Japanese Involvement In WWII

The Japanese had to go to camps mainly because it was their civil duty. They could not function properly in society because of racism, especially when the Japanese attacked pearl harbor. After the attack nobody trusted Japanese-Americans. The government felt that they needed to protect them from society. Americans had very strong feelings towards these people and there was propaganda made to encourage the withdrawal of Japanese people. Even the creators of looney tune cartoons made an episode of how the Japanese man is a savage and extremely ruthless person to anything. Some episodes were about the Germans as well, and how they train the youth to believe in these horrible things, and growing up

     Unfortunately, the Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were given no time to show what their loyalties were: they were expelled from the area. They were shipped off to remote locations in the more barren sections of the country. The living conditions at the camps were inadequate at best. Residents were forced to endure extreme cold and extreme heat, cramped living spaces, poor meals, and a lack of indoor plumbing. The whole time, they were under the watchful eyes of armed military police. They were treated as prisoners.

The United States put Japanese people in camps, stealing their rights, and placed them in inhumane facilities that no human being should be forced to withstand.

Japanese residents of the west coast had a week’s notice to bring and grab only what they could carry to an unknown location. Other minorities started to question why the victims of the internment camps did not take refuge before the government forced the Japans out of their own homes. Although 8,000 Japanese escaped to the east coast, most of the minority stayed since it was symbolic of their loyalty to the United States and ultimately rebuild the broken trust. Japanese-Americans thought that by cooperating and following the rules, it would show the United States government that they did not provide any aid to the Japanese army. The internees started to

Thesis: Even though the Japanese Americans were able to adapt to their new environment, the

All Japanese Americans had to register themselves for the detention camps. Most Japanese Americans were given about two weeks to sell everything and get ready for the detention camps. There were One hundred and twenty thousand Japanese Americans removed to camps in 1942. More than two thirds were american citizens. The U.S. never told the Japanese were they were going. These internment camps were nothing like the Nazi concentration camps, there were no murders in the internment camps, there were millions of murders in the concentration camps but some japanese americans took their own life. The japanese were given much more food than the victims in the concentration

These internment camps were not execution camps. Although these camps held Japanese-Americans against their will, they did not pose dangers that would affect the well-being of the citizens. Additionally, thousands of American citizens are engaged in warfare in the military. Being part of the military is far worse than being evacuated to an internment camp. According to a statement made by Representative Leland Ford in 1942, “[...] if an American born Japanese, who is a citizen, is really patriotic [...] he should be willing to do it if he is patriotic [...] As against his sacrifice, millions of other native born citizens are willing to lay down their lives, which is a far greater sacrifice, of course, than being placed in a concentration camp” (Document A). As citizens of the United States, it is the Japanese-American’s patriotic duty to make sacrifices for the country’s safety, which are not dreadful in comparison to the sacrifices other citizens make for the country. Many Americans imperil their lives by serving in the military forces. Japanese-Americans are solely being relocated for defense purposes. The Secretary of War, who President Roosevelt gave power to, must provide the proper necessities for those who were being relocated into the internment camps, the Japanese-Americans. These resources included food and shelter, fundamentals to survive. The United States did not have the intention

Japanese soldiers are widely remembered as being cruel and indifferent to the fate of Allied prisoners of war. Cruelty could take different forms, from extreme violence and torture to minor acts of physical punishment, humiliation and neglect. Some prisoners were made to hold a heavy stone above their heads for many hours. Others might be forced into small cells with little food or water.

Beating had long been an acceptable and routine method of discipline within the Japanese Army. Soldiers could strike subordinates with no questions asked and no explanation warranted. The slightest distinction between ranks was of critical importance because it meant the difference between who could inflict blows, and who could expect to receive them. This sort of institutionalized brutality had a tendency to work its way down the ranks to the lowliest private. One can imagine what would happen when an enlisted man, hardened by this psychology of top-down violence, found himself suddenly thrown into a foreign and not altogether distasteful situation in which he was the superior, in charge of a group of helpless prisoners. For some, the temptation to beat proved irresistible. For others, beating was only the beginning." (Hampton 91-92)

The majority of POWs (22 376) were prisoners of the Japanese’ (Farrar, Bedson, Easton, Jackson, Lamont, 2005, pg. 60). Australian Prisoners of wars were captured by both Germany and Japan, the treatment of prisoners in Germany were significantly better than those in Japan, but the prisoners still faced many hardships and there were enormous casualties, in both Germany

Although the Japanese believed it was dishonarable to surrender and probably thought they made the best decision, I am sure they didnt think about the lives they were putting in danger. The civilians that died were not to blame, and shouldnt have had to endure the devastions of the war but sadly they did live on a military port.

Liberation of the camps was something that meant a great deal to both the Americans and the Canadians because of how much respect we have for our fighting men. The “Kill All Order” was definitely a huge concern when trying to free soldiers, but it didn’t always work for the Japanese. Officer Peter MacRitchie of HMCs Prince Robert was the leader in the liberation of the Shamshuipo POW in Hong Kong, one of the largest known Canadian camps during World War II. He and his team infiltrated the camp saving hundreds of Canadian and American lives. Attempting to liberate camps has always been extremely risky because it could save lives, but also get many people killed in the process. Many prisoners suffered, Nazi camps in Germany killed millions and Japanese camps killed thousands, all in extremely brutal ways. 26,000 Canadians landed in Sicily and 2,400 died. Junio beach where 14,000 stormed 1,074 massacred or wounded, the rest barely made it out with their lives or were thrown in camps to be brutally beaten and tortured. Thousands of prisoners of war triumphed, but unfortunately not everyone was so lucky, many prisoners died seconds from being home free. The “Kill All Order” was a tragic and horrifying experience, each soldier fighting for seconds more to live, some even hoped the Americans and Canadians would lose so they would never have to face death so closely ever

In internment camps cultural integrity was a problem. The Issei, or first generation Japanese who were older, were used to being very well honored and respected by the younger generation. In internment camps, age had no value. To a white soldier, a Japanese man was a “Japo” and nothing more. In traditional Japanese culture, the elderly were very highly respected. However, at the camps their “traditional authority” was stripped away and this “contributed to the demoralization of the Issei” (62

During world war two, countries on both sides committed war crimes that shocked both the people involved, and the globe. From 1937 through to 1945, the Japanese justified their treatment of the Australian prisoners of war at the Burma railway with three things. The Japanese believed that their bushido code allowed them to treat the Australian this way, their ethics was one of complete brutality and hardship, and the Japanese soldiers were being fed false propaganda that showed a dehumanized view of the Australians. These three statements demonstrate that the Japanese atrocities committed at Burma, were, in the eyes of the Japanese, fair and just.

One of the reasons that the Japanese all agreed to use this method was because they didn’t actually believe that the American army took prisoners (Hayden). They thought the Americans would kill them right after capture so when it really came down to it, the Japanese thought that they would kill themselves rather than the Americans do it for them. Emperor Hirohito even broadcasted live on the radio in Japan and said “We would rather die than to be taken, and so should you” (Powers) talking to the