Ann Akiyama Ichiyasu (Ann’s Letter)
Ann was born in Los Altos, CA in 1915 and grew up in Berkeley. She was 26 years old and a young mother of two children when her family was incarcerated in Tanforan Assembly Center. Her father, Jirozo Akiyama, died in Tanforan before the family was transferred to Topaz. Ann returned to Berkeley after the War and had a long career working for the Federal Government as a personnel manager at the Oakland Army Base and Fort Mason. She passed away in 1996. In 1942, she wrote to a Berkeley friend of the forced removal and life in Tanforan and Topaz–a letter which, miraculously, survived through the years and was returned to her daughter, Diane, by Ann’s friend’s daughter decades later. Diane shared the letter with us and donated the original to the Topaz Museum in 2021.
Annie Matsumoto Inouye (Annie Remembers)
Annie 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.
Kazuko Oyamada Iwahashi (Questions I Never Asked Mom)
Kaz was born in Berkeley, CA and incarcerated with her family in Tanforan and Topaz from ages 12-15. Her junior high years were spent in Topaz. She returned to Berkeley and started Berkeley High in September 1945. Kaz became a registered nurse, working for San Francisco and Oakland Kaiser until retirement. She and her husband Mike raised four children. She has been exploring her past through writing classes for over ten years.
Roy Iwata (Pride, Uprooted, Brownie, Sweet Tooth, Visit to a Civics Class)
Roy Taichi Iwata was 12 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Roy’s family was sent to Walerga Assembly Center in Sacramento; then Tule Lake, CA; and finally, Topaz, UT in 1943. After the War, the Iwatas returned to Sacramento. Roy finished high school and joined the Army. While stationed in Japan, he married. The Iwatas settled in Sacramento and raised four children, celebrating almost 60 years of marriage. His memoir was shared with us by his daughter, Nancy Roskoff.
David Izu (In the Shape of a Heart, Doll With Eight Band Aids, Father’s Day)
David Izu is a San Francisco Bay Area-based artist. His mother was incarcerated at Poston, AZ; his father escaped imprisonment in a family caravan to Utah, where he was drafted to serve in the U.S. Army in Europe. Dave has taught at Stanford, UC Berkeley, the SF Art Institute and the California College of the Arts. His work is in the permanent collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as well as other institutions.