(Tar drips)
Family lore exists somewhere between the realms of history and legend. One story I remember hearing from my mother and aunt–one of the rare stories about “camp”–was about Mrs. Asano, a family friend. I knew her as a 60-something friend of my grandmother’s, a kind woman. At Christmas she gave us (my sisters and me) green, tree-shaped suckers. I remember attending her funeral at the Buddhist Church after she was killed in a hit-and-run accident while crossing Divisadero Street.
In 1942 she was in her forties–beautiful, with a flawless complexion. Shortly after arriving in Topaz, while workers were still rushing to complete the construction of many barracks, she was resting on her cot in her barrack apartment when hot tar dripped through the roof onto her face.
It gave me a peculiar feeling to read a cryptic report of her wartime “accident” in the Topaz Daily Log.
(Excerpts from the Daily Log of the WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY, Central Utah Relocation Project, Project Reports Division, Historical Section. Topaz, Utah)
OCTOBER 3
500 ARRIVE — Over 500 arrived from Tanforan today.
TAR DRIPS — Mrs. Takako Asano, 48, of 38-2-F, sustained extensive burns this afternoon when the hot roofing tar dripped through the wooden roof of her barrack.
OCTOBER 4
COMFORTERS — Early this morning, three truckloads of comforters arrived to relieve the blanket and mattress shortage. One thousand comforters were passed out to the new residents.
OCTOBER 5
4TH BABY BORN — George Tsukamoto became the proud father of a baby girl at 11:40 a.m. The Tsukamoto baby is the second to be born in the new hospital.
Previous “Daily Log” entries:
September 29-October 1: Community Council
September 27-28: Dust, new arrivals
September 23-26: Outside workers, lost and found
September 22: First baby
September 18-21: First frost
September 17: First group arrives
September 15: Topaz Times launched
September 11: Welcome to Topaz
The Topaz Stories Team
Plan to visit the Topaz Stories Exhibit in Salt Lake City before it closes on December 31, 2022.
Contact us if you have a Topaz Story to share.
Follow us on Instagram @topazstories
Media Coverage:
Watch Topaz survivors tell their stories (abc4 news, 4/22/2022)
Listen to the “In the Hive” podcast with interviews with Ann Dion, Jonathan Hirabayashi, and Topaz survivors Jeanie Kashima and Joseph Nishimura (KCPW, 4/28/2022)
Read How a Utah exhibit about Topaz Camp looks to find empathy in ‘an ugly stain on American history (ksl.com, 4/22/2022)
Read “Topaz Stories rise from the dust,” (Department of Culture & Community Engagement, 4/2022)
Listen to KQED Forum, Day of Remembrance interview with Ruth Sasaki, 2/15/2022
Listen to Max Chang and Ruth Sasaki interviewed (KRCL RadioActive, 2/9/2022
Read On Topaz Stories and ‘Authentic Voice’, the Discover Nikkei interview with Ruth Sasaki (10/14/2022)
Listen to Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration, the Topaz Stories podcast with Ruth Sasaki and Jonathan Hirabayashi (6/2/2021)