Topaz War Relocation Center - Notable Topaz Internees

Notable Topaz Internees

• Karl Ichiro Akiya (1909–2001), a writer and political activist.
• Richard Aoki (1938–2009), an American civil rights activist.
• Yuji Ichioka (1936–2002), an American historian who coined the term "Asian American".
• George Ishiyama (1914–2003), a Japanese American businessman and former president of Alaska Pulp Corporation. Also interned at Heart Mountain.
• Tsuyako Kitashima (1918–2006), a Japanese-American activist noted for her role in seeking reparations for Japanese American internment.
• Fred Korematsu (1919–2005), who challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 in Korematsu v. United States.
• Toshio Mori (1910–1980), author.
• Robert Murase (1938–2005), a world renowned landscape architect.
• Chiura Obata (1885–1975), a Japanese-American artist.
• Frank H. Ogawa (1917–1994), the first Japanese-American to serve on the Oakland City Council.
• Miné Okubo (1912–2001), a Japanese American artist and writer, noted for her book, Citizen 13660.
• Mary Yamashiro Otani (1923–2005), a community activist.
• Goro Suzuki (1917–1979), the Oakland-born entertainer remembered by millions under his stage name, Jack Soo, star of the original stage and movie productions of Flower Drum Song and remembered for his role as Detective Nick Yemana on the 1970s sitcom Barney Miller. Suzuki was a favorite performer at Topaz gatherings.
• Dave Tatsuno (1913–2006), a Japanese American businessman who documented life in an American concentration camp on film.
• Yoshiko Uchida (1921–1992), a Japanese American writer, most notable for her books, Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese American Family and Picture Bride.
• Thomas Yamamoto (1917–2004), an American artist.