japanese internment camps

[vbactivist]

A couple of years ago I read a short book (fiction) about the Japanese internment camps. It was really interesting. Does anyone have any books (or movies) to recommend? Fiction or non-fiction. Thanks!

[Traci mom23boys]

*Snow Falling on Cedars*
I read this over a decade ago, but it is still with me. It is set in the aftermath of WWII, but delves into racism and the effects of the Japanese internment camps.

~traci

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by Traci mom23boys

*Snow Falling on Cedars*
I read this over a decade ago, but it is still with me. It is set in the aftermath of WWII, but delves into racism and the effects of the Japanese internment camps.

~traci

thanks! I just requested it from my library

[christinar]

I second Snow Falling on Cedars.

And, I have some more recommendations, since I taught this subject to high school English students. We started by reading Farewell to Manzanar - http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Manza...4030533&sr=8-1

Also read some poems by Janice Mirikitani, from her collection We, The Dangerous: http://www.amazon.com/We-Dangerous-N...4030630&sr=1-3

We discussed this newspaper article: http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...7&slug=2327953

We also read an article by William Booth, in the Washington Post, called "A Lonely Patch of History". I can't find it online right now, but I did find this, that sites the article and looks good: http://www.lostmag.com/issue10/manzanar.php. It also includes a link to Ansel Adams photos from Manzanar.

And here's one more newspaper article: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly...9.COVER09.html

Finally, PBS did a documentary called Children of the Camp, with website information available here http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/index.html.

Happy exploring on this very sad/very important subject...

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by christinar

I second Snow Falling on Cedars.

And, I have some more recommendations, since I taught this subject to high school English students. We started by reading Farewell to Manzanar - http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Manza...4030533&sr=8-1

Also read some poems by Janice Mirikitani, from her collection We, The Dangerous: http://www.amazon.com/We-Dangerous-N...4030630&sr=1-3

We discussed this newspaper article: http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...7&slug=2327953

We also read an article by William Booth, in the Washington Post, called "A Lonely Patch of History". I can't find it online right now, but I did find this, that sites the article and looks good: http://www.lostmag.com/issue10/manzanar.php. It also includes a link to Ansel Adams photos from Manzanar.

And here's one more newspaper article: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly...9.COVER09.html

Finally, PBS did a documentary called Children of the Camp, with website information available here http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/index.html.

Happy exploring on this very sad/very important subject...

wow! THanks so much for this. I found the one little book I read fascinating, and then it seemed like nobody IRL knew anything about the subject. And I would rather not pick up random books if I can avoid it - those turn out lame a lot of times. This is a great resource - I appreciate your time

[ollyoxenfree]

Obasan by Joy Kogawa (adult fiction) and Itsuka (about the fight for compensation in Canada)

Naomi's Tree also by Kogawa (children's fiction)

Home of the Brave by Allen Say (picture book)

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow by Felicia Hoshino (picture book)

The Electrical Field by Kerri Sakamoto (adult fiction, flashbacks to the camps)

[christinar]

This looks good too, though I haven't read it: Only What We Could Carry - http://www.amazon.com/Only-What-Coul...ref=pd_sim_b_3

[Breathless Wonder]

This book is YA, and is about the Japanese occupation of Korea, instead of about the Japanese internment camps, but I wanted to recommend it anyway.

http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/kami...park/index.htm

[homefrontgirl]

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is one on this subject I read recently.

[meemee]

http://moonbridgeblog.blogspot.com/2...ese-in-us.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...can_internment

http://newton.uor.edu/Departments&Pr...am-intern.html

i was actually at the showing of 'From a silk Cocoon' and met the producer. it is an excellent documentary. http://www.fromasilkcocoon.com/ great, great documentary.

[Aubergine68]

My dad had a copy of Barry Broadfoot's Years of Sorrow, Years of Shame, a collection of first person accounts of the Canadian Japanese internment.

If you're ever in Lethbridge, Alberta, the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens bookstore has a good collection of books on this topic. You may find something similar if you search for Japanese gardens or cultural centers in cities near you.

[ASusan]

Another vote for Farewell to Manzanar. I have my college students read it in Psych of Adolescence. They frequently have NO education on this topic and are very glad to have read the book.

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by ASusan

Another vote for Farewell to Manzanar. I have my college students read it in Psych of Adolescence. They frequently have NO education on this topic and are very glad to have read the book.

This has been my experience, too. ANd almost nobody I know in real life knows anything about it, either. I'm in the midwest, though, and I wonder if people on the west coast have more of a memory of it?

Thanks so much to everyone for all the additional recommendations! I'm looking forward to delving in more deeply.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

I wonder if people on the west coast have more of a memory of it?

yes and no. yes if you were of an impressionable age otherwise not too much.

i first heard about it from my then 80 year old neighbour who met her husband and got married in the camp there and had her children there. it was really painful for her and once in a while she would tell me her experience. there were groups from her church who went to visit the camps yearly - i think later generations - due to maybe curiosity, but she just refused to go back. in her case her silence spoke volumes - much more than any words would have ever said.