America’s Hidden History

Japanese American incarceration, sometimes called internment, was a U.S. government program during World War II that forced approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans to leave their homes and move to one of ten remote camps. More than two thirds of the Japanese Americans who were forced to move were American citizens.

On December 7, 1941, bombers from the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaiʻi. In response to Japan’s advances into China and Southeast Asia, the United States had imposed an oil embargo on Japan, which was already stretched thin for resources in its war with China. By attacking Pearl Harbor, Japan hoped to capture resource-rich territories in Southeast Asia, where the United States had a military presence. Additionally, Japan’s second goal was to force the United States to lift the embargo.

The United States’ response to the attack was swift. A day later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war against Japan. Despite having avoided sending troops to fight in World War II up until that point, Congress voted to join the Allies. In the wave of xenophobic frenzy that followed the attack, political leaders called for the round up of Japanese Americans. Suddenly, these Americans were suspected of being saboteurs. There was no evidence supporting espionage or sabotage by Japanese Americans. Nevertheless, on February 19, 1942, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order gave the U.S. military the power to designate military areas “from which any and all persons may be excluded.” In practice, the entire West Coast was designated as a military area. So the forced “evacuation” of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent began.

Japanese Americans were ordered to register the names of all their family members and told to report for transfer to concentration camps. They were forced to sell their property within a very short time and at unfair prices. Citizenship status, age, and loyalty did not matter. The U.S. imprisoned three generations of Japanese Americans on the basis of their heritage, with no legal charges against them. Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt of the Western Defense Command led the charge in declaring curfews as an excuse to incarcerate Japanese Americans. He also issued Public Proclamation No. 4, which started the process of forced detention. DeWitt referred to Japanese Americans as “an enemy race.”

The concentration camps were located in remote areas of the American West and Arkansas, such as swamplands and deserts. Barbed wire and armed guards surrounded the camps. The guards were ordered to shoot at anyone who tried to leave. Families were confined to small, crowded army-style barracks. The structures lacked privacy or adequate facilities to keep the prisoners warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Incarcerated Japanese Americans were used as a source of underpaid labor to make military materials and work on infrastructure projects. Some engaged in labor protests to call out their status as exploited workers. Others did their best to find normalcy in the prisons they now called home. In the camps, Japanese Americans established schools, newspapers, religious facilities, sports teams, and more.

“My interest in researching Japanese American incarceration began with an interview that never happened,” says Sakaguchi. “In 2021, I was working on a story for National Geographic Magazine about the surge in anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic and how Asian American families were redefining “belonging” in America. I connected with a Japanese American man whose family had been incarcerated during World War II, and we scheduled an interview. But the day before, he canceled. I later learned that his family had been divided by the so-called “loyalty questionnaire.” His side had answered “no-no,” leading to their forced transfer to Tule Lake and a lasting rift that still shaped their family dynamics. Because of this, he ultimately decided not to share his thoughts on belonging in America, worried that speaking publicly could trouble some of his family members.”

“Until that moment, I had never heard of the loyalty questionnaire,” Sakaguchi says. “As someone who shares a Japanese cultural heritage, I was struck by how little I knew of this history and wondered how many other Americans were unaware of the moral and existential dilemmas Japanese Americans faced while unjustly incarcerated. This realization set me on a path of research, ultimately leading me to attend my first pilgrimage to a former American concentration camp.”

Shining a Light on America’s Dark Past

Haruka Sakaguchi created her project, The Camps America Built, to encourage and elevate multigenerational conversations about the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Through portrait photography and oral histories, The Camps America Built documents formerly incarcerated people and their descendants as they embark on a pilgrimage to visit their former camps. The project invites them to reflect on their experiences and memories, which are rooted in this dark chapter in American history. It looks to reframe the story of Japanese American incarceration – not only as a Japanese American story, but as a shared American legacy that shapes all of us.

Additionally, the short film, Loyal American, aims to shift the narrative of Japanese American incarceration. Instead of presenting or remembering the camps as an isolated incident in history, the film presents the era as part of a quintessentially American story of survival and belonging. A central focus of the film is the loyalty questionnaire, a lesser-known but critical aspect of this history. U.S. officials distributed the questionnaire to Japanese Americans held in concentration camps during World War II. It included two controversial questions:

• Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?
• Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attacks by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power or organization?

