One year in, buses passed each other on the way to and from Topaz and Delta–not once, but three times: on the 19th, 24th and 29th of September, 1943,
The disastrous “loyalty questionnaire” had been administered, the results tallied, and a massive governmental roll of the dice (i.e., f-up) has determined the fates of hundreds of families.
486 Topaz residents boarded the first bus to Delta (en route to Tule Lake) on September 19, to be replaced by 480 incarcerees from Tule Lake, who caused chaos by arriving a day ahead of schedule. The second exchange on September 24th involved 489 Topazans for 527 Tuleans. The final swap on Sept. 29th was 476 Topazans for 529 Tuleans.
A giant, human craps game. Don’t forget the “s.”
Doris Yagi’s family and Mitsuko Mukai’s family were on buses that traveled in opposite directions. Read Doris’s story, “Swept Away,” and Mitsuko’s story, “A Topaz Childhood.”
The Topaz Stories Team
Image credits:
1. Illustration of passing buses in the Topaz Times, September 18, 1943, p. 2. Utah Digital Newspapers.
2. A crowd of Topaz Center residents wave farewell as one of the buses leaves the assembly center on its way to Delta, Utah, with passengers leaving for Tule Lake. Photographer: Mace, Charles E. Topaz, Utah, 9/24/1943. Collection: War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement. Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library. Calisphere: accessed 9/25/2023. https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/ft8n39p207/
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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)