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 (283)
Concentration camps (2384)
Living conditions (1897)

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1897 items

img [Produce display] (ddr-csujad-56-164)

Display of produce with pieces of paper placed on them. Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-031

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-164/

doc Letter from Frank Ito to Joe and Lea Perry, May 18, 1944 (ddr-csujad-56-80)

Letter from Frank Ito to Joe and Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. Transcript is found in item: ssu_nbea_9078. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-078

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-80/

img Granada Station (ddr-csujad-56-178)

Train from the assembly center arriving at Camp Amache, inscribed with a note "End of the long train trip". Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-045

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-178/

av Interview with George Hamamoto, (audio) (ddr-csujad-56-1)

Sonoma County resident George Hamamoto was interviewed on June 20, 1978, by a Sonoma State University student for the North Bay Ethnic Archive Project. He discusses growing up in Sebastopol, the family grocery store, removal to Assembly Center in Merced, then incarceration at Granada (Amache) camp. Discusses organization and administration of camp, and return to Napa …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-1/

doc Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry, September 17, 1943 (ddr-csujad-56-52)

Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. Transcript is found in item: ssu_nbea_9050. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-050

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-52/

doc Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry, January 5, 1945 (ddr-csujad-56-100)

Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. Transcript is found in item: ssu_nbea_9098. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-098

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-100/

img [Chicken coops] (ddr-csujad-56-155)

Photo of several chicken coops and chickens meandering around. Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-022

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-155/

img [Personnel housing] (ddr-csujad-56-193)

Living quarters with desert plants in foreground. Page 2 of Kawase Family Photo Album, Book One. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-03-002

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-193/

img [Japanese American soldier] (ddr-csujad-56-181)

Picture of Japanese American incarceree and soldier standing in front of Amache Honor Roll four-sided board. Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-048

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-181/

img [Pyramid] (ddr-csujad-56-243)

Haruo Kawase, Fred and another young man from Camp Amache pose for the camera. Page 29 of Kawase Family Photo Album, Book Two. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-03-052

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-243/

doc Letter from Johnny written by Kazuo to Lea Perry, July 12, 1945 (ddr-csujad-56-118)

Letter from Johnny written by Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-116

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-118/

doc Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry, October 18, 1944 (ddr-csujad-56-92)

Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. Transcript is found in item: ssu_nbea_9090. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-090

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-92/

doc Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry, April 16, 1944 (ddr-csujad-56-77)

Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. Transcript is found in item: ssu_nbea_9075. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-075

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-77/

img [Surgery] (ddr-csujad-56-137)

Surgical procedure in progress. Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-004

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-137/

img [News room] (ddr-csujad-56-220)

Camp newspaper headquarters with man walking past and other incarcerees working on newspaper. Page 6 of Kawase Family Photo Album, Book Two. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-03-029

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-220/

doc Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry, June 21, 1943 (ddr-csujad-56-49)

Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. Transcript is found in item: ssu_nbea_9047. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-047

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-49/

img Strike up the band (ddr-csujad-56-179)

The camp marching band, comprised of teenagers, parades down a dirt road. Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-046

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-179/

img [In the water] (ddr-csujad-56-146)

Two children running out of the water and a third person holding up their pants standing in the water. A group of people sit and play on the banks. Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-013

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-146/

img [Barrack housing] (ddr-csujad-56-195)

Living quarters with dirt road running between buildings. Utility posts with wires line the road and incarcerees mill about. Page 4 of Kawase Family Photo Album, Book One. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-03-004

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-195/

doc Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry, September 24, 1943 (ddr-csujad-56-53)

Letter from Kazuo Ito to Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-051

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-53/

doc Letter from Joe Perry to Kazuo Ito, March 12, 1945 (ddr-csujad-56-106)

Letter from Joe Perry to Kazuo Ito. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-104

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-106/

img [Two ladies and a building] (ddr-csujad-56-209)

Two young Japanese American women in front of a large building. Page 18 of Kawase Family Photo Album, Book One. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-03-018

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-209/

doc Letter from Frank Ito to Joe and Lea Perry, August 7, 1944 (ddr-csujad-56-86)

Letter from Frank Ito to Joe and Lea Perry. The original letters are housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and were borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL, December 2014. Transcript is found in item: ssu_nbea_9084. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-01-084

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-86/

img [Sitting by the river] (ddr-csujad-56-238)

A group of Japanese American incarcerees sit and talk by the Arkansas River near Camp Amache. Page 24 of Kawase Family Photo Album, Book Two. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-03-047

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-238/

img [Dentistry lab] (ddr-csujad-56-160)

Line of dentist chairs with patients and dentist working on them. Photo provided by Tak Kameoka. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nbea08-02-027

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-56-160/