Suggested Reading

 

Many books are available on almost every aspect of the internment experience. The listing of resources below does not presume endorsement by the National Park Service. This is intended to be a inclusive list; the content of some books, when compared, contradict each other. The many perspectives on this subject should be considered as one develops his or her understanding of the treatment of Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents before, during and after World War II.

Reading List - Japanese Internment

Book, Author

Description

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

Reference

Armor, John and Peter Wright. Manzanar: Photographs by Ansel Adams. (1988)

Ansel Adams photographs of Manzanar from 1943 with commentary by John Hersey.

X

X

X

Asahina, Robert. Just Americans: How Japanese Americans Won A War at Home and Abroad. (2006)

Focuses on the combat units, 100th and 442nd, with details on behind the scenes politics.

X

X

Asakawa, Gil. Being Japanese American: A JA Sourcebook for Nikkei, Hapa…& Their Friends. (2004)

Provides background on history and culture plus discussion about current topics.

X

X

X

Baker, Lillian. American and Japanese Relocation in WWII: Fact, Fiction, and Fallacy. (1992)

Argues the internment was necessary for public safety and national security.

X

X

Baker, Lillian. The Japaning of America. (1991)

Questions the wisdom of redress.

X

X

Benti, Wynne, editor. Born Free and Equal: The Story of Japanese Americans. (2001)

Based on the book published by U.S. Camera in 1944 with photographs and text by Ansel Adams.

X

Bunting, Eve. So Far From The Sea. (1998)

A young girl and her family visit Manzanar (illustrations are beautiful but historically inaccurate in depicting the camp's security features).

X

Burton, Jeff. Confinement and Ethnicity. (2002)

Overview of each of the different facilities that held Japanese Americans during WWII.

X

X

Change, Gordon, ed. Morning Glory, Evening Shadow: Yamato Ichihashi and His Internment Writings, 1942-1945. (1997)

A comprehensive biography and first person account.

X

X

Christgau, John. Enemies: World War II Alien Internment. (2001)

Stories of internees held at Ft. Lincoln, ND, a Department of Justice internment camp.

X

X

Chuman, Frank F. The Bamboo People: The Law and Japanese Americans. (1981)

History of laws pertaining to and fought against by Japanese Americans.

X

X

Conrat, Richard and Maisie. Executive Order 9066: The Internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans. (1992)

A visual history of the internment camps with a short introduction.

X

X

X

X

Cooper, Michael. Remembering Manzanar. (2002)

Utilizes primary sources to share the Manzanar experience at a level appropriate for children.

X

X

Daniels, Roger, et al. Japanese Americans from Relocation to Redress. (1991)

Extensive account of Japanese American experience from the evacuation order to redress and reparations.

X

Daniels, Roger. The Politics of Prejudice: The Anti-Japanese Movement in California and the Struggle for Japanese Exclusion. (1999)

Explores politics from late 19th century to 1924 leading to the World War II internment of Japanese Americans.

X

Daniels, Roger. Prisoners without Trial. (1993)

A short overview of the internment of Japanese Americans.

X

X

Dempster, Brian Komei, ed. From Our Side of the Fence: Growing Up in America's Concentration Camps. (2001)

Recollections of eleven former internees about their experiences as youth in internment camps.

X

Denenburg, Barry. Journal of Ben Uchida. (1999)

A fictional account of a young boy's experience at an internment camp during World War II.

X

Drinnon, Richard. Keeper of the Concentration Camps: Dillon S. Myer and American Racism. (1987)

Explores institutional racism through the career of Dillon S. Myer.

X

X

Easton, Allen H. Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps. (1952)

Black and white photographs and narrative explore arts and crafts made behind barbed wire.

X

X

Ehrlich, Gretel. Heart Mountain. (1989)

A novel about the Wyoming internment camp as seen through the eyes of nearby residents and portrays the varied population in the camp.

X

X

Embrey, Sue Kunitomi. The Lost Years, 1942- 1946. (1972)

An overview of the events that led to the evacuation, life in the ten relocation centers, and resettlement.

X

X

Embrey, Sue Kunitomi. Manzanar Martyr: An Interview with Harry Y. Ueno. (1986)

An in-depth view into the experiences and life of a former Manzanar internee.

X

Fillebrown, Tom, Sierra College. Standing Guard. (2002)

A collection of photographs and oral history narratives from Japanese American residents of Placer County.

X

X

Fugita, Stephen and Marilyn Fernandez. Altered Lives, Enduring Community: Japanese Americans Remember Their World War II Incarceration. (2004)

Explores the long term effects of incarceration on Japanese American families and communities.

