In the early months of 1942, following America’s entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the United States Army to remove nearly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from their homes and communities on the west coast; two-thirds were American citizens. Manzanar was one of 10 camps to which they were sent. Enclosed by barbed wire, the mile-wide living area contained barracks, mess halls, and other buildings – including a Buddhist Temple. 11,070 Japanese Americans lived here between March 1942 and November 1945.
Of particular note was the cemetery (where the big white monument with the Japanese writing on it is). 15 of the 150 people who died at Manzanar were buried here; most of the others were cremated. Six burials remain there today; relatives moved the other nine after the war.
Please note: I asked a ranger if it was okay to take photographs of the graves that still remain there; and he said it was fine. I am always respectful of cemeteries and would not violate any rules regarding the taking of photographs.
In 1943 internee and Master stonemason for the Los Angeles Catholic diocese Ryozo Kado, along with block 9 residents and members of the Buddhist Young Peoples organization, constructed the Cemetery Memorial obelisk. The inscriptions on the monument were written by Manzanar's Buddhist minister Rev. Shinjo Nagatomi. The three characters on the front or east side of the memorial literally translate as "soul consoling tower" (photo directly below). On the back or west side the left hand column reads "Erected by the Manzanar Japanese", the right hand column "August 1943" (9 photos down).
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| The front of the monument - facing east. |
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| The back of the mounument - facing west. |
FYI: This touching historic site is located south on Independence, CA, and north of Lone Pine, CA, right on CA-395. It is inbetween Death Valley National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. If you ever find yourself near this area, I would recommend you taking about an hour and going through the site.
