Tule Lake security, Hawaiian swimmers and the fight over West Coast race-baiting

Vol. 17, No. 9, September 4, 1943. 8 pages. View this issue

Life for Japanese Americans in the incarceration camps (often called internment) and outside them ran through this eight-page issue. Nisei swimmers from Hawaii, all in the Japanese American Combat Team, won the Southern AAU team title with 53 points, led by Takashi Hirose. The Army ordered added security and a larger garrison at the Tule Lake segregation center, and WRA officer C. E. Zimmer described the fence and guard towers. Carey McWilliams wrote that reactionary groups on the coast were stirring anti-Japanese feeling for political gain, and Bill Hosokawa answered the Costello subcommittee’s report.

Elsewhere, Saburo Kido reported on JACL chapters and resettlers in Idaho, and Joe Masaoka wrote about press prejudice. Women could now enlist in the Women’s Army Corps, and Thomas M. Kobayashi was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer on the 442nd Regimental Headquarters Staff. Three editorials on page 4 and a column by Elmer R. Smith for college-bound nisei round out the issue.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Japanese American Soldiers Sweep South Swim Championship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nisei swimmers from the Japanese American Combat Team, all from Hawaii, won the Southern AAU swimming team title with 53 points. Takashi Hirose led the team with multiple first-place finishes.
• WAC Recruiting Teams to Visit Topaz, Hunt, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WAC recruiters scheduled visits to Minidoka and Topaz to enlist Japanese American women. Women in free zones were directed to their nearest WAC recruiting office.
• Eleven Topaz Men Get Induction Papers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Eleven Topaz volunteers were called by the Fillmore draft board to report to their nearest reception centers. The group includes men who had already relocated to other cities.
• Revoke Recall Order to Allow Nisei to Serve as Seaman, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Pvt. Robert Kaoru Inada had his army recall order revoked so he could re-enlist for overseas merchant marine duty. His deferment was granted after a request from the New York office.
• Los Angeles Group Protests Induction of Nisei Into WACs, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Pacific Coast Japanese Problem League adopted a resolution protesting recruitment of Japanese American women into the Women’s Army Corps. The league is a coalition favoring continued exclusion of evacuees.
• Women’s Army Corps Opens to Nisei Women, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Japanese American women can now enlist in the Women’s Army Corps, an opportunity the Tulean Dispatch editorial says lets nisei women prove loyalty. It argues the chance helps the nisei gain their rightful place in American life.
• Japanese American Combat Team News: Nisei Warrant Officer Has Record Studded With ‘Firsts’, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Thomas M. Kobayashi was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer on the 442nd Regimental Headquarters Staff, becoming the first nisei master sergeant, sergeant major, and warrant officer in the war. He was a former debater and college newspaper editor from Pasadena College.
• Alaskan Nisei Volunteer for Combat Unit, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Three Alaskan nisei, Frank Hiratsuka, Fred Matsuno, and Michael Hagiwara, volunteered for the Combat Team at Camp Shelby after being evacuated to Minidoka. The article describes their backgrounds as trappers and fishermen and their comparisons of Mississippi and Alaska.
• Kent, Wash., Nisei Promoted to Warrant Officer in Army, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Minoru Tsubota of Kent, Washington, was promoted to warrant officer and assigned as assistant supply officer of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion at Camp Shelby. He had served with the 160th Infantry band since enlisting in 1941.

National

• Poston Attorneys Confer in Phoenix on Co-op’s Status, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Attorneys for the Poston relocation center co-operative met with Arizona’s attorney general to discuss compliance with state laws governing such organizations. The co-op’s corporation papers had recently been accepted by Arizona.
• Hawaii Dispute Seen as Test of Military Rule, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Herman Eberharter pointed to the dispute between General Richardson and Judge Metzger over habeas corpus in Hawaii as a test of wartime military rule. The controversy could affect many persons of Japanese and German ancestry held by the military.
• Evacuee Children Face Denial of Free Schooling, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Idaho’s state superintendent reaffirmed an attorney general opinion that Japanese children outside the Minidoka center are not entitled to free public schooling. The opinion characterized evacuees as virtually prisoners of the federal government.
• Coast Authority on Minorities Sees Political Purpose Behind Campaign to Arouse Race Hate, by Carey McWilliams, page 1. Carey McWilliams argues in Common Ground that reactionary groups on the Pacific coast are deliberately fomenting anti-Oriental feeling for partisan political gain. He names Governor Earl Warren as a likely candidate to exploit the Japanese issue.
• West Coast Evacuees Find New Jobs in Philadelphia, by P.C. Staff, page 2. More than 200 evacuees have relocated to Philadelphia and found jobs ranging from bacteriologists to produce merchants. A WRA officer reported they had been treated fairly and were still in their placements.
• Regional Officials Hold Two-Day Work Conference at Salt Lake City Hotel, by P.C. Staff, page 2. WRA employment head Thomas Holland reported no known sabotage by evacuees on indefinite leave and said the relocation program was succeeding. He stated efforts were focused on placing loyal Tule Lake evacuees in outside jobs.
• Teachers Union Urges Release of Loyal Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The American Federation of Teachers urged President Roosevelt to release loyal American citizens of Japanese descent from relocation centers. The convention also opposed Asian immigration restrictions and backed the fair employment practice committee.
• Nisei Workers in Denver Plant Vote for CIO Union, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Workers at Toner’s, Inc., a Denver food distributor with many Japanese American employees, voted 4 to 1 for representation by the ILWU. Negotiations were expected to begin after NLRB certification.
• Three Persons Face Charges of Violating Arizona Land Law, by P.C. Staff, page 3. T. G. Decker and Kaijuro Kishiyama were held to answer in superior court on charges of conspiring to violate Arizona’s alien land law. Decker’s attorney announced plans to seek a writ of habeas corpus.
• Publication of Doho Resumed in New York, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The anti-militarist Japanese American newspaper Doho resumed publication in New York after more than a year’s suspension. Editor Shuji Fujii called for unity of pro-democratic Japanese Americans.

