Sept. 23, 2023: “The Winds of Topaz”

A community divided…

A young mother and son left alone in camp…

Water color of swirling dust storm in dark grays, reddish browns, and white, with two huddled figures in the middle. A barbed wire fence runs along the lower right corner. Barracks faintly appear in the far distance.
Dust Storm, by Chiura Obata, 1943. Watercolor on paper. Courtesy of the estate of Chiura Obata.

Caught one day in a driving dust storm, a young boy finds help from an unexpected source. Read a new story from Jon Yatabe, “The Winds of Topaz”–his memory of an enigmatic, gruff Issei neighbor.

The Topaz Stories Team

Contact us if you have a Topaz Story to share.
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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)

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