HomeLatestBuddhism Under Japanese Incarceration During WWII (U.S. National Park Service)

Buddhism Under Japanese Incarceration During WWII (U.S. National Park Service)


Manzanar Cemetery Monument, 1943.

Photo by Ansel Adams.

Interfaith Cooperation at Manzanar War Relocation Center

Buddhist Japanese Americans outnumbered Christians in incarceration camps. However, camp authorities normally supported and inspired Christian worship. They usually handled Buddhism coolly. Christian and Buddhist leaders in lots of camps labored exhausting to carry their two communities collectively. They aimed to create a shared sense of morale and objective.

At Manzanar War Relocation Center in California, this joint effort is embodied within the Manzanar Cemetery Monument. Erected in 1943, the white concrete obelisk was deliberate by the camp’s Town Hall Committee and Buddhist and Christian ministers. Leaders requested Ryozo Kado to design the monument. Kado was a Catholic stonemason and backyard planner. The characters “I-Rei-To” adorn the entrance of the obelisk. The conventional inscription means “Monument to Venerate the Spirit of the Deceased.” The Rev. Shinjo Nagatomi, a Buddhist priest, spent weeks perfecting the calligraphy for the engraving. Donations from households within the camp raised $1000 for the monument’s development. A dedication ceremony on August 14, 1943 coincided with the Buddhist Obon competition, a vacation to honor ancestral household spirits.

The monument stays standing immediately. It gives a focus for guests to Manzanar National Historic Site. Each 12 months, members within the Manzanar Pilgrimage collect on the monument for an interfaith service that pays tribute to those that lived and died on the camp.

Manzanar War Relocation Center was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1976 and designed a National Historic Landmark on February 4, 1985. In 1991, the US Congress designated Manzanar a National Historic Site.

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