On Mother’s Day weekend, we reshare Kerrily Kitano’s tribute to her mother, Yuriko Lillian Miyachi.
Kerrily came to our Topaz Stories Workshop in 2018 with her sister, Kim. Kerrily told me, “My dad (Harry Kitano) has been written about a lot; I want to tell my mom’s story.”
At 14 years of age, Yuriko was incarcerated in a concentration camp in the Utah desert with her family.
At 15, she left her family behind to continue her education in Pennsylvania, after being selected and adopted by a Quaker family there.
Yuri was very selective, her daughter felt, about what she shared from those days. She shared only the goodness, the kindness. Kerrily muses, “I used to think that she lived in huge denial, but maybe she was just living life the way a survivor does…”
Read Kerrily’s tribute to her mom, “Adopted by Quakers.”
The Topaz Stories Team
Here are some links to other Topaz news of interest:
To see a video of the Wakasa memorial events at Topaz and the Topaz Museum, click here.
KUER Salt Lake City’s coverage of the Wakasa Memorial event
Good news about artists Matsusaburo and Hisako Hibi from the Smithsonian.
Contact us if you have a Topaz Story to share.
Follow us on Instagram @topazstories
Media Coverage:
Read Internee’s story told with ‘Topaz Collages’ (Wheel of Dharma, Vol. 5, Issue 3, March 2023).
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)