X

Fugita, Stephen and David J. O'Brien. Japanese American Ethnicity: The Persistence of Community. (1994)

Explores how Japanese Americans have retained their ethnicity while being involved in mainstream American society.

X

X

Garrett, Jesse A. and Ronald C. Larson, ed. Camp and Community: Manzanar and the Owens Valley. (1977)

Compilation of twenty interviews with Owens Valley residents documenting the impact Manzanar had on its surrounding communities.

X

Gesenway, Deborah and Mindy Roseman compilers. Beyond Words: Images from America's Concentration Camps. (1987)

A collection of previously unpublished works by internment camp artists. Includes descriptive biographical sketches of artists.

X

X

Gruenewald, Mary Matsuda. Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese American Internment Camps. (2005)

A memoir about coming of age during the turbulent years of World War II.

X

X

X

Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. (1995)

A 1940s tale of a relationship between a Caucasian man and a Japanese American woman in Washington. Vivid internment camp descriptions and exploration of fear, prejudice, etc.

X

Hamanaka, Sheila. The Journey. (1990)

Paintings and text by the author depict the Japanese experience in 20th century America via her 8' x 25' mural of the struggle of Japanese immigrants in the early 1900s, the WWII internment, and the work done to see that reparations were paid to former internees.

X

X

Hansen, Arthur. Voices Long Silent: An Oral Inquiry into the Japanese American Evacuation. (1970)

This volume includes essays, oral histories, and a bibliography.

X

X

Higa, Karen. The View From Within. (1992)

Features art from the relocation centers.

X

X

Higashide, Seiichi, et al. Adios to Tears: The Memoirs of a Japanese-Peruvian Internee in U.S. Concentration Camps. (2000)

A very personal story of a man whose life spanned three countries and his role in the effort to obtain redress.

X

Hirahara, Naomi and Gwenn M. Jensen. Silent Scars of Healing Hands: Oral Histories of Japanese American Doctors in World War II Detention Camps. (2004)

An in-depth and personal view into healthcare in the internment camps.

X

X

Hirasuna, Delphine, Kit Hinrichs and Terry Heffeman. Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1945. (2005)

Color photographs and well-researched narrative bring to life the arts and crafts created by Japanese American internees.

X

X

X

X

Hohri, William. Repairing America: Account of the Movement for Japanese American Redress. (1988)

A first-person account of the Redress movement, written by the leader of the National Council for Japanese American Redress.

X

Hongo, Florence M. and Miyo Burton. Japanese American Journey: The Story of a People. (1988)

A short history of Japanese Americans, camp experiences and four biographies.

X

Hongo, Garrett. Under Western Eyes: Personal Essays from Asian Americans. (1985)

A collection of memories that focus around family and language.

X

X

Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. The Japanese American Family Album. (1998)

Captures the broad experience of Japanese Americans focusing on oral histories and family documents.

X

X

X

X

Hosokawa, Bill. Nisei: The Quiet Americans. (2002)

Revised edition; originally published in 1969 this book traces experiences of Japanese immigrants in the West and their children, the Nisei.

X

X

Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar. (1973)

A first-person account of the author's experience of her family's removal from the West Coast, three years at Manzanar, and growing up after the war.

X

X

Inada, Lawson Fusao. Legends from Camp. (1992)

A Selection of poetry based on Inada's experiences at the Fresno Assembly Center in California, and War relocation Centers in Colorado and Arkansas.

X

Inada, Lawson Fusao. Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience. (2000)

An anthology of experiences brought to public consciousness through narrative, drawings, photographs and poetry.

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X

X

Iritani, Frank and Joanne. Ten Visits. (1999)

Brief accounts of what remained (in 1999) of each of the ten camps. Includes maps, directions, and color photos.

X

Ishigo, Estelle. Lone Heart Mountain. (1972)

Autobiography of a Caucasion women who relocated with her Japanese American husband to Heart Mountain WRC. This story is depicted in Okazaki's film, Days of Waiting (See Audio Visual section)

X

X

Ishizuka, Karen. Lost and Found: Reclaiming the Japanese American Incarceration. (2006)

Introduction by Roger Daniels; aims to educate the public conscious about this experience and allow Japanese Americans to reclaim their history.

X

X

Irons, Peter. Justice Delayed. (1990)

Documents the reopening of WWII Japanese American internment legal cases brought before the Supreme Court.

X

Irons, Peter. Justice at War: The Story of Japanese American Internment Cases. (1993)

Discusses the debates before the issue of the internment order, the legal cases that arose, and responses afterward.

X

James, Thomas. Exile Within: The Schooling of Japanese Americans from 1942-1945. (1987)

Tells the experience of school children learning of democracy while interned.

