Sometimes, the language we use to describe and define moments in history changes over time. Words used in the past to describe the Nikkei WWII experience made them palatable to the public but did not accurately describe what happened. Following are common euphemisms and more accurate terms. For a detailed explanation, see The Power of Words by the Japanese American Citizens league (JACL). Also included below are acceptable and commonly used Japanese words to assist you as you read the essays and listen to the personal stories on our website.
Euphemism: Evacuation. Accurate term: Forced removal
Euphemism: Assembly center. Accurate term: Temporary detention facility
Euphemism: Relocation camp, internment camp. Accurate term: Incarceration camp; illegal detention center; American concentration camp. People held in these camps were incarcerated. It is important to note that “concentration camp” accurately describes facilities designed to concentrate and confine a specific population. During World War II, Nazi Germany operated both concentration camps (for imprisonment and forced labor) and extermination camps (for systematic mass murder). The camps that incarcerated Japanese Americans were concentration camps—they concentrated and imprisoned people based solely on ancestry—but were not extermination camps. Therefore the term commonly used is American concentration camps.
Picture bride: This term refers to the arranged marriage system where women in Japan in the early 1900s married Japanese men (Issei) in the US through the exchange of photographs. Anti-Asian immigration laws made it difficult for families to immigrate together, and these marriages were arranged by families and matchmakers, following traditional Japanese customs. The term becomes problematic when used dismissively or to stereotype these women as poor, passive victims without understanding the historical context. In fact, many of these women were quite resourceful and made deliberate choices within the limited options available to them due to restrictive U.S. immigration policies and social conditions in both countries.
War bride: This is a derogatory term when referring to Japanese women who married Americans, particularly military personnel, after WWII and during the Korean War period (1945-1952). It is based on racial prejudice and the assumption that these women were marrying Americans because they were desperate, opportunistic, or “comfort women” (also derogatory) rather than recognizing that genuine relationships and love could develop.
Nikkei: People of Japanese descent living outside of Japan.
Issei: First generation. In the American context, the term generally refers to those who migrated prior to the cessation of Japanese immigrants to the US under the dictates of the Immigration Act of 1924, the bulk arriving after 1885. The vast majority of Issei were thus middle-aged or older during WWII. Postwar immigrants from Japan are understood to be a distinct group sometimes referred to as Shin-Issei, the prefix shin being “new” in Japanese.
Nisei: Second generation. In the American context, the term generally refers specifically to the American-born, and thus US citizens, children of Japanese immigrants who arrived prior to the Immigration Act of 1924. The bulk of Nisei were thus children or yung adults during WWII.
Kibei Nisei or Kibei: Nisei born in the US but mostly raised or educated in Japan.
Sansei: third generation; Yonsei: fourth generation; Gosei: fifth generation; Rokusei: sixth generation