The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) was appointed by Congress in 1980 to conduct an official study into Executive Order 9066 and the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. The CWRIC held public hearings in several U.S. cities, including Seattle, and the testimonies were recorded. In 1983, the Commission issued a report that found that the justification for the forced removal was mostly based on fear and racism, and that the justification that Japanese were "not loyal" had no basis. The CWRIC concluded that the incarceration of Japanese American during WWII was a "grave injustice" caused by "race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership." The report recommended an official Government apology and redress payments to surviving persons of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during the war.

Here, Masao Takahashi, left, and Hotoru Matsudaira, right, discuss their wartime incarceration. Translating their conversation at the CWRIC hearing in Seattle is Takahashi's daughter, Mako Nakagawa, center. The two were among nine Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated during WWII to speak in front of a packed auditorium over 3 days of hearings at Seattle Central Community College. Dozens of other witnesses testified on a variety of proposals for redress and reparations.

Caption information source: "Japanese internment recalled as cruel and bitter 'vacation'" by Hilda Bryant, Sesattle Post-Intelligencer, September 11, 1981, p. C1.
Cpation information source: "Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians," Desho Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.densho.org/