Dorothea Lange, A grocery store owned by a Japanese American in Oakland, California; courtesy the Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley. Following evacuation orders, this Oakland store was closed. The owner, a University of California graduate of Japanese descent, placed the I AM AN AMERICAN sign on the store front on December 8, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Shattered Lives

When the government rescinded the internment order at the close of the war, internees had to begin the job of rebuilding their lives and reestablishing their livelihoods. The economic costs of the forced migration were huge. People pf Japanese descent had been forced to sell their homes below market value, shutter successful businesses, and give away other property. It is estimated that the internment cost those forcibly evacuated hundreds of millions of dollars.

One report showed that before internment a mere two dozen Japanese Americans were on the welfare rolls in Los Angeles. After internment, the number rose to nearly 4,000.

Returning Home

Government officials hoped that the displaced Japanese and Japanese Americans would scatter throughout the United States rather than returning to their old neighborhoods in the West. Many, however, did go back to the places they knew. In some places, such as San Jose, returning internees were greeted with warm food and a place to sleep. But in other places they were met with hostility and confronted with signs in store windows that read, "No Japs Allowed." Most ignored the persistent prejudice and went on with the business of rebuilding their lives.

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Chiura Obata