Concentration Camps

This week’s media item relates to our reading last week about the concentration camps and the Japanese Americans that consumed them. I found an image by searching “Japanese concentration camps” on the internet. I chose to search this because the treatment of the Japanese Americans in these camps is a debatable topic that many compare to slavery.

The picture itself states “Evacuees stay 10 ft. away from fence”. Then under those words is Japanese writing that most likely says the same thing. Also, the picture has barbed wire which represents that danger of getting close to the fence. So just by looking at this sign with no prior knowledge about the camp experiences, one can tell that it was not a happy life for these people. And as we have learned from last weeks readings, we know that their living conditions were brutal and similar to slavery. The Japanese remained tough however and endured what they had to. Takaki described the conditions in chapter 10 as "crowded and unsanitary (262)." The way these people responded when in these harsh conditions showed a lot about their culture and how they were brought up. The Japanese came to America in search of great successes and prosperity for their families, and with that in mind they were able to get through the worst of times.

Here is the link to view this image: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1998/09/JPNAM.GIF