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

Kenichi “Ken” Sakane is Yuki’s beloved older brother; he is seven years her senior. At the beginning of the novel, Ken is a student at UC Berkeley and has ambitions of becoming a doctor. Ken is very observant and pays attention to the current political climate. In addition to his academic accomplishments, Ken is a star player on the Japanese Students Club basketball team. He is a born leader with a strong sense of justice, and these qualities make him Yuki’s role model.

Ken is thrust into the difficult position of becoming the head of his household when Mr. Sakane is unjustly arrested and imprisoned. He faces two main dilemmas throughout the novel. First, he must choose between his family and his education. Ken ultimately decides to forgo a scholarship that would allow him to continue his education on the East Coast and remains instead at Topaz to support Yuki and Mrs. Sakane. Ken does not do well in captivity and becomes increasingly distant and bitter over his country’s betrayal. Even so, he still feels a strong sense of duty toward his family, and he takes on a job at the Topaz hospital for paltry pay in order to help support them. Ken’s second great dilemma comes after his father is released on parole. The army forms a special, Nisei-only regiment as a chance for Japanese Americans to prove their loyalty. Ken ultimately decides to enlist, which makes his family proud even though they worry for his safety. Enlisting in the army helps to heal the bitterness in Ken’s heart. By the time he leaves Topaz for basic training, he is back to his old self.

Yuki’s mother, Mrs. Sakane, is the wise and level-headed matriarch of the family. Mrs. Sakane is “a gentle Japanese lady, but she also had a strong and noble spirit” (17). She keeps alive many Japanese traditions for her family and her community. She is generous to a fault and is always a gracious host, no matter the situation. Yuki doubts that she has a single enemy in the world. Mrs. Sakane has a gift of making everyone feel at home—from recent Japanese immigrants to the FBI agents who arrest her husband.

Mrs. Sakane met her husband through the recommendation of a university professor. She left Japan and met him for the first time in the United States, and the two married soon after. In addition to being a skilled cook and homemaker, Mrs. Sakane is a passionate gardener who loves her plants as much as Yuki loves her pets. She is also an accomplished poet and uses the medium to work through her thoughts and feelings. Mrs. Sakane keeps the family together in her husband’s absence, endowing even the harsh conditions of Tanforan and Topaz with a strong feeling of home. She also encourages harmony in the family’s relationships with others, adopting Mr. Toda and the Kuriharas into their extended family in Topaz. Mrs. Sakane reminds her children to not become bitter over the terrible mistake that America has made by incarcerating its Japanese population. This guidance serves Yuki well during the family’s time in Topaz.

Mr. Sakane is Yuki’s father and the patriarch of the family. The grandson of a samurai, Mr. Sakane is proud of his Japanese heritage; however, he is as loyal, patriotic, and law-abiding as any American citizen, although he is legally not allowed to become one. Mr. Sakane’s character is heavily based on Uchida’s own father, Dwight Takashi Uchida. Mr. Sakane immigrated to America four years before Mrs. Sakane did. The couple met through a university professor and married soon after Mrs. Sakane immigrated to the United States. Mr. Sakane quickly established himself as a successful businessman. In Berkeley, he is a prominent figure in the Issei community. He is also well-respected by his white friends and colleagues, many of whom write affidavits attesting to Mr. Sakane’s good character after he is arrested and incarcerated.

Mr. Sakane spends a long, lonely year incarcerated at Fort Missoula Internment Camp in Montana, during which time he entrusts Ken to take care of Yuki and Mrs. Sakane. Despite the isolation, he continued to make the best of the situation by organizing and improving camp life with the other Issei prisoners. When he is finally released and reunited with his family on Christmas in 1942, he applies this same industrious energy to Topaz, where he works with camp administrators and fellow prisoners to continue improving daily life in the camp. Mr. Sakane recognizes the difficult decision that Ken and the other adult Nisei men must make when they are offered the chance to join the army. Mr. Sakane thinks that he would have enlisted if he were Ken, and he is proud of his son for making this choice. Though he initially delays the family’s departure from Topaz, he recognizes that his work with the white administration has put himself and his family in danger from fascist agitators. Respecting his wife’s wishes, Mr. Sakane arranges to have himself and his family released. They relocate to Salt Lake City at the end of the novel, and it is implied that his enterprising spirit and strong interpersonal skills will help the family establish a new life for themselves.

Mr. Toda is an elderly Issei bachelor from Berkeley, California. He is close friends with Mr. and Mrs. Sakane, and he visits the family regularly before their forced removal during the war. Mr. Toda is a kind old man with a soft spot for Yuki; he always gives her treats when he visits, and he offers her advice throughout the novel. Mr. Toda was always close with Yuki’s family, but during their time in Tanforan and Topaz, he becomes like an actual family member to the Sakanes. Mr. Toda also strikes up a close friendship with Mr. Kurihara in Tanforan, with whom he spends time taking walks and searching for fossils and arrowheads.

As their time in captivity wears on, Mr. Toda, like many of the Issei in Topaz, becomes increasingly depressed and bitter. As an Issei, he has been denied the rights of American citizenship and is under constant suspicion by the government, although he has done nothing wrong. However, he overcomes these feelings with the help of Mr. Sakane and the example of brave Nisei like Ken. Yuki feels guilty for leaving Mr. Toda behind when she leaves Topaz with her family, but she is confident that they will be reunited once the Sakanes establish themselves in Salt Lake City.