This project was held as part of the Tanoshii Fun Camp 2025 at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute in Gardena, California during the week of July 28 to August 1, 2025. This is a detailed description of how The Gaman Experience was run during that week.
Overview
The Gaman Experience was a unique, group-based immersive history design project that engaged 50 elementary students (“campers”) in understanding the hardships faced by Japanese Americans during World War II. Over five days, campers collaboratively designed and constructed representations of two different War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps: Manzanar and Heart Mountain.
Working in teams of 3-4, campers (25 per camp) were assigned specific camp locations – such as barracks, mess halls, or school buildings – to research, design, and build. This hands-on approach aimed to foster empathy and a deeper connection to the historical concept of gaman – enduring through hardships with dignity and strength.
People and Assignments
- There were 50 campers (2nd to 5th grade students) and 18 counselors (college and high school students).
- Campers were separated into two groups of 25, one group for Manzanar, one group for Heart Mountain.
- Each group was separated into six teams of 3-4 campers each, one for each of the six camp locations (see below).
Goals and Requirements
GOALS
Each team of campers worked together to:
- Design and construct their assigned camp location, which was one out of six locations in each camp: barracks, mess hall, hospital, school, bathroom & laundry room, and outdoors area.
- Design and construct an activity related to their location that integrates the theme of gaman (quiet endurance).
BUILDING REQUIREMENTS
Each team was required to build out their location according to the following:
- Locations should be designed to help visitors feel like they are actually in the real location as it was during the war.
- Locations should be made to look and feel historically accurate.
GAMAN ACTIVITY DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
Each team was required to design an interactive activity related to their assigned location according to the following:
- Activities should engage visitors to interact with and learn about the location.
- Activities need to integrate the theme of gaman, i.e., activities should make visitors aware of the hardships of living in camp.
Materials and Tokens
MATERIALS
- Each location received a starter kit that contained:
- A set of printed historic photos of their location
- Cardboard, paper, marker, pens, and tape
- One item specifically related to the location (i.e., can of SPAM for the mess hall)
- Two Ganbari Tokens (see below)
- Teams were able to purchase more materials at the General Store using Ganbari Tokens.
GANBARI TOKENS
- Campers earned Ganbari (“persistence” or “perseverance”) Tokens for their team when they exhibited good effort or creativity.
- Tokens were awarded by camp counselors and adult supervisors at any time.
Schedule
Campers worked on The Gaman Experience from 1pm to 3pm during all five days of the Tanoshii Fun Camp.
Monday to Thursday: Design and Build
Campers used the first four days to build their assigned location and design their gaman activity for the visitors to do on Friday.
Friday: Open House Walkthrough
This was an Open House event in which parents and other guests did a walkthrough all of the locations for both Manzanar and Heart Mountain. At each location, campers explained what they had built and then had the visitors do their gaman activity.
Daily Highlights and Progress
MONDAY (DAY 1)
Each team of campers quickly found their assigned location and unpacked their starter kit box, which was left in the center of the location.
Campers quickly discovered that they needed more materials, so many went to visit the General Store to see what other materials they could buy with their Ganbari Tokens.
In general, Monday was a somewhat chaotic day as both campers and counselors learned more about: a) how the experience worked (e.g., getting supplies, cutting or preparing materials, doing research, etc.), b) what they needed to make, b) and how to work together to accomplish their goals.
A good sign was that although there was supposed to be a recess period halfway through the allotted time period, the campers and counselors were so engaged in the process that nobody bothered to stop and take a break.
TUESDAY (DAY 2)
The first thing that most teams did is to head to the General Store to buy more materials.
Each team had an iPad to access a curated list of resources related to their location and could also conduct online research.
On Tuesday, teams seemed to find their rhythm in starting to build out their locations. Campers consulted with their counselors to try out ideas and figure out how to build out their ideas.
WEDNESDAY (DAY 3)
On Wednesday, campers visited the other camp to see the progress there and provide constructive feedback on post-it notes.
