The Stories Page Nine

In 1942, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were removed from their homes along the West Coast of the United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They were incarcerated in concentration camps in remote areas until 1945. One of those camps was in Topaz, Utah. Volunteers from the Friends of the Topaz Museum have gathered these stories of Topaz survivors, told by the survivors themselves or their descendants.

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A lone bus heads into the distance on a two-lane road. To the right is a concentration camp surrounded by barbed wire fences. A large crowd gathers behind the fence, watching the bus leave.
The End and the Beginning
by Jon Yatabe
Two boys (around 9-10 years old)--one a blond Caucasian, the other Japanese American --pose behind a cartoon of two figures in garish plaid suits astride a bucking donkey.
Marbles and Memories
by Jonathan Hirabayashi
A middle-aged Japanese man with a mop of graying hair holds a tube of paint. Behind him is a large painting. To his right is a table with paints.
Portrait of an Artist
by Keisho Okayama
A Japanese American mother with five children, including a baby and toddler, sits outside in front of a barrack. An elderly Caucasian woman stands with the family, carrying the toddler.
It Could Have Been Delight
by Dan Hirano
Black and white portrait of a young Japanese woman in a large hat with a large plume, wearing a plaid dress with a large white collar.
A Message From the Heart: Six Tanforan Poems
by Kane Maida
An elderly Japanese man wearing a suit and hat is handled by hands of white men. One hand holds for inspection the identification tag attached to the old man's lapel.
My Body Is Not My Body
by Kane Maida
Two Japanese American girls (about 7 and 5) and a boy (about 2) pose outside in front of a fence, with trees in the background. The girls wear short-sleeved blouses and skirts and the boy is dressed all in white, with a knit cap.
Topaz Was My Home
by May Saito Takashima
A Japanese American family (middle-aged parents, two sons and two daughters (two to seven years old), poses for this photo, dressed in their best. The parents sit in chairs while the children stand. The photo is taken in the desert. There is nothing around them except dust and greasewood.
Taken Away
by Ritsuko Furuya
A large Japanese American family stands in front of a large greenhouse in 1940. Three grown daughters, one husband, and the daughters' mother stand and smile into the camera. The father sits in front of the others in a suit, arms crossed and unsmiling.
A Place So Far Removed
by Kane Maida
A green cricket stands poised at the opening of a transparent glass jar that is lying on its side.
A Bug’s Life
by Ritsuko Furuya
A handsome young Japanese man in a dark suit, white shirt and striped tie.
The Man Who Loved Marilyn Monroe and Baseball
by Kyoko Norma Nozaki
A young Japanese couple stands against a white building with a lake and palm tree in the background. The Man wears a dark suit with a high bowler hat. The woman is in a white blouse and full-length skirt, with a wide-brimmed straw hat.
The Life Interrupted
by Iso Minamoto Umeki

Each page has 12 stories. New stories are posted at the end of the last page.
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