Incarceration & Redress

• Parents Learn Nisei Son Is Interned in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The parents of Shirro Ando of Powell, Wyoming, received word through the Red Cross that their son is a civilian internee in Japan. It was their first word from him since October 1941.
• Additional External Security Measures Ordered for Tule Lake Segregation Center, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Army ordered additional security and an augmented military garrison at the Tule Lake segregation center before transfers of segregees begin. Barbed-wire fencing and guard towers were being erected.
• Policy of Vigilance at Segregee Center Told by WRA Officer, by P.C. Staff, page 2. WRA assistant director C. E. Zimmer announced a six-foot wire fence and guard towers at Tule Lake, with residents under constant guard. Five companies of soldiers would be stationed at the center.
• Repatriation Group Starts Trip to Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Forty persons from Minidoka and 22 from Central Utah began a three-month journey to New York for a prisoner exchange ship bound for Japan. The article also outlines planned transfers of about 400 persons to the Tule Lake center.
• Fear Evacuee Youth Drowned in Idaho Canal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Yoshi Tamura, 21, of the Minidoka relocation center is believed to have drowned in the north side canal after going missing while swimming. Searches by more than 100 volunteers and military police continued for days.
• Midwest Communities Welcome Evacuees, Rundquist Declares, by P.C. Staff, page 3. George Rundquist of the Federal Council of Churches reported that Midwesterners were welcoming nisei as permanent residents. He warned that prolonged relocation makes social adjustment harder for evacuees.
• Few Oppose Post-War Return of Evacuees to West Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 3. At a Fresno hearing of a California state senate committee, most witnesses opposed returning evacuees before the war ended. Few opposed their return after the war, though some witnesses called for exclusion for the duration.
• State Senate Group Seeks to Determine Attitude on Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The state senate fact-finding committee opened a two-day Fresno hearing to gauge local attitudes toward the return of Japanese Americans. Senator Donnelly said topics would include loyalty, alien land law enforcement, and language instruction.
• Denson to Send 1564 Persons to Tule Lake Center, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A total of 1,564 persons will leave the Jerome relocation center for Tule Lake during the segregation movement. The Denson Tribune reported the figures.
• Final Physicals Given 127 Candidates for Repatriation Liner, by P.C. Staff, page 8. 127 persons at the Gila River center received final physical examinations and vaccinations before repatriation to Japan on the Gripsholm. Transportation to the east coast port was arranged by federal and military officials.
• Detroit Evacuees Sponsor Farewell Fete for Official, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Detroit evacuees and supporters held a farewell banquet honoring WRA relocation officer George Graff, who was leaving his post. Graff urged the nisei to take pride in their heritage and meet the challenges ahead.

