Japanese Internment Camps History

The Japanese history tells us the story of the Japanese sharing many common feelings and hardships with thousands of other immigrants who came to Hawai’i. Starting with the first wave, the Gannen Mono, in 1868, the legacies and values passed on from generation and carried on today. The Japanese had to leave their homes in Japan to make a better life for themselves and their families. Through their struggles, of course, the Japanese immigrants were hesitant of stepping foot onto a foreign land to have their country patriotism questioned and their loyalty. More than 110,000 Japanese were relocated to internment camps built by the U.S. military in scattered locations around the country. In this paper, my purpose is to illustrate about the Executive
In May 27, 1942, The Tule Lake Relocation Center, California was opened. It was one of the largest centers because they had additional troops and tanks, the building were surrounded by a 6 feet high fence topped with barbed wire, and about 20 watch towers surrounding the camp ("Building a Comuinty under Crisis"). Nonetheless, Japanese prisoners held strikes demanding their rights under the U.S. Constitution because they thought their lifestyle was unfair. Tule Lake held about 19,000 internees within a space only to hold 15,000, which is more than they had too. It was the last camp to be closed on March 20, 1946 (“Japanese - Behind the Wire”). During the loyalty questionnaire, 42 percent of the internees at Tule Lake answered "no-no" to both loyalty questions or did not answer them at all compared with 10 percent at the other centers, and were considered "disloyal” ("Tule Lake"). In one incident, 35 Nisei teenage boys who had protested or failed to turn in the questionnaire by the deadline were arrested and taken to Jail. Overtime, the next two months more than a hundred additional internees were put in jail. Because of the numerous strikes and boycotts Tule Lake was considered as a “trouble spot”. By summer of 1943 the Tule Lake was converted into a maximum security and became the
It is considered the third largest camp. It opened on August 10, 1942 to October 28, 1945. Minidoka was considered a good model environment because it had a peaceful atmosphere, and community that got along well with the administration ("Minidoka Relocation Center”). They were one of the lucky camps, that the security was somewhat lighter than at most other camps. Minidoka had a major downside, it was the environment. The environment is extremely harsh, with temperatures ranging from 30 degrees below zero to as high as 115 degrees. Minidoka also had many dust storms, and whenever it rains, they had to deal with ankle deep mud. When the first arrivals at Minidoka in August 1942, they moved into barracks even though much of the camp was unfinished and there was no running water or sewage system (Japanese - Behind the Wire). The last group of 500 internes arrived at the camp had to sleep in mess halls, laundry rooms, or any available bed space. Living conditions were difficult and cramped. Families of up to eight or more lived in the one room apartment. When the dust storms hit, the people could not see more than a couple of feet ahead of them, and many suffered from sore throats and nosebleeds. The camp had two elementary schools, and one high school. The camp also had a libraries, hospitals, fire stations, bands, choirs, orchestras, and cultural activities. In the winter, a small pond became an ice skating rink for people to enjoy skating