In honor of Yuzuru Takeshita’s memory, and in the spirit of his devotion to truth and reconciliation, the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies presents a comprehensive list of former incarcerees of Japanese descent who were recruited by the University of Michigan as campus workers between 1942 and 1945. CJS thanks the Takeshita family for their generous support towards this project.
During World War II, University of Michigan administrators turned to government-run concentration camps to alleviate labor shortages on their campus. Between 1943 and 1945, the University of Michigan hired at least 400 formerly incarcerated Nikkei into service jobs on campus, often recruiting directly from wartime concentration camps.* While some served as instructors in the Army Intensive Japanese Language School program, the vast majority of these formerly incarcerated workers – many still teenagers – became janitors in East Quad, dishwashers in the Michigan Union, and orderlies at the University Hospital. Uprooted from their communities on the west coast, hundreds of Nikkei (people of Japanese descent) forged new communities throughout Ann Arbor.
The map below plots where formerly incarcerated Nikkei workers lived and worked at the University of Michigan between 1942 and 1945. Clicking on each icon reveals a worker’s name, place of incarceration, place of work, and, for some, a job description. The map is searchable either via the navigation bar at the top when viewing the larger map, or via the list on the left side navigation.
Note: 34 Nikkei workers whose addresses could not be verified do not appear in the map. To learn about them, please search "Unknown" in the A2 Address column of the spreadsheet linked below.
Formerly Incarcerated Nikkei Workers in Wartime Ann Arbor
* = In order to ensure accuracy, this list omits the names of dozens of Nikkei workers that appear in U-M records but for whom a camp of origin could not be confirmed via either U-M records or the Ireizo database. Furthermore, the names of wartime Nikkei workers at U-M who were not incarcerated have been omitted.
Acknowledgments
The Center for Japanese Studies would like to thank the following for their generous support and guidance of this project:
The Family of Dr. Yuzuru Takeshita
Kim Clarke & University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library
Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams & The Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration
For any inquiries, please reach out to umcjs@umich.edu.
