ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The resources below have been compiled for use in conjunction with The Orange Story. The material has been organized by chapter and includes links to relevant curricula, other resources, and discussion questions. These resources are intended primarily for general audiences and a wide range of grade levels, unless specified otherwise.
Leaving for Camp
Preparing for Incarceration:
- Leaving Things Behind by the National Museum of American History (Grades 6-8) - This is a worksheet with five questions that broadly address the topic of Japanese Americans packing to leave for the incarceration camps.
- An excerpt from Estelle Ishigo's "Lone Heart Mountain" - This resource is a page from Ishigo's unpublished memoir, "Lone Heart Mountain," in which the author discusses her incarceration. In this particular excerpt, she discusses her feelings about packing for camp.
- Japanese American Internment: Fear Itself (Grades 5-8) - This lesson plan, created by the Library of Congress, includes several activities related to the "evacuation day" process, and how many Japanese Americans felt at the time.
Patriotism and Loyalty:
- A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans & the U.S. Constitution - This website, produced by the National Museum of American History, offers a broad overview of the Japanese American incarceration, with particular emphasis given to the topics of Japanese American loyalty and military service during World War II.
- Courage During World War II (Grades 9-12) - This lesson plan, created by the Go For Broke National Education Center, encourages students to consider the various ways in which Japanese Americans and groups supportive of Japanese Americans displayed courage during World War II.
- Japanese American Incarceration Through Primary Sources: The Diary of Stanley Hayami. This curriculum by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) and the Smithsonian Museum of American History centers on a diary written by a teenager who left the Heart Mountain incarceration camp to join the military and was killed in combat.
- Politics and Patriotism in Education - This short article by Joel Westheimer, professor of education at the University of Ottawa, explores how patriotism has been performed and taught in the U.S. It does not directly focus on Japanese American incarceration, but it can be used as a springboard for broader discussions of patriotism.
Geography of Incarceration:
- Japanese American Confinement Sites in the United States During World War II - This map, produced by the JANM, shows all of the locations and types of facilities in which Japanese Americans were held during World War II. Short descriptions of the various types of sites/facilities are also included.
- Yale's "Out of the Desert" - This interactive map was produced by Yale University for its "Out of the Desert: Resilience and Memory in Japanese American Internment" exhibit, a project of the university libraries. The map highlights "assembly centers" and "internment camps," and links to various primary sources related to each site.
- The National Park Service Page on the Little Tokyo Historic District - This National Park Service web page includes a brief history of the Little Tokyo Historic District in Los Angeles, from the late 1900s through the present. This source could be used to consider what Japanese American communities were like before and after the incarceration.
- "How ‘Little Tokyo' of Los Angeles Changed Into ‘Bronzeville' And Back Again" - This short article/interview by NPR also discusses the transformation of Little Tokyo during and after the Japanese American incarceration.
Chapter 3 Discussion Question 1
If you suddenly had to leave your home and could only bring with you what you could carry, what would you choose to bring and why? What would you be forced to leave behind?
Chapter 3 Discussion Question 2
In some instances, Japanese Americans chose to destroy their possessions rather than store or sell them, which is also something we see Koji do in the film. Why do you think they chose to do this? What would motivate someone to destroy what may in some cases be family heirlooms?
Chapter 3 Discussion Question 3
If you and your family were put into the situation of having to destroy family heirlooms and/or objects related to your heritage, what kinds of objects would your family have to destroy? What would it mean for your family to lose these objects in this way?
Chapter 3 Discussion Question 4
Imagine that you're in line at a bus or train station, wearing a numbered tag. How do you feel about where you've been and where you're going? How do you imagine your family members feel?
Chapter 3 Discussion Question 5
Why do you think so many Japanese Americans abided by the orders that demanded they leave their homes? Do you think that any cultural and/or generational practices were guiding the decisions they made? If you had been in their shoes, would you have also complied with the orders to evacuate? If not, what would you have done?