Making Home from War: Stories of Japanese American Exile and Resettlement

by Brian Komei Dempster (Editor)

Many books have chronicled the experience of Japanese Americans in the early days of World War II, when over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of whom were American citizens, were taken from their homes along the West Coast and imprisoned in concentration camps. When they were finally allowed to leave, a new challenge faced them—how do you resume a life so interrupted? For most, going home meant learning to live in a hostile, racist environment. Some returned to find they had lost their homes and had little choice but to bide their time in transitional housing, including community halls, churches, housing projects, and tent camps. Their employment options were also limited; they often worked as domestics, dishwashers, and field laborers to help support their families. The effects of these experiences reverberate to this day, and Making Home from War reaches into the past, melds together what was once hidden, and tells the often neglected or hushed story of what happened after the war. With honesty and an eye for detail, Making Home from War is the long-awaited sequel to the award-winning From Our Side of the Fence . Written by twelve Japanese American elders who gathered regularly at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, Making Home from War is a collection of stories about their exodus from concentration camps into a world that in a few short years had drastically changed. In order to survive, they found the resilience they needed in the form of community, and gathered reserves of strength from family and friends. Through a spectrum of conflicting and rich emotions, Making Home from War demonstrates the depth of human resolve and faith during a time of devastating upheaval.

Genres: History

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

Reviews

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I read these stories it makes me want to cry- this is my families history. My grandparents were at Manzanar and Poston, interned as kids they grew up in the camps and the stories in this book are so much like theirs and so many of my extended family members.

Books like this are so important- it never fails to shock me how many people I meet that never learned this even happened. How many people complain of prejudices and perceived racism these days? How many people play the victim card for events that didn’t happen to them? And yet, I never once have heard my grandmother, grandfather or elders complain once, or play the victim.

This is my families history. When I read these stories I am proud of their resilience, their perseverance and the lives they built despite all of this. I am proud to be Japanese American.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title describes this book perfectly, stories of the Japanese Exile in America are few and far between, another shameful event in our American history that gets swept under the carpet. I want to know more, read more, understand what America did to Americans. How are we ever to learn from history if we don't learn our own history? If you have interest in the Japanese American chapter of our history, read this book.

[Dan Campbell]

Coming home from the Japapese interment camps. Personal intimate stories from those who were there. A honest and accurate study in history