Anti-Axis Committee

Organization formed in Los Angeles in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor to coordinate Japanese American community efforts to support the war effort. Though short-lived, the Anti-Axis Committee (AAC) became notorious for the degree to which it cooperated with government agencies, which led to its core members being vilified and sometimes physically attacked in the concentration camps.

The Anti-Axis Committee formed on December 7, 1941, initially under the auspices of the Rafu Shimpo newspaper, but moved its headquarters to the local Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) office after the internment of Rafu publisher Toyosaku Komai and English section editor Togo Tanaka the next day. The AAC became a unit of the Japanese American Citizens League 's Southern District Council and was led initially by businessman and JACL leader Fred Tayama . Its stated objectives were "to cooperate with all national, state and local government agencies in their program in this emergency; coordinate citizen and alien activities; [and] get fair treatment for loyal Americans." The fifty or so members included many other JACL leaders including Ken Matsumoto, Masao Satow , and Tanaka (who was released from confinement after eleven days). Tayama later appointed Tokutaro Slocum to be the group's chairman, since Slocum had already established trust with the FBI and Office of Naval Intelligence . Slocum eventually became the dominant figure in the organization. ^[1]

At the first organizing meeting, three committees formed: one that would seek to "control" the vernacular press, a family welfare committee, and an intelligence committee "to investigate all cases where loyalty to America is questioned." Tanaka later wrote that the AAC "enlarged upon" the work of JACL's Coordinating Committee for Southern California Defense, which had been set up in March 1941 for similar purposes. ^[2]

The AAC was active over the next couple of weeks, paying visits to Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron and other local officials and meeting with local FBI Chief Richard B. Hood to pledge their cooperation, providing names of "possible subversives" and addresses for Japanese Americans the FBI had had trouble finding. The AAC's professions of loyalty received mostly favorable coverage in mainstream Los Angeles newspapers. Tayama spoke to 2,000 American Legion members on December 16, claiming "complete control of our community" and promised "constant vigilance against any subversive or subterfuge activity among issei and nisei." ^[3]

There was almost immediate blowback to the AAC's statements and actions. Kibei leaders met with the AAC on December 12 and expressed skepticism, resulting in Tayama threatening to turn in names to the FBI. Rumors began to circulate that the AAC was being paid by the name for reporting people to the FBI and that offers to help Issei with paperwork resulted in them being routed to agencies owned by AAC members at which they would be charged exorbitant prices. Many Japanese Americans blamed the AAC–which had become synonymous with the JACL—for the roundup of Issei community leaders. As a result, Tayama, Slocum, and others associated with the AAC became targets of inmate rage at Manzanar. The beating of Tayama and its aftermath at Manzanar led to large scale revolt that helped change the course of the incarceration. ^[4]

Though the AAC continued to be active through January and continued to meet regularly with the FBI, mentions of their actions slowed by February when it became apparent that despite their efforts, all Japanese Americans on the West Coast were going to be forcibly removed. Many of members of the AAC became part of the more inclusive United Citizens Federation. Only Slocum continued to identify himself with the AAC at the Tolan Committee hearings in March and beyond. ^[5]