January 1946: Tule Lake renunciants, Hawaii statehood and Nisei soldiers

Vol. 22, No. 2, January 12, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

Hearings for Tule Lake residents who renounced their citizenship but wished to remain in the U.S. led the front page of this eight-page issue, with fifteen hearing officers set to review more than 3,000 cases. Hawaii statehood was the other major subject: opponents raised the race issue, and witnesses before a Congressional committee answered that Japanese Americans posed no danger of controlling island politics. The editors added their own views on Hawaii, on the War Relocation Authority’s unfinished work and on San Francisco’s lost bid to host the United Nations. Bill Hosokawa announced a change of direction for his column, From the Frying Pan.

Other pages follow Nisei soldiers: the 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s 7 to 6 Christmas Day football win in Leghorn, a party for Italian war orphans, and a memorial service in Honolulu. Woody Guthrie wrote a guest column, and Larry Tajiri reported on Japanese Canadians still barred from the coast. JACL chapter elections fill page 7.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Vandals Smash Glass in Store Owned by Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two soft drink bottles were thrown through the front window of the West Side Drug Store in Fresno, owned by Michio Toshiyuki, causing about $40 in damage. Police believe vandals in an automobile were responsible, and no property was taken.
• Washington Nisei Wins Phi Beta Kappa, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Hoyoko Migaki of Spokane was one of four students elected to Phi Beta Kappa at the State College of Washington. A bacteriology major, she has served as an officer in her dormitory and is currently chief counselor.
• Fire Destroys School Building at Tule Lake Center, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A fire of undetermined origin destroyed the Tri-State high school gymnasium at the Tule Lake center on Jan. 2. The evacuee-manned fire department contained the blaze before the main high school building was damaged.
• Few Japanese Americans “Laid-off” by Employers in Chicago, WRA Survey Finds, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A War Relocation Authority survey found that few Japanese American workers in Chicago’s industries were laid off after V-J Day. The article describes the city’s wartime reception of evacuees, housing and medical discrimination, and the limited prospects of older alien Japanese.
• Snake River Chapter Elects Joe Saito 1946 President, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Snake River chapter of the JACL in Ontario, Oregon, elected Joe Saito as president for 1946 along with a full slate of officers. The chapter’s new cabinet was also named at the election meeting.
• Pueblo Chapter Elects Officers for New Term, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Yose J. Fujita was elected president of the Pueblo, Colorado JACL chapter for 1946. Tomi Numoto, Michi Katsuma, May Hidaka, Nobuo Ouye and Sanzo Shigeta were named to the rest of the cabinet.
• Tule Aliens Will Receive New Hearings, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Department of Justice announced that aliens at Tule Lake who are subject to segregation or parole orders but do not desire repatriation will receive hearings by a special board. These hearings are separate from those for renunciants seeking to cancel their renunciations.
• Nisei Committee Appointed by Buddhist Church, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Buddhist Churches of America appointed a committee to study the possibility of training Nisei ministers. The committee includes several prominent clergy from Los Angeles, Ogden, Chicago and elsewhere.
• Father Receives Medal for Son, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Kitaro Nishimoto of Los Angeles received a posthumous Bronze Medal for bravery awarded to his son, Pvt. Tom T. Nishimoto. The medal recognized the soldier’s heroic action in combat.
• Milwaukee Interracial Group Sponsors Exhibition of Paintings, by P.C. Staff, page 8. An exhibition of portraits of distinguished Americans of Negro origin opened in Milwaukee under the sponsorship of an interracial federation and the mayor’s committee. Mrs. Sam I. Minami, formerly of Los Angeles and Rohwer, was among the hostesses.
• George Matsuura Elected Chairman of Chicago YBA, by P.C. Staff, page 8. George Matsuura was elected chairman of the Chicago Young Buddhist Association on Dec. 16. He will be assisted by a slate of officers including Bob Matsuda and several other members.

