A Home for Japanese-American Buddhists in a WWII "Free Zone"

by Danny Fisher

Over at the Tricycle Editors’ Blog, Aaron Lackowski points us to an article in this past Sunday’s Oregonian about a Shin Buddhist temple in Ontario, OR, that “was built in 1946 by a community of Japanese Americans driven from the Pacific coast to this inland town as a result of FDR’s draconian WWII anti-Japanese legislation.” Aaron adds:

Ontario was not an internment camp but rather one of 18 towns across the U.S. dubbed “free zones,” where Japanese Americans were “free” to move.

As Aaron intimates, all of this is important American Buddhist history. If you want to learn more, I’d recommend the Tricyle article that Aaron linked to, as well as the work of UC-Berkeley’s Duncan Ryukan Williams. Dr. Williams has two forthcoming works on this subject based on a rather incredible amount of research: the manuscript Camp Dharma: Japanese-American Buddhism and the World War Two Incarceration Experience and the edited volume Issei Buddhism in the Americas: The Pioneers of the Japanese-American Buddhist Diaspora. For now, you can read his article “Complex Loyalties: Issei Buddhist Ministers during the Wartime Incarceration” for free online at the Pacific World journal’s official website.

[Image via The Buddhist Channel.]

4 Responses to “A Home for Japanese-American Buddhists in a WWII "Free Zone"”

Jack Daw says:

July 12, 2009 at 3:43 am

For an interesting prelude to events in WWII read some of Shaku Soen's commentaries on Buddhism and Japanese Nationalism (i plan on blogging some on this in the future) well as the review of some actions taken during WWII by John Daido Loori Roshi.

http://zendirtzendust.blogspot.com/2009/07/zen-and-war-excerpts-of-teachings-of.html

No illusions,
Arun says:

July 12, 2009 at 5:28 am

Thanks for posting this, Danny! (As far as I'm aware, Williams is affiliated with UC Berkeley.)

@Jack Daw: Interesting stuff, but it's important, at least for the JA community, to emphasize that these bellicose sentiments were not as widely held in North America.
Jack Daw says:

July 12, 2009 at 2:55 pm

@ Arun: I agree with you. My post was meant more to highlight the dangers of mixing nationalism and religion (in any culture) rather than as a barometer of JA sentiment during WWII.

On a different note: Every summer for the last 9 years my wife and I do fieldwork in Wyoming and Montana. Heart Mountain (near Red Lodge, Montana) is used by us, on a daily basis, as a landmark for mapping geologic beds. It wasn't until I learned of the internment camp nearby that the scope of the internment really hit me. Heart Mnt.'s name became somewhat ironic after that. Check out their website. They are attemptingto preserve the site:

http://www.heartmountain.us/

No illusions,
Rev. Danny Fisher says:

July 12, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Thanks for pointing out my typo, Arun. Funny thing is, I knew that. If I post any time after 6 p.m., I have a tendency to exhibit what is clinically known as "old man brain." ; )

And thanks for your comments/links, Jack!

Rev. Danny Fisher