Community

• Robertson Takes WRA Post for Eastern Idaho Area, by P.C. Staff, page 2. John R. Robertson, former Bonneville county agent, became eastern Idaho war relocation officer. He will supervise relocation across twelve eastern Idaho counties from Idaho Falls.
• Ex-California Nisei Has Job in War Plant in Pennsylvania, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Jo Morisue, formerly of San Francisco, works the swing shift at a steel plant near Sharon, Pennsylvania, and is a member of the CIO United Steelworkers. The brief notes his union membership.
• Nisei Win Vote of Confidence From Fellow Workers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Two relocated nisei mechanics in Des Moines were retained after their coworkers voted 13 to 2 to keep them. The vote came after the employer heard objections to hiring them.
• Okada Commissioned Notary Public, by P.C. Staff, page 2. JACL national treasurer Hito Okada was commissioned a notary public by the Utah governor. His office is in the Beason Building in Salt Lake City.
• English Class, by Evelyn Kirimura, page 5. Issei adult education English classes at Topaz are helping parents communicate with their children and correspond with relatives. The article describes the reasons students gave for enrolling.
• Ann Nisei’s Column: If You’re Tall, You’re Lucky, Make Most of Your Height, by Ann Nisei, page 6. Ann Nisei advises tall women to embrace their height with poise and dress with style. She also gives tips for those who want to appear shorter, such as horizontal lines and contrasting shoes.
• Meeting Evacuees in Boise Valley, by Saburo Kido, page 6. Saburo Kido reports on visits to JACL chapters and evacuee workers in Nyssa, Ontario, and Caldwell, Idaho. He assesses resettlement prospects, noting local markets and the importance of favorable local newspaper coverage.
• Chicago Sun Lauds Stand Taken by Rep. Eberharter, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Chicago Sun editorial commended Rep. Eberharter for challenging the Dies committee majority’s attacks on WRA. It attributed the anti-Japanese fury on the West Coast partly to economic motives of groups wanting to eliminate competition.
• Unionization of Nisei Labor Upsets Dual Wage Standard, Says Hawaii Japanese, by William Norwood, page 7. Christian Science Monitor writer William Norwood reports that union activity among Hawaii’s Japanese workers is provoking renewed anti-Japanese feeling. He notes wage gains and a shift from dual wage standards due to wartime labor shortages.
• Masao Satow’s Article Appears in National YMCA Magazine, by Masao Satow, page 7. Masao Satow writes in the YMCA’s Associated Forum about the effects of relocation center confinement on nisei. He calls on nisei to weave themselves into American life so no thread can be pulled out without weakening the whole.
• Indianapolis Group Will Aid Families, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Disciples of Christ proposed a program placing groups of two to ten evacuee families on Indiana farms. Financing would come from credit unions and loans from interested individuals.
• Arkansas Boy Scouts Spend Camping Trip on Mississippi, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Ninety-three Rohwer Boy Scouts joined scouts from Jerome and Arkansas City for a five-day camping trip on the Mississippi. The Rohwer Outpost reported on the trip.

Sports

• Nisei Baseball Players Attend Brooklyn Dodgers Tryouts, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Several nisei pitchers and players, including two from the Poston relocation center, tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers at John Affleck Park in Ogden. The tryouts were conducted by George Sisler.

Commentary

• Behind the Race-Baiters, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that organized reactionary interests on the Pacific coast are fostering anti-Japanese prejudice for political and economic gain. It contends the Japanese American battle is part of a broader struggle against those who would exploit racial division.
• A Pacific Charter, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial calls for a Pacific charter setting out freedom principles for Pacific peoples, paralleling the Atlantic Charter. It argues such assurances would encourage Eastern peoples to keep fighting Japanese aggression.
• No Negotiated Peace, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial rejects accusations that advocates of fair treatment for Japanese Americans seek a soft peace with Japan. It cites former ambassador Joseph Grew, who upheld nisei loyalty while calling for Japan’s disarmament.
• Chinese American: What Course for the Future?, by Paul Louie, page 5. Paul Louie, speaking at a 1943 Chinese Christian conference, urges young Chinese Americans to build Christian communities and find a guiding purpose. He draws parallels with nisei who are working to prove their American loyalty.
• Race Hatred, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Hood River News editorial criticized a gibe directed at a visiting Japanese American and urged honor for those serving in the armed forces. The brief is reprinted as an example of racial hatred.
• Minority Reporter, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column profiles Rep. Herman Eberharter, whose minority report criticized the Dies Committee’s treatment of Japanese Americans. It also reports on Hawaiian Japanese issues tied to a possible Dies committee probe.
• Nisei and Educational Problems: College Students Must Study Many Occupational Fields Before Determining Courses, by Elmer R. Smith, page 5. Elmer Smith begins a series advising prospective nisei college students on financial planning and career choices. He notes that many institutions limit Japanese American enrollment and suggests extension courses as an alternative.
• From the Frying Pan: Whole Business Just a Publicity Gag, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa argues that the Costello subcommittee’s majority report on WRA relocation was prejudiced, as shown by Eberharter’s minority report. He describes the hearings in Los Angeles as conducted to provide a hostile atmosphere for the evacuees.
• Canadians, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Canadian newspapers mistakenly identified nisei students and athletes as Chinese in separate stories. The brief notes the errors in a Montreal and Toronto paper.
• From Our Readers, by Julius A. Goldwater; Kay H. Beach, page 6. A Los Angeles reader disputes a Pacific Citizen report that a Buddhist temple was being negotiated for use as a recreation center. A Christian pacifist conscientious objector praises the paper’s coverage opposing anti-Japanese propaganda.
• Northfield Legion Gets Editorial Salute in Christian Advocate, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Christian Advocate praised the Northfield, Minnesota American Legion post for protesting an inflammatory article against Japanese Americans. The editorial argued that banishing citizens by ancestry violates the Constitution.

In-Depth

• The Japanese in American Literature, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The article surveys how Japanese Americans have appeared in American writing, from early works to anti-Japanese propaganda novels. It concludes that the evacuation experience will provide material for future nisei writers.

JACL

• Colorado Calling!, by Joe Masaoka, page 6. Joe Masaoka argues that prejudicial press coverage has long shaped public opinion against Japanese Americans, from evacuation to farm equipment storage. He concludes that unity is needed to prevent good people from being picked off one by one.

Obituaries

• Vital Statistics, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The vital statistics column lists births, deaths, and marriages among evacuees at various relocation centers during August 1943.

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