The Minidoka Irrigator

by Kurt Ikeda

The Minidoka Irrigator was a weekly newspaper written, edited, and printed by Japanese American at the Minidoka Relocation Center. Each concentration camp published bilingual English and Japanese language newspapers that kept incarcerees informed about social events, sports, school activities, crimes, comics, and news from the war front. The first edition was published on September 10, 1942, one month after the camp opened.

Working for $16 per month, Japanese American journalists produced mimeographed newspapers that would make way to printed versions published in the city of Jerome. While the Minidoka administrators kept a close eye on the content and photos, columns like the “Feminidoka” an exclusively female written column, or the “Evacu-Ways” column, which featured news from other confinement sites, provides insight into the lived experience of those unjustly incarcerated.

The final issue of the Irrigator includes a farewell message and commentary for today’s readers to reflect upon, “Let us take a deep breath and girding ourselves, bid a fond farewell to the gray barrack city of Hunt and pray that never again will another group be made to open its gates again.” (The Minidoka Irrigator, July 27, 1945, page 2).

Those interested in reading digitized copies of The Minidoka Irrigator can access them at the Library of Congress website www.loc.gov

Read the full first issue by clicking the image above!