A new exhibit, “Topaz Stories: Children Behind Barbed Wire,” will be on display at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose from August 2 – November 2, 2025. It will feature 30 stories primarily about children and teens in Topaz.
The storytellers whose works will appear in this exhibit are: (Top row: Helen Harano Christ, Jun Nakahara Dairiki, Ann Tamaki Dion, Amy Morizono Eto, Mitsi Nakamizo Fuchigami, Steve Fujioka. 2nd row: Tamesuke Harada, Norman Hayashi, Ruth Hayashi, Jonathan Hirabayashi, Dan Hirano, Kazuko Oyamada Iwahashi. 3rd row: Roy Iwata, Jeanie Takagi Kashima, Emiko Katsumoto, Yoneo Kawakita, Harue Hirai Minamoto, Michi Takeshita Mukai, Gail Hoshiyama Nanbu, Joseph Nishimura, Doris Yamada Yagi, Jon Yatabe, Yae Kami Yedlosky, Diane Takahashi Yuen, and Ruth Sasaki.
There will be a Topaz Stories program at the museum on Saturday, September 20 from 1:30 – 3 pm. Details coming soon!
JAMsj is open Thursdays through Sundays from 12 – 4 pm. It is located at 535 North 5th St., San Jose, CA. Phone: (408)294-3138. Admission is free for JAMsj members, children under 5 and active military and families; $12/adults; and $8/seniors, students, educators.
For those in San Francisco, the Peninsula, or East Bay, the museum is easily accessible by BART (to Berryessa) and #61 bus from Bay 5 of the Berryessa Transit Center (a 2 minute walk from the BART station)–six stops to Taylor and 4th St. The museum is 3 blocks from the bus stop.
The Topaz Stories Team
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Media Coverage:
Watch “Utah Historians Run Exhibit on Japanese American Internment,” abc4 News, 2/19/2025).
Read “Utah Once Said ‘Never Again’–Do We Mean It? Deseret News, (2/26/2025).
Read “Topaz Stories Exhibition: A Way to Remember the Past.” SUU News, 2/7/2025.
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) (This video appears to have been taken down, and abc4 has not responded to inquiries as to why.)
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)