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In the poor conditions of the Manzanar internment camp, music and radio became important sources of connection and entertainment. Families gathered, sharing laughter and stories as melodies filled the air, providing a sense of community through the struggle of their everyday lives. The crackling radio brought news and entertainment, lifting spirits and reminding internees of their lives before the war. Radio and music became increasingly more relied on as the second world war progressed because it was a way to receive information about the war and what was happening outside of the camps.  Jeanne Watasuki Houston’s memoir Farewell to Manzanar explores the difference between Japanese-American and American lives during WWII, and how radio and music was able to bridge a connection through communication to encourage understanding between the feelings of the many different cultural groups during the challenging events of the war.

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one of the jazz bands in the internment camps hired by the government

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Types of Music and Radio While In the Internment camps - Stella

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Types of Music and Radio While In the Internment camps - Stella

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https://screencast.apps.chrome/12EWo08gducHypSEtkt4CpeaLZdsRYasx?createdTime=2025-01-22T00%3A57%3A15.442Z

by Estella Glickstein

In Japanese internment camps like Manzanar, music, and radio played a significant role in providing entertainment for the internees. They would gather around radios to listen to music and updates about the outside world. Music served as a means to bring people together and foster a sense of community. As stated by Minako Waseda “the internees were truly in need of recreational activities—including music and dance—as a way to bring enjoyment and solace to the grim and stressful camp life and to sustain hope.” (“Music in Japanese…”) This highlights how music was essential for providing joy and keeping the internees entertained during their time in the camps.With plenty of free time on their hands, the internees sought activities to occupy themselves. The government also attempted to introduce American culture into the camps, including jazz music. According to the same article, “Nonetheless, by performing and dancing to big band jazz repertoires, young Japanese Americans, consciously or not, were affirming their identity as Americans.”(“Music in Japanese…”) This demonstrates that the presence of jazz bands in the camps helped Japanese Americans engage with and better understand American culture. The musicians in these jazz bands were also compensated with a monthly salary.In summary, in internment camps like Manzanar, music and radio were vital sources of entertainment, allowing internees to connect with one another and maintain a sense of hope amid challenging circumstances.

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During the 1930's, families would gather around the radio in their living room to listen to their local radio stations' programs such as "Abbott and Costello", "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", and many more. On top of simple radio programs, the radio was used as a way for civilians to listen to the affairs that were happening at the time, wars, attacks, and other problems. One of these problems most notably being the Hindenburg crashing in 1937, an ordeal that according to PBS; "When the Hindenburg airship exploded in 1937, reporter Herb Morrison was on the scene, recording the events to be broadcast the following day."("Radio in the..."). One can only imagine how terrifying that "following day" was, because up to that point, there hadn't been any accidents that had been that catastrophic to impact America like it did. However, the radio wasn't always to deliver bad news, because as PBS discusses; "But above all the radio provided a way to communicate like never before. Franklin Roosevelt’s ‘fireside chats’ helped the population feel closer to their president than ever."("Radio in the..."). Feeling closer to a leader like Franklin Roosevelt was the best thing people could feel at a time like that, it was a time of uncertainty, of reflection, and no creation at that time was able to communicate this message, or impact America's communication better, than the radio.

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The United States of America went about propagandizing its citizens by informing them of the current situation overseas. Japan, on the other hand, showed biased news reports and morally degrading music to make citizens support their government. In Radio Propaganda in WWII, the author states, “One of the most successful radio program methods the American government used was the “you technique”. This method put the listener directly in situations like battle or being in a military camp by addressing them personally” (Radio Propaganda in..., 6). In WWII, propaganda was used to demoralize enemies, boost morale in troops, and mobilize the support of citizens. In Propaganda - Total war, 1917–1945, the author mentions the Committee on Public Information, “The committee established reading rooms abroad, brought foreign journalists to the United States, crafted special appeals for teachers and labor groups... In its international propaganda, the committee advertised American strength and commitment to victory in order to curb defeatism among Allied troops and to demoralize enemy soldiers. Stressing the unselfish, anti-imperialistic war aims of the United States” (Propaganda-Total War..., 4). Propaganda was used on all sides of the war. The way different countries went about it may have been different but the intended outcome remained the same: manipulate the masses to support their country’s actions. In her memoir, Jeanne states, "Three years of wartime propaganda—racist headlines, atrocity movies, hate slogans, and fright-mask posters—had turned the Japanese face into something despicable and grotesque" (Houston, 78).

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“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music”, stated Aldous Huxley in his novel The Rest Is Noise. This quote becomes especially true when you examine how music and radio changed, both in what was playing and how people viewed it after the Second World War. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, radio and music became a source of comfort for people recovering from the war and brought cultural change in entertainment.  In Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne was a young girl who experienced many extreme changes in her life because of the war, like living in an internment camp, watching her father struggle with addiction, and her brother Woody being drafted. She says, “[The] shapeless dread of that great dark cloud in my imagination gradually receded, soothed away by a sky the same blue it had always been, lawns the same green, traffic signals that still changed with dependable regularity, and familiar radio programs that fill up the late afternoons and evenings” (Houston). Since leaving the camp, she had to overcome drastic changes and deal with judgment from her peers for being Japanese-American. She found comfort in the familiarity of simple things like the radio programs that would play. Like many other Americans during the post-war period, comfort was found in being able to come home and listen to the same music and radio programs while the world was constantly changing. The post-war period not only brought continuity but also change. Television rapidly began gaining popularity among young people and families nationwide. According to Khan Academy, “Many comedies presented an idealized image of white suburban family life: happy housewife mothers, wise fathers, and mischievous but not dangerously rebellious children…These shows also reinforced certain perspectives on the values of individualism and family—values that came to be redefined as ‘American’”. (Khan Academy). The ideas shown on TV began to influence American culture and tried to glorify the lives of suburban life. What was worn on popular shows became the newest fashion trends, and the products advertised gained popularity. From the start of the Second World War to now, radio and music are still used as an outlet for creativity and a way for people to cope with world events and the stress of daily life challenges, as well as shaping how we act and think through trends.

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Don't Fence Me In - Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters

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Though the 1930's and 40's were not the best time, whether one is a simple American just getting by, or a Japanese-American struggling to survive the camps in Manzanar. Poor conditions in Japanese internment camps lead to many people feeling disparaged but radio and music connected people through communication, and encouraged an understanding between the feelings of multiple cultural groups during WWII. Listening to the radio, surrounded by their loved ones, helped raise the spirits of those otherwise left hopeless. By reminding Japanese-Americans of a their life before the war, hope was bulit among these groups. The message of assurance, brought by the radio, is told perfectly through Jeanna Watasuki Houston’s memoir, Farewell to Manzanar.