2_Homma Chair

Dr. Frank Kami, 93, made this chair when he was 17 at Topaz, UT., out of a wooden crate his father obtained at the temporary Tanforan detention facility. “The bottom is the important part,” he says, because it has the date of the family’s transfer to Topaz, 9/22/42, and his father’s name, James. Part of the family number, 13696, can be seen. Frank says he was heartbroken about being separated from his girlfriend, Miyo, from Berkeley, CA., and never went to a single dance. He made furniture instead. (see next)

Homma,mchair

Homma, chair, family

wyx

Chairs made by Frank Kami at Topaz, UT, c 1942. Frank later made a replica of the table which the family had left behind when the camp closed. Collection Topaz Museum. Photo courtesy Kami family.

Takayanagi family Army issue folding stool with family number, Topaz, UT, 2017
Collection of Nancy Ukai, photo: Nancy Ukai

Homma, chair