Pastimes

Despite working in camp or attending school, many Japanese Americans found time to join clubs and play sports. Some people, particularly the older Issei men and women, the original immigrants from Japan, chose not to work.

Children and adults participated in a variety of games and sports. Playing and watching baseball was so popular that Manzanar supported not just baseball teams, but leagues of multiple teams. Many blocks built basketball courts. Students played volleyball in the firebreak west of the auditorium.  Some internees even built a 9-hole “golf course” of oiled sand in the southwest corner of the camp. Japanese traditions were kept alive through judo and kendo and games like Goh and Shogi.

Arts and craft clubs provided opportunities to share knowledge and culture. Artists gave lessons in painting and sketching, providing their own equipment and supplies themselves. Several expert sewing teachers who had operated a sewing school before the war gave lessons to over 1,100 individuals. Early on, hundreds of students learned paper flower-making without real flowers. Knitting, embroidery, puppetry, and Japanese calligraphy helped internees pass the time and beautify their surroundings.