Character
The youngest of the Ito brothers, an artist and creative.
Minoru "Minnow" Ito
Where all of the Japantown teens are originally from, before evacuation.
San Francisco
Executive Order 9066.
Caused Japanese-American evacuation
An American citizen of Japanese descent.
Nisei
The author of the book.
Traci Chee
A fashionable teen girl who often wears a blonde wig, ends up moving to New York City.
Hiromi "Bette" Nakano
Internment camp in Utah where all the "Yes-Yes's" or loyal Japanese-Americans stayed.
Topaz
What do these boys have in common? Mas, Twitchy, and Frankie.
They all volunteered to join the army
Translates to "white person".
Hakujin
Occurred December 7th, 1941 and caused the U.S. to enter WWII.
Pearl Harbor
Volunteers in the army and sadly, dies.
David "Twitchy" Hashimoto
Where all of the "No-no's" or disloyal Japanese-Americans of Topaz were sent.
Tule Lake
What divided the camp into two groups.
Loyalty Questionnaire
The two groups formed by Questions 27 and 28 on the loyalty questionnaire.
"Yes-yes" or "No-no"
The President of the United States during the Second World War.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
An intelligent teen boy who dreams of going to college. His parents used to own Katsumoto Co.
Stanley "Stan" Katsumoto
The first camp that the Japantown teens were relocated to.
Tanforan
Was the person who was shot by the camp guards simply for playing with his dog.
Mr. Uyeda
A Japanese war-cry.
Banzai!
442nd Regimental Combat Team
Comprised of Japanese-Americans from the mainland U.S. and Hawaii.
The oldest of the Ito brothers, described as strong and handsome. Plays father-figure for Shig and Minnow.
Masaru "Mas" Ito
Where Shig moves to after he's freed from camp.
Chicago
What Minnow and Stan give to a white girl upon their return to San Francisco.
A drawing of the camp.
Japanese word with a meaning similar to perseverance.
Gaman
The motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up of Japanese-Americans from Hawai'i and the Mainland U.S.
Go for broke!