After the Wartime Civil Control Administration issued two center-wide inspections by the US army, it was determined that the conditions of Tanforan Assembly Center warranted moving internees to a more permanent location known as Topaz, the Central Utah Project. Okubo and her brother packed their belongings and boarded a train with the other internees that was to take them to Topaz. The train ride lasted several days, introducing many of the internees to new terrain that they have never seen before.

When Okubo and her brother arrived at Topaz, they were assigned a new barrack and another member to their unit. The camp administrators did not allow two-person family units, so Okubo and her brother decided to invite a lone male university student to their unit. The three of them began working at the Topaz Times, which a newspaper distributed throughout the camp to keep internees informed about the center and the world outside. Camp administration would censor inappropriate content. 

Topaz was only two-thirds of the way constructed, which meant that internees had to take it upon themselves to steal lumber to patch up their barracks to keep themselves warm during the cold nights. When winter came, the camp administration gave internees potbellied stoves to warm themselves.