Topaz Museum seeks public input to guide preservation and future of Wakasa...
DELTA, Utah — The Topaz Museum Board announces the launch of the Topaz Community Outreach Project, as part of its effort to preserve and interpret a recently discovered stone monument, first erected in...
View ArticleWakasa Committee asks for professional excavation where monument was unearthed
The Wakasa Memorial Committee has asked the Topaz Museum Board to carry out a professionally-led community archaeology excavation of the site where the Wakasa monument was unearthed by the museum last...
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Results of a community dialog about a Japanese American artifact
The original Okei gravestone. photo by Melissa LobachOn a scenic knoll in Gold Hill about 50 miles east of Sacramento lies the singular grave of Okei, the first Japanese woman and immigrant buried on...
View ArticleThe Wakasa Monument belongs back home in Japantown, San Francisco
It’s not 1942 anymore; “Shikata ganai” is no longer in my vocabulary. I was four when they put me in that prison camp, Topaz. I’m 84 now. Today I shall fight the injustice/racism before me.Back then,...
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On memorializing James Wakasa
‘Raising Mr. Wakasa’s Monument’ by Patrick HayashiMr. Wakasa was shot by a guard while walking his dog along the perimeter of the fence at the Topaz, Utah concentration camp. Other prisoners created a...
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Sixth annual Nichi Bei Day of Giving fundraiser Sept. 5
Livestream Web-a-thon to feature the best of the ‘Nichi Bei Café,’ staff and board, and moreThe public is invited to join in on the sixth annual Nichi Bei Day of Giving Web-a-thon on Monday, Sept. 5,...
View ArticleRemembering Roger
The first book I read about Japanese American history was Roger Daniels’ book, “The Politics of Prejudice.” It was 1966, and in my research as a college freshman, it was the rare book on Japanese...
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David and Goliath battle over Tule Lake
Tule Lake gravesites. photo by Dorey NomiyamaNearly a decade has gone by in the Tule Lake Committee’s fight to stop the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) and the Tulelake community’s plan to...
View ArticleYour historical immigration records are being held hostage. Again.
The USCIS Genealogy Program has proposed an outrageous new fee hike, which will also change how some documents are provided. The fee for initiating an Index Search for an individual will rise from $65...
View ArticleActivism in reporting
In 2016, I penned an op-ed describing the fear many in the transgender community felt following the election of President Donald Trump. We rushed to process paperwork for gender change requests and...
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