Religion
Somewhere in California soil, there is buried Japanese American Buddhism scriptures, said Duncan Williams, a scholar researching Japanese American Buddhism during World War II, who spoke to USU students and community members Friday, March 7.
Williams, who spoke as part of USU’s Religious Studies lecture series, discussed Japanese Americans, Buddhism and the struggle to worship freely, both in everyday life and during time spent in internment camps. Williams related a story about a Japanese American 12-year-old girl who was living in “a time of fear” after Pearl Harbor. He said the FBI was gathering Japanese community members and leading figures that were “seen as a threat.”
He said, “Walking home, one day the little girl saw her father being beaten on the ground by FBI agents, and she looked through her kitchen window to see her mother at the kitchen table with a shotgun to her head.”
He said after interrogation, interpreted through the little girl, the family was released. In that time, Williams said the father decided to burn everything that would affiliate them with Japan. Williams said the man and his family wanted to make certain their stance of being pro- American was clear. Books, Kanji decorations, photos and the little girl’s precious Hinamatsun Nino dolls were thrown into a fire, Williams said.
Williams said the only item the man couldn’t burn was the Amida-Kyo, the Buddhist scriptures. Instead, he put them into a box and buried them in the yard. During this time, Williams said many Japanese Americans were being forced to sell their homes and property, only getting one-twentieth the value. This man and his family were included in this unfair deal, he said.
Years later, when the man returned to dig up the precious scriptures, Williams said the new owners had torn down the house and removed the trees, leaving no way for the man to find the scriptures.
“Japanese Buddhist family history lies buried there, and I thought, ‘I have to do something,'” he said. “We can’t recover that box, but we can recover the memory.”
For six years, Williams said he has been interviewing people, the oldest being 102. He said he has been researching and tracking down the Buddhist priests of that time, getting memories, dairies and any accounts he can.
“This is the genesis of my project,” he said.
Scholars have looked at the legal and political side of internment camps, the health care, food and the arts and crafts, Williams said.
“But what was the role of religion in the camps? At this point, about 70 percent of the Japanese American population was Buddhist,” he said. “You would think that religion plays a role, especially being in a difficult time people would turn to their religion for comfort.”
Williams spoke about Japanese Americans and America’s freedom for religion and how that played into the desire for the practice of their religion. The majority of Japanese Americans were in Hawaii, and Williams said they tried to establish their Buddhist temples to study and worship and assemble there. Along with this, after Pearl Harbor, the establishment of Buddhist temples within the internment camps for worship was among their requests, he said.
Williams said he is in America on a mission for his religion, and while he is here, he is going to continue his research and get as much done as he can.
-n.drue.t@aggiemail.usu.edu