The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 [Hardcover]

Delphine Hirasuna (Author), Terry Heffernan (Photographer), Kit Hinrichs (Designer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 mandated the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans, including men, women, children, the elderly, and the infirm, for the duration of the war. Allowed only what they could carry, they were given just a few days to settle their affairs and report to assembly centers. Businesses were lost, personal property was stolen or vandalized, and lives were shattered. The Japanese word gaman means "enduring what seems unbearable with dignity and grace. "Imprisoned in remote camps surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by soldiers with machine guns, the internees sought courage and solace in art. Using found materials at first and later what they could order by catalog, they whittled and carved, painted and etched, stitched and crocheted. What they created is a celebration of the nobility of the human spirit under adversity. THE ART OF GAMAN presents more than 150 examples of art created by internees, along with a history of the camps.Reviews". . . demonstrates the poignancy of the internment experience and the strength of the human spirit."-Alaska Airlines Magazine

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Flowerlike brooches delicately made from tiny seashells; a large vanity table crafted from persimmon wood; intricately carved slate teapots; elegant dolls sewn from old kimono fabric. These are just some of the gorgeous arts and crafts presented in this moving, full-color volume by Hirasuna (Long May She Wave, etc.). All of them were made by Japanese-Americans confined in internment camps during WWII. "The objects that [internees] made from scrap and found materials are testaments to their perseverance, their resourcefulness, their spirit and humanity," Hirasuna writes. As such, they are "a physical manifestation of the art of gaman"—the art of "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity." Certainly, the treatment Japanese-Americans received at the hands of the U.S. government was unjustifiable. In 1942, some 120,000 of them were forced to move into shoddily constructed camps located in some of the most barren areas of the western United States. They were given only one week to settle their affairs and allowed to bring with them only what goods they could carry, with the result that predatory merchants bought most of their property for a pittance and many of the families lost their homes. Trapped in the camps with only cots for furniture, the internees began their crafts from necessity, constructing rough-hewn tables, chairs, bureaus and woodworking tools from found materials. But as their skill progressed and their confinement stretched from one year to four, they began to produce objects of startling elegance and beauty. Hirasuna's exceptional volume give fair treatment to both the depressing conditions of the camp and the ingenuity and fortitude that its residents mustered to survive it. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

Gaman is a Japanese word for endurance with grace and dignity in the face of what seems unbearable. Hirasuna presents a searing and soaring tribute to this human attribute in a volume of color photographs of artworks rendered from everyday objects by the 112,700 Japanese American internees held in World War II detention camps. After the post-Pearl Harbor panic that led to the rounding up of Pacific Coast Japanese American communities, FBI searches, and forced relocations, the internees felt a need to establish order and community as they were subjected to isolation and subsistence living conditions. Even in such grim circumstances, the urge to make art was a powerful one, as these arts and crafts created in the internment camps attest. Whether one considers butterflies fashioned from shells, or a surprisingly elegant chair made of scrap two-by-fours at the Tule Lake California camp, or birds carved from Arkansas cypress in Camp Rohwer, one is witnessing testimony to human character, courage, and irrepressible creativity. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580086896
• ISBN-13: 978-1580086899
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 0.6 x 12.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #641,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was moved to tears, January 10, 2007

By 

miss tasia (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 (Hardcover)

The heart and spirit of the japanese internees continued to shine within the walls of their confinement. They found beauty and admiration of beautiful things living in desolate and inhumane conditions of the prison camps. This is a understated book with touching stories to tell.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done!, January 10, 2007

By 

J. Boyer (Lewes, DE) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 (Hardcover)

This book shows artwork done with minimal supplies in the Japanese-American concentration camps of the western US during WWII. The images are high quality, in color, and very thought-provoking.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of Gaman by Hirasuna, December 20, 2005

By 

Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca CPA,... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 (Hardcover)

This work documents the extensive detainment of Japanese
citizens during the later period of WWII. These prisoners
were kept in whitewashed horse stalls in California, Oregon
and the State of Washington. The camps emphasized education
including arts/crafts with a shortage of teachers.

Fine works of art include:
- The Natural Form of a Snake by Obata
- Kobu by Matsuhiro
- A Bonsai Notebook by Iseyama
- Shell Broaches and Corsages by Iwa Miura and Shintaku

The volume is a solid value for the price charged. It is a must
for serious students of WWII and historians everywhere.