Intelligence Report on the Boat "America"
11/27/1941
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After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Minezo Araki, a Japanese fisherman who had been living in the United States for more than 30 years, went from being an alien to being an enemy alien.
Minezo had come to the United States in 1908, landing in Seattle and working as a farmer and a fisherman off the coast of Southern California. He married Wai Araki and together they raised her two children from a previous marriage and a daughter from his former marriage.
Even before December 7, as relations between the United States and Japan deteriorated, Japanese aliens were subject to increasing scrutiny by law enforcement and military officials. With such suspicions, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard boarded Araki’s fishing boat, America, on November 27, 1941, and searched it for hidden radios and charts.
After war broke out, he was evacuated under the Enemy Alien Act to the San Pedro, California, assembly center. On February 4, 1942, he was sent to a camp for Japanese enemy aliens and German prisoners of war, near Bismarck, North Dakota. In July 1942, he joined the rest of his family in the Poston, Arizona, internment camp.
When the war turned in favor of the United States, Minezo and his family were allowed to leave Poston in the spring of 1943. They returned to California. Araki remained in the United States until his death in 1965.
Minezo had come to the United States in 1908, landing in Seattle and working as a farmer and a fisherman off the coast of Southern California. He married Wai Araki and together they raised her two children from a previous marriage and a daughter from his former marriage.
Even before December 7, as relations between the United States and Japan deteriorated, Japanese aliens were subject to increasing scrutiny by law enforcement and military officials. With such suspicions, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard boarded Araki’s fishing boat, America, on November 27, 1941, and searched it for hidden radios and charts.
After war broke out, he was evacuated under the Enemy Alien Act to the San Pedro, California, assembly center. On February 4, 1942, he was sent to a camp for Japanese enemy aliens and German prisoners of war, near Bismarck, North Dakota. In July 1942, he joined the rest of his family in the Poston, Arizona, internment camp.
When the war turned in favor of the United States, Minezo and his family were allowed to leave Poston in the spring of 1943. They returned to California. Araki remained in the United States until his death in 1965.
This primary source comes from the Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments.
National Archives Identifier: 41050002
Full Citation: Intelligence Report on Vessel 27-A-726, America; 11/27/1941; A8-5 Espionage; Central Subject Files, 1940 - 1971; Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments, Record Group 181; National Archives at Riverside, Perris, CA. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/boat-america, April 28, 2025]Activities that use this document
- Immigration to America: Stories and Travels
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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