FoundSF

Historical Essay

by Hayden Douglas Gunter, 2025

Miné Okubo works on an illustration of the camp during internment.

Photo courtesy Japanese American National Museum

Miné Okubo was imprisoned in American Japanese internment camps during World War II. While interned, she documented her experience and then published her work in a graphic memoir, Citizen 13660 in 1946. Her work offers a unique illustrated personal experience of the dark times that Japanese Americans went through after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Okubo was born in Riverside, California on June 27, 1912. Both of her parents were immigrants from Japan. Her mom was a painter and calligrapher, and her dad was a gardener. Her parents encouraged her to form an appreciation for art. (Creef, 2004). Okubo went to Riverside Community College and eventually to the University of California, Berkeley where she earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in art.

Okubo created mosaics and frescoes for the Federal Art Project in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked with Diego Rivera on the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. (Creef, 2004). Being in San Francisco at that time, Okubo was exposed to many different artistic movements and a variety of artistic opportunities. Through the community and environment there, Okubo took major steps as an artist and learned how art could communicate deep messages within it. (Lim, 2004).

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 changed the lives of every American, especially those of Japanese descent. The attack prompted President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066, ordering every Japanese citizen and Japanese American on the west coast of the United State to be sent to internment camps within the country during the war. Okubo was one of over 110,000 Japanese Americans who were transported away from their homes. (Stanutz, 2018). Okubo was first sent to the Tanforan Assembly Center near San Francisco but was later relocated to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. While in the internment camp, Okubo recorded her experience through her drawings. The book that resulted provides a raw, uncut resource of exactly how she experienced the camps.

Waiting in lines at the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California, 1942.

Drawing by Miné Okubo, courtesy Japanese American National Museum

San Francisco was very influential and beneficial for Okubo's art career, and it also hosted one of the largest Japanese American communities in the country. Before the war, the city was home to Japantown, where traditional and cultural customs were kept alive. Upon returning to the city after internment, Okubo saw Japantown as a reminder of both what was lost and as a symbol of cultural resilience. (Creef, 2004). Okubo continued with her artwork after the war. She would use hints of San Francisco in her art, perhaps as a way to reminisce about how life was before Pearl Harbor. Through Okubo’s artwork expressing these dichotomies, she was able to connect many people of different cultures. (Stanutz, 2018).

In Obuko’s memoir, “Citizen 13660,” she used pen and paper to give a sense of what reality was like for her and the other thousands of Japanese Americans subjected to harsh life in internment camps. Her ability to combine images with text elevated her memoir. It contained profound insights as she was able to humanize the experience to create emotions in the readers through empathy. The book was widely applauded. (Stanutz, 2018).

Panels from Citizen 13660.

In addition to public acclaim, the book was introduced as evidence during the Redress Movement in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. This act apologized for and provided reparations on behalf of the country to all Japanese Americans who were placed in internment camps. Through her book, she ensured that future generations can learn and know about the internment camps during World War II. Okubo’s other works also embody resilience and identity. Okubo stayed strongly connected to the artistic culture of San Francisco and was a major influence on other artists and activists. (Creef, 2004).

Obuko died on February 10, 2001. Her work is held at both the Smithsonian and the Japanese American National Museum.

Citations:

Citizen 13660. United Kingdom, University of Washington Press, 1983.

Elena Tajima Creef (2004) "Going Her Own Way: The Achievement of Miné Okubo," Amerasia Journal, 30:2, x-xxii, DOI: 10.17953/amer.30.2.h2072675m65rg221

Lim, S. G. Lin. (2004). "Miné Okubo: A Memory of Genius." Amerasia Journal, 30(2), 97–104. https://doi.org/10.17953/amer.30.2.18m38j762168368u

Stanutz, Katherine. "Inscrutable Grief: Memorializing Japanese American Internment in Miné Okubo's Citizen 13660." American Studies, vol. 56 no. 3, 2018, p. 47-68. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ams.2018.0002.