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

A euphemism is the substitution of a word or expression used to lessen the impact of another harsher word or phrase. Euphemisms are typically used to make something seem more pleasant than it actually is and to obscure the true nature or intent of the words in question. In Journey to Topaz, Uchida uses the motif of euphemisms to emphasize the Orwellian conditions that Japanese Americans endured during World War II. The word “evacuation,” the official term used by the government to describe the forced removal of the Japanese population from the West Coast, is the novel’s first example of the government’s use of euphemisms to disguise injustices. The term “evacuation” connotes an action that is conducted for the safety of the evacuees—as in an emergency evacuation prior to an impending natural disaster. This term is therefore designed to imply that the forced removal and relocation of the Japanese American community was undertaken for the community’s safety, rather than out of a xenophobic and racist response to an unsubstantiated threat.

Yuki encounters additional instances of euphemistic and harmful language when her family is moved to Tanforan Assembly Center, for she is shocked to discover that the so-called “apartment” that her family has been promised is no more than a dirty stall in a horse stable. As Ken’s friend Jim, who has been in camp longer than the Sakanes, tells her, “That, my dear child, is what is known as a euphemism. […] You’ll get used to things like that here” (51). Despite his condescending attitude toward Yuki, Jim’s comment is designed to emphasize that such euphemisms are used by the camp administration to make Tanforan and Topaz seem more comfortable and less dystopic than they really are. However, the effect only endows the living conditions with a bitter irony. Upon arrival at Topaz, Yuki reads the welcome message, in which the use of euphemisms becomes required: “‘Listen,’ she said, reading aloud, ‘“You are now in Topaz, Utah. Here we say dining hall, not mess hall; Safety Council, not Internal Police; residents, not evacuees, and last but not least, mental climate, not morale’” (98). Each of these terms is specifically chosen to evoke a more positive connotation, but because the shift in wording is not accompanied by a corresponding improvement in the prisoners’ lives, the polite-sounding words are rendered all the more insulting to Yuki and her family. The “dining hall” still serves disgusting, fattening food, and the “Safety Council” still subjugates prisoners rather than protecting them. Likewise, calling the prisoners “residents” does not change the fact that their “residence” is against their will; and the “mental climate” is just as negative as their morale.