[Home Movies of Amache (Granada) / circa 1942 - 1945]

Date1942-1945

ClassificationsMoving Images

Credit LineGift of Jim Hirabayashi (segment 1) Gift of Annie Koyama and Jim Hirabayashi (segment 2)

Object number2004.123.1

DescriptionSegment 1:
Black and white and color home movie footage of the Amache concentration camp in Colorado, filmed by an unidentified filmmaker, circa 1942-1945. Footage covers multiple seasons and includes outdoor scenes and views of camp residents, pounding and shaping mochi, and a football game in progress.

Timecode list:
(black and white)
0:31 – Film is black.
0:44 – Footage has many vertical lines. Camera operator films people exiting a mess hall at Amache concentration camp in Colorado. Young women exiting building, men wave, women avoid being filmed.
2:03 – Views of barracks exteriors and people walking around. Boys run across open area.
2:34 – Panning views of camp from a distance.
2:45 – Young men walking on a water tower catwalk; view of water tower from the ground up.
3:14 – Multiple views of camp buildings in the snow, people walking through snow.
5:22 – Men pounding mochi indoors with kine and usu.
5:58 – Women and one elderly man shaping mochi indoors.
6:22 – Men standing outside by mochi steamers, some snow visible.

(color)
6:51 – No snow anymore. Men of all ages standing outside, then walking and waving for the camera operator.
7:26 – Girls skipping in open area; people exiting a mess hall.
8:02 – Mess hall cooks and staff exit and wave to the camera; staff stands outside.
8:55 – Children pose by barracks; a dog lies on scrap wood.
9:31 – Barracks sign visible for apartment F (Morishita and Yonemura?) and apartment E.
9:35 – Shaky views of people walking between camp buildings in the distance and children playing. Long shots of clouds.
10:32 – Deep snowdrifts; woman in a red coat with a dog. Views of camp buildings with snowy roofs and icicles in bright sun.

(black and white)
11:13 – Views of crowd at a football game at Amache.
11:45 – Football game in progress; multiple shots of players running in various directions.
12:15 – Referee walking across the field.
12:31 – Football game in progress; multiple plays.
12:50 – Panning views of camp buildings.
13:27 – Two JA men in uniform outside Amache Police Department building.
13:45 – Exterior of another camp building.
14:00 – Film goes black.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Segment 2:

Color and black and white home movie footage filmed by Utaro Shimasaki at Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, circa 1943 to 1945. Footage includes daily life in camp over multiple seasons, indoor and out, including: groups arriving at Heart Mountain by train, views of camp and landscape, various buildings, people working and doing chores, people leaving camp by bus and train, ceremonies and dancing, and winter activities like skating. Some of the footage is scratched or incorrectly exposed. Another slightly different copy of the same footage is JANM ID 93.66.1.

Footage mostly of daily life in camp, mix of both color and b&w. Shot across different seasons. Much of the footage is scratched and sometimes shot in incorrect exposure, but overall there is a wide range of indoor/exterior spaces, activities, age ranges, and gender captured.

Timecode list:
00:51 – COLOR landscape of Heart Mountain, many scratches
01:15 – crowds of people outside, summer, overexposed
01:34 – train arriving with crowd of people waiting
01:44 – train “Santa Fe” with soldiers and people looking out the windows pulling into station, crowd holding signs
02:36 – crowds of people, luggage taken off caravans
02:45 – people leaving a building
03:07 – young boy scouts standing near pile of suitcases
03:19 – two women standing by sign, empty landscape in background
03:26 – sign reads “Do not pass through over or under fence, between this sign and the guard tower” in both english and japanese
03:52 – two women by guard tower
04:00 – two women walking under/over hills
04:27 – panning shot of barracks from afar, on top of hill
05:00 – woman taking a photo of another
05:11 – another panning shot of barracks with ground in the foreground, on top of hill
05:40 – ground-level panning shots of buildings
05:58 – static shots of buildings

06:10 – B&W exterior shot of fire dept building with men sitting on trucks
06:20 – wide shot of empty road with hills into distance
06:36 – man shaking a bell outside the mess hall
06:45 – exterior shots of people walking into mess hall
07:15 – interior shot of kitchen, many pots and pans on cupboards
07:38 – man washing dishes
07:50 – people in line waiting to get food
08:15 – young women/men serving food
08:20 – exterior shot of group putting coal into buckets
08:40 – exterior shot of group mostly women with children walking away from camera (overexposed)
09:00 – “Vocation Heart Mountain” building with bus and group outside

09:16 – COLOR young women with books shaking hands
09:20 – guard checking paperwork of people boarding a bus to leave Heart Mountain
09:30 – group of women outside of a bus

09:55 – B&W Boy Scout drum and bugle band playing outside in front of a stage [Heart Mountain camp director announcing departure of 3 army draftees – same as JANM photo 97.179.5.]
10:32 – Two young men (the army draftees) smiling and greeting people in crowd
10:44 – Men pounding mochi with kine and usu indoors
11:12 – women making mochi, many hands rolling and forming mochi shapes, they look happy
11:34 – two women washing boards in large sinks (the older one in spotted shirt is the filmmaker’s mother)
11:45 – older woman (filmmaker’s mother) chopping meat on floor crouched down with a small axe
11:53 – woman laughing turning pages of a newspaper on a bed, then plays ukulele

12:09 – COLOR young kids exiting a building
12:24 – kids/toddlers playing outside

12:52 – B&W young woman having a photography portrait session, laughing and smiling
13:07 – photographer behind camera
13:24 – young man having photography portrait session, laughing and talking
13:42 – a white woman (school librarian) at a desk stamping pages
13:57 – woman (clerk?) at desk signing and stamping pages of books
14:10 – Dillon Meyer, head of the War Relocation Authority, speaks at a podium

14:32 – COLOR a flowering tree (overexposed)
14:39 – group of girls (cheerleaders and drum majorette) with pompoms marching and performing a choreographed routine

15:10 – B&W girls dancing in a circle (obon?)

15:36 – COLOR obon dancing with all ages
16:08 – many people ice skating (underexposed)
16:24 – many people ice skating with barracks and heart mountain in background at times (better exposure)
17:45 – woman ice skating among others
17:59 – three women outside a barrack, talking, windy
18:17 – an older couple (the filmmaker’s parents) outside on steps, the woman holding a dog (Jigs)

18:31 – B&W woman chasing and playing around with a cute dog (Jigs) around outside
18:50 – dog (Jigs) performing tricks
19:15 – men peering out of train window smiling
19:20 – crowd of people outside of train, people sticking outside window
19:31 – train departs with people leaving Heart Mountain, everyone waving on

19:39 – COLOR panning shot of graves with close up on one label

One 16 mm film reel with two separate film contents:
Segment 1: 2004.123.1_1
Home Movies of Amache (Granada) / circa 1942 - 1945
Filmed by Unidentified Filmmaker
Gift of Jim Hirabayashi

Segment 2: 2004.123.1_2 (see also 93.66.1, an alternate copy of this footage)
Home Movies of Heart Mountain / circa 1942 – 1945
Filmed by Utaro Shimasaki
Gift of Annie Koyama and Jim Hirabayashi