Comments on: "Japanese Relocation"

"Japanese Relocation"

The Deej — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:19:06 -0800

"Japanese Relocation" - A short propaganda film created by the US government & the "Office of War Information - Bureau of Motion Pictures." The subject has been much discussed previously on MetaFilter. Here and here, among other threads.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:20:14 -0800

The Heart Mountain Relocation Center (WikiPedia) is only about 100 miles from me. Here's one of the photos I took while there. (Self-link, obviously.)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:31:09 -0800

I keep being amazed at how Europeans around me, saturated with WWII history as they may be, are wholly unaware of this part of war history. Thanks for posting this.

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:33:11 -0800

I drive past Tanforan every day. It's now a (dying) shopping mall. And a few years ago we were up in Tulelake (the name of the town in NE California, up on the Oregon border), near where the Tule Lake relocation center was. We were there for a birding trip. The first thing our guide told us was "Don't ask anyone about the Japanese internment camp. It's a very sore subject." Our driver that weekend told us stories about the German POWs who were kept in the area - they stayed in essentially unguarded barracks, and officers at least could pretty much come and go as they pleased. The whole area is beautiful, and very spooky.

By: nola

nola — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:49:30 -0800

This film made perfect sense to me. I found it helps if you're standing on your head while viewing.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:52:25 -0800

Wow, they sure made internment sound fun! I sure wish someone would come and take me to a land that was raw and full of opportunity. That would be keen. Swell even! Does anyone else find the title 'War Relocation Authority' really menacing? Like something from Newspeak.

By: footage

footage — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:58:38 -0800

Much better (and downloadable) copy at the Internet Archive. A companion film, Challenge to Democracy, is also there.

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:26:32 -0800

Happy Camps!

By: The Deej

The Deej — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:09:23 -0800

footage, your Challenge to Democracy link is great. Thanks!

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:00:11 -0800

This is fascinating. Can't help but compare with it the footage from the Jewish round ups in Europe, especially when they board the trains for their "final stop". I wonder how many really did accept the relocation as their contribution to the war effort?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:03:09 -0800

Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps -- and don't forget that this adminstration says they can do whatever they want to anyone at any time based on nothing more than their own say so.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:21:45 -0800

Page of interesting-looking links.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:32:19 -0800

"quick disposal of property often involved financial sacrifice for the evacuees" - you don't say. "new pioneer communities" - in the fertile desert. The propaganda in this clip is fascinating and creepy. It will be interesting for people in the future to look at some of the propaganda we are living though today since it seems to reach a fevered pitch anytime a lot of citizens are afraid or enraged. Good post, The Deej, thanks.

By: Avenger

Avenger — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:21:27 -0800

Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps The only plus side to that article is the amount of money given to Halliburton to build the camps: $385 million. Judging by how much Halliburton charges for everything else, 385 million bucks should get us a two-room tin shack with some barbed wire around it.

By: Davenhill

Davenhill — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:51:08 -0800

Golly-jeepers that was swell. To sum it up, the documentary might as well have concluded with a special message to all of the American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were interned against their will: You're Welcome! Did I say 'slave labor camps?' I meant 'happy camps!'

By: Okinawa

Okinawa — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:14:54 -0800

All countries use propaganda, the US is one of the worst.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:29:44 -0800

Concentration camps are yay!

By: zouhair

zouhair — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:38:37 -0800

Okinawa: "All countries use propaganda, the US is one of the worst." But not all of those countries brags about being the "most democratic" country in the world and they most of them don't give lessons to others. Anyway America didn't change a bit from these time, these kind of acts always needs some back up from the people, Guantanamo is a good example of that.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:23:42 -0800

This makes me feel sick. The use of words to gloss over the reality of what is taking place is amazing, 'community', 'residents', 'opportunity', 'homes' and the desire of the Japanese to 'reclaim the desert'. Nothing like being forced out of your home and being put into a prison camp. Sounds like a great opportunity to me. 'We are setting a standard for the rest of the world in the treatment of people who may have loyalties to an enemy nation' - Guilty until proven innocent.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:14:23 -0800

The part that keeps replaying in my head is the image of the buses and trucks, while the narrator explains how they were "provided by the government," making it sound like the vehicles were a favor. It's a fascinating look at the use of language, and made me wonder how many hours/day/weeks and how many people it took to write that script.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:55:33 -0800

Concentration camps are yay! The internment camps were concentration camps as the term was used at the time (not as it's commonly understood now). Please change the "interment" tag to "internment."

By: The Deej

The Deej — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:59:23 -0800

Please change the "interment" tag to "internment." Yikes! Lazy finger. Thanks, done. Sure, they were bad, but certainly not interment camps!