George Hoshida was born in 1907 in Kumamoto, Japan. He migrated with his family to Hilo, Hawaii when he was four years old, and this is where George spent all of his childhood and adolescent years. He was involved with his Buddhist temple and with Judo, two things that would later cause him to be considered "potentially dangerous." Due to a mixture of World War II, of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and of George's "potentially dangerous" status, he was forcefully removed from his home and family and placed at Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii.

George's journey was extremely difficult, and he had to wait two full years before he could be reunited with his family at the War Relocation Authority concentration camp in Jerome, Arkansas. George was sent from Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii to the Justice Department camp in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Next, he went to both the Justice Department camp in Lordsburg and the Justice Department camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Throughout his time away from his family, George and his wife, Tamae, wrote letters to each other almost everyday. More importantly, at least for our sake, George kept busy by sketching, drawing and painting pictures of his journey and observations. His pictures give us an idea of what the Justice Department camps were like, and of what the mainland concentration camps were like.

This collection includes some of George's art, art that was created during a time of great struggle. Even though his situation was difficult, we are fortunate that George found the courage and strength to continue to document this painful and unjust time in history. To see more of George's artwork, please visit The Japanese American National Museum website.

Copyright is held by the Japanese American National Museum. Short-term educational use with limited circulation is permitted. For all other uses, please contact the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum hnrc@janm.org