Dave M. Tatsuno Japanese-American internment camp video, 1942-1945

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Tatsuno, Dave M.
Title
Dave M. Tatsuno Japanese-American internment camp video
Dates
1942-1945 (inclusive)
Quantity
1 VHS videocassette
Collection Number
A0668
Summary
The Dave M. Tatsuno Japanese-American internment camp video (1942-1945) consists of a VHS videocassette dub of amateur film footage shot by Dave M. Tatsuno while he was interned at the Topaz War Relocation Center, the Japanese-American internment camp located in Delta, Utah. The footage dates from 1942-1945, the years that Tatsuno was interned in the camp.
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Materials must be used on-site; no use of original material, access copies will be made available for viewing. Five business days advanced notice required. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law, condition of the material, or by donor.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Topaz War Relocation Center (11 September 1945-31 October 1945) was the fifth largest city in Utah during World War II, when it was home to over 9,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants, who were relocated from the West Coast of the United States of America as a result of Executive Order 9066. Relocated from California's Bay Area, Dave M. Tatsuno recorded his experiences in the camp in moving images. All footage was shot in secret as neither moving image nor still cameras were allowed in any of the Japanese-American internment camps. In fact, evacuees were required to turn in all cameras to the War Department once the war began. Tatsuno, rather than give up his camera to the authorities, loaned it to a Caucasian friend who lived in Oakland, California for the duration of the war. After he was sent to Topaz, Tatsuno mentioned to a camp employee that he wished he had a camera to document life in camp. The worker offered to have Tatsuno's camera sent to himself and agreed to give Tatsuno the camera once it arrived at the camp. Tatsuno was a young, married man at the time he was sent to Topaz. He and his wife had a son who was still a toddler and Tatsuno's wife gave birth to their daughter while in camp.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Dave M. Tatsuno Japanese-American internment camp video (1942-1945) consists of a VHS videocassette dub of amateur film footage shot by Dave M. Tatsuno while he was interned at the Topaz War Relocation Center, the Japanese-American internment camp located in Delta, Utah. The J. Willard Marriott Library does not hold the original film. The footage dates from 1942-1945, the years that Tatsuno was interned in the camp. All footage was shot in secret as neither moving image nor still cameras were allowed in any of the Japanese-American internment camps. This video has been digitized and is availabel to view on DVD.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Dave M. Tatsuno Japanese-American internment camp video must be obtained from the Special Collections Multimedia Archivist.

Preferred Citation

Initial Citation: Dave M. Tatsuno Japanese-American internment camp video A0668, Special Collections and Archives. University of Utah, J. Willard Marriott. Salt Lake City, Utah.

Following Citations:A0668.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donated by Dave M. Tatsuno in 2001.

Processing Note

Processed by Tawnya Mosier in 2002.

Separated Materials

See also the Dave M. Tatsuno photograph collection (P1163).

Related Materials

This collection forms part of the Mitsugi M. Kasai Memorial Japanese American Archive.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
cassette
1 Topaz

