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Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota during World War II
The stories of Japanese Americans and their allies fighting discrimination in wartime Minnesota highlight how diverse groups stood together amidst the turmoil—a legacy relevant in today’s equally divisive world.
The forced eviction and confinement of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor in 1941 was the federal government’s worst civil rights violation of the twentieth century. The effect in Minnesota was only fifty-one Japanese Americans lived in the state in 1940, but by war’s end there were several thousand.
Drawing on personal interviews, archival sources, and historical literature, scholar and professor Ka Wong explores the courageous struggles of trailblazers who left the incarceration camps and rebuilt their lives in the North Star State, overcoming hostility and hardship along the way. Despite the enmity ignited by war hysteria, bonds of empathy developed between the resettlers and allies who advocated for them personally and professionally. Japanese Americans who transformed both wartime Minnesota and their own lives included college students pursuing higher education, young men and women training at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage and then Fort Snelling, the US Cadet Nurse Corps serving in Rochester hospitals, and entrepreneurial families and individuals in the Twin Cities and beyond. Presenting the inspiring stories of Japanese Americans in Minnesota during World War II, Enmity and Empathy spotlights a hidden chapter in the state’s history.
The forced eviction and confinement of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor in 1941 was the federal government’s worst civil rights violation of the twentieth century. The effect in Minnesota was only fifty-one Japanese Americans lived in the state in 1940, but by war’s end there were several thousand.
Drawing on personal interviews, archival sources, and historical literature, scholar and professor Ka Wong explores the courageous struggles of trailblazers who left the incarceration camps and rebuilt their lives in the North Star State, overcoming hostility and hardship along the way. Despite the enmity ignited by war hysteria, bonds of empathy developed between the resettlers and allies who advocated for them personally and professionally. Japanese Americans who transformed both wartime Minnesota and their own lives included college students pursuing higher education, young men and women training at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage and then Fort Snelling, the US Cadet Nurse Corps serving in Rochester hospitals, and entrepreneurial families and individuals in the Twin Cities and beyond. Presenting the inspiring stories of Japanese Americans in Minnesota during World War II, Enmity and Empathy spotlights a hidden chapter in the state’s history.
400 pages, Paperback
Published May 6, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 19, 2026
A surprising insight to a little known fact about Minnesota’s contribution in WW2 with its Military Intelligence Service Language Schools (MISLS).
The book did a fantastic job of highlighting stories of everyday Japanese Americans and the discrimination they faced and how they handled it with quiet resilience through trying to prove their patriotism.
In addition to this it was refreshing to read how Minnesota was one of the more welcoming and accommodating states for Japanese Americans during this period in history. The book does a great job of illustrating how impactful everyday small positive actions can be on someone’s life and the community they live in.
The book did a fantastic job of highlighting stories of everyday Japanese Americans and the discrimination they faced and how they handled it with quiet resilience through trying to prove their patriotism.
In addition to this it was refreshing to read how Minnesota was one of the more welcoming and accommodating states for Japanese Americans during this period in history. The book does a great job of illustrating how impactful everyday small positive actions can be on someone’s life and the community they live in.
October 12, 2025
Lovely read about the assimilation process for Nisei men and women in Minnesota. It's gratifying to know that my recently-adopted state didn't just recently stand for policies of inclusion (not that, then as now, there wasn't any racism in the state).
May 4, 2026
Read for lit/history class on Japanese Americans. Good history and lots of Mac mentioned, but author sometimes made some weird comments (specifically about racism/white saviorism vibes). The author is coming to my class to talk to us in approximately 30 min lol.
August 25, 2025
Maybe a little academic, but a VERY informative book chronicling Minnesota's role in the Japanese-American internment during WWII. I learned a lot by reading this book!
November 23, 2025
this was so minnesota-coded of them
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews