Camp News

Tessaku [Barbed Wire]. No. 5,
Tule Lake, California: Tessakusha
(October 1944)
Asian Division
Government transfer, 1953 (73)

Tessaku was a magazine mimeographed in a relocation camp located in a remote and desolate part of northern California, a few miles from the Oregon border. While many of the camps had community newspapers, internees also published magazines. Only nine issues of Tessaku, appearing sporadically, were printed. Issue no. 5 is a rare surviving copy. Such ephemera, intended for a short life-span, are valuable for their ability to convey the texture of life in the camps and offer unique evidence for researchers.