by Annie Matsumoto Inouye, as told to Chris Yamashiro
I was seven years old when we went to Topaz.
It was so hot in the summertime that I had a hard time sleeping at night in our barrack. Then I found out it was much cooler if I slept under my army cot, instead of on top of it.
About the contributor: Annie Matsumoto Inouye was born in San Francisco in 1934. She was seven years old when her family was sent to Tanforan and Topaz. On leaving Topaz, they ended up in Richmond, CA, where the family lived in public housing. Annie graduated from El Cerrito High School and worked at UC Extension in Berkeley. In 2016 Annie’s nephew, Mark Inouye, first trumpeter for the SF Symphony, gave a benefit performance in support of the Topaz Museum.
Copyright 2016, Annie Matsumoto Inouye. All rights reserved.