Evacuation Diary of Hatsuye Egami

In 1942, 120,000 people of Japanese descent in America (two-thirds of whom were American citizens) were sent to internment camps for the duration of WW II. This diary by an issei (first-generation Japanese) woman recounts three months of her family's ordeal, starting with the dehumanizing evacuation day in her hometown of Pasadena, Calif., during which, she notes, ""We are no longer `Egamis' but the number 23324."" Of unique historical rather than literary value (Egami admits to ""feelings of lack of ability as a writer""), the diary evokes daily life at Tulare Assembly Center, a 5000-person internment camp in Central California, with unstudied simplicity. The family's room consists of a cement-floored barracks furnished with cots; the women's latrine, in which ""the cloak of modesty must be shed,"" horrifies her daughters; and the monotony of camp life is broken by diversions like a talent show and a popular Fourth of July parade. Egami's optimism leads her to compare the camp to a kind of social utopia, its members free of ""selfish, ego, or cunning."" Nevertheless, the diary's most provocative moment comes when one realizes that her final patriotic call for ""an attitude of humility and faith toward acquiring this privilege [American citizenship]"" is dated July 1942, nearly three years before her family's release. The editor's introduction explains how the diary was published after being preserved for decades by two separate individuals; original pencil-drawings, maps and photographs help resuscitate further particulars from this alarming chapter in American history. (Feb.)