In the years leading up to the war, the tension between the U.S. and Japan grew over Japan's imperialist policies. As a result, the U.S. government began tracking the movements of many AJAs within its boundaries. This was true even in Hawaii, where the Japanese community was largely made up of poor farmers and very poor plantation workers who scarcely had any means to be a threat - even if they wanted to. The Japanese community in Hawaii emerged in the late 1800s in response to the growing sugar industry and the growing need for plantation workers. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, over 180,000 Japanese immigrated to Hawaii (along with Chinese, Filipinos, Portuguese, Koreans, and others) to work on the plantations. At one time, Japanese and Japanese Americans made up over 40% of the population in Hawaii and when World War II began they were still 37% of Hawaii's people. The immigration came to an abrupt end in 1924 when Congress passed the Federal Immigration Act. (Also known as the Asian Exclusion Act.) Despite their largely economic motivations for coming to the islands, the U.S.Government was concerned about the AJAs loyalties if and when war should come. On December 7, 1941 - the date of the Pearl Harbor attacks - many AJAs were already braced for the xenophobia - and interment - and had packed their bags in preparation for detention. Unlike the mainland, however, where virtually all AJAs were interned, only some AJAs in Hawaii were singled out. This difference stemmed from logistical, political, and economic differences between the territory (Hawaii) and the mainland. Because AJAs made up such a large part of the population in Hawaii, it would have been difficult to detain them all. Also because of their numbers, they were well integrated into the larger community and were more familiar and viewed as less of a threat by the government. Lastly, they provided critical labor that would have shut down the sugar industry - Hawaii's lifeblood mid-century.
Despite the limitations on internment on Hawaii's AJAs and the declaration of martial law in the islands, there were more than one thousand Japanese and AJAs in Hawaii who were interned. The FBI had singled out leaders in the Japanese community: businessmen, teachers, Buddhist monks and ministers, and anyone with trading ties or travels to Japan. Many of the detainees were sent to mainland camps, but many were sent to Honouliuli, on O'ahu. The majority of them were U.S. citizens.
Remarkably, despite the internment of AJAs on Hawaii and on the mainland, many AJAs felt compelled to volunteer their service for the war effort. While they had roots in Japan, they viewed themselves unquestionably as Americans. After all, most had known no other homeland, especially the Nisei generation. (second-generation Japanese-Americans). The University of Hawaii had an ROTC unit that became the territorial guard when the war began. When this group was called to active duty, however, the AJA members of the group were turned away and told they were not wanted for service. The were reclassified as "enemies." Despite this blatant discrimination and rejection, they put aside their feelings of depression and anger and formed the Varsity Victory Volunteers. This group of AJAs who were former UH ROTC members, demonstrated their loyalty to the American cause with endless volunteer labor. They put their college education on hold to serve their country in a volunteer capacity. Eventually, in response to multiple petitions by the young men, the Army created the 100th Infantry Batallion as a place for the AJA men to serve. This Batallion stepped up to provide key infantry work in Italy and France, including the rescue of the so-called "Lost Battalion" (a group of Texas National Guardsmen) who became surrounded by Germans. The 100th ID, along with another AJA counterpart, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, successfully rescued the Texas Guardsmen after several failed attempts by other Army units. The 100th/442nd also served a key role in pushing Germans out of Rome. Together, the 100th and 442nd suffered extreme casualties, yet exhibited outstanding bravery and became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history.
In addition to these two units, Hawaii's AJAs also served in key capacities in the Pacific theater. Mainly in the MIS (Military Intelligence Service), the AJAs translated key documents that helped the U.S. Navy unravel the plans Japanese Imperial Navy. Their service was instrumental in preparing defense and counterattacks against the Japanese Navy. It has been estimated that their work shortened the war by as much as two years thus saving thousands of lives.
Now, some 65 years later, on a warm Hawaii morning in October, I have the honor of meeting several of these "Nisei Veterans" as they are collectively called. I spoke mostly with Yoshiaki Fujitani, a veteran of the U.S. Army MIS. Born on Maui in the 1920s, his family moved to O'ahu when he was still young. Now in his 80s, he still recalls the comfortable relationship he had with young people of other ethnicities - Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian, etc. And he remembers the abrupt halt in his college education that came on December 7, 1941. His father, a Buddhist minister in a local Hongwanji, was identified for internment by spring of 1942. When I asked him if he felt anger about this, he sort of dodged the question, instead focusing on how the internment highlighted the need for change in racial attitudes. He expressed an acceptance and simultaneous intolerance toward the internments. Rather than pure anger, he viewed them as a flaw -- something to fight against and change -- but also something to accept, without grudge. At one time, he was able to visit his father, who was transferred to a camp Santa Fe, New Mexico. Despite his father's internment, however, he supported the war effort and ultimately joined the MIS of the U.S.Army. Like other AJA's at the University of Hawaii, he had been a member of the ROTC program and was ready to stand up with other Americans. Turned away, he joined the VVV until he was able to serve in the Army's MIS division. He laughingly called his division the "Chair Force," as he worked primarily in office environment during the war, rather than dodging bullets in Europe like his AJA counterparts in the 100th/442nd. However, he seems to fully understand the importance of his translation work for the war effort.
(Image is from the Hawaii Memory Project at http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/io_1153856611334.html)
He met his wife during the war in Chicago. While training at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin, the two met while Yoshiaki was on a weekend pass to Chicago. His wife, an AJA from California, had recently been released from an internment camp in Arkansas. Despite the complete racism in his wife's internment, Yoshiaki spoke in an abashed manner about the matter - not wishing to dwell on it. Several years later and after the war ended, Yoshiaki and his wife met again in Chicago and married at last. Yoshiaki went on to complete a cultural studies degree (focusing on religion) at the University of Chicago. He and his wife moved to Japan so he could complete his studies to become a Buddhist minister. After five years in Japan, he and his wife at last returned to Maui, where Yoshiaki was assigned to lead a Buddhist congregation. The experience of his younger years in Hawaii pressed him to spend much of his career as a Buddhist minister developing interfaith relationships with people of other faiths in the islands. He devoted his life after his military service to creating bonds and friendships between people from different communities. In fact, an interfaith program bears his name at Chaminade University - a Catholic University on O'ahu.
To learn more about Yoshiaki and other Nisei Veterans, visit: http://nisei.hawaii.edu/page/yoshiaki
