Update: (January 15, 2025): Congratulations to Shanna Farrell, Roger Eardley-Pryor, and Amanda Tewes of the U.C. Berkeley Oral History Center! In December their project, “Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives” was awarded the Oral History Association’s Mason Multi-Media Award for “outstanding oral history projects, collections, exhibits, and multimedia presentations for the public.” Among the (to date) 23 […]
Hits and Misses
As the holiday season approaches, there’s always a lot of talk about “the best gifts.” My family was always into giving presents, even in the 1950s when nobody had much money. Every December, my dad would give each of us $2 for our Christmas shopping. One of my favorite places to shop was the jyugose-mise […]
Tanforan Memorial Unveiling
Eighty years after being forcibly removed from their homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, more than a dozen survivors of Tanforan Assembly Center gathered to witness the unveiling of the Tanforan Memorial at the San Bruno BART station. They were joined by hundreds of others including Tanforan descendants and local community members. Almost 8,000 […]
Keep the stories alive
On April 22, I had the privilege of addressing an audience of about 240 attendees at the opening reception for the Topaz Stories Exhibit in the Utah State Capitol. Dana Shew was kind enough to capture some of the remarks on her phone! Click here to view the video. Video courtesy of Dana Shew.
Day of Remembrance 2022
Utah Exhibit Opens
A reception will be held in the Capitol rotunda on April 22 (4-6 pm), at which time, some of the contributors will travel to Salt Lake City to see the exhibit. The 26 writers who are represented in the exhibit are: First row: Ann Tamaki Dion, Amy Eto, Tamesuke Harada, Taneyuki Dan Harada, Norman Hayashi, […]
Utah Exhibit 2022
The Topaz Stories Exhibit in the Utah State Capitol is on! January 18-December 31, 2022 Utah State Capitol Building, 3rd floor mezzanine Salt Lake City, Utah The exhibit, postponed from a planned run in 2020 due to COVID, has been rescheduled to January 18-December 31, 2022 through the kind efforts of Max Chang, Brad Westwood […]
Topaz Stories: Podcast
On June 2, 2021, Jonathan Hirabayashi (the Topaz Stories exhibit designer) and I were interviewed for a podcast produced by the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement. It was part of a series on Utah history and culture called “Speak Your Piece.” Brad Westwood, our host, along with Max Chang, has been instrumental in […]
On Mothers’ Day
I must have been about six years old when I had this nightmare: My mother was leaving us, going “back East,” and we were going to see her off. Perhaps we were at the airport. She was dressed for traveling, wearing a hat, and we had her suitcases. To this day, I don’t know where […]
