Due to the onset of heightened security concerns and retaliatory sentiments following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, people of Japanese descent, including US citizens, who lived on the West Coast were ordered to relocate to one of ten internment camps built by the US government complete with barbed-wire fences and security towers.  Faced with sudden economic loss, fear against their own government, and most importantly the loss of freedom, they had no choice but to make the most of the situation at these camps in order to preserve whatever normalcy was possible and to establish a sense of community. Professor Takasawa was once informed by a former internee about the prevalence of music lessons at her camp.  Everyone interned, including prominent musicians and teachers, was suddenly living together in close proximity with nowhere else to go and not much to do. In this ironically ideal environment, there were capable teachers and willing students as well as eager audiences. This project will focus on documenting musical activities at the Japanese American internment camps* in order to gain insights into how social and cultural pastimes may have helped ease the tension and despair experienced by the residents. 

* In this research the term “Japanese American internment camps” will be used. There is much debate about the accuracy of the terminology, which some argue does not correctly convey the circumstances of the forced, long-term relocation of one group of American citizens.