Internment, Art, and Japanese-American IdentityBy Kenneth Plank

ThesisJapanese-American art and literature display a unique and complex sense of identity that was crucial for Japanese-Americans to cope with World War II internment—both as individuals, and as an ethnic and cultural group.

Research Questions

Immigration Generations The American Environment Internment Art Cultural concepts

Background

Issei

“First Generation” 1884 Initially skilled migrant

workers Faced discrimination “Ethnic solidarity” Shikataganai

Nisei

“Second Generation” US born Kakehashi JACL Speaking out

Internment

Community leaders taken in by FBI West Coast Japanese-Americans “voluntarily” arrive at detention centers Questionnaire “No-No Boys” Last camp closed in 1946

Artists

Citizen 13660 by Miné OkuboPicture from Discover Nikkei

The works of Chiura ObataTalking Through the Wire Fence Entrance to the Obata Dwelling in

Topaz

No-No Boy by John Okada

Conclusion

Further Reading

The View From Within: Japanese American art from the Internment Camps 1942-1945 edited by Karen M. Higa

The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 by Delphine Hirasuna