United States, Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes records from 1942-1946.

This is a name index of Japanese Americans living in Washington, Oregon, and California who were relocated during World War II acquired from the National Archives, "Access to Archival Databases (AAD)." The index is part of Record Group 210, Records of the War Relocation Authority. Additional information about this collection may be found on the National Archives website.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in this collection may include:


 * Full name
 * Date of birth
 * Birth place
 * Gender
 * Age
 * Marital Status
 * Place of residence
 * Birth place of parents
 * Alien Registration Number
 * Social Security Number
 * Japanese Language School

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search you will need to know:
 * The full name of your ancestor
 * The approximate age of your ancestor
 * The place of birth or death
 * The names of other family members

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. This information will often lead you to other records.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * Japanese who enlisted in the United States military may have service records or pensions from the United States.
 * Compile a list of other prisoners with the same surname. If the surname is uncommon, they may be relatives.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Related Collections Family Search Library Catalog

 * Census of Gila River Japanese concentration camp, Dec. 31, 1944
 * Final Accountability Roster Gila River Relocation Center, November,1945

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):