Incarceration & Redress

• WRA Office Plans Survey of Resettled Evacuee Families, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Relocation Authority will pay farewell visits to resettled evacuees before it closes, to connect families with local agencies and assess their immediate needs. The visits are intended to guide referrals to appropriate local and national agencies.
• Tule Lake Renunciants to Be Granted Individual Hearings, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Hearings for more than 3,000 Tule Lake residents who renounced their citizenship but wish to remain in the U.S. begin Jan. 7, with fifteen hearing officers conducting individual reviews. Applicants must sign a statement requesting a hearing, and those who do not will be considered to desire repatriation to Japan.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei War Heroes Sail with Japanese POWs for Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Twenty Nisei war heroes sailed from Los Angeles on the Dutch vessel Kota Inten for Hawaii on Jan. 5. They shared the ship with 1,462 Japanese prisoners of war who were to be used for essential labor in the territory.
• Nisei Sergeant Decorated for Heroism in Battle for Manila, by P.C. Staff, page 1. T/3 Bill Ishida of Brigham City, Utah, returned home after four and a half years of Army service and learned he had been awarded the Silver Star for heroism during the liberation of Manila. He received the citation at his discharge at Fort Douglas on Dec. 22 and had also seen action on Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Bougainville and in the Philippines.
• Nisei Sergeant Gets Furlough to Marry French Girl, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Staff Sgt. Robert A. Chino of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team flew from Leghorn to Nice, France, to marry Susanne Rieufly, whom he met while the regiment was stationed there. A Chicago native and writer, he has been offered a job writing for a leading Nice newspaper.
• Army Colonel Calls on Civic Leaders for Militant Activity to Prevent Anti-Evacuee Acts, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Lt. Col. Wallace H. Moore wrote to Southern California organizations that the Army’s occupation of Japan depends on Nisei soldiers, and urged community leaders to actively oppose discrimination against returning evacuee families. He argued that mistreatment of Nisei families undermines the loyal service of Japanese American soldiers.
• 442nd Team Defeats 88th Division Eleven in Christmas Game, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The underdog 442nd Combat Team football eleven defeated the 351st Infantry, champions of the 88th Division, 7 to 6 on Christmas Day at Yankee Stadium in Leghorn. Mitsuo Nitta blocked a conversion try to provide the margin of victory.
• Nisei Prima Donna in Milan Offers Ochazuke to GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Toshiko Hasegawa, a Stockton-born lyric soprano, sang for Japanese American troops in Milan and invited Nisei soldiers to visit her home during the holidays. She had played leading opera houses in Europe and was scheduled for concerts in Monte Carlo, Bordeaux and Swiss cities.
• Japanese American Soldiers Hold Christmas Party for Thousand Italian War Orphans, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team hosted Christmas parties for hundreds of Italian war orphans in the Leghorn and Pisa areas on Dec. 23. The soldiers raised funds, purchased shoes and stockings, and provided entertainment, food and gifts for the children.
• Reveal Army Trained Nisei for Military Intelligence Work Before Pearl Harbor, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Four Hawaii-born Japanese Americans fought with MacArthur’s forces in the Philippines in 1942, and two, Sgts. Komori and Sakakida, were enlisted in 1941 as an experiment in using Nisei combat interpreters. The article recounts their intelligence work, captivity, and later service in the Pacific.
• Honolulu Rites Honor Memory of Nisei GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A memorial service at McKinley high school in Honolulu honored 226 Japanese Americans from the city killed in action with the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Combat Team. Of 1,150 McKinley students who served, 109 gave their lives.
• Two Soldiers Spend Second Christmas in Hospital Beds, by P.C. Staff, page 2. T/5 Shigeru Inouye and Sgt. Masao Tamayei spent another holiday at Dibble General Hospital in Palo Alto recovering from wounds sustained in Italy. Tamayei, in his 19th month at the hospital, has learned leatherwork to pass the time.
• New Jersey Nisei Quits Job to Enlist in Regular Army, by P.C. Staff, page 3. George A. Kanzaki, a 33-year-old East Orange high school graduate, gave up a $100-a-week job to enlist as a buck private in the Regular Army. Because he speaks Japanese, he hopes to be assigned to occupation duty in Japan, and his father is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
• Lieut. Goda Receives Bronze Star for Action in Pacific, by P.C. Staff, page 7. First Lieut. George Goda of Detroit was awarded the Bronze Star for his work as a translator and interpreter in the Southwest Pacific. He was cited for brilliant use of his Japanese language knowledge in translating captured enemy documents.
• Beachcombers Play for Italian Royal Family, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The 100th Battalion Beachcombers entertained the Italian Royal Family with Hawaiian music and dance at the Royal Palace in Rome at the personal invitation of Prince Umberto. The troupe performed for about forty-five minutes and was presented with enamel crest gifts.
• Nisei Youth Seek Navy Aviation Training, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Seventeen-year-old Albert Matano of Hawaii applied for the Navy’s aviation cadet program following a policy change, and his application was accepted for preliminary review. The program trains cadets for two years to qualify for a commission.