VHS videocassette
Dave M. Tatsuno's film shot secretly within Topaz War Internment Camp. Tatsuno narrates the originally silent video. Shot list:
  • Title card: "Topaz Memories - A Journey of the Heart"
  • Title card: "Dedicated in Memory of Walter Honderick"
  • Close-up: Small boy holding a copy of the camp High School yearbook
  • Long shot: Barracks
  • Medium shot: Co-op Dry Goods store
  • Medium shot: Barracks
  • Close-up: Co-op T-shirt
  • Medium shot: Co-op office staff
  • Medium shot: Customers leaving store
  • Close-up: Wall calendar (December 1943)
  • Long shot: Sunrise at Topaz
  • Medium shot: Co-op warehouse workers
  • Medium shot: A young couple who met and married in Topaz
  • Medium shot/close-up: Small boy and his parents
  • Long shot: People wait in a very long line for the Co-op to open in order to buy hard to find merchandize
  • Close-up: Sunday School program
  • Medium shot: People in dress clothes standing around before or after church services
  • Medium shot: Reverends Skumoto, Shimata and Nugent
  • Medium shot: People who came to Topaz in exchange from Tooele Lake (Evacuees who claimed their loyalty to the United States were allowed to stay at Topaz. Those who did not were sent to Tooele Lake.)
  • Medium shot: Evacuees doing volunteer outside work: repairing pipes, digging, shoveling dirt, etc.
  • Long shot: Sunset at Topaz
  • Medium shot/close-up: E. Stanley Jones, famous preacher and author of Christ of the American Road, during a visit to the camp
  • Medium shot: The camp administrator and his wife
  • Long shot: Girls of Japanese-Italian ancestry. Tatsuno notes that people with 1/8 or more Japanese ancestry were sent to Topaz
  • Medium shot: Evacuees cleaning the chimneys of the mess hall
  • Medium shot/close-up: Woman with various young children
  • Long shot: Exterior shot of High School auditorium, built by evacuees
  • Point of view shot: High School students leave Topaz with Reverend Nugent to speak at churches in Salt Lake City
  • Medium shot/close-up: The same students stand on the ground in Delta, Utah
  • Long shot: Evacuation train
  • Medium shot: Main Street in Delta, Utah
  • Long shot: Wasatch Mountains
  • Close-up: Rocks arranged in the dirt spelling out "Thanksgiving 1943"
  • Medium shot: Mess Hall
  • Medium shot: Mess Hall staff
  • Close-up: Men ringing the dinner bell
  • Medium shot/close-up: Block manager and his assistant
  • Medium shot/close-up: Waitresses
  • Long shot: A small amount of snow on the ground
  • Medium shot/close-up: The traditional making of Japanese Moji cakes
  • Close-up: New Year's card from 1944. The card shows a drawing of the camp and was created by Dave's Tatsuno's brother, an architect
  • Medium shot: Dave Tatsuno's friend who sent the camera into the camp during a visit he made to the camp from Oakland
  • Medium shot: War Relocation Authority (WRA) staff
  • Long shot: Barracks
  • Long shot: Winter day in camp - children being pulled on sleds by a man
  • Close-up: Icicles hanging from barracks
  • Medium shot: Dave Tatsuno's father sweeping the ground in front of his barracks. The ground is covered with snow
  • Long shot/medium shot/close-up: Winter scenes - plants covered in snow, barracks covered in snow, etc.
  • Long shot: Snow falling on barracks
  • Medium shot: Dave Tatsuno's father and Dave's son on a walk
  • Long shot: Sunrise at Topaz
  • Long shot: Hospital building
  • Water tower with a pile of coal sitting in the foreground
  • Medium shot: Post Office
  • Close-up: Pigs in their pens
  • Medium shot: Barracks roofs
  • Medium shot/close-up: One girl ice skating. Tatsuno notes that the evacuees let some water out in order to create an ice rink, but the girl filmed was the only person with ice skates
  • Long shot: Guard tower in distance
  • Medium shot/close-up: Evacuee family
  • Medium shot: Traditional flags being flown on flagpoles for a festival
  • Medium shot/close-up: University of Utah blanket from the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) champions. Dave Tatsuno's brother, who was on the team, was not allowed to play in the championship game at Madison Square Garden
  • Medium shot: Dave Tatsuno's father-in-law
  • Medium shot: Dave Tatsuno's brother and another University of Utah basketball player fold the championship blanket
  • Long shot: A dust storm in camp
  • Close-up: Parched, cracked eart of Topaz
  • Long shot: Dust storm footage. It is posisble to see a truck delivering food to the Mess Hall
  • Medium shot: Dave Tatsuno hanging diapers up to dry
  • Long shot: Dave Tatsuno teaching public speaking to a class of High School seniors. Very dark
  • Medium shot: The Topaz HI-Y club, a local chapter of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)
  • Close-up: Emil Sackarac, advisor to the HI-Y club
  • Close-up: A "Relocation Leave Office" sign in camp
  • Medium shot/long shot: Evacuees getting ready to go back to their homes
  • Medium shot/long shot: Evacuees boarding school busses and driving away from camp
  • Close-up/medium shot: Camp administrator and his wife
  • Close-up/medium shot: Dave Tatsuno's daughter, age 6 months. She was born inside the camp
  • Close-up/medium shot: Dave Tatsuno's brother visiting with family during a visit to the camp. He was in the United States Army at the time and had to pass through Army guards to visit his family in the internment camp
  • Long shot: Sunset at Topaz
At the end of the video, Tatsuno states, "Farewell, Topaz, Farewell. Thank God that it's all over."
1942-1945

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Internment of Japanese Americans, 1942-1945
  • World War II

Geographical Names

  • Topaz (Utah)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Moving images