My mother grew up in Japantown in San Francisco—but because her family lived on Pine St., she attended elementary school in Pacific Heights, while most Japanese American kids went to Raphael Weill south of Geary Blvd. Her class photo from the mid-1920s shows that she was possibly the only Asian student in her class.
As a result, she had Caucasian friends throughout her childhood. While her life revolved around the Japanese community, she continued to make friends outside it—and when the family was incarcerated in Tanforan, many of her Caucasian friends stayed in touch through letters.
In May through September 1942 letters that she exchanged with these friends reflected, in small details, some of her experiences as well as the reactions of San Franciscans who saw their Japanese American friends suddenly “disappeared.”
Read “Good Friends.”
Ruth Sasaki
Topaz Stories Editor
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)