How did a Harvard-educated junior executive of a Japanese trading company in San Francisco find himself working on a cattle ranch?
In Topaz, where the entire Yamashita clan was incarcerated during WWII, Susumu’s background and proficiency in the Japanese language caught the attention of the camp’s director of community welfare, and Susumu began working as a liaison with the Issei (first-generation) residents.
But that same background made him suspect: he was a Kibei–born in the U.S. but partially educated in Japan–proficient in Japanese–who had worked for a Japanese company before the War. So while other Nisei residents were declared “loyal,” “cleared,” and allowed to resettle in the Midwest or East Coast, Susumu was denied leave. Eventually, the distressing nature of his family case work in Topaz social services drove him to seek a change. And that’s how Susumu Yamashita became the oldest “Kibei Cowboy” on the Topaz Cattle Ranch. Read Ken Yamashita’s story.
The Topaz Stories Team
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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)