Gaman: Enduring Japanese American Internment at Gila River

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Shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the United States government posted orders for Japanese Americans on the western coast to report to local officials for “evacuation” instructions. In reality, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed without due process from their homes and placed in internment camps in isolated and desolate areas.  Two of those camps were located in Arizona: Poston and Gila River. The Gila River Internment Camp was located just south of Chandler. It was open from 1942 to 1945 and imprisoned 16,655 Japanese Americans simply because they looked like the enemy. Despite the difficult conditions and the demoralizing effects of forced confinement, many were determined to establish a sense of normalcy. The Japanese concept of Gaman (gah-mahn)—enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity—seemed to be the norm. 

Open Names of all the people incarcerated at Gila River	Closeup of display of names	16,655 paper cranes ringed the exhibit, one for each person incarcerated at Gila River
Baseball at Gila River display	Ration books issued to Japanese Americans when they left the camp	Larger than life photo of Frank Fujii standing on the butte looking out over the camp
All photos by Tim Sealy