Cherry Blossoms - Another Look

Yesterday we walked along the riverbank in the Old Town area of Portland to view the beautiful cherry trees that were almost at their peak blooming. While there I remembered the times we spent in Kyoto, Japan viewing cherry blossoms.
However, I soon realized that these trees weren’t planted for sitting under to enjoy singing and drinking sake; they have a much deeper meaning. It is deeply rooted in the history of the Japanese settlers who came to the Pacific Northwest. This is their story.

In the late 17th Century, Japanese farmers began to come to the Pacific Northwest hoping to make their fortunes and return home wealthy. These first Japanese were known as the Issei, or first generation immigrants. By 1891, more than 1,000 Japanese men had made their way to Oregon. Discrimination against them grew until in 1907, further emigration of laborers from Japan was prohibited although those already here could be joined by women and family members.

In spite of misunderstandings and prejudice a thriving Japanese community developed in what is now known as Old Town in downtown Portland. However, their relatively tranquil life ended abruptly on December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The FBI immediately began rounding up prominent Japanese businessmen and putting them in jail.

On January 30, 1942, Portland City Council revoked the business licenses of all Japanese. This was followed quickly by the issuance of Executive Order 9066 by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, using his authority as Commander-in-Chief to exercise war powers to send ethnic groups to internment camps. All persons with Japanese ancestry were removed from the West Coast.

On April 28, 1942 Japanese Americans living in Portland area were ordered to report to Portland Assembly Center. An April 29, 1942 headline in The Oregonian newspaper proclaimed that Portland would be the first U.S. city to rid itself of Japanese Americans. Portland’s Livestock Exposition Pavilion, used for cattle, horses, and hogs, was converted into a detention center for almost 4,000 people. In August and September 1942, Japanese Americans were transferred by rail to concentration camps in Idaho, Wyoming and California. They spent as long as three years in tarpaper shelters. Soldiers guarding them were ordered to shoot anyone who stepped beyond the barbed wire boundaries.

In 1945, Order 9066 was lifted and people were allowed to return to their homes. However, while they were gone, almost everything they owned — homes, businesses and farms had been confiscated either by the government or simply taken by someone. They had no means to secure funds to re-establish their businesses, find housing, or rebuild the previous Japanese community. They were faced with the choice of returning to communities where they were clearly unwanted, or moving into areas unknown to them. Further complicating their lives, the Oregon Legislature passed an Alien Land Law in 1945, prohibiting Japanese Americans from living or working on farmland. In 1949, however, the Alien Land Law was overturned as it was determined it violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, authorizing an official apology to persons of Japanese ancestry for their incarceration during World War II. The official apology was seen as a affirmation that the Constitution works for all Americans.

On August 3, 1990, the Japanese American Historical Plaza was dedicated in Portland, Oregon. This memorial commemorates those Japanese Americans deported to internment camps during World War II. Sculptures and carvings throughout the park tell the story of the Japanese people in the Northwest - of immigration, elderly immigrants, native-born Japanese Americans, soldiers who fought in US military services during the war, and the business people who worked hard and had hope for the children of the future.

The river bank is lined with cherry trees. A large stone in the center is inscribed with the names of the internment camps. Two columns flank the entrance; one depicting the arrival of the first Japanese to the area and a second showing a mother and child in an internment camp. 13 stone markers are engraved with short poems.

Mighty Willamette!

Beautiful friend,

I am learning,

I am practicing

To say your name.

Sure, I go to school

Same as you.

I'm an American

Rounded up In the sweltering yard.

Unable to endure any longer

Standing in line

Some collapse

Who? What? Where?

When? Why?

Black smoke rolls

Across the blue sky.

Winter chills our bones.

This is Minidoka.

Our young men and women

Joined the army too.

They're proud to be American.

Going home,

Feeling cheated.

Gripping my daughter's hand.

I tell her we're leaving

Without emotion.

Through the car window

A glimpse of pines.

Oregon mountains.

My heart beats faster.

Going home.

Glancing up at red-tinged mountains

My heart is softened.

A day in deep autumn

War and change,

My native land.

Once so hard to leave

Is behind me now forever.

Just over there

Was our old community.

Echoes! Echoes! Echoes!

With new hope,
We build new lives.
Why complain when it rains?
This is what it means to be free.