Living conditions

All of the camps were constructed according to the War Department's specifications, which included barbed-wire fences, guard towers, and armed guards around the perimeter. The camps were organized in "blocks" consisting of twelve to fourteen barracks, a mess hall, communal showers and toilets, laundry facilities, and a recreation hall. Each barracks was divided into four or six rooms with each room housing one family, no matter how large, and there was no running water. The furnishings that Japanese Americans found on their arrival were canvas cots, a potbellied stove, and a single bare light bulb. The thin walls offered little protection from the harsh weather, which ranged from 110 degrees in the summer to 25 degrees below zero on winter nights. The flimsy construction allowed no privacy and made normal family life difficult. Camp inmates improved their own living conditions by creating interior walls and partitions, constructing furniture from scrap lumber, and planting gardens.

World War II (231)
Concentration camps (1434)
Living conditions (1751)

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1751 items

av An oral history with Kuni Ishii (ddr-csujad-29-52)

An oral interview with Kuni Ishii, incarceree at the Jerome incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0160. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2987_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-52/

av Oral history of Morris and Cherry Abe (ddr-csujad-28-3)

Oral history Interview of Morris and Cherry Abe. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csuci_vcc-jic_0005

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-28-3/

av Oral history of Marilyn Fordney (ddr-csujad-28-1)

Oral history interview of Marilyn Fordney. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csuci_vcc-jic_0001

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-28-1/

av Oral history of George Wakiji (ddr-csujad-28-2)

Oral history Interview of George Wakiji. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csuci_vcc-jic_0003

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-28-2/

av Oral history with Harry Nakamura (ddr-csujad-29-363)

An oral interview with Harry Nakamura, incarceree at the Poston camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0906. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 0649_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-363/

av Oral history with Stella Yano (ddr-csujad-29-81)

An oral interview with Stella Yano, incarceree at the Rohwer incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0198. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2378_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-81/

av An oral history with Lucy Adams (ddr-csujad-29-35)

An oral interview with Lucy Adams, an assistant project director in charge of community management at the Manzanar Incarceration Camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcription is found in the item: csufccop_jaoh_0122. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-35/

vh An oral history with Frank S. Emi (ddr-csujad-29-68)

An oral interview with Frank S. Emi, civil rights activist and leading figure of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0170. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 3734_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-68/

av An oral history with Yoshie Mary Tashima (ddr-csujad-29-27)

An oral interview with Yoshie Mary Tashima, an incarceree at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and the Granada (Amache) incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcription is found in the item: csufccop_jaoh_0106. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-27/

av An oral history with Izumi Taniguchi (ddr-csujad-29-43)

An oral interview with Izumi Taniguchi, incarceree at the Turlock Assembly Center and the Gila River Incarceration Camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0142. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2472_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-43/

doc Letter from Midori Fujii to Yoshito Fujii (ddr-sbbt-2-11)

Midori writes to her father about life at the Puyallup Assembly Center and tells him about a rumor she has heard about him.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-sbbt-2-11/

doc Letter from Midori Fujii to Yoshito Fujii (ddr-sbbt-2-12)

Midori writes to her father about how happy she is to hear that he is being released and gives him updates on life at the Puyallup Assembly Center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-sbbt-2-12/

doc Letter from Ayako Fujii to Yoshito Fujii (ddr-sbbt-2-13)

Ayako writes to her father about how happy she is to hear that he is being released and gives him updates on life at the Puyallup Assembly Center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-sbbt-2-13/

doc Letter from Ayako Fujii to Yoshito Fujii (ddr-sbbt-2-10)

Ayako writes to her father with updates on living at the Puyallup Assembly Center.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-sbbt-2-10/

av Oral history with James Kanno (ddr-csujad-29-70)

An oral interview with James Kanno, incarceree at the Poston incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0176. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1069_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-70/

img [Manzanar guard tower] (ddr-csujad-29-350)

Manzanar barracks and guard tower. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: P293

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-350/

vh An oral history with Togo Tanaka (ddr-csujad-29-61)

An oral interview with Togo Tanaka, newspaper editor, documentary historian, and businessman who was incarcerated at the Manzanar camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcription is found in the item: csufccop_jaoh_0102. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1271.1_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-61/

av An oral history with Kin'ichi Kimbo Yoshitomi (ddr-csujad-29-31)

An oral interview with Kinichi Kimbo Yoshitomi, an incarceree at the Tanforan Assembly Center and the Topaz incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcription is found in the item: csufccop_jaoh_0114. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1645.4_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-31/

av An Oral History with Seiko Ishida (ddr-csujad-29-11)

Retired Kibei teacher recounts samurai parents' background and their immigration to Seattle, Washington; socioeconomic composition of Seattle's Japanese community; earlier teacher training; prewar stays in Japan as a child and as a tutor in a missionary family; experiences as a teacher in the wartime resettlement in New York; and postwar return to Los Angeles. This oral …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-11/

av Oral history with Fumiko Hayashida (ddr-csujad-29-371)

An oral interview with Fumiko Hayashida, incarceree at the Manzanar incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0922. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2542_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-371/

vh An oral history with Atsufumi Archie Miyatake (ddr-csujad-29-65)

An oral interview with Archie Miyatake, the son of Toyo Miyatake. Like his father, he was a photographer who took pictures of incarcerated Japanese Americans who were forced into camps during World War II. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0162. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-65/

av Oral history with Mas Uyesugi (ddr-csujad-29-71)

An oral interview with Mas Uyesugi, incarceree at the Granada incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0178. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1071_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-71/

av Oral history with Hitoshi Nitta (ddr-csujad-29-69)

An oral interview with Hitoshi Nitta, incarceree at the Poston incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0174. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 0003_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-69/

av Oral history with Masaka Oba Sugita (ddr-csujad-29-369)

An oral interview with Masaka Oba Sugita, incarceree at the Poston camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0918. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2267_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-369/

img [Incarceration camp] (ddr-csujad-29-209)

Photograph of an incarceration camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: P151

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-209/