Personal Stories on Beliefs
For more information and elaboration on the beliefs of Japanese Americans, refer to Beliefs. This section mainly focuses on how these religious communities helped Japanese Americans in their respective communities.
During incarceration, religious beliefs became a source of reliance and strength, as people practiced their beliefs in the camps while working to create a liveable life for themselves in the unpredictable timespan they stayed in the camps. After incarceration, they continued to establish religious communities as the first Japanese American Christian church was established in 1930 and the first Buddhist temple in 1944. Today, religious buildings such as the Buddhist Temple of Chicago, Midwest Buddhist Temple, and the Lakeside Church of Chicago can still be found today, and its Japanese American community and growing non-Japanese community.
Buddhism
Refer further to Buddhism: Temples in Chicago and Buddhism: "Americanized" Buddhism.
Buddhism, to those who practice it, is an integral part of many Japanese Americans’ identities, as many of those incarcerated during WWII continued to practice it despite facing harsh discrimination. Many Buddhist Japanese Americans faced discrimination, and some converted to Christianity to assimilate into America and avoid discrimination. When the first Buddhist temple in Chicago was founded, many Japanese Americans were finally able to have a place of practice, and to this day, temples such as the Midwest Buddhist Temple and the Buddhist Temple of Chicago are open to the Buddhist community and public.
What is remarkable about what these temples have been able to do for the community is that they have been able to keep records of the people who have attended the temples, as both temples were founded not longer after the end of WWII. Thus, many Japanese Americans have been able to come to the temples and learn more about the history of Japanese American incarceration and find a community of Buddhist Japanese Americans who have similar backgrounds or a connection to the incarcerees of WWII.
A special thanks to Ruby Tsuji of the Buddhist Temple of Chicago for her interview and personal stories of her life in the incarceration camps.
Many of those who had grown up, been children, or were born in the incarceration camps had grown up to be unaware that the camps were indeed incarceration camps. Many of them grew up having fun as they would play with their neighbors and live near their friends. They would go to school just as children outside the camps would, attend their religious institutions, and join many activities such as ballet, yoga, baseball, and overall have fun with their friends and their community.
Ruby Tsuji grew up in the incarceration camps aware of the fact that she was being incarcerated. Despite this, she still attended activities and played with her friends and community.
Personal Stories by the Lakeside Church of Chicago
Many thanks to the Lakeside Church of Chicago and their members; Al Kajiwara, Itsuko Mizuno, Nathan Moy, Eddy Nakai, Betty Nakashima, Brand D. Nakashima, Julia Nakashima, Tracy Nakashima, Katherine Solverson, Karl Sugihara, Carol Suzuki, Paul Suzuki, Pastor Mitsuo Suzuki (retired), and Joanne Toyama.
Refer further to Christianity: Lakeside Church and Japanese Americans.
Christianity, for those who practice it, has played an integral part in forming a community and being able to be part of one. Many personal recollections of being part of a church mention being able to grow up in the church with their families and friends, and even finding the church at a later stage in life and still being able to find that sense of community easily.
The community at Lakeside church is mainly made up of nisei and sansei, and many of the people we heard from at the Lakeside Church of Chicago discovered the church through either relatives or friends who had recommended the church, or simply from growing up in the church. For those who grew up in the church and had parents or grandparents attend the church, many of their parents or grandparents were part of the renovations for the first Lakeside church building, originally called the Lakeside Japanese Christian Church.” [14]
One commonality within most of these stories was how their Christian identities and spirituality is what helped them discover peace and community. For example, some found spirituality through the church summer camps. Others rediscovered their identities as both a Christian and Japanese American through the church; having a community where everyone shared the same values and similar backgrounds allowed them to grow within the church. To this day, many of their members still attend services, despite the distance in terms of residency due to many Japanese Americans moving out of Chicago and Skokie. [15]