Hi!

So, the Japanese had a few different camps, ranging from POW camps to civilian internment and concentration camps. Since you're asking about concentration camps, I'll talk about those first.

#So what is an internment camp?

Basically, an internment camp is a detainment facility to contain enemy citizens or those suspected of terrorist activities. Detaining people not guilty of any crimes is often debated in ethics.

#How do they compare to concentration camps?

It's often thought that concentration camps and internment camps are different things. This isn't necessarily the case. The two terms have been used interchangeably, especially by those actually using concentration camps. In basic terms, a concentration camp is a camp that detains people within a confined area, where the detainees are taken without hearing and typically face harsh conditions. At least according to the American Heritage Dictionary. Within the vernacular, especially within the US, internment generally refers to detaining civilians for fear of them being collaborators of the enemy. Such as what happened in 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Executive Order 9066, issued by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, forcibly relocated and interned some 120,000 Japanese-Americans and Americans of Japanese ancestry.

#Japanese Concentration Camps; Where were they?

The Japanese were notorious for civilian and enemy internment which led to terrible, terrible conditions. But I'll get to that in a moment. So, the camps were everywhere containing everyone in South-East and South Asia, from allied civilians to native civilians. 11 in the Philippines, 7 in Malaya and Singapore, 16 in Taiwan (then Formosa), and 15 in China. Not to mention the handful in other countries, namely the 2 dozen or so in Indonesia (Then Dutch East Indies).

#The Conditions in the Civilian Camps

For this example, I'm going to refer to J.G. Ballard's experiences at Lunghwa, in China. Overall, for allied civilians living in china, the conditions were alright, barring malaria and food shortages, as well as poor food (rice and gravy), which were often rotten and poor quality. They held jobs, granted those jobs were forced. They were allowed to participate in leisurely activities, such as tennis, in Ballard's case. They could participate in education and give lectures to one another. Among other things.

But the story wasn't the same if you were Chinese. If you were lucky enough to survive the massacres, mass murders, and starvation, you wouldn't consider yourself lucky. See next.

#Human Experimentation on Chinese Civilians

Human experimentation and medical abuses were fairly common. The most infamous, of course, being Unit 731. They performed medical experiments on detainees of the Pingfang District internment camp. Especially disease experiments such as learning about the effects of botulism, anthrax, dysentery, cholera, and various biochemical weapons like mustard gas and phosgene, as well as tons of other diseases and gases.

I can also give you some insight into POW Camps run by the Japanese for allied soldiers, if you like.

Edit: added a few sources and explanations + grammar things