Great idea! I sort of like the idea of both parents being Japanese, myself. Stereotypically, a Japanese man marrying a White woman would be unusual for the time period, but I don't know what was ACTUALLY happening. (Nor do I remember/know when interracial marriage was allowed in California. It was NOT allowed in 1925; I have an antique legal book from back then.)
(If a Japanese-American man somehow made it back to Japan, he would've been drafted into the Japanese army...at least, according to a Japanese short story I read. The character's name was George I believe. Very interesting. [img]smile.gif[/img] )
I don't know much off the top of my head (though I'm sure I've read some stuff and the topic does interest me!). But relocation depended in part on exactly where the Japanese-American family was living in the first place. I don't remember the details, but I know that in Phoenix, AZ, I think there was actually a certain road, and Japanese-Americans on one side of the road were interred, and those on the other side weren't.
(If your girl is in California I suppose it wouldn't matter, though, unless they had relatives in Arizona or farther West, that they could write to.)
I'll see what I can find about culture/furniture/etc. in the time period, and leave the camp stuff to you. (I know a few things about Japan, but not much about Japanese-Americans in general.)
EDIT: If the family really was interred, it doesn't look like you'd have to worry too much about getting/making much pretty furniture, since all the sources I'm reading say they didn't get to bring much of anything. [img]frown.gif[/img] If they're not interred, I'm guessing they'd have either stuff shipped from Japan (which would probably be 1930s style or earlier...the Japanese 1920s were really fairly progressive and modern, so Western-inspired furniture then wouldn't be amiss as far as I know) or else just American stuff with some Asian flair.
<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ March 21, 2006 01:19 AM: Message edited by: Kenshinchan ]</font>
Great idea! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] I was thinking of something along those lines as well. Here's a great book dealing with those issues that I read recently.[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618342907/sr=8-1/qid=114292040"]Thin Wood Walls[/ame] It's very well written in my opinion. [img]smile.gif[/img]
The best information is in Japanese. [img]graemlins/cry_smile.gif[/img] I went through this looking for stuff for Ophelia.
There WAS a wave of interracial marriages in general during the 1920s, legal or not. My grandpa was born near the end of the 20s, and he was half African American/half Caucasian. I don't know how much it applied to Japanese Asians though.
The traditional furniture really hasn't changed. It's been the same for hundreds of years. Most people in the 40s had a mix of modern American and Japanese styles, just like they do today. Black lacquer styles painted with rich scenes or inlaid with mother of pearl have been popular for quite a while. These were also popular during the 20s for mainstream America, so it's quite probable pieces like that would be in an Asian home in the 40s. You will probably want at least one [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami"]tatami mat[/ame] too. They are a traditional Japanese floor covering.
I do have a surrender slip and a yen note brought back from the war if you'd like to see those. The surrender slip is a paper in Japanese and English that a surrendering Japanese servicemen would carry and show to let the Americans know they weren't resisting so they didn't get shot.
Kimonos haven't changed in a VERY long time either. "Modern" Japanese kimonos would probably be fine. I have a Japanese doll (intended for the Japanese market) from the 1960s, and its kimono is exactly like the ones you see sold now.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Could you clue me in on the name of that one? As an Arizonan, I've only read about 2 (perhaps these are just the major ones?) here, Poston Relocation Camp and the Gila River Relocation Camp. I find what you said to be interesting, and would like to read more about it, but since you said it was in Phoenix, I'm not sure which one to look up more on. The Gila River camp was a bit close, so maybe it was that one?I don't know much off the top of my head (though I'm sure I've read some stuff and the topic does interest me!). But relocation depended in part on exactly where the Japanese-American family was living in the first place. I don't remember the details, but I know that in Phoenix, AZ, I think there was actually a certain road, and Japanese-Americans on one side of the road were interred, and those on the other side weren't.
Also, lol, you probably don't need to say "Phoenix, AZ." Given it's been in the top 10 of biggest cities for years (and, unfortunately, is continuing to grow), most people should know which Phoenix you mean, [img]wink.gif[/img] .
Grand Avenue was the street in Phoenix. (There are technically a few other Phoenixes, though you're right, not very populous. [img]smile.gif[/img] I think the main reason I threw in "AZ" is because nowadays, the Phoenix metro area is probably over twice as big as Phoenix proper. Back in the '40s I'm sure you actually had to drive to get between two of the towns in the Phoenix area, instead of just crossing the street.)
Grand Avenue actually runs diagonally just FYI; you could Google Maps or Mapquest it to see the layout. I THINK it runs northwest to southeast, but am not sure about that.
http://www.azcentral.com/culturesaz/...iahistory.html
http://www.azcentral.com/culturesaz/...nternment.html
http://studentmedia.vpsa.asu.edu/web...212/japan.html
(And they say there were only two camps so you're probably right on that front. The Gila River camp would have been the one nearer, but it's possible the internees were sent to either camp; I haven't read up on it.)
I remember something or other about there being a flower- or plant-shop owner who was on the East side of Grand Avenue just recently retiring; very sad, though I likely botched up the details.
<font color="#33CCCC"><font size="1">[ March 21, 2006 01:51 AM: Message edited by: Kenshinchan ]</font></font>
<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ March 21, 2006 01:53 AM: Message edited by: Kenshinchan ]</font>
Thanks so much for the links! I had *no* idea what to google for. I did a few "Phoenix Japanese internment" but that wasn't working out too well for me, lol. And double thanks to the link for the culture section of azcentral! I've been to the site before, but I'd never seen any of this. I think I was reading what you said wrong, sorry about that!
