During World War II, Japanese Americans in the United States were forced to leave their homes and relocate to internment camps, one of which was the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. The archival collection titled “ Guide to the Activities and Entertainment at Heart Mountain Relocation Center Photographs, 1942-1943” contains photographs of folklore performances, dances, sumo wrestling, farms, games, outdoor scenes, and more that were taken from the lives of the incarcerated Japanese Americans.
From the photographs, we can get a sense of how the Japanese Americans spent their lives in internment camps during WWII. Despite being forcibly taken away from their homes to living in conditions comparable to those of a prison, the Japanese Americans still managed to live positively in unison and even maintained and celebrated their Japanese culture through traditional activities and entertainment, such as the folklore performances, dance celebrations, sumo wrestling competitions, games of Goh, calligraphy writing, as well as celebration of Western holidays like Christmas. We can infer that the Japanese Americans highly value traditional Japanese forms of entertainment, which play a significant part of their daily lives.
Basing entirely on the records from this collection, we can only see the times of celebration and entertainment, which does not give a complete view of the lives of Japanese Americans in internment camps. After all, the Japanese Americans were living in incarcerated, harsh, and extremely cramped conditions, yet no other emotions or less “jolly” or “celebratory” moments were photographed. We can’t get a perspective on the possible sadness and discomfort the Japanese Americans could have felt being confined in the camps. Moreover, photographs of the camp in the collection were mainly taken from afar, so we are unable to see how they Japanese Americans inside of the camps.
To address the gaps in the historical narrative of Japanese Americans, photographs of their lives other than times of entertainment, such as of the cramped living spaces, daily forms of labor, etc could contribute to providing a more complete view of life in internment camps. Other possible, useful forms of sources would be diary writings, interviews from internees, and articles written on the incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Overall, despite only capturing activities and entertainment, I still think this is a very valuable set of photographs of the lives of Japanese Americans living in the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. It documented many activities that were rich in traditional Japanese culture that persisted in the harsh conditions of internment camps during World War II.
I love the way you focus on the (possibly) miseleadingly joyful content of the photographs. I guess that’s actually a strange thing about photographs, isn’t it? We tend to capture only the joyful moments of our lives, not moments of misery. Perhaps telling history through photograph must inevitably account for this bias.
I completely agree with you about the possibly staged photographs. I know from research that American tried to stage photographs to sell the morality of the internment camps. It will never be possible to show what really happened in history but we can try to gather as much as evidence as possible to piece together a more accurate history.
Glad you found and chose this topic! It’s interesting to take focus on such a joyful time within such a controversial point US history. I would have loved to see that diaries and personal recordings of memories during the time were included as well because it would provide the truest insight on how they felt about the imprisonment and how it affected their moral in times of joy. Great post!
I like the way that you addressed the gaps that in the archive due to the lack of other forms of media and writing. Without a more information from people who lived through internment we cannot not get the full historic narrative. Though there may have been fleeting joyous moments during internment, the everyday life of being treated like criminals by the country you call home is despicable. I agree that the photographs are useful to the historic narrative as well; it is always better to have a piece of history than to not.