Sports
Sports were a major form of recreation for the Issei and Nisei in the camps. Baseball became the preferred sport for both, although basketball and football were also popular among the Nisei. Organized teams, often consisting of friends from prewar neighborhoods, played each other in highly competitive matches. Other sports, like ping-pong, judo, boxing, badminton, and sumo wrestling were also popular pastimes.
World War II
(283)
Concentration camps
(2078)
Sports
(359)
Related articles from the
Densho Encyclopedia :
Manzanar Committee,
Sports and recreation in camp
359 items
![[Sumo group at camp] (ddr-csujad-56-311)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/db/c6/dbc695f86634d4cd4d9798344a9d1b7d.jpg)
359 items
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Nisei man performing jump shot (ddr-csujad-44-54)
A photograph of a Nisei man incarcerated at Tule Lake, California. He is wearing a basketball uniform and jumping in mid-air with arm raised in a jump shot position. In the background is a basketball goal and two men looking on. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csumb_ms15_0054
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Nisei men's basketball team in front of barrack (ddr-csujad-44-20)
A photograph of six young Nisei men posing in front of a barrack at Tule Lake, California. They are presumably basketball team members. Five young men are standing in a row and one young man is crouching in front of them, holding a basketball. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project …
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Manzanar From Inside Out (ddr-csujad-19-2)
Text of address by Roy Nash, Director of the Manzanar War Relocation Project, given to the Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco, on July 31, 1942 for the purpose of "interpret[ing] the actuality of a War Relocation Center housing 10,000 evacuees" in view of perceptions of mistreatment of incarcerees in California. Sections of the speech include …
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Boys playing basketball at Granada incarceration camp (ddr-csujad-14-45)
Boys playing basketball at Granada incarceration camp. December 11, 1942. Photo by Tom Parker. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: HMLSC_TOMO_f10
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Sixth grade boys playing softball during recess at Manzanar incarceration camp (ddr-csujad-14-19)
Sixth grade boys playing softball during recess at Manzanar incarceration camp. February 10, 1943. Photo by Francis Stewart. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: HMLSC_TOMO_019
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Young former California boy learning to ice skate at Heart Mountain incarceration camp (ddr-csujad-14-58)
Young former California boy learning to ice skate at Heart Mountain incarceration camp. January 10, 1943. Photo by Tom Parker. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: HMLSC_TOMO_f23
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Sack race in Jerome camp (ddr-csujad-38-87)
A photograph of the end of a sack race in the Jerome incarceration camp in Arkansas during a camp-sponsored game day. It captures participants and barracks at the camp. A photo from "George Naohara photo album" (csudh_nao_0001), page 21. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nao_01_21_002
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Sack ace in the Jerome camp (ddr-csujad-38-102)
Photographed are children incarcerated in the Jerome incarceration camp in Arkansas, playing a sack race. A photo from "George Naohara photo album" (csudh_nao_0001), page 22. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nao_01_22_007
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Mitzi Naohara photo album (ddr-csujad-38-163)
A photo album compiled by Mitzi Masukawa Naohara. Contained are photographs mainly taken during the war, depicting lives at the Poston camp in Arizona, where the Masukasa family was incarcerated. Mitzi was a preschool teacher at the Poston camp, and photographs of the children incarcerated at the camp are included. She also belonged to a young …
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Basketball team Sigma XI (ddr-csujad-38-208)
Photographed are members of a Nisei men's basketball team, Sigma XI, at the Poston camp in Arizona. The caption reads: Basketball team Sigma XI. Title from caption. A photo from: Mitzi Naohara photo album (csudh_nao_0200), page 7. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nao_02_07_004
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Three-legged race in Jerome camp (ddr-csujad-38-97)
Photographed are incarcerees playing three-legged race in the Jerome incarceration camp in Arkansas. A photo from "George Naohara photo album" (csudh_nao_0001), page 22. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nao_01_22_002
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Block R's of Block 318 baseball team (ddr-csujad-38-190)
Photographed are members of Block R's of Block 318 baseball team of the high school at the Poston camp in Arizona. The caption reads: Blk R baseball team. A photo from: Mitzi Naohara photo album (csudh_nao_0200), page 4. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nao_02_04_009
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George Naohara photo album (ddr-csujad-38-1)
A photo album compiled by George Nobuo Naohara, a Kibei Nisei, who was incarcerated at Manzanar, Jerome, and Tule Lake incarceration camps during World War II. Included are photographs taken during/after World War II, depicting his farm labor experience in Idaho and Utah, incarceration in the Jerome incarceration camp, and Army language school training. See this …
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Basketball team (ddr-csujad-44-9)
A photograph of six young Nisei women and one young Nisei man incarcerated at Tule Lake, California. The woman are standing in a row in front of a basketball goal. The young man is kneeling in front of them holding a basketball. They are presumably basketball team members. Photo inscription on back: "Otis." See this object …
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Nisei women's basketball team (ddr-csujad-44-10)
A photograph of six young Nisei women standing in a row in front of a basketball goal at Tule Lake, California. The woman in the middle is holding a basketball. They are presumably basketball team members. A water tower is behind them in the distance. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization …
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Mid-air jumping over raised horizontal bar (ddr-csujad-44-14)
A photograph of an incarceree in mid-air as they jump over a raised horizontal bar at Tule Lake, California. The person is just above the bar with their hands and feet tucked in. Spectators are crowded in the background and to the side of the bar. Barracks are in the far background. See this object in …
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Football players (ddr-csujad-44-38)
A photograph of twelve young Nisei men incarcerated at Tule Lake, California. They are presumably football players. They are posing in two rows in front of a barrack. Six young men are standing in the back row behind six young men kneeling on the ground. Photo inscription on back: "B Football." See this object in the …
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Nisei women's basketball team (ddr-csujad-44-17)
A group photograph of twelve young Nisei women posing in front of a barrack at Tule Lake, California. They are presumably basketball team members. They are in two rows of six. The women in the back row are standing and the women in the front are sitting on a bench. A woman in the front row …
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Girls' basketball team (ddr-csujad-44-37)
A photograph of eight young Nisei women incarcerated at Tule Lake, California. They are presumably girls' basketball team members. They are standing in two rows in front of a barrack. Four women are in each row, with one row standing in front of the other. Photo inscription on back: "Girls' Basket ball." See this object in …
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Nisei men's basketball team (ddr-csujad-44-23)
A group photograph of eleven young Nisei men posing outside in front of a barrack at Tule Lake, California. They are presumably basketball team members. The men are in two rows. The back row is standing and the front row is kneeling. There are two basketballs on the ground in front of the group. See this …
![[Sumo group at camp] (ddr-csujad-56-311)](https://ddr.densho.org/media/cache/47/1b/471ba7739cf75c8aca0cc79b6297f55d.jpg)
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[Sumo group at camp] (ddr-csujad-56-311)
Group of sumo wrestlers at camp sitting crosslegged on grass. The original image is housed with the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and was borrowed for digitization courtesy of the JACL. This image belongs to a group of images related to the Akutagawa family. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American …
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Masao Araki (ddr-csujad-8-4)
Oral history interview with Masao Araki. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Araki, Masao
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Katsuso and Hatsuno Arifuku (ddr-csujad-8-5)
Oral history interview with Katsuso and Hatsuno Arifuku. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Arifuku, Katsuso and Hatsuno
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Hasegawa Family (ddr-csujad-8-16)
Oral history interview with the Hasegawas, including Ray, Helen, Peter, Yoshino, Becky and George Hasegawa. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Hasegawa Family