“I am an American,” reads the signboard on this store, placed there by its Japanese American owner the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The declaration, sadly, did him little good. After the evacuation order was given, the store was closed and the owner – along with thousands of others – was rounded up and sent to an internment camp. Many of the people sent to the camps were forced to make hurried sales of their homes and businesses, incurring great economic losses.

“I am an American,” reads the signboard on this store, placed there by its Japanese American owner the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The declaration, sadly, did him little good. After the evacuation order was given, the store was closed and the owner – along with thousands of others – was rounded up and sent to an internment camp. Many of the people sent to the camps were forced to make hurried sales of their homes and businesses, incurring great economic losses.