Licensing

World War II- the Beginning

Pre WWII- Authorized by a blanket Presidential warrant, the government created a list known as the “ABC” list that classified potential “enemy aliens” into three categories:
Group A: Aliens who led cultural or assistance organizations
Group B: Slightly less suspicious aliens
Group C: Members of, or those who donated to, ethnic groups, Japanese language teachers and Buddhist clergy.

Oct-Nov 1941- Special representative of the state department, Curtis B. Munson investigates the “loyalty” of the Japanese Americans under the orders of President Roosevelt. Munson concentrates his investigation mainly on Japanese Americans in Hawaii, California, Oregon and Washington. Munson’s findings are stated in a report known as the Munson Report and make claims about the different degrees of loyalty depending on the generation of the person. He claims that the Issei generation’s entire cultural background is Japanese, but if allowed, many would become American citizens, and finally, their loyalty to Japan was considerably weakened by the fact that they chose to make the U.S. their home. Munson then concluded that the Nisei, or second generation Japanese Americans were born in the U.S., have received their whole education in the U.S., and that universally it is estimated that 90-98% of the Nisei were loyal to the U.S., with the exclusion of Kibei Nisei. The Kibei Nisei generation is the group of Japanese people that were born in the U.S., but received part of their education in Japan and were considered the most dangerous element and closer to the Issei generation than the Nisei. Finally, the Sansei, or third generation during this time were all still babies or very young children and were disregarded for the purpose of the survey.

Dec 7th 1941- The Japanese Navy conducted a surprise strike against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was intended as a preventative action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war Japan was planning to wage in Southeast Asia against Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States. Although, the attack resulted in the U.S. declaring war on Japan and becoming militarily involved in World War II.