The Evacuation Diary of Hatsuye Egami - Softcover

Egami, Hatsuye

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9780964804210: The Evacuation Diary of Hatsuye Egami

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0964804212 ISBN 13: 9780964804210

Publisher: Intentional Productions, 1996

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Unique in the literature of "the internment" because it is an actual diary written by an Issei [first generation] Japanese American woman, this intimate account conveys the reality of one woman's 1942 experience. Wrenched from their tranquil Pasadena community, Mrs. Egami, her husband and their four children struggle with unfamiliar, primitive, overcrowded camp conditions at Tulare Assembly Center in the Central Valley of California. Mrs. Egami describes the family's sense of integration in Pasadena before Pearl Harbor, and the indignities they endure as they become accustomed to life in "camp". At the same time, she is consistently able to find small measures of hope and beauty, even in the harsh camp surroundings, as she observes children, flowers, religious and social events, and the behaviors of her new neighbors.

Claire Gorfinkel's introduction to the Diary describes the surprising events that led to its discovery and publication. It also includes powerful commentary on the historic injustice of the internment, and a reminder to remain vigilant against future injustices.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Author:

Soon after Mrs. Egami and her three daughters arrived at Tulare Assembly Center, they stared in horror at the latrine which afforded no privacy. Here is what she told them: "When people return to a state of nakedness, their true worth becomes evident. I think that life here is going to be largely primitive and naked. But don't you think that this is interesting, too? All of you have been able to enjoy civilized life fully until now. Life cannot be interesting if only in one color. It is like a design created by variegated colored strands woven together. It may be that in a naked life there is poetry and truth. I think that from this bare life we can weave something creative and interesting. The person that can do that is one who is really intelligent and wise. Let's carve out a good life together" Mrs. Egami's diary demonstrates her extraordinary ability to weave something more than interesting. It is tender, creative, passionate and informative, revealing that even amidst great deprivation, humans are capable of great gifts of love and understanding.

From the Back Cover:

"About once in a thousand years, it is said that a catastrophe of such intensity occurs that the heavens are disturbed and earth undergoes an upheaval. . ." So writes Hatsuye Egami in her Evacuation Diary. For the Japanese in America the year 1942 saw the heavens disturbed and the earth in upheaval. So intense and disturbing was that event that in 1995, 53 years after the fact, our community is still writing and talking about it. Unfortunately, we have very few recorded stories from our immigrant mothers as witnesses and every bit we can preserve becomes a valuable historic document.

Hatsuye Egami was one such immigrant woman. Her brief daily recordings reveal her inner thoughts. Woven into her description of the daily routine of living in Tulare Assembly Center, they convey a minute but unique piece of that catastrophic time. (Sue Kunitomi Embrey, Chairperson of the Manzanar Committee, Los Angeles).

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