Manzanar Children's Village, Orphanage in Owens Valley, California, US

Manzanar Children's Village was an orphanage of three barracks at the northwest end of the Manzanar camp in Owens Valley, California: one held staff apartments and communal areas, two held the children's dormitories. It stood across from barracks 28 and 29, near the hospital, and had running water and its own kitchen and bathrooms, so it ran separately from the rest of the camp.

The orphanage opened in June 1942 after Col. Karl R. Bendetsen ordered children removed from California orphanages, and 61 children were bused under armed guard from Los Angeles to Manzanar. Lillian Iida, a 29-year-old Nisei assistant director at Shonien, opposed the Army's plan to split orphans among staff and instead pushed for a single village. It closed in September 1945 after housing 101 children.

The Village was run by Lillian Iida, a 29-year-old Nisei assistant director of the Shonien orphanage, and her husband Harry Matsumoto, who opposed the Army's plan to split the orphans among staff members. Several caretakers came from the Shonien, Maryknoll and Salvation Army homes where most of the children had lived before the war.

The village stood at the northwest end of the Manzanar camp, across from barracks 28 and 29 and near the hospital, inside what is now Manzanar National Historic Site. Its three barracks are not preserved as visitable structures; the site is reached via US Highway 395 between Lone Pine and Independence, and the Manzanar visitor center holds the orientation exhibits.

Many of the children who arrived were under seven years old and unaware of their Japanese heritage until authorities documented their backgrounds. This made the experience especially complex for the youngest residents during an already difficult time.