After the war: Nisei soldiers, Issei citizenship suits and camp closings

Vol. 22, No. 17, April 27, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

Three Issei, each the father of a U.S. serviceman, filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles to test their right to naturalization. One of them, Gensuke Masuda, was the father of Kazuo Masuda, who was killed in action at Cassino. The front page also carried a photograph of men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team riding through Carrara, Italy, on the first anniversary of the city’s liberation. Other stories reported on the Tule Lake center, the last relocation camp to close, and on the ACLU’s plan to challenge wartime renunciations of citizenship before the U.S. Supreme Court. Bill Hosokawa and Lawrence E. Davies contributed columns.

Also in this 8-page issue: John J. McCloy on the record of the 442nd, a Silver Star for Pfc. Tokuo Fukuchi, a Visalia court case under the Alien Land Act, and a Denver City Council debate over business licenses for Nisei. The YWCA’s call for indemnities, a Nisei GI choir recording for Hawaii, and a poem reprinted from Common Ground are inside as well.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Soldiers Credited With Clearing Japanese Stragglers on Lubang Island, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pfc. Tatsue Fred Fujikawa of Palo Alto, a Japanese American interpreter, persuaded the last Japanese stragglers on Lubang Island to surrender after a regiment of infantry had failed. Army headquarters said his persuasion, including broadcasts and personal visits, ended a year of guerrilla war on the island.
• Army Credits Palo Alto Nisei With Bringing in Japan Army Stragglers on Lubang Island, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Army headquarters announced that Pfc. Tatsue Fred Fujikawa persuaded the last forty-one Japanese stragglers on Lubang Island to surrender. Fujikawa used broadcasts and personal visits, accomplishing what a regiment of infantry could not.
• Nisei Soldiers Vindicated Faith, Says McCloy, by P.C. Staff, page 3. John J. McCloy, former assistant secretary of war, told a New York meeting that the combat records of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team vindicated the faith placed in Japanese American soldiers. He also condemned excesses against persons of Japanese ancestry and criticized the early closing of the WRA.
• Los Angeles Nisei Private Awarded Silver Star in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Pfc. Tokuo Fukuchi of Los Angeles received the Silver Star for silencing an enemy machine gun near Pastelpoggio, Italy, despite two wounds. He continued firing until a third wound disabled his arm.
• Nisei Veterans Attend Amvets Meet in Utah, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Nisei veterans from Brigham City attended the first Utah convention of Amvets in Salt Lake City as honorary delegates. Two veterans urged Japanese American veterans to participate in veterans activities.
• 45-Year Old Nisei Veteran Reenlists for Duty in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Tech. Sgt. John M. Tanikawa, a veteran of both World Wars, reenlisted and hopes for occupation duty in Japan. He discussed his experiences as an interpreter and interrogator in the Pacific and his knowledge of Japan.
• 442nd Basketball Team Schedules Games in Germany, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team basketball squad, champions of the Italy Ivy League season, will play a home-and-home series with U.S. Army teams in Germany in May. Games are scheduled for May 3, 4 and 5.

National

• Coast Sociologists Consider Nisei Readjustment Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 1. At the Pacific Sociological Society meeting in San Jose, T. H. Kennedy argued that the errors of evacuation and resettlement may never be fully rectified. Robert O’Brien compared Canadian and U.S. wartime policies toward persons of Japanese ancestry.
• Nisei Soldier Gave Own Life to Aid Friend, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Technician Fifth Grade Hiroshi Sugiyama was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for administering first aid to a wounded comrade and being killed by a sniper near Carrara, Italy. The medal was presented to his brother at a ceremony in Leghorn.
• Nisei GI Comes Home After Occupation Duty in Japan, by John Kitasako, page 5. Former Army lieutenant Tsuneo Tajima describes serving as an interpreter in Tokyo and Yokohama, including interrogating officials and meeting General Kenji Doihara. He reports Japanese attitudes toward democracy and the coerced citizenship renunciations of some Nisei.
• YWCA Goes on Record Favoring Payment of Indemnities to Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The National YWCA national convention adopted a resolution supporting indemnity payments for economic losses from evacuation. The convention also pledged support for restoring civil rights and opposing racial discrimination in immigration and naturalization.
• Canada Official Warns Against Return of Evacuees to