My travels up North brought me to the city of San Jose and its Japantown. Although smaller than the one located in San Francisco, it was still a good size for the city itself. While there, I learned that San Jose’s Japantown was originally created from the Japanese population from Santa Clara Valley who migrated there to farm the land. When settled, the population spent a majority of their time in the local Chinatown. Realizing they could create their own, the Japanese and Japanese Americans worked to build a neighborhood where they could escape the bigotry directed towards them.

 

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the rise of animosity towards Japanese immigrants and American citizens of Japanese descent continued to grow. In the spring of 1942, San Jose’s Japantown was left empty as members of the city fled East or were placed in internment camps. It was not until after the war, where Japanese Americans were able to return. Since this time, the city has been renovated and altered to make it appear how it does today.

 

While here, I decided to visit the Japanese American Museum of San Jose (or JAMsj). This museum on its exterior could be mistaken as a house if driving too quickly. As soon as you walk inside, however, it offers a compact yet extensive history of the Japanese American experience especially with regards to San Jose. Specifically interesting about this museum was that it had its own barrack room that is set up so that visitors can see what it would be like to live in such a place. This specific one, was created to mimic what a family would live in at Tule Lake. Additionally, this museum offered a multitude of other interesting exhibits, such as the “Exquisite Art Under Adverse Conditions.” For this specific section, the museum had collected a vast selection of artwork that was made in the camps. This included carvings, paintings, and comics. In addition, the museum captured all the separate elements of life in an internment camp, as well as having a section dedicated to the sports and extracurriculars that were played during school. It showed me that even in the worse of times, these people were able to make a situation bearable through coming together. I found it interesting that for the sports teams in the camps, they were allowed to play schools outside of the camps. However, they were always forced to host the home game, meaning that other student athletes could come to them but they were unable to return that favor. The last exhibit that really resonated with me was titled, “Sharing the Story.” Similarly to the National Japanese American Museum’s “The Remembrance Project”, this exhibit focused on keeping the stories of past individuals who were in the camps or affected in one way or another. Their stories are told simply with a picture of them and a quote pairing it. These not only brought a face to those who suffered, but they left a lasting impact on me and other visitors who walked by them on their way out.

 

Overall, the San Jose’s Japantown was a fascinating experience. It was proud to be one of the only original towns left, and that pride could be found with the people residing inside it. The museum here, was small but super impactful. It contained a wide variety of topics that I had not seen anywhere else. It’s selection of artifacts was a pretty good size, and it captured not only the internment camp story but how it related back to the city of San Jose.