The Topaz Stories team and Friends of Topaz Museum are excited to announce that a new exhibit of Topaz Stories will be held at J-Sei from September 22-December 13, 2024.
While a few of the stories in this exhibit were displayed in the Utah State Capitol in 2022, all are being exhibited in California for the first time. The stories provide intensely personal accounts of the forced removal; daily camp life; the dispersal of the Japanese American community through the resettlement program; the heroism of Nisei soldiers with families incarcerated behind barbed wire; the challenges of returning to California after the War; and the impact of the camp experience on survivors and subsequent generations, decades later.
Mark your calendars!
J-Sei will also host six special events featuring stories from our collection. All are hybrid events and free and open to the public:
Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024 – “Children of Topaz: Stories and Art,” a kid-oriented program (adults are welcome!) with Dana Shew and special guests. (10:30-11:45 pm), in conjunction with J-Sei’s annual “Family Day.” Register here.
Thursday, Oct. 3 – “Dispersed: The WWII Scattering of the Japanese American Community.” Stories by Jun Nakahara Dairiki, Jean Hibino, Mitsi Nakamizo Fuchigami, and Joseph Nishimura (2-3:30 pm). Register here.
Sunday, Oct. 13 – “The Lost Sketches of Topaz: Ella Honderich’s Topaz Years” by Ella’s granddaughter, Cynthia Wright and Kimi Hill. (2-3:30 pm). Register here.
Thursday, Nov. 7 – “Soldiers’ Stories,” a Veterans’ Day tribute to Nisei soldiers with stories by Eugene Takei, Tracy Takayanagi Hui, and Ruth Sasaki. (2-3:30 pm). Register here.
Saturday, Nov. 23 – “Wartime Friends and Allies of Japanese Americans.” Stories by Frank Kami, Jonathan Hirabayashi, Doris Yagi, and Jon Yatabe and Ruth Sasaki (2-3:30 pm). Register here.
Thursday, Dec. 5 – “Return to California: Stories of Postwar Resettlement” by Kazuko Iwahashi, Michi Mukai, Harue Minamoto, and Meri Mitsuyoshi (2-3:30 pm). Register here.
J-Sei is located at 1285 66th St., Emeryville, CA. Visit the J-Sei website for gallery hours.
Funding for this exhibit has been provided by the Topaz Museum, the California Wellness Foundation, and individual donors. Many thanks to J-Sei for their collaboration on this project.
The Topaz Stories Team
Contact us if you have a Topaz Story to share.
Follow us on Instagram @topazstories
Media Coverage:
Read ‘Topaz Stories’ exhibit travels Utah showing human side of WWII internment (KSL.com, May 24, 2024)
Read ‘Topaz Stories’ mines the history of a Japanese American internment camp (ParkRecord, May 18, 2024)
Read Remembering Japanese American Internment–Day of Remembrance (Rosie the Riveter Trust blog, March 24, 2024)
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)