Journey to Topaz: A Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation

The afternoon wears on. Mrs. Sakane brings the police officers and the FBI agent tea and cake. The police officers are called away, but the agent stays. Ken finally returns from studying at the library. Mrs. Sakane quietly fills him in on what has happened. Seeing her brother’s nervousness increases Yuki’s anxiety. Mr. and Mrs. Sakane are upstanding members of the community, but a particular law prevented them from becoming American citizens. If Japan and America are at war now, they might be considered “enemy aliens” (10).

After the FBI agent leaves, wishing the best for the family, members of the Japanese community and concerned white friends and neighbors call to inform them that the FBI has been rounding up the leaders of the community. Yuki tries to go to bed, but she cannot sleep. She, Ken, and Mrs. Sakane eat and feel a bit better. Nobody wants to voice their fears for Mr. Sakane.

Five days pass, and there is still no news about Mr. Sakane or the other Japanese men who have been taken by the FBI. Rumors circulate that the men are being held hostage to prevent further aggression from Japan. On the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of Yuki’s classmates called her a racist slur. In response, Yuki’s teacher lectured the class, saying that the Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) are just as American as anyone. On the sixth day after the attack, they receive a postcard from Mr. Sakane, stating that he is safe. He is being held in San Francisco, and he asks the family to visit and bring him clean clothes. Ken drives them across the bay the next day. Their meeting is brief. Mr. Sakane tries to reassure his family, but he reveals that he is being sent to a camp in Missoula, Montana.

A few days later, Ken announces that he is leaving college. Many young Japanese American men are doing the same so that they can help support their families because their fathers have been taken. There is a rumor that all people of Japanese descent are to be “evacuated” from the West Coast. Christmas is dismal and rainy. Mrs. Sakane sends Yuki to bring Christmas cookies to their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Jamieson, who has always been extremely fond of Yuki and her family. She is sympathetic to their plight and is outraged that Mr. Sakane has been forcefully removed from his home. Yuki likes visiting Mrs. Jamieson, who tells her stories and shows Yuki her deceased husband’s collections and her own jewelry collection. When Yuki knocks at the door, Mrs. Jamieson gives her one of her best pearl rings to remember her by. She, too, is concerned about the rumors of the Japanese mass removal. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt confirms the rumors, issuing orders to prepare for the forced removal of all people of Japanese descent on the West Coast. Yuki and Ken are stunned by the situation.

Mrs. Sakane sorts through old letters from relatives in Japan, destroying them. An 8 o’clock curfew has been instated for people of Japanese descent, and items such as radios, binoculars, and cameras have been designated as contraband. Anxious to follow the law, Mrs. Sakane registers as an “enemy alien.” Ken has been designated the head of the family; they are now family number 13453. The Sakanes move their larger possessions into commercial storage and store smaller boxes in the basements of friends across the Bay Area. Yuki struggles with what to store and what to take; they are only allowed to take two suitcases with them. Mrs. Sakane struggles to pack the day-to-day supplies they are told to bring. Ken dreads having to lug the growing bundle into camp.

Mrs. Sakane gently reminds Yuki that they will have to find a new home for Pepper. Yuki understands, but she does not want to give her dog to a stranger. Yuki secretly wishes to take Pepper with her. Ken eventually decides for them. He places an ad in the UC Berkeley newspaper without telling Yuki. However, he does let her help decide who will be Pepper’s new owner, and they eventually settle on a kind UC Berkeley sophomore named Andy. Yuki says goodbye to her dog, then runs into the house and covers her ears so she will not see or hear Andy leave with Pepper. As spring advances and the frantic packing continues, Yuki grows jealous of Mrs. Sakane’s ability to put her feelings into poetry. Mrs. Sakane cares for her plants almost as much as Yuki cares for her animals. She carefully transplants them to neighbors’ yards. One woman, a stranger, shows up to ask for Mr. Sakane’s gladiolas. Mrs. Sakane gives them to her, though Ken and Yuki do not approve. On April 21, 1942, Yuki and her family are given official orders to leave their home in 10 days.

Two nights before the “evacuation,” the Sakanes have dinner at the Nelsons’ house. Mrs. Nelson is eager to give them the hospitality that they will likely be denied in camp. She and Mimi remind them to write if there is anything they can do to help them. Mimi gives Mrs. Sakane a box of linen handkerchiefs, Ken a lei made of LifeSavers candy, and Yuki a red leather diary. When they return home, Mrs. Jamieson comes over to say goodbye. She gives Mrs. Sakane an envelope with a $20 bill. Mrs. Nelson and Mimi drive them to the civil control station the next day. Yuki feels numb and sick. The grounds of the First Congregational Church are crowded with soldiers and evacuees. Ken is relieved that their luggage will be loaded onto trucks; he was worried about carrying it all. They exchange a hurried goodbye with the Nelsons as the soldiers usher them into the church hall.

The minister goes from group to group with comforting words. Ken finds some classmates and laughs with them to cover up his feelings. Yuki wishes that her father was there to comfort Mrs. Sakane. Before long, they are loaded onto buses. Crowds of people assemble to watch them go. Eventually, the family arrives at the Tanforan fairgrounds, one of the 15 hastily assembled incarceration centers across the West Coast.