X

X

Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles's Boyle Heights. (2005)

A history of a multi-ethnic neighborhood with a large Japanese American population.

X

X

X

Kadohata, Cynthia. Weedflower. (2006)

Based on the author's family experience, it is a story of a young girl and her extended family interned at Poston WRC in Arizona.

X

X

Kikuchi, Charles. The Kikuchi Diary. (1973)

A first-person account by a U.C. Berkeley graduate student who was sent to Tanforan Assembly Center and lived in a horse stall.

X

X

Knaefler, Tomi Kaizawa. Our House Divided: Seven Japanese American Families in WWII. (1991)

Stories of seven Hawaiian families, focusing on intergenerational conflicts.

X

Kogawa, Joy. Itsuka. (1992)

A novel about the struggle of Japanese Canadians to receive compensation for their World War II internment.

X

X

Kogawa, Joy. Naomi's Road. (1986)

A Japanese Canadian woman reflects on her WWII experience in a Canadian internment camp.

X

X

Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. (1981)

A moving account of one family's Canadian internment experience and their efforts to secure redress.

X

X

Krammer, Arnold. Undue Process: The Untold Story of America's German Alien Internees. (1997)

Details America's treatment of German aliens during WWII.

X

Lange, Dorothea. Eds. Linda Gordon and Gary Y. Okihiro. Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment. (2006)

Social history and Japanese American internment explored through censored images of the renown photographer.

X

X

Lee-Tai, Amy and Felicia Hoshino. A Place Where Sunflowers Grow. (2006)

In English and Japanese; based on the author's family background and takes place in the Topaz WRC in Utah.

X

Life Magazine. March 1942, pg 81-82. "How to Tell Japs from the Chinese."

A example of propaganda used to discriminate against Japanese Americans.

X

X

Lowery, Barbara. 39 Months at Tule Lake. (2004)

Using her father's (a staff member's) diary the author weaves together the events that took place at the internment camp from March 1943 to 1946.

X

X

Lowman, David. Magic. (2001)

Describes recruitment of Japanese (citizens and aliens) to provide information to Japan. Lowman digresses on a general history of the MAGIC code, and into a bitter critique of the 1988 decision of Redress.

X

Martin, Ralph G. Boy from Nebraska. (1946)

Biography of Sgt. Ben Kuroki, a farm boy who struggled to be inducted into the Army Air Corps and compiled a heroic record in the Europeans and Pacific theaters of war.

X

X

Miyakawa, Edward. Tule Lake. (2006)

A novel originally published in 1979; a novel about Tule Lake WRC which became Tule Lake Segregation Center.

X

X

Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us. (1993)

A young boy faces racism during and after life in a war relocation center; his baseball abilities help him earn respect.

X

Mochizuki, Ken. Heroes. (1997)

Set in the Vietnam era 1960s, this book shares the experience of a young Japanese American who "looks like the enemy."

X

Moore, Brenda L. Serving Our Country: Japanese American Women in the Military during World War II. (2003)

First-hand accounts of the unique experiences of Nisei women.

X

X

Muller, Eric L. Free to Die for Their Country. (2001)

Japanese Americans who resisted the draft while interned during WWII.

X

X

Nakano, Mei T. Japanese American Women: Three Generations, 1890-1990. (1990)

Traces the lives of three generations of women and discussing the similarities and differences and impact on cultural values.

X

X

National Japanese American Historical Society. Due Process: Americans of Japanese Ancestry and the U.S. Constitution. (1995)

An overview of Japanese American history with emphasis on the law.

X

X

X

Niiya, Brian, ed. Japanese American History: An A-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present. (1993)

Encyclopedia of Japanese American history with a comprehensive timeline.

X

X

X

Noguchi, Rick. Flowers from Mariko. (2001)

During and after WWII, Mariko shows us the power of hope, love, and determination. Her family struggles with resettlement after their release from camp.

X

Obata, Chiura. Topaz Moon. (2000)

Before he was interned, Obata was a professor of art at U.C. Berkeley. His selected watercolors, letters and interviews show a spirit undefeated by adversity.

X

Okada, John. No-No Boy. (1981)

A novel set in post-WWII Seattle about a young man struggling to prove loyalty to his family and society.

X

Okihiro, Gary Y. Personal Justice Denied. (1997)

Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians; recommendations for redress.

X

Okubo, Mine. Citizen 13660. (1983)

Beautifully illustrated memoir of the author's life in Tanforan Assembly Center in CA and Topaz WRC in UT.

