When we got to Chicago, we transferred to the New York Central. As the train began to pull out of the LaSalle Street Station, the conductor came by to punch our tickets. He looked at my mother and asked her nationality. She replied, “Japanese.”
He said, “Just tell me you are Filipino. This train goes through Canada, and Canada will not allow entry by Japanese.”
She said that would be a lie and she wouldn’t tell a lie. He said, “If that’s the case, you’ll have to get off here,” and he pulled the emergency stop cord.
We were left on the trackbed outside the station and somehow got back to the station and caught another train to New York City through Ohio. That was our first inkling that, although we had left Topaz, it would be with us for a long time to come.
And today, 80 years later, when I hear chants of “Send her back!!” I am reminded that the forces of fear and hate are still with us, and the shadow of Topaz looms over us all.
To view raw video footage of Joe reading his story at the Topaz Stories reception in the Utah State Capitol on April 22, 2022, click here.
About the contributor: Joseph Nishimura was born in Berkeley, CA, where his father was the pastor of the Berkeley Free Methodist Church, which he founded. The Nishimura family of six was interned in Tanforan and Topaz, but resettled in New York City in 1944. Returning to Berkeley in 1945, Joe’s father resumed his ministry and Joe went to Berkeley High School. He graduated from Princeton, served in the U.S. Navy, got an MBA from Stanford, and had a successful career in business and financial management until retirement. Joe and his wife, Joyce, live in Palo Alto.