I Call To Remembrance By Toyo Suyemoto Summary

Toyo Suyemoto’s memoir of her experiences at the Tanforan Race Track and Topaz Relocation Center is the embodiment of perseverance in difficult times. War time is never easy but being relocated because of ancestry, losing all belongings, and going to a strange new place is even harder. In I Call to Remembrance by Toyo Suyemoto describes the horrific fear of being uprooted from her life. Throughout the book Suyemoto describes how much the Japanese-Americans had to endure throughout World War II but always brought back the Japanese idea of shikata ga ni and gaman. These ideas of accepting what must be and perseverance in the face of adversity are reflected throughout the memoir and are shown in many different examples of adversity.
On December

7, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and brought with it death, destruction, confusion, sadness, and hostility throughout the Unites States. Much of this hostility was directed towards the Japanese-Americans that were living in the United States and in 1942, President Roosevelt signed off executive order 9066. This forced Suyemoto, her family, and thousands of other Japanese-Americans to get rid of all belongings and be prepared for evacuation. Suyemoto spent the next few weeks in a state of disbelief but did not question the government’s orders. This is one of the first times the readers see Suyemoto practicing shikata ga ni, accepting what must be. Shikata ga ni is shown countless times throughout her memoir.
The second account of accepting what be occurs when Suyemoto arrives at the Tanforan Racetrack and the reality of the situation settled in. Suyemoto describes being the rooms that were assigned to them “There was no furniture except folded army cots propped against the dismal and uninviting walls.” These rooms were cold and barren, rooms that once housed race horses now housed humans. Despite the empty rooms, being reduced to an identification number, and the “rank, pervasive odor hung in the air” , the Japanese-Americans did not complain or rebel against their government but instead made the best of the situation. Suyemoto salvaged scrap lumber and her father made three stool to sit on and a makeshift table. While these stools were uneven in height they served their purpose. They learned how to bathe in groups, eat in groups, and live in groups. Communal living was not easy as privacy was stripped from them but once again Suyemoto demonstrated perseverance.
In September the Suyemoto family and countless others were once again up rooted and forced into another unknown. They were moved to Utah, to the Topaz Relocation Center. It was there they were interned for three years and there that they faced some of the most hardships. Suyemoto had never been outside of California and the thought of leaving wrenched her mind yet she still did not question or disobey her government. The entire scene was depressing in Suyemoto’s eyes as “the camp stretched out on the flat, dry, grassless, plain, with rows and rows of low, black tar-papered barracks, burrowed into the ground.”
The first winter was especially cruel to the people from California. Suyemoto was not prepared for the cold blasts of wind and the snow to be knee high. Many of the Japanese-Americans had never seen snow and therefore were not prepared for the harsh conditions. However, this did not dismay them. Suyemoto herself learned how to knit so she could make clothing for her little boy, Kay, and for on person. The theme here is that she could’ve easily given up. Suyemoto could have complained, cried, wailed, and screamed about the harsh conditions she was forced into but she did not. She persevered in the face of the adversity, this time in the form of winter, and accepted that this was her life now.
Living at the camp was not comfortable to say the least.

The wood in the barracks would dry up in the summer and create a two-inch gap between the planks causing the dry sand to drift into the rooms and coat the window sills in a fine layer of dust. Instead of complaints from the Japanese-Americans they simply dealt with the dust by sweeping it out of the room knowing full well they would have to do it again tomorrow. There was no running water or bathroom facilities and the first night there Suyemoto had to use her coats and sweaters as temporary mattresses since only two were delivered. She was stripped of all luxuries and her family name become a series of numbers yet Suyemoto herself states that “the only way to survive was to adjust to conditions in this war-created

community.”
The Japanese-Americans had every right to complain, to rebel against their government’s orders yet Suyemoto states that “our own parents as well as others of their generation had learned under duress to bear the unbearable.” Much of Suyemoto’s courage came from watching her mother be unyielding yet obedient.

Suyemoto remarks “I could not grieve now, when Mother especially would not express her misgivings in tears.” Suyemoto’s mother’s attitude was the raw, untampered idea of shikata ga ni and gaman. Her mother is reflected throughout the memoir as a woman of strength and perseverance. She did not let the camps destroy her but instead made something ugly into something beautiful rendered with the loving touch of a mother and memories.
Suyemoto modeled herself after her mother. She understood that they were not longer free not at “a desolate place, hemmed in by barbed wire and the elements.” When they arrived Suyemoto and the Boy Scouts started to play the familiar tune of the University of California, “I wanted to hide my face and weep for what could never be again. But not before all those people.” As much as the arrival was foreboding Suyemoto never did weep for the loss of her old life but instead squared her shoulders and persevered in adversity against the

unknown.
One of the most predominant cases of gaman is the Topaz schools. The Japanese-Americans understood that this was there life for the remainder of the war and for many Issei “It was crucial to them that their children receive the education they so honored and which they themselves had had to forego in many cases.” In response to this crisis “schools opened for the young people just a little over a month after the advance group arrived in the camp.” This ingenious school system helped camp life not be so bleak and brought clubs, activities, and the chance at college for many graduates. Suyemoto writes how many Issei would enroll in her English class to help them merge back into society. The Issei and Niesi generation could have given up on the idea of schooling, on the chance of better jobs outside of camp but yet they preserved the idea of gaman.
The Topaz Library brought great joy to camp life and helped many imprisoned an opportunity to escape even just for a moment. The Topaz Library was a large building crafted from stones but held together by the strength of the Japanese people. It was through them and their unwillingness to quit that the Library became a possibility. Unpacking the library began in October at a time were the building was not yet completed. At times “one of the staff had to bring in an electric heater but some days the library staff had to close the library due to the cold.”Yet this did not stop them from continuing their work of creating a public library. Even if they did not know it the library staff were modeling the idea of perseverance by braving the cold to continue working.
There were clubs like the Boy Scouts, dances, sports teams, and a Topaz newspaper. These events were created out of the strong will to keep living and make the best of a bad situation. The Japanese-American people accepted that this was their home now and created as much of a normal life as they could by hosting events and celebrating holidays. They grew their own crops and many tradesmen created businesses. Topaz became the “fifth largest city of the state of Utah.” It was a functioning town and the Japanese-American people made it that way by accepting their situation at Topaz. They did not listen to the hatred outside the walls of the camp but instead showed their dedication to their country by believing in their government and persevering for three years.
Throughout Suyemoto’s memoir the Japanese-American people upheld the idea of shikata ga ni and gaman. They did not protest to being forced out of their homes yet complied with evacuation procedures and trusting their government. They accepted their living situation at the Tanforan Racetrack making it into a home as best they could and did that once more at Topaz. The Japanese-Americans did not give up at their bleak situation but instead created homes out of barracks and kept the traditional Japanese spirit alive. They faced adversity in many forms and continually persevered through dark and troubling times.