Born in Riverside, California, Miné Okubo studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and later traveled to Europe to further her artistic training. Her career was profoundly shaped by the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II, an experience she documented through sketches and illustrations while held at the Tanforan Assembly Center and the Topaz War Relocation Center.

Her work is characterized by a documentary approach, utilizing ink and pencil to capture the daily realities of camp life with both precision and emotional resonance. Citizen 13660 remains a foundational text in American literature and visual history, serving as one of the first published accounts of the internment experience.

Okubo's legacy continues to be recognized by major institutions, with her drawings serving as critical historical records of 20th-century American civil rights history. Her contributions to both the fine arts and the graphic narrative form have secured her a lasting place in the canon of American social realism.