Introduction

Issei Immigration

World War II Exclusion

Resettlement

Redevelopment

Everything was placed in jeopardy when World War II began and the U.S. government
unconstitutionally forced all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast and parts
of Hawai`i. Thousands wound up prisoners in domestic concentration camps. Little Tokyo
was abandoned by Japanese Americans and in a quirk of fate, they were replaced by African
Americans, many looking for jobs and a place to live. Little Tokyo became known as
Bronzeville.