Returning home in 1945: reunions, resistance and the aftermath of camp

Vol. 21, No. 23, December 8, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

Nisei soldiers, returning families and the first postwar backlash filled this eight-page issue. On the front page, Second Lieutenant Fukuhara, an interpreter with the 33rd Division, traveled by jeep to Hiroshima and found his mother and brothers alive. California filed more escheat cases under the Alien Land Law, a Los Angeles produce union voted to admit Nisei, and the Marine Corps still barred them. Editorials took up the escheat suits, pressure at Tule Lake, and Canada’s plan to deport some 10,000 Japanese Canadians. Bill Hosokawa and John Kitasako wrote columns.

Elsewhere, evacuees returned from Rohwer to Stockton, and a transport sailed from Long Beach for Hawaii. General Stilwell planned to present Kazuo Masuda’s Distinguished Service Cross to his sister Mary, and the Chicago JACL staged a revue called Go For Broke for fallen soldiers.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Chicago Nisei Lieutenant Finds Mother, Brother Alive in Atom-Bombed City of Hiroshima, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Second Lieutenant Fukuhara, an American-born Nisei interpreter with the 33rd Division, traveled to devastated Hiroshima and found his mother and brothers alive. His brother Victor survived as the only worker of 100 at his factory to escape the blast, while two other brothers were serving in the Japanese army.
• Women Fined for Assault on Issei Man, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two Hollister women were fined a total of $100 for assaulting returned evacuee Rikizo Kawamoto by pulling a ladder out from under him. The justice of the peace also gave one defendant a 90-day suspended sentence.
• Morgan Hill Lions Oppose Excessive Influx of Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Morgan Hill Lions Club voted to send a letter to Governor Warren opposing what it called an excessive influx of persons of Japanese ancestry into limited areas. The club’s stance reflected local resistance to returning evacuees.
• Student Council of GI School in Italy Condemns Rankin, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The student council of the Army’s University Training Center at Florence, made up of white, Nisei and Negro soldiers, criticized Rep. John Rankin for saying the nation should keep the flag over a white government. The council asked whether soldiers had died in vain.
• Stockton Students Welcome Evacuees Back from Rohwer, by P.C. Staff, page 2. College of the Pacific and Stockton Junior College students met 200 returning evacuees from the Rohwer center at the Stockton station on December 4. The students drove the mostly elderly evacuees to a Buddhist temple converted into a temporary hostel and served them a meal.
• Transport Sails with Evacuees for Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Army transport Shawnee left Long Beach with 908 Japanese American evacuees bound for their former homes in Hawaii. Forty Nisei veterans of the 442nd Combat Team from Italy and France were also aboard.
• Fresno State College Fund Honors Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A scholarship fund in memory of Florence Akiyama, an English instructor at Canal High School, was established at Fresno State from leftover student body funds. Preference will go to Canal High graduates, with the remainder going to other campuses.
• Tule Lake Student Wins Scholarship, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Walter Mido, a resident of the Tule Lake center, was awarded a $600 scholarship to Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The brief notes his achievement despite wartime confinement.
• Canadian Government Plans to Deport Alien Repatriates, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Canada’s Labor Minister announced a general policy under which Japanese nationals who requested repatriation would be deported, and reviewed cases of Canadian-born citizens seeking to revoke their requests. The article notes that 10,347 persons had applied for repatriation or expatriation.
• Nisei Professor Helps Solve North Dakota Murder Cases, by Rose Mary Kenny, page 6. Dr. A. K. Saiki, a Hawaiian-born pathology professor at the University of North Dakota, works with toxicologist Dr. G. A. Abbott to determine causes of suspicious deaths. The article describes a case in which they uncovered nitroglycerin poisoning.
• Chicago JACL Holds Show in Honor of Fighting Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Chicago JACL presented a talent revue titled Go For Broke at the Uptown Players Theater to honor fallen Nisei soldiers. Dr. Thomas T. Yatabe gave a dedicatory address, and the program featured vocal and dance performances.
• Court Awards Damages to Issei Plaintiffs, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A Chicago Superior Court jury awarded $10,000 in total damages to three plaintiffs, two Japanese and one Korean, injured when a truck overturned their car at a funeral procession. The defendants were the truck driver and his employer.
• Nisei Writer Ties for First Place in Contest in Idaho, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Mrs. Mary Ban of Nampa tied for first place in the Idaho Writers’ League annual contest with a juvenile short story. An adult story entry received honorable mention.
• Two Doctors Open Los Angeles Offices, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. James M. Goto and Dr. Masako Kusayanagi opened medical offices in Los Angeles after returning from the Topaz and Manzanar relocation centers. Both had practiced in Los Angeles before the evacuation.
• Denver JACL Will Hold Christmas Ball, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Denver JACL announced committees for its Christmas Ball on December 26 at the Silver Glade ballroom of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Hostesses and ticket arrangements were named.
• Detroit Nisei Cage Teams Open Season, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Detroit’s first Nisei basketball league opened on November 25 with six teams playing at the Franklin Settlement gym. The round-robin schedule runs through February 24, 1946.
• New York Nisei Will Sponsor FEPC Rally, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The New York JACL chapter will sponsor a rally at the American Common Ground Center urging passage of H.R. 2239 to create a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission. Speakers include labor and civil rights leaders.

