This thesis examines the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II from the internees’ side, the side of the United States government and the general non-Japanese American population’s side. It examines three key aspects of internment from the Japanese American perspective: initial feelings of the camps and their conditions; the ways in which Japanese Americans maintained a traditional life during internment or, particularly in the case of Japanese American women, found new opportunities through internment to break with certain traditions; and how both age and gender played a role in their perception of events as well as their ability to resist internment. Oral history interviews with Japanese Americans who were interned provide the main primary source information. Military documents of camp examinations and newspaper articles show the racist climate of the United States during internment. Using these primary sources in conjunction with secondary scholarship from some of the most respected names in Asian American Studies, Roger Daniels, Linda Tamura and Valarie Matsumoto, who have all written extensively on the topic, a better understanding of the experiences Japanese Americans had in the internment camps can be gained. Japanese Americans resisted both racism and internment during this time
