Held captive in their own country during World War II, Japanese Americans used nature to cope with their unjustified imprisonment

Incarcerated in rough barracks surrounded by barbed wire and armed soldiers, Japanese Americans made functional and beautiful items to ease their suffering.

By: Susan H. Kamei, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: February 9, 2026

Words: 1,244

Last Updated: 1 month ago

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By Susan H. Kamei, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

With a stroke of a presidential pen, the lives of Izumi Taniguchi, Minoru Tajii, Homei Iseyama and Peggy Yorita irreparably changed on Feb. 19, 1942. On that day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which set in motion their wartime incarceration along with other people of Japanese ancestry who were forcibly removed from their homes in parts of California, Oregon, Washington …

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