Hawaii’s statehood bid and the Issei citizenship question

Vol. 22, No. 4, January 26, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

Hawaii’s bid for statehood led the news on January 26, 1946. A House Territories subcommittee, back from 20 days of hearings in Honolulu, recommended favorable action, and President Truman urged immediate legislation. Rep. Homer Angell said the presence of people of Japanese ancestry was no barrier. Larry Tajiri wrote two front-page pieces on how false rumors of sabotage in Hawaii helped build support for the forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Other stories took up citizenship for the Issei, including a radio appearance by Joe Grant Masaoka, and the National JACL’s call for a permanent FEPC.

The 8 pages also followed returning Japanese Americans: the trial of Robert F. Hailey for shotgun attacks on two homes in Newark, and Los Angeles County’s $65,000 in emergency aid. Jim Y. Tazoi was set to receive the Distinguished Service Cross, and thirteen WACs left for Tokyo. Columns by Larry Tajiri and Bill Hosokawa run on pages 4 and 5.

What’s in this issue

National

• Rep. Angell Asserts Hawaii’s Issei Do Not Present Barrier to Statehood for Territory, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A House Territories subcommittee recommended favorable consideration of Hawaii’s statehood bid after hearings in Honolulu, and President Truman urged immediate action. Rep. Homer Angell said the presence of persons of Japanese ancestry poses no obstacle to admission.
• National JACL Asks Passage of Act for Permanent FEPC, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The National JACL urged Senate Majority Leader Alben Barkley to facilitate consideration of a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission bill during a Congressional filibuster. Mike Masaoka criticized Sen. Bankhead for linking Japanese and German workers to job displacement.
• Committee Seeks Citizenship for Issei in U.S. War Effort, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Abner Green of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born petitioned Congress to grant citizenship to non-citizen Japanese Americans who aided the war effort. The committee notes many face deportation despite their wartime service.
• Resolution to Congress Urges Naturalization Right for Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Japanese American Civil Rights Defense Union sent a memorial to President Truman and Congress urging naturalization rights for Issei. The resolution cites their wartime contributions and commitment to the country.
• Unsettled Conditions in Japan May Delay Canadian Deportation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Canadian officials reported that economic and occupation conditions in Japan may delay the repatriation of Japanese Canadian evacuees. Officials were reluctant to worsen the situation there.
• Nisei Veteran Karl Yoneda Denied Waterfront Job, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Karl Yoneda, a Nisei union leader and Army veteran, was not registered for longshore work by San Francisco employers. ILWU Local 10 backed him in demanding his reinstatement on the waterfront.
• Utah’s Forgotten Man to Be Released Soon from Prison, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Masato Karumai, sentenced to death in 1926 for murder, had his sentence commuted to 20 years and 6 months by the Utah pardons board. He is scheduled for release in August 1946 after serving time as a prison trusty.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei War Hero to Receive DSC in Ceremony at Logan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Jim Y. Tazoi, a Nisei veteran of the 442nd, will receive the Distinguished Service Cross at Bear River High School in Utah. The ceremony honors his exceptional bravery in combat.
• Navy Secretary Misinformed, by P.C. Staff, page 2. WMCA’s New World A-Coming radio series dramatized the story of Nisei airman Ben Kuroki. Kuroki appeared at the broadcast and at other New York events advocating acceptance of minority veterans.
• Nisei CO Changes Mind, Will Serve Three Years in Army, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Theodore K. Shigeno, a conscientious objector at a Colorado civilian camp, enlisted for a three-year Army term. Army officials said his request for occupation service in Japan would be granted.
• Japanese American WACs Leave for Duty in Tokyo, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Thirteen WACs, eleven of Japanese ancestry, departed Hamilton Field for Tokyo to serve as translators and office workers at MacArthur’s headquarters. They are the first WACs to land in Japan.
• Gls Threatened Sit-Down When Army Brass Tried to Rule Nisei Captain Out of Parade, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Men of the 307th Medical Company threatened a sit-down strike when officers tried to bar their Nisei commander, Capt. Hideo Kato, from leading the New York parade. The men won their point and marched behind him.
• Report Death of Nisei GI in Switzerland, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Department reported that Staff Sgt. Wataru Nakashima of Pocatello, Idaho, died in Switzerland. He was the second son of his family to die in service, following his brother killed with the 442nd in Italy.
• Earl Finch Plans to Visit Friends in Hawaii Soon, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Earl Finch, a Hattiesburg businessman who adopted the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, plans to visit veterans and their parents in Hawaii in March. He will stop in San Francisco first.
• Nisei GI Specialists Handled Two Million Enemy Documents During War, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Major General C. A. Willoughby, MacArthur’s intelligence chief, praised Nisei specialists who handled enemy documents and interrogations during the war. He asked for fair treatment of Japanese American veterans as they return to civilian life.

