Murder in the High Desert

James Wakasa was shot and killed by a Topaz guard in 1943. Some 78 years later, a monument built by Issei in camp was found and removed from the site where it had been protected, buried in the cracked earth of Topaz where over 8,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated. No Japanese Americans were present when the monument was dug up in July 2021. Four months later, 12 Japanese Americans were finally able to have a ceremony honoring Wakasa at the site of his murder.