X

Oppenheim, Joanne. Dear Miss Breed: The True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and A Librarian Who Made a Difference. (2006)

Utilizes letters and interviews to tell this touching and remarkable story of friendship.

X

X

Otsuka, Julie. When the Emperor Was Divine. (2002)

A fictional Berkeley, CA family's account of relocation, internment, and resettlement.

X

X

Robinson, Gerald. Elusive Truth: Four Photographers at Manzanar. (2002)

Presents the background and motivation of four of Manzanar's photographers: Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Clem Albers, and Toyo Miyatake.

X

X

X

Saiki, Patsy Sumie. Ganbare! An Example of Japanese Spirit. (2004)

Tells individual stories of those rising above diversity.

X

Sarasohn, Sunada. Issei, Portrait of a Pioneer. (1983)

An anthology of Issei oral history.

X

X

Seigel, Shizue. In Good Conscience: Supporting the Japanese Americans During Internment. (2006)

The stories of ordinary Americans who resisted injustice to help Japanese Americans.

X

X

Shigekawa, Marlene. Blue Jay in the Desert. (1993)

Explores a relationship between a boy and his grandfather at Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona.

X

Shigekawa, Marlene. Welcome Home Swallows. (2001)

Sequel to Blue Jay in the Desert; how the boy adjusts to his return to California (friendship, racism, tragedy and reunion).

X

Shirey, Orville. Americans: The Story of the 442nd Combat Team. (1990)

Records the sacrifices and accomplishments of this segregated unit, both at home and abroad.

X

Sone, Monica. Nisei Daughter. (1993)

Originally published in 1953; an autobiographical story of a Japanese American girl from Seattle, her growing racial awareness and relocation experience.

X

X

Smith, Page. Democracy on Trial: The Japanese American Evacuation and Relocation in World War II. (1995)

An analysis of what happened and why based on archival research and oral history.

X

X

Stanley, Jerry. I Am An American. (1994)

Photos, interviews, and personal recollections of one high school boy, Shi Nomura.

X

X

Sugimoto, Henry. Painting An American Experience. (2000)

Collection of paintings done by the artist in Jerome and Rohwer WRC in Arkansas.

X

Tajiri, Vincent. Through Innocent Eyes: Writings and Art from the Japanese American Internment by Poston I Schoolchildren. (1990)

Compiled in 1943 as Out of Desert by Ray Franchi and Paul Takeda; a collection of poems, artwork, and writings from the Poston War Relocation Center internee schoolchildren to their pen-pal peers in the "outside world."

X

X

Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. (1998)

Discusses the patterns of racism and exploitation impacting Asian Americans.

X

Takashima, Shizuye. A Child in Prison Camp. (1998)

A Japanese American woman artist records in words and watercolors her experiences as a child in a Canadian internment camp during WWII.

X

X

Takei, Barbara and Judy Tachibana. Tule Lake Revisited. (2001)

A brief history and guide to the Tule Lake WRC, later the Tule Lake Segregation Center.

X

Tateishi, John. And Justice for All: An Oral History of the Japanese American Detention Camps. (1999)

Interviews with thirty Japanese Americans capture personal experiences from the internment camps.

X

X

Tunnell, Michael O. The Children of Topaz. (1996)

Diary excerpts from a 3rd grade class of Japanese Americans held with their families in Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah.

X

X

X

Two Views of Manzanar. (1979)

Exhibition of photographs by Ansel Adams and Toyo Miyatake.

X

X

Uchida, Yoshiko. The Bracelet. (1996)

The story of a young girl and her ties to home in Berkeley, CA

X

Uchida, Yoshiko. Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese American Family. (1982)

Vivid portrayal of a Japanese American family before and after December 7, 1942. Explores their feelings as they are sent from their homes by their government.

X

Uchida, Yoshiko. The Invisible Thread: An Autobiography. (1995)

Shares the writer's life before, during and after World War II.

X

Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey Home. (1978)

Sequel to Journey to Topaz; Yuki and her parents are released from Topaz; when they return home, they are faced with prejudice and violence.

X

Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey to Topaz: A Story of the Japanese American Evacuation. (1985)

Historical fiction that follows a young girl and her family from Pearl Harbor to an internment camp.

X

Unrau, Harlan D. Manzanar: A Historical Study of the Manzanar War Relocation Center, Volumes I and II. (1996)

Detailed history of Manzanar.

X

Uyematsu, Amy. 30 Miles from J-Town. (1992)

A volume of poetry that portrays the variety in Japanese American culture.

X

Weglyn, Michi. Years of Infamy. (1976)

Provides extensive historic overview and personal accounts. This is the standard reference material for this topic.

