The Nisei are the American-born children of the Issei immigrant generation. By law, they are U.S. citizens, meaning they could not legally be imprisoned as enemy aliens when war was declared against Japan. Nevertheless, over 70,000 Nisei were sent to the incarceration camps along with their Issei parents after President Roosevelt signed an executive order allowing the army to exclude people from declared military zones. Contributing to the government’s suspicions of the Nisei was the fact that some Issei parents registered their American-born children with the Japanese consulate so that they would also be recognized as Japanese citizens. During World War II, most Nisei were only teenagers or young adults, but they assumed leadership in the camps because authorities favored them over the Issei, who were considered too closely tied to the enemy country. The Nisei were products of two cultures: at home they shared the food, customs, and sometimes the religion of their parents; at school and in the streets they absorbed American attitudes and tastes. Most Nisei were sent to Japanese school but did not speak the language well. The Kibei were a sub-group of Nisei who were sent to Japan for part of their education and were consequently more Japanese in outlook.
Nisei students meeting with principal（1942）
Bainbridge Island, Washington
Courtesy of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community
Excerpt from Densho Archive
We came from a Japanese family with Japanese customs, and when I started kindergarten, I didn't know any English. So we learned a lot about the American customs through our schools. Since we were not used to American food, we were just fascinated by the food in the school cafeteria. One of the things that I remember so well is that they had these delicious hot just-baked biscuits with butter. Butter is something that the Japanese didn't use very much, and these biscuits would be dripping with butter. We'd go home and tell our parents, "Oh, we had these delicious biscuits at school. Why can't we have them at home?" Of course, they didn't know exactly what we're talking about. The teachers were exceptionally patient with us because not only were there Japanese, but there were also the Italian kids who were children of immigrants. And they had their likes. I learned about garlic from the Italians. So not only did we learn to read and write, but I think we learned more about the American and other cultures through our schools.
Nisei student in Seattle, became a doctor after release from Tule Lake incarceration camp, California