A Note on Terminology A Note on Terminology

Language is a powerful tool that can be used to represent or distort reality. During World War II, U.S. government and military officials used a number of euphemisms to describe their actions against people of Japanese ancestry in the United States.

Should euphemistic words and phrases from an earlier era be used today? This is an important question for students, teachers, and all people concerned with historical accuracy. At present there is no clear agreement in answer to that question. The government's report Personal Justice Denied by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), many Japanese Americans, and other credible sources use the terminology of the past, which they believe provides a reflection of that era. In contrast, many Japanese Americans, historians, educators, and others use language that they believe provides a more accurate representation of the past. An example would be to use "exclusion" or "forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast," instead of the euphemistic term "evacuation."

Densho encourages individuals to think critically about the euphemistic language used during the 1940s by the U.S. government in its treatment of people based on their ancestry. What does "evacuate" mean? What image comes to mind with the words, "assembly center"? In what ways do these words accurately reflect a historical era? In what ways do these words misrepresent historical events and conditions?

Densho's organizational policy on terminology is to avoid using the government euphemisms such as "evacuation" in our material. When working in partnership with other authors and organizations, Densho may use terminology similar to that of our partners.

Use of Internment and Internment Camp. The term internment is problematic when applied to U.S. citizens. Technically, internment refers to the detention of "enemy aliens" during time of war, and two-thirds of the Japanese Americans incarcerated were U.S. citizens. Therefore, internment will be used to refer to the more narrowly defined confinement of German, Italian, and Japanese (issei) nationals by the Department of Justice and War Department in internment camps.

Use of Incarceration and Incarceration Camp. After the mass removal, U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry and Japanese immigrants were confined within camps that the government euphemistically called "Relocation Centers." Relocation center, however, inadequately describes the harsh conditions and forced confinement of the camps. In fact, they were prisons--surrounded by barbed-wire fences and patrolled by armed guards--from which one could not leave without permission. These camps fit the definition of "concentration camps": prison camps outside the normal criminal justice system, designed to confine civilians for military or political purposes on the basis of race and ethnicity. Some people have objected to this use of the term "concentration camp," believing it best represents the Nazi camps of World War II. For the purpose of this website, we use "incarceration" to refer to the confinement of more than 120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens in War Relocation Authority incarceration camps.
100th Infantry Battalion 100th Infantry Battalion a U.S. Army battalion made up of nisei from Hawaii that saw heavy action during World War II. The 100th carved out an exemplary military record during their service in the European theater of operations. The 100th later became a battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. 442nd Regimental Combat Team 442nd Regimental Combat Team a segregated U.S. Army regiment made up of nisei that saw heavy action during World War II. The 442nd fought in Italy, France, and Germany. The 442nd rescued the "Lost Battalion" and was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in U.S. military history. Alien Enemy Hearing Boards Alien Enemy Hearing Boards three-person civilian committees established by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review and make recommendations about the internment status of arrested Japanese immigrants (issei) considered "potentially dangerous." A total of ninety-three hearing boards were established in 1942. Internees were not allowed legal representation. After the hearings most issei were transferred to U.S. Army internment camps, and some were "released" to War Relocation Authority (WRA) incarceration camps. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) a program designed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 to relieve unemployment and combat environmental degradation. More than 500,000 men ages eighteen to twenty-five worked at CCC camps in state parks, forests, and other remote areas around the country until mid-1942. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Congressional commission formed in 1980 to study the mass removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and recommend an appropriate remedy. Coram nobis cases Coram nobis cases legal term meaning "error before us" used to the reopen three Supreme Court cases: Korematsu v. United States, Hirabayashi v. United States, and Yasui v. United States. Coram nobis petitions were filed on behalf of Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Minoru Yasui claiming that a "fundamental error" had been committed when the government withheld important evidence in their cases during World War II. Coram nobis applies only in cases where a person has been convicted and served his sentence. All three wartime convictions were vacated or overturned soon thereafter. "Enemy alien" Enemy alien government classification for foreign nationals living in the U.S. whose country of birth is at war with the U.S. Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 this order, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized the War Department to designate military areas from which "any and all persons may be excluded." This provided the basis for the mass exclusion and imprisonment of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. Fifth Column Fifth Column a group of secret sympathizers or supporters of an enemy working covertly inside a nation to undermine its strength through espionage or sabotage; often used in reference to immigrants, who are assumed to have loyalties other than to the country in which they reside.
Habeas corpus Habeas corpus a citizen's right to appear before a court as protection against unlawful detention or imprisonment; from the Latin meaning "you should have the body." Hakujin Hakujin "white person" in Japanese. This term is used to refer to a person of European descent. Incarceration Incarceration the state of being in prison or being confined. Issei Issei the first generation of immigrant Japanese Americans, most of whom came to the United States between 1885 and 1924. The issei were ineligible for U.S. citizenship until 1952. Japanese American Japanese American two-thirds of those imprisoned during World War II were nisei who had been born in the United States and thus were U.S. citizens. The proper term for them is "Japanese American" rather than "Japanese." Their immigrant parents, the issei, were forbidden by law from becoming naturalized U.S. citizens until 1952. While they were technically aliens, the issei had lived in the U.S. for decades by the time of World War II and raised their children in this country. Many of them considered themselves to be culturally Japanese, but were permanently settled in the U.S. Calling the issei "Japanese American" as opposed to "Japanese" is a way to recognize that fact. Kibei Kibei U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry who were sent to Japan for formal education and socialization when young and later returned to the United States. "Loyalty questions" Loyalty questions two questions on a mandatory questionnaire distributed to Japanese Americans in the incarceration camps. Despite serious problems with the wording and ambiguous meanings of the questions, government officials and others generally considered those who refused to answer or who answered "no" to the two questions to be "disloyal" to the United States.
Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Military Intelligence Service (MIS) a branch of the U.S. Army in which many Japanese Americans (nisei and kibei) served during World War II, utilizing their language skills in the Pacific War. The soldiers of the MIS translated enemy documents, interrogated Japanese prisoners of war, intercepted enemy communications, and persuaded enemy units to surrender. Nisei Nisei U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry; second-generation Japanese Americans whose parents were Japanese immigrants (issei). Redress and reparations Redress and reparations two terms describing compensation from the U.S. government for the wrongful exclusion and imprisonment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast during World War II. While often used interchangeably, "redress" means to set right or remedy, as in correcting a social wrong, and can imply an apology. "Reparations" refers specifically to monetary compensation, as in payment of damages. Renunciants Renunciants U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry who renounced, or gave up, their U.S. citizenship during World War II. Renunciation of citizenship had little to do with "disloyalty" to the U.S., but instead was the result of a series of complex conditions and events that were beyond the control of those involved. After a legal battle, most renunciants had their citizenship restored in the 1960s. Victory gardens Victory gardens vegetable gardens planted by civilians all across the U.S. to ensure an adequate food supply for civilians and the troops after food rationing began in 1940. War Relocation Authority (WRA) War Relocation Authority (WRA) the U.S. government agency that administered the incarceration camps in which Japanese Americans from the West Coast were imprisoned during World War II.