X

Welch, Catherine A. Children of the Relocation Camps. (2000)

Explores how Japanese American children experienced school, meals, sports and other aspects of camp life.

X

Yamamoto, Hisaye. Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories. (2001)

Tells about growing up as a Japanese American woman.

X

In addition to this list, please find information on books about the internment of Germans, Italians, and Japanese from Latin America.

Reading List - Owens Valley

Book, Author

Description

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

Reference

Chalfant, Willie. Story of Inyo. (1922)

Classic text on Owens Valley history covering Native Americans, homesteading, ranching, and the water war.

X

X

Nadeau, Remi. Water Seekers. (1968)

Covers the city of Los Angeles' efforts to secure water supply from the Owens Valley and decades long conflict that followed.

X

X

Smith, Genny. Deepest Valley. (1998)

Guide to Owens Valley's natural history. Also features a strong chapter on the local history, stretching from early Indian presence to water wars between the city of Los Angeles and the Owens Valley.

X

X

Wehrey, Jane. Voices from this Long Brown Land: Oral Recollections of Owens Valley Lives and Manzanar Pasts. (2006)

An in-depth look into the history of the Owens Valley including small town life, mining towns, recreation, Paiute culture, the orchard community, and Manzanar as a relocation center.

X

X

Film List

Film

Description

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

Reference

Abe, Frank. Conscience and the Constitution. (2000)

The story of young Japanese Americans refusing to be drafted from behind barbed wire.

X

X

California Public Television. California's Gold: Manzanar. (2002)

An onsite tour with former internees and national park rangers.

X

X

X

California Public Television. California's Gold: Songbird of Manzanar. (2004)

Features a site visit during the 2004 Annual Pilgrimage and Grand Opening of the Interpretive Center as well as focusing on two former internees, watercolorist Henry Fukuhara and vocalist Mary Kageyama Nomura the "Songbird of Manzanar."

X

X

X

Ina, Satsuki. Children of the Camps. (1999)

Explores the impact of the internment camps.

X

X

Japanese American National Museum. 9066 to 9/11 America's Concentration Camps Then and Now. (2004)

A contemporary view of the World War II experience of Japanese Americans.

X

X

Japanese American National Museum. Harsh Canvas: The Art and Life of Henry Sugimoto. (2001)

Utilizes Sugimoto's translated memoirs to reveal his life and works.

X

X

Japanese American National Museum. Life Interrupted: Reunion and Remembrance in Arkansas. (2006)

Documents the journey of 1,300 people to Arkansas in September 2004.

X

X

Japanese American National Museum. Looking Like the Enemy. (1996)

Explores the experiences of Asian American soldiers in World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam War.

X

X

Tashima, Chris. Day of Independence. (2003)

A baseball story about Japanese American internment.

X

X

X

X

Japanese American National Museum. Toyo Miyatake: Infinite Shades of Gray. (2001)

Focuses on internee Manzanar photographer Toyo Miyatake's life before, during, and after the war.

X

X

Japanese American National Museum. Words, Weavings and Songs. (2002)

Features three women, their experiences at internment camps and how those experiences effect their lives.

X

X

Nisei Baseball Research Project. Diamonds in the Rough: Zeni and the Legacy of Japanese American Baseball. (1999)

Examines baseball in Japanese American communities including impact in the internment camps.

X

X

X

Okazaki, Steven. Days of Waiting. (2000)

Academy-award winning documentary depicts the remarkable story of artist Estelle Peck Ishigo, a Caucasian woman married to a Japanese American man, interned at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Based on her autobiography, Lone Heart Mountain.

X

X

Okazaki, Steven. Unfinished Business: The Japanese American Internment Cases. (2005)

Nominated for an Academy-award this film tells documentary tells the story of three men who refused relocation – Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Min Yasui.

X

X

Omori, Chimiko. Rabbit in the Moon: A Documentary Memoir About World War II Japanese American Internment Camps. (1999)

Explores the experience of two sisters reflection on their internment experience and trying to learn more about their mother.

X

X

Signature Communications. Remembering Manzanar. (2004)

The introductory film shown at Manzanar National Historic Site focuses on oral histories and original photographs and film to tell the story.

X

X

X

X

Visual Communications. Old Man River. (2004)

Cynthia Gates Fujikawa's one woman play fused with personal remembrances, experiences, and discovering her family history.

X

X

Williams, Sue. Time of Fear (2004)

Documents experiences at the two Arkansas War Relocation Centers, Jerome and Rohwer, and the reaction of local citizens.

X

X

Related Internet Resources

The listing of a resource below does not presume endorsement of its content by the National Park Service.

Last updated: March 11, 2020

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