Why Were People of Japanese Ancestry Living Near West Coast Defense Areas?
“Many Japanese had taken up residence adjacent to highly important defense plants,” the Dies Committee reported, reflecting the sentiment of many people. The statement is correct except for its order; it should read: “Many important defense plants were established in areas where Japanese already were living. Most major defense installations on the Pacific Coast are comparatively new; the Japanese settlement dates back over decades.” The major reason for the coincidence is eco nomic. Because of discrimination, first-generation Japanese were driven into agriculture, and many of them took up truck gardening. Truck gardening in turn meant that they came as close to city markets as possible. The defense industries that usually followed them also were drawn to the city to get labor supply, so the conjunction of the two was natural.