Incarceration & Redress

• Hailey Faces Terror Charge as Trial Opens, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Robert F. Hailey went on trial in Oakland on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder for firing shotguns into two Japanese American homes in Newark. The homes belonged to families returning from relocation centers to farm land Hailey had worked.
• Behind the Mass Evacuation: Secretary Knox’s Report on Hawaii Sabotage Disclosed, by Larry Tajiri, page 1. Tajiri examines how false rumors of Hawaiian fifth column sabotage, promoted by Navy Secretary Knox, helped justify the mass evacuation of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. He shows the rumors were refuted only after evacuation was already underway.
• Shooting of Farm Worker Investigated, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Kanejiro Fujinaga was superficially wounded by a small caliber bullet while working at the Bancroft ranch near Walnut Creek. Sheriff’s deputies suspected a juvenile or careless hunter and were checking reports of bad blood among workers.
• False Rumors of Fifth Column Activity in Hawaii Stifled Opposition to Coast Evacuation, by Larry Tajiri, page 1. Tajiri argues that Secretary Knox’s claims of Japanese fifth column activity in Hawaii were false and were used to build support for mass evacuation. He notes evacuation planning and orders preceded the truth about Hawaii becoming known.
• Immigration Department Asked to Reconsider Deportation of Hardship Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A. L. Wirin presented a motion to the Immigration Board of Appeals to halt deportation of several Japanese aliens facing hardship in Japan. The JACL and ACLU joined in a supporting brief.
• Canadian Students Criticize Deportation of Evacuee Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. More than 100 students from Canadian colleges called the plan to deport Japanese Canadians morally reprehensible. They requested discussion between Ottawa and the provinces on a relocation policy.

JACL

• Issei Citizenship Issue Discussed by JACL Official, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL Regional Representative Joe Grant Masaoka appeared on KSAN radio to argue for granting citizenship to Issei as part of expanding democracy. He spoke on the Americans All program.

Community

• Yurino Takayoshi Elected President of New York JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Yurino Takayoshi was elected president of the New York JACL chapter succeeding Alfred Funabashi. Other officers and a new board of directors were also chosen.
• 700 Evacuees Relocated by WRA Office, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The WRA Santa Ana office has relocated 700 to 750 Japanese Americans and is closing. Community sentiment toward returnees has improved, partly due to returning servicemen.
• Togo Tanaka Will Speak on Program at Lake Forest, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Togo Tanaka, a Japanese American editor, will speak alongside a Jewish professor and a Catholic editor at a Brotherhood Week program in Lake Forest. The event addresses interracial cooperation.
• Los Angeles County Officials Call on Federal Government to Pay for Evacuee Relief, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Los Angeles County supervisors allocated $65,000 for emergency aid to returning Japanese Americans and asked Washington to cover costs beyond 60 days. Officials estimated annual costs at $1,000,000.
• Peninsula Farming Area Opened for Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Pescadero-Moss Beach-Half Moon Bay farming district has opened to Japanese American farmers, according to WRA district supervisor Fred W. Ross. Several large growers are seeking experienced Nisei farmers.

Commentary

• Evacuee Compensation, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reports widespread theft and loss of evacuee stored property and argues that legitimate losses should be compensated. It criticizes Sen. Jack Tenney’s proposal to prioritize civilian internees in Japan, calling it a distraction.
• Hawaii’s 49th Star, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial welcomes the House subcommittee’s recommendation for Hawaiian statehood as vindication of the loyalty of Hawaii’s Japanese Americans. It notes the Nisei combat record as a key factor in changing opinion.
• Case History, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial describes how the Monterey Peninsula’s Inter-racial Council worked to build community acceptance of returning Japanese Americans. It argues that organized local leadership achieved results where hostility might have prevailed.
• Nisei and Labor, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri traces the history of organized labor’s hostility toward Japanese workers and its gradual shift toward inclusion. He argues that CIO policy and rank-and-file action have largely dismantled the anti-Japanese labor myth.
• Nisei on the Picket Lines, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri traces the history of organized labor’s hostility toward Japanese workers and its gradual shift toward inclusion. He argues that CIO policy and rank-and-file action have largely dismantled the anti-Japanese labor myth.
• Washington News-Letter: Nisei USO in Nation’s Capital Extends Activities in Peacetime, by John Kitasako, page 5. The Washington Nisei USO, now nearly a year old, has entertained about 1,000 service personnel monthly and is incorporated within the USO. It is moving to YWCA facilities as part of integration into the wider YWCA program.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa reflects on the expressive power of short words and on Seattle’s Post-Intelligencer nickname as a possible slur. He also notes the wartime Pearl Harbor files and a Hollywood publicity campaign for a Tokyo Rose film.
• Gls in Germany Ask Paper to Publicize Nisei War Record, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Six American GIs stationed in Germany asked the San Francisco Examiner to publish the wartime record of Japanese Americans. They criticized the paper’s anti-Nisei campaign during the war.

Arts & Entertainment

• Life and Times of Masao: At the Nisei Dance, by Jobo Nakamura, page 5. Masao attends a Nisei dance in a Chicago hotel and feels alienated from the social scene he knew back on the Coast. He reflects on his inability to belong as he watches others move on with their lives.
• Nisei Boxer Wins Rocky Mountain Amateur Title, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Harada of Denver won the regional Golden Gloves featherweight title by upsetting Willard Chipman of Salt Lake City. Several other Nisei boxers competed in the tournament.

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