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I actually live in Tucson, but this is *so* true, lol! Do you live in AZ? I don't think too many people would know of the rapid growth if they weren't at least an Arizonan.I think the main reason I threw in "AZ" is because nowadays, the Phoenix metro area is probably over twice as big as Phoenix proper. Back in the '40s I'm sure you actually had to drive to get between two of the towns in the Phoenix area, instead of just crossing the street.
Kids, don't ever give out personal information over the Internet!
(But yes, I'm in the Phoenix metro area right now. I went to college in Tucson and it was pretty nice...the great thing about Tucson is, you can always say, "At least we're not as X as Phoenix" (insert "hot," "polluted," "congested," or another negative adjective of your choice [img]smile.gif[/img] ).
Anyway, someone should definitely do an Arizona American Girl doll! Arizona doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, at least not in entertainment media. [img]smile.gif[/img]
EDIT: ALTHOUGH, there's apparently a pretty new book called Weedflower that deals with a girl in the AZ internment camps, so maybe CA is better after all.
http://visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzlo.../26/31239.aspx
Anyway, best of luck, Horsemom, and I'll post if I find any cultural resources...I'll thumb through my old Japanese literature books for clues too. Overall, though, the '40s weren't that long ago, so I assume they'd generally be pretty similar to Japanese-Americans of today, culturally. And Japan really did try to emulate the West in the '20s (started to get more isolationist in the '30s I think) so heavy Western influences would be OK...or not, if you have your heart set on tatami mats in your rooms and such. I'm sure your girl would have a nice kimono, regardless; either robelike or very ornate, long, and ceremonial would probably be fine. But assuming she's American, she'd probably wear Western clothes to school and to parties, etc. In few pictures I found on the Internet, the Japanese and other Asian areas in America looked MORE "Western" then, than they do now. (They looked like Western houses with Asian characters on them, instead of the current trend towards pagoda-style roofs, paper lanterns, etc.) That appearance of assimilation may have been due to the anti-Asian sentiment during the Great Depression; one account I read (don't remember if I linked to it) had a girl saying her mother burned their family's kendo equipment before going to an internment camp, because they didn't want to seem Japanese. [img]frown.gif[/img]
Bad sentiments aside, I think even Japanese people visiting America in the late 1800s wore Western clothes, and businessmen were likely wearing Western clothes even in Japan by the '20s. (Women wore kimono longer; supposedly even today, you can see old women wearing kimono in Japan sometimes. But very "modern" women in Japan in the '20s would've dressed rather like women were dressing in Europe and the US. In the war in Japan, people just wore whatever they could get their hands on, I'm afraid.)
You should be able to find some pictures of '40s era Japanese schoolkids to see if there were any Japanese-style influences on kids' everyday clothing, though you might have to look at books for them. Just like immigrants today, depending on what generation she was, your girl could have fond memories of Japan, or not even know any of the traditions because she's so far removed from them, so you have a lot of leeway.
ONE LAST EDIT HONESTLY: Re: interracial marriage and such, http://www.kqed.org/w/baywindow/othe...mes/index.html says that people as much as 1/16th Japanese were interred; I would take that to imply that the spouse of a Japanese person would NOT be, although I couldn't say for sure, and I'm sure in the wide history of internment, there would have to be at least one instance of a non-Japanese spouse going to a camp. But your internment books/research might be a better way to get your answer than taking my guesses.
I'm almost sure it was illegal for a Japanese person to marry a Caucasian in CA at the time; in 1909 a Japanese man married a non-Japanese woman and so they passed a law in California to keep that from happening again. [img]tongue.gif[/img] I recall stories about mixed-race couples going up north to either Oregon or Washington (I forget which) to marry, though.
<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ March 21, 2006 02:57 AM: Message edited by: Kenshinchan ]</font>
Depending on who you get a chance to talk to you will get two differnt sides. I've listened to a lot of Japanese speakers who were put into the concentration camps (and that is how they refer to them as, while refering to the camps in Germany as Death Camps... which from my readings I have to agree with). They were not allowed to take much, so any furniture, clothes, etc. would be extremely limited. Plus, unless the family in question knew a nice white family to watch their businesses, they would have to sell off most of their property or risk it being stolen or damaged while they were in the camps. Here is one article
http://www.fear.org/RMillerJ-A.html
This site is from PBS I think, I just found it and actually looks pretty good.
http://www.children-of-the-camps.org/ And would seem to be right up your ally.
The problem that I see is with the other view. Most people growing up learning about WWII, seem to neglect the part about putting the Japanese in concentration camps, the only reason I knew about this growing up was because half of my family is Japanese. Thankfully most of my family wasn't in the US when WWII began... unfortunately most of them did live near or around Hiroshima... so maybe I am a bit bias, but this is from Japanese points of view.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I remember learning about it sometime around 3-5th grade. I was homeschooled a few years and public schooled others, and I really can't remember which place I learned about it. I am leaning toward in public school though.Originally posted by sailorangel59:
The problem that I see is with the other view. Most people growing up learning about WWII, seem to neglect the part about putting the Japanese in concentration camps, the only reason I knew about this growing up was because half of my family is Japanese. Thankfully most of my family wasn't in the US when WWII began... unfortunately most of them did live near or around Hiroshima... so maybe I am a bit bias, but this is from Japanese points of view.
I agree it's not widely enough taught though. I've ran into serveral adults who had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it.
I think these look lovely and might be a good start - However most Japanese Americans were wearing Western Clothing so would have been dressed more like Molly so you can probably add a few of her itmes.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Handmade-Silk-Ki...QQcmdZViewItem
While I agree that there needs to be more education on the Japanese Internment I don't think this is the place to debate it.
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