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)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
Arts and crafts in camp, Community analysts, Manzanar Children's Village

Facilities
Format
Genre
Usage

Use <Ctrl> or (⌘) keys to select multiple terms

1751 items
Oral history with Henry Yoshitake (ddr-csujad-29-77)
av Oral history with Henry Yoshitake (ddr-csujad-29-77)
An oral interview with Henry Yoshitake, 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_0190. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2373.2_T01
[Photograph of Amy Unio Ishii and son] (ddr-csujad-29-231)
img [Photograph of Amy Unio Ishii and son] (ddr-csujad-29-231)
Interviewee, Amy Uno Ishii, preparing a meal for her son, Hitoshi Jr., who was born at the Poston camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: P174
An oral history with Kin'ichi Kimbo Yoshitomi (ddr-csujad-29-29)
av An oral history with Kin'ichi Kimbo Yoshitomi (ddr-csujad-29-29)
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_0110. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1645.2_T01
Oral history with Susie O. Shimada (ddr-csujad-29-367)
av Oral history with Susie O. Shimada (ddr-csujad-29-367)
An oral interview with Susie O. Shimada, 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_0914. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2258_T01
An oral history with Fred Tomiyoshi (ddr-csujad-29-51)
av An oral history with Fred Tomiyoshi (ddr-csujad-29-51)
An oral interview with Fred Tomiyoshi, incarceree at the Pinedale Assembly Center and the Tule Lake 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_0158. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2986_T01
Oral history with Shonin Yamashita (ddr-csujad-29-385)
av Oral history with Shonin Yamashita (ddr-csujad-29-385)
An oral interview with Shonin Yamashita, an Issei and incarceree at the Poston War Relocation Center. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0950. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1519_T01
An oral history with Margaret Yamamoto (ddr-csujad-29-32)
av An oral history with Margaret Yamamoto (ddr-csujad-29-32)
An oral interview with Margaret Yamamoto, an incarceree at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and the Rohwer 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_0116. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2237_T01
Evacuee Identification Card (ddr-csujad-29-23)
doc Evacuee Identification Card (ddr-csujad-29-23)
Manzanar incarceree identification card. Block 20, Building 11, Apt. 4. Belonging to Ruth Hochi. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 4137_M02
Oral history with James Kanno (ddr-csujad-29-70)
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
[Manzanar guard tower] (ddr-csujad-29-350)
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
An oral history with Togo Tanaka (ddr-csujad-29-61)
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
An oral history with Kin'ichi Kimbo Yoshitomi (ddr-csujad-29-31)
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
An Oral History with Seiko Ishida (ddr-csujad-29-11)
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 …
Oral history with Fumiko Hayashida (ddr-csujad-29-371)
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
An oral history with Atsufumi Archie Miyatake (ddr-csujad-29-65)
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. …
Oral history with Mas Uyesugi (ddr-csujad-29-71)
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
Oral history with Hitoshi Nitta (ddr-csujad-29-69)
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
Oral history with Masaka Oba Sugita (ddr-csujad-29-369)
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
[Incarceration camp] (ddr-csujad-29-209)
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
An oral history with Alpharetta Matthews (ddr-csujad-29-48)
av An oral history with Alpharetta Matthews (ddr-csujad-29-48)
An oral interview with Alpharetta Matthews, a child civilian at the Tule Lake 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_0152. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2656_T01
An oral history with Mary Miya (ddr-csujad-30-6)
av An oral history with Mary Miya (ddr-csujad-30-6)
An oral history with Mary Miya, an incarceree at the Children's Village orphanage. The interview was conducted for the Children's Village at Manzanar Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. The transcript is found in item: csufccop_cvm_0116. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2489_T01
An oral history with Celeste Teodor (ddr-csujad-30-19)
vh An oral history with Celeste Teodor (ddr-csujad-30-19)
An oral interview with Celeste Teodor, an incarceree at the Children's Village orphanage. The interview was conducted for the Children's Village at the Manzanar Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_cvm_0138. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 3776_T01
An oral history with Sam Masami Tanaka (ddr-csujad-30-10)
av An oral history with Sam Masami Tanaka (ddr-csujad-30-10)
An oral interview with Sam Masami Tanaka, an incarceree at the Children's Village orphanage. The interview was conducted for the Children's Village at the Manzanar Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_cvm_0124. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2333.2_T01
An oral history with Mitsuru Yamasaki (ddr-csujad-30-16)
av An oral history with Mitsuru Yamasaki (ddr-csujad-30-16)
An oral interview with Mitsuru Yamasaki, an incarceree at the Children's Village orphanage. The interview was conducted for the Children's Village at the Manzanar Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_cvm_0136. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 3592_T01
An oral history with Takeshi Isozaki (ddr-csujad-30-3)
av An oral history with Takeshi Isozaki (ddr-csujad-30-3)
An oral interview with Takeshi Isozaki, an incarceree at the Children's Village orphanage. The interview was conducted for the Children's Village at Manzanar Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. The transcript to this file is found in item: csufccop_cvm_0108. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2337_T01
API