Teams then used this feedback and continued to build out their locations and start to design their gaman activity.
There was a lot of progress made this day as teams became much more comfortable working together effectively.
THURSDAY (DAY 4)
Thursday was the final day of building their locations and designing their gaman activity in preparation for Friday’s walkthrough event. Because of this deadline, campers were extremely focused and engaged in order to finish up their locations.
The end result was a display of amazing design and creativity throughout both camps!
FRIDAY (WALKTHROUGH EVENT)
On Friday, as a culmination of the Tanoshii Fun Camp, parents and other guests were invited to do a walkthrough of The Gaman Experience.
In preparation for the walkthrough, campers were briefed on how to greet visitors, describe their locations, and have visitors experience their gaman activity.
Campers were both anxious and excited as they got ready for the doors to open. As the first visitors entered, one camper yelled out, “They’re coming!”
Campers quickly overcame their initial anxiety to engage with all the visitors, which numbered over 100 people, who enjoyed hearing each presentation and doing the gaman activities.
The gaman activities were designed to make visitors aware of the hardships of living in a WWII incarceration camp. The activities that the campers designed included:
- Standing in line at the mess hall to get a plate of camp food
- Apply first aid to a patient in the hospital
- Wash clothes by hand in the laundry room
- Place a flower on top of a gravestone marker
Overall, the walkthrough day was successful in engaging visitors and allowing campers to showcase what they made and what they learned!
Learning Outcomes
The Gaman Experience provided numerous learning outcomes among campers, specifically:
Historical Content
Throughout the building process, campers were able to actively learn about not only what the incarceration camps looked like but also how life in camp was so difficult.
This active learning process helped campers internalize the historical information in a much stronger way than learning from a textbook or lecture.
Gaman and Ganbari
Campers had to think deeply about gaman as they designed their gaman activities, which allowed them to consider the hardships of life in the context of their specific camp locations and think about how people had to have gaman to endure through these hardships.
Campers were also constantly reminded of ganbari throughout the building process as they earned Ganbari Tokens for good displays of effort and teamwork.
Teamwork Skills
This experience empowered campers to cultivate stronger teamwork and communication skills throughout the week. Their five days of working together resulted in enhanced problem-solving skills, more attentive listening, and greater self-regulation.
Design Thinking
Through the process of designing and building their camp location and gaman activity, campers learned to approach challenges like professional designers, embracing creativity, collaboration, openness to new ideas, learning from mistakes, and the iterative nature of design.
Learner Agency
Lastly and most importantly, this experience cultivated a sense of learner agency, where campers shifted from passive recipients of information to active participants in their own learning journeys, discovering and processing knowledge independently.
This transformation was powerfully demonstrated by a camper who, upon seeing a U.S. flag in a school photo, took it upon herself to research and ascertain that children in the camps were required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily. Small learning events like this can help students develop the learner agency mindset of “I am in control of my own learning.”
Final Takeaways
The Gaman Experience at the Tanoshii Fun Camp successfully demonstrated an innovative approach to education that transcends traditional classroom methods. The project’s success can be distilled into three key takeaways:
- Beyond the Textbook: The experience moved beyond traditional history lessons, transforming learning from a passive reception of facts into an active, hands-on journey. This approach, which utilized a historical environment, made the subject matter tangible and relatable for the campers.
- Learning as “Hard Fun”: The camp proved that deep learning can be both engaging and enjoyable. Campers were fully immersed in the activities, demonstrating a high level of focus and enthusiasm. This concept of “hard fun” shows that challenging educational experiences about difficult topics can be highly rewarding and motivating.
- Empowering Active Learners: The Gaman Experience fostered an environment where campers were empowered to become the main drivers of their own learning. Instead of being told information, they actively sought it out and made personal discoveries. This shift from passive to active learning equips individuals with the skills to be lifelong learners.
“All genuine learning is active, not passive. It involves the use of the mind, not just the memory. It is a process of discovery, in which the student is the main agent, not the teacher.” — Mortimer Adler, American educator and philosopher