Answering these questions presented Japanese Americans profound moral and life-altering dilemmas. For some, a “yes-yes” response was seen as a declaration of loyalty to the U.S. despite their unjust incarceration. For others, answering “no-no” became an act of protest. They rejected the premise of the questions, considering this a stark violation of their constitutional rights. These "no-no" responses often led to harsh consequences, including stigmatization, separation from family members, and transfer to a maximum-security camp.

During this time, other groups of Americans were not asked or expected to respond to the loyalty questionnaire. This document was only imposed on Japanese Americans because of false and biased assumptions that their loyalty would remain with Japan rather than the United States. This is despite the fact that many of the people who took the loyalty questionnaire were born in the United States and were American citizens.

Loyal American is the story of a “no-no,” a Japanese American who answered the loyalty questionnaire with two “no” responses, told from the perspective of his son. It illuminates how the answers to the loyalty questions were rooted in survival and dignity. They have also left a lasting impact on individuals, families, and communities. The film underscores that this history is not simply something of the past. Instead it is an intergenerational story that continues to shape lives today.

“What moves me most is when someone I photograph tells me that a photo I made inspired a conversation,” says Sakaguchi. “Through this project, I have been privileged to hear that, after sitting for a portrait, some formerly incarcerated individuals began speaking about their experiences for the first time.”

Navigating Life Outside of the Camps

Though some of the Japanese Americans declared “loyal” were able to leave the camps early, most did not see freedom until the end of the war in 1945. Rebuilding was difficult with their lives irreparably disrupted and their property lost. Later, inspired by the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, Japanese American activists intensified the Redress Movement. This movement demanded reparations for Japanese Americans including the restoration of their civil rights, an apology, and compensation from the U.S. government. By the late 1970s, Redress activists brought the fight to the court and to Congress. This resulted in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided $20,000 payments to individual survivors and a national apology.

Sakaguchi finds special value in visual media. “Photography has a unique ability to hold a mirror up to ourselves, creating space for introspection, dialogue, and healing in ways that words alone cannot,” she says. “The most rewarding moments in my work are when I learn that an image has revealed an untold story or deepened someone’s connection to their own history.”

“My goal is to reintroduce the topic of Japanese American incarceration not as a Japanese American story,” she shares, “but as a shared American legacy that continues to shape all of us.”

Learning Activities and Discussion Prompts

The goal of the project is for learners to gain a deeper understanding of the history of Japanese American incarceration in the United States. The film explores the complexities behind every “no-no” response. Each decision carried a unique and deeply personal meaning. Each was shaped by circumstances of profound injustice. The film invites viewers to consider:

• What does it mean to be a “loyal” American?
• Is it to declare loyalty to your country despite unjust treatment or to stand up for your rights as an American citizen?

Learners are invited to reflect on how these questions resonate in their own lives. They are encouraged to think about how the questions shape the broader conversation about what it means to be American today.

The Camps America Built website features a lesson plan which guides educators through thematic discussions about the Japanese-American incarceration, and what it means to be a “loyal American.” Learning goals for this activity include:

1. Examining the experiences of Japanese American families during World War II incarceration, using historical sources and personal narratives.
2. Evaluating how government policies shaped perceptions of loyalty and belonging.
3. Analyzing how systemic discrimination, forced displacement, and incarceration have impacted different communities throughout U.S. history.
4. Drawing connections between Japanese American incarceration and contemporary issues of exclusion, racial profiling, and mass incarceration.

Learners will use both The Camps America Built website and the Loyal American short film to immerse themselves in this activity.

Loyal American Film Credits

Executive Producers

Vanessa Serrao

Kaitlin Yarnall

Supervising Producers

Chris Dye

Sarah Joseph

Director

Haruka Sakaguchi

Producer

Sam Sheline

Production Manager

Maíra Ferranti Corrêa

Photographer

Haruka Sakaguchi

Cinematographer

Mike Kai Chen

Editors

Sam Sheline

Krista Stonedahl | Root House Studio

Animator

Krista Stonedahl | Root House Studio

Production Coordinator

Jessica Wang