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

vh Aiko Herzig Interview Segment 11 (ddr-densho-1002-8-11)

Memories of caring for a child in camp: washing diapers in an ill-equipped communal laundry room

This interview was conducted by sisters Emiko and Chizuko Omori for their 1999 documentary, Rabbit in the Moon, about the Japanese American resisters of conscience in the World War II incarceration camps. As a result, the interviews in this …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1002-8-11/

vh Victor Takemoto Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1001-8-6)

Adjusting to life in Manzanar: food, weather, activities

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-8-6/

vh Nobuko Omoto Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1001-11-6)

Conditions in camp: "It was horrible"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-11-6/

vh Kay Sakai Nakao Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1001-3-6)

Adjusting to living conditions in camp: weather, food

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-3-6/

vh Tats Kojima Interview Segment 10 (ddr-densho-1001-10-10)

Food and barracks in camp

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-10-10/

vh Matsue Watanabe Interview Segment 8 (ddr-densho-1001-9-8)

First memories of camp: poor food, living quarters, no privacy

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-9-8/

vh Frank Kitamoto Interview Segment 10 (ddr-densho-1001-25-10)

A child's memories of camp: primitive conditions, food poisoning

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-25-10/

vh Lilly Kodama Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1001-19-6)

A child's memories of conditions in camp: dust, sports, food

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1001-19-6/

vh Flora Ninomiya Segment 9 (ddr-densho-1000-473-9)

Childhood memories of Amache

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-473-9/

vh David Sakura Interview I Segment 11 (ddr-densho-1000-498-11)

Living conditions and elementary school in camp

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-498-11/

vh Bill Nishimura Interview Segment 5 (ddr-densho-1000-119-5)

Daily activities at Poston concentration camp, Arizona

This interview took place at the 2000 Tule Lake Pilgrimage in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-119-5/

vh Miyoko Kaneta Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1000-449-6)

Living conditions in camp: six in one room, bad food, dust

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-449-6/

vh Henry Miyatake Interview II Segment 4 (ddr-densho-1000-54-4)

First impressions of Minidoka, an unfinished camp

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-54-4/

vh Henry Miyatake Interview II Segment 5 (ddr-densho-1000-54-5)

Barracks assignment in Minidoka

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-54-5/

vh Kara Kondo Interview Segment 31 (ddr-densho-1000-139-31)

Description of living quarters at Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-139-31/

vh Ruby Inouye Interview Segment 23 (ddr-densho-1000-143-23)

Moving to Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho and working as a nurse's aide

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-143-23/

vh Peggie Nishimura Bain Interview Segment 40 (ddr-densho-1000-170-40)

Moving to Minidoka, Idaho: memories of a coal workers' strike

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-170-40/

vh Peggie Nishimura Bain Interview Segment 33 (ddr-densho-1000-170-33)

Daily life at Tule Lake

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-170-33/

vh Peggie Nishimura Bain Interview Segment 32 (ddr-densho-1000-170-32)

First impressions of Tule Lake concentration camp

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-170-32/

vh Sarah Sato Segment 16 (ddr-densho-1000-81-16)

Memories of barracks in Jerome concentration camp, Arkansas: building furniture and installing plasterboard

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-81-16/

vh Clara S. Hattori Interview II Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1000-427-13)

Daily life in camp: making furniture, setting up recreational activities

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-427-13/

vh June M. Hoshida Honma Interview Segment 9 (ddr-densho-1000-256-9)

First impressions of Gila, Arizona: "We had more freedom in Gila"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-256-9/

vh Masamizu Kitajima Interview Segment 20 (ddr-densho-1000-287-20)

Unprepared for winter weather conditions in Arkansas

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-287-20/

vh Marian Shingu Sata Interview Segment 11 (ddr-densho-1000-262-11)

Attending school in camp

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-262-11/

vh Ben Takeshita Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1000-467-6)

The train ride to the Topaz concentration camp, Utah

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-467-6/