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 (277)
Concentration camps (1771)
Living conditions (1870)

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1870 items

av Oral history with Sam Nakao and Tatsu Moritani (ddr-csujad-29-372)

An oral interview with Sam Nakao and Tatsu Moritani. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0924. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2544_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-372/

img [Photograph of Amy Unio Ishii and son] (ddr-csujad-29-119)

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: P039

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-119/

av Oral history with Rosalie Hankey Wax (ddr-csujad-29-76)

An oral interview with Rosale Hankey Wax, fieldworker who stayed at the Gila River camp in Rivers, Arizona and Tule Lake camp in Newell, California. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0188. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-76/

av Oral history with Akira Kuroda (ddr-csujad-29-78)

An oral interview with Akira Kuroda, 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_0192. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2374_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-78/

av An oral history with Ronald Tanimoto (ddr-csujad-29-44)

An oral interview with Ronald Tanimoto, internee at the Crystal City Department of Justice internment camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0144. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2473_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-44/

vh An oral history with Togo Tanaka (ddr-csujad-29-62)

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_0104. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1271.3_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-62/

av An oral history with Austin Christensen (ddr-csujad-29-47)

An oral interview with Austin Christensen, 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_0150. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2655_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-47/

img [Fence and landscape] (ddr-csujad-29-141)

Landscape photographed through metal fencing. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: P082

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-141/

av An oral history with Victor "Ferrell" Kambe (ddr-csujad-29-34)

An oral interview with Victor "Ferrell" Kambe, an incarceree at the Puyallup Assembly Center. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcription is found in the item: csufccop_jaoh_0120. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2268_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-34/

av An Oral History with Margaret Masuoka (ddr-csujad-29-25)

An interview with Margaret Masuoka, a volunteer at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), conducted for the Japanese American Project at California State Fullerton's Center for Oral and Public History. Specifically, this interview provides insight to Masuoka's personal history dealing with the prejudice that she and her family faced due their Japanese ancestry; her family's settlement …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-25/

vh An oral history with Joe Yamakido (ddr-csujad-29-67)

An oral interview with Joe Yamakido, an incarceree at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and 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_0168. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 3733_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-67/

av Oral history with Zenyo Oba (ddr-csujad-29-368)

An oral interview with Zenyo Oba, 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_0916. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2259_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-368/

av Oral history with Bebe Ganaja (ddr-csujad-29-396)

An oral interview with Bebe Ganaja, incarceree at the Crystal City detention facility. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0972. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 3975_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-396/

av Oral history with George Nakagawa (ddr-csujad-29-388)

An oral interview with George Nakagawa, incarceree at the Tule Lake camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcript is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0956. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 1959.2_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-388/

av Oral history with Kenji Murase (ddr-csujad-29-391)

An oral interview with Kenji Murase, 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_0962. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2782_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-391/

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/