighbor” ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/18 "2012-06-18T18:33:10Z")
I asked my aunt about what happened to their properties. Their side of the family was reasonably well off. I’m going with the story that their wealth was made during prohibition by making bathtub sake and literally laundering the money through a laundry. My aunt mentioned that non-citizens (Issei or first generation Japanese) were not allowed to own property, but my eldest aunts were adults in 1939 so the house was probably in their name as they were Nisei (second generation) Japanese American citizens. This meant that most Japanese were renters because most Nisei were fairly young. My aunt said "We had built a house on Idaho St. in San Mateo about 1939 (?). Both the house and laundry was placed in the hands of a lawyer as our proxy owner, but not in good condition upon our return. " She also mentioned that there was a large warehouse in Los Angeles where many Japanese Americans stored their belongings. Unfortunately, the warehouse was mysteriously burglarized during the war :mad:. ---
**Author:** ![Shosy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Shosy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shosy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/19 "2012-06-18T18:49:50Z")
My mother never was in an interment camp. She was born in the US, as was her father, but her father’s employer had the brilliant foresight to transfer him to Japan in 1936 to build up their business there (30 years too early I guess) so that was about 4th grade for her, by 8th grade she was yanked out of school to work in a ball bearing plant. After the war she was a translator for the Marines, and because she was a US citizen, they repatriated her to the US. Her older brother never moved there because my grandparents felt he was too old to learn Japanese and adapt so he lived with relatives in Philadelphia. While my father took an “understanding” view based on the times in regards to internment, my mother (who really had a worse experience working in a war factory during the bombings) became very irritated when people were dismissive of the internment in the US. She never said so to the people who were dismissive of it, but she always said to us (me) “It was not Japan, it was not Nazi Germany, it was not France, this was in the United States of America!” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300/20 "2012-06-19T00:02:23Z")
If you will pardon the hijack, I know of at least one Jewish owned business (the publisher Springer-Verlag) that was given over to a pure Aryan in the 30s and, at the end of the war, the German owner handed it back to the original owner. The last Springer left the company around 2000 and the company has been shit to deal with ever since. They are a major publisher of mathematics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-the-japanese-get-their-homes-and-or-businesses-back/625300.md?page=2)