National

• New Escheat Case Filed by State in Fresno County, by P.C. Staff, page 1. California filed escheat proceedings against Ishisuke Takano, his wife, and their American-born daughter over a 40-acre parcel near Parlier. The state alleges the property was titled in the daughter’s name to evade the Alien Land Law, and several similar cases are being prepared.
• Anti-Nisei Boycott Dropped by Los Angeles Market Union, by Scotty Tsuchiya, page 1. Members of Produce Drivers and Employes Union Local 630 voted to open membership to all American citizens of Japanese ancestry, ending a wartime ban that had kept Nisei out of Los Angeles wholesale produce terminals. The decision reverses a constitutional by-law adopted after the evacuation.
• Saskatchewan Will Take Share of Canadian Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The CCF government of Saskatchewan announced its willingness to take its quota of persons of Japanese ancestry residing in Canada. The announcement came amid a national debate over the deportation of Japanese Canadians.
• Canada Moves to Accelerate Deportations, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Vancouver papers reported that some 10,000 Japanese Canadians would be repatriated to Japan, with the first group of 900 unmarried men expected to leave in mid-January. The plan would use a Canadian warship and provide each deportee $200.
• New York Committee’s Action Commended by WRA Official, by P.C. Staff, page 3. WRA Acting Director Philip Glick praised the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born for defending the rights of loyal Japanese Americans to return to the West Coast. The letter followed a conference resolution condemning intimidation campaigns.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Still Banned by Marines, Says Corps Spokesman, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Marine Corps spokesman said enlistment of Japanese Americans remains prohibited even though the Navy lifted its ban. The article notes that Marine front-line commanders had borrowed Nisei soldiers for intelligence work during the Pacific war.
• Japan Occupation Ineffective Without Nisei GIs, Says Moore, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lt. Col. Wallace H. Moore told the Commonwealth Club that Japanese American contributions were invaluable and that counterintelligence work in the occupation would not be effective without them. He credited Nisei translators with saving American lives in the Buna campaign and urged an end to intolerance at home.
• Nisei GIs Served in 130 Army, Navy Marine Units During War Against Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Graduates of the Military Intelligence Service Language School were placed in roughly 180 Army, Navy and Marine headquarters units during the war against Japan. About one thousand were assigned to General MacArthur’s G-2 section, and the article details their postings across theaters.
• New York Paper Pays Tribute to Nisei Heroes, by P.C. Staff, page 2. PM newspaper paid tribute to Japanese American patriots, citing Staff Sgt. Kazuo Masuda, who gave his life in Italy and received a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross. The paper called his heroism typical of Nisei loyalty.
• Medal for Kazuo: Gen. Stilwell to Present DSC to Courageous Sister of Nisei Hero Killed in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 2. General Joseph Stilwell planned to present the Distinguished Service Cross won by Kazuo Masuda to his sister Mary in Santa Ana, after she stood firm against threats when returning home. The article also describes Kazuo’s heroic actions in Italy and a planned civic rally in his honor.
• Conducts Investigation Into Causes of Crash of C-47 Transport in Placer County, by P.C. Staff, page 3. An Army C-47 carrying Nisei 442nd veterans crashed near Mount Vernon in a rainstorm on November 28, killing eight soldiers including several Japanese American veterans. The article recounts the rescue effort and the difficulties investigators faced in determining the cause.

Incarceration & Redress

• Aged Evacuee Hangs Self at Tule Lake Center, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tsuruzo Harada, a 71-year-old Japan-born resident of Tule Lake, took his own life on the eve of his departure for relocation in California. Friends said he had been despondent, and he had been evacuated from Placer County in 1942.
• Child Found Murdered at Tule Lake Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A three-year-old girl was found murdered and her 11-month-old sister had a fractured skull in their barracks apartment at Tule Lake on December 5. The children’s father discovered them after lunch, and the mother was too hysterical to give police a coherent account.
• Repatriates Permitted to Take Securities Back to Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. WRA officials announced that each of the 320 voluntary repatriates leaving Tule Lake for Japan could carry up to $10,000 in securities along with specified earned money and personal effects. Cash over the allowed limit was to be turned over to customs.
• Minor Age Deportees Will Be Permitted to Return to U.S., by P.C. Staff, page 3. WRA officials announced that minors born in the United States who accompany parents to Japan as repatriates may later return as citizens. Parents were urged to obtain copies of birth certificates before leaving.

Commentary

• Legal Intimidation, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that California’s filing of 40 escheat cases under the Alien Land Law is a calculated effort to intimidate Japanese Americans and block the return of evacuee farmers. It traces the legislative campaigns behind the suits and cites court precedents protecting children’s property rights.
• Restrictive Covenants, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial examines racially restrictive covenants that confined minorities to segregated districts, and welcomes a Los Angeles ruling upholding Negro residents’ right to remain in their homes. It suggests the decision could begin to break many such covenants.
• Pressure at Tule Lake, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reports on Undersecretary Fortas’s letter acknowledging that intimidation by pro-Japanese groups likely pressured many Tule Lake residents into renouncing citizenship. It calls for justice for those who renounced under threat.
• Canadian Deportation Crisis, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that the rush to deport some 10,000 Japanese Canadians reflects British Columbia politicians’ fear of growing public scrutiny of civil liberties. It contrasts Canada’s restrictive treatment with the United States and notes growing opposition to Bill No. 15’s sub-section G.
• A Nisei Veteran of the 442nd Comes Back to Civilian Life, by John Kitasako, page 5. Joe Kanazawa, a former JACL staffer harassed by the Dies Committee, enlisted in the 442nd and returned after 245 days of combat. He now seeks civilian work and urges the home front not to forget the sacrifices of veterans.
• From the Frying Pan: Questions for Pearl Harbor Investigators, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa questions why Army intelligence was so misinformed before Pearl Harbor and why mass evacuation of Japanese Americans came more than two months after the attack. He argues the evacuation was a crippling blow to democratic principles.
• Behind Date, by Arline Winchell Moore, page 6. A Hood River, Oregon reader responds to an earlier article by Elmer R. Smith, arguing that the fruit processing sequence does not discriminate against Japanese-grown produce. She describes how each variety is cleared before the next is processed.

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