National

• Japanese American Issue Raised at Hawaii Statehood Hearing, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Proponents of Hawaii statehood told a Congressional committee on Jan. 8 that Japanese Americans pose no danger of forming a voting bloc to control island politics. Witnesses cited the wartime record of Nisei units and the lack of evidence for bloc voting.
• Opponents Raise Race Issue on Statehood for Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 1. New York Times correspondent Richard McMillan reported that opposition to Hawaiian statehood centers on fears about the territory’s diverse population, while wartime evidence has largely refuted claims of Japanese American bloc voting. Advocates pointed to Nisei military service and the absence of sabotage during the war.
• Korean Group in Chungking Blasts Haan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Korean Provisional Government mission in Chungking denounced Kilsoo K. Haan as a traitor for approving the Korean trusteeship set up at the Moscow foreign ministers’ conference. The report notes Haan’s prior campaign against Japanese Americans during the war.
• Nisei Served in U.S. Army, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Relocation Authority reported that 22,532 Americans and aliens of Japanese ancestry served in the U.S. Army between July 1940 and June 1945. The total includes 11,825 from the mainland and 10,707 from Hawaii, most of them volunteers.
• Clarification by Alien Property Custodian Calms Fears of Issei on Seizure of Holdings, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Alien Property Custodian’s office told the JACL that resident Japanese aliens need not fear confiscation of their property for reparations. A new order requires reporting of property held by Japanese nationals by Feb. 28, 1946, but exempts persons resident in the U.S. on Dec. 31, 1945.
• Canada Government Proceeds with Plans for Deportation of Repatriates, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Canada’s government announced an order-in-council authorizing deportation of certain persons of Japanese ancestry, with about 800 Japanese nationals expected to leave Vancouver for Japan. Repatriates petitioned for the promised free passage and property transfer provisions, and civil court review was requested.
• Madokoro Case Tests Legality of Hearings, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Attorneys for Sannosuke Madokoro asked a federal judge to rule that a 1942 immigration hearing at Bismarck, North Dakota, violated due process because he had no counsel. The judge expressed sympathy and announced he would decide the case on January 14.
• Ickes Supports Kenny Action Criticizing Sheriff’s Activities, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes wrote to California Attorney General Robert Kenny supporting Kenny’s criticism of Nevada County Sheriff Carl Tobiassen for discouraging employment of Japanese Americans. Tobiassen denied the charge, but Ickes called Kenny’s telegram statesmanlike.
• British Columbia Groups Protest Return of Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Vancouver’s Sun reported that fishermen and communities in British Columbia protested any federal permission for Japanese Canadian evacuees to return to the Pacific coast. The groups urged the premier to enforce restrictions on property purchases by Japanese Canadians.

Commentary

• People in Japan Show Friendly Attitude Toward Nisei GIs, by John Kitasako, page 3. Ray Hashitani, a Washington Nisei who served two months in Tokyo with the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, reports that Japanese civilians welcomed Nisei soldiers warmly and regarded them as Americans. He describes widespread hunger and hardship, and contrasts the humane conduct of U.S. occupation troops with what the Japanese had been led to expect.
• Continuing WRA, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors argue that the War Relocation Authority’s work of resettling Japanese Americans is far from finished and should not end abruptly. They endorse a National Conference request for a successor department and consideration of indemnity claims.
• Race Issue in Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors reject claims that Japanese Americans could dominate Hawaiian politics under statehood, citing the absence of bloc voting in territorial history. They criticize Mrs. Alice Kamokila Campbell’s race-based opposition and note broad support for statehood from civic and labor leaders.
• World Capital, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors observe that San Francisco lost its candidacy to host the United Nations partly because of California’s mistreatment of returning evacuees. They quote a Carpinteria newspaper urging that world unity begin at home.
• PC Reconversion, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editors announce that columnist Bill Hosokawa is reconverting his column The Frying Pan from wartime advocacy to peacetime commentary. They credit his militant wartime work with the Heart Mountain Sentinel and welcome the change.
• Take It Easy–But Take It!, by Woody Guthrie, page 5. Folk singer Woody Guthrie recounts being turned away from a whites-only film night in Las Vegas and reflects on his longtime ties to Japanese American farm families and workers. He urges Japanese Americans to write and sing their own history in their natural voices.
• Canadian Japanese Still Denied Return to West Coast, by Larry Tajiri, page 5. Larry Tajiri reports that more than four months after V-J Day, no Canadian civilians of Japanese ancestry have been allowed back to coastal British Columbia. He describes discriminatory property and business restrictions and the dispersal of evacuees across Canada.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Bill Hosokawa announces the column is reconverting to peacetime topics, noting that the old wartime battles over race and exclusion have largely faded. The column will shift to random comment, trivia and occasional humor.

Arts & Entertainment

• Japanese American Art Exhibit to Be Shown in Rochester, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Paintings by twenty-five Japanese American artists, toured by the JACL since early fall, will have a final month-long showing at the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery beginning January 11. The exhibit has already been seen by thousands in six communities.

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