“Hidden Legacy: Japanese Traditional Performing Arts in the World War II Internment Camps”

“Hidden Legacy: Japanese Traditional  Performing Arts in the World War II Internment Camps” (2014, 57 min.) by Shirley Muramoto. This film unveils Japanese traditional arts that continued while Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II, at a time when the War Relocation Authority pushed for assimilation and Americanization. They helped to build cultural pride and self-esteem, and to draw attention away from the bleak surroundings while imprisoned in the desert.

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Art of the Camps

Out of bleak surroundings and the deprivation of civil liberties, music, art and culture bloomed out of the desert during the war. Some artists flourished once released from the camps, reaching new heights in their fields.