This nearly finished mallard carved by Sadao Oka has its first coat of paint done. He painstakingly mixed colors for hours on end until he found the perfect hue that matched the picture from the Audubon bird identification card, or the copy of National Geographic. This particular bird is a replica of the mallard in "The Red Book of Birds of America", both on the cover and on page 22. The process is almost complete, the only things that need to be done is the finishing coat of paint and attach the wire legs. This is one of many delicate birds that Mr. Oka carved and painted while he was imprisoned in Poston incarceration camp in Arizona.
This small book entitled "The Red Book of Birds of America" along with its counterpart "The Green Book of Birds of America" was one of the few references that Sadao Oka had when he was creating his realistic wooden birds. These two books had varying types of birds, and together they created a large database of models for Mr. Oka. He would try to mirror the position of the bird, the color, and the shape. Pictures found in books like this and the Audubon identification cards were his only points of reference.
This unfinished duck shows one of the earliest stages of Mr. Oka's carving process. Materials were expensive so artists like Mr. Oka would reuse as many materials as they could. For the birds, spare wood from shipping crates was often used. Mr. Oka would start by outlining a bird on a piece of old wood, and then he would carve out the 2D shape. This duck is in the process of being formed into its 3D, hyper-realistic form. He would sand and carve in the curves and details of the bird, and transform the piece of wood into a realistic bird. Mr. Oka then would meticulously paint all the different colors and shades of the birds. He used a set of Audubon bird identification cards and an old National Geographic for reference.
This is the final form of the mallard that is seen in its previous forms. The paint is complete, the legs are attached, and the details are exact. Sadao Oka painted an immense number of birds, and gave many away as gifts, but he kept one of each of the 62 species in his Audubon bird identification cards. This bird is an exact image of the mallard on page 27 and the cover of "The Red Book of Birds of America". This final product of Mr. Oka's shows the reward of the painstaking detail that he put into every single bird that he carved. Bird carving allowed Mr. Oka to pass his spare time in imprisonment.
This small wooden box was one of Sadao Oka's most prized possessions during his time in Poston concentration camp. Within this box he kept the small amount of tools and materials he was allowed, old paints, and wooden birds that he was carving. Now some of the many birds he carved are on display on the top layer of the box, but many others were given as gifts or were kept somewhere else. Mr. Oka adopted the art of woodcarving when he was forcibly put into an incarceration camp. He joined a carving class and quickly picked up the art form. He spent much of his free time focused on making the most lifelike wooden birds he could, and he soon perfected his skills and mastered carving and painting small details into the already small birds. He used this art to stay determined and persevere through all the trials of segregation, as did many others, and by doing this, the energy and emotion that is shown through these painstakingly detailed birds is evident.
Even though Japanese Americans were confined to the concentration camps, they tried as hard as they could to carry on normal life. This meant everyday things as well as celebrating events like birthdays, life, and death. A lot of babies were born within camps, and the prisoners within the incarceration camps would still gather and celebrate these moments.
The hospital made bracelets like these to distinguish between the babies that were born within camp. The baby this bracelet identified was Marlene Shigekawa. She was born in the Poston concentration camp, but later in life she was known for writing a children's book about the Japanese American incarceration, "Blue Jay in The Desert". The book talks about how blue jays, much like the Japanese Americans, don't belong in the desert, and how the blue jay represents the Japanese ideals of loyalty and bravery. This story is truly represented in the way Japanese Americans acted when they were incarcerated, they were incredibly brave, and tried to carry on normal life as best they could.
A four page report written by the War Relocation Authority describing the history, process, and organization of relocation for Japanese Americans. It's a detailed description of the steps that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans on the west coast. This letter provides a list of concentration camps with camp populations, policies of the camps, and regulations of resettlement for families wishing to leave the camp. Dated June, 1943.
This black and white photograph shows Sadao Oka, along with the rest of the carving class. Mr. Oka adopted the art of carving wooden birds while he was imprisoned in Poston incarceration camp in Arizona. Classes like these became popular in the camps, as there was seldom to do while imprisoned. Japanese Americans weren't allowed to bring much into the camps, but they were still able to come together, and teach each other all kinds of different skills. Art was an easy thing to teach, and Oka was able to learn, and master, the art of carving and painting miniature wooden birds. In this photo Mr. Oka is shown with his tool box, which contained all the tools he used to create his birds. He used these few tools to painstakingly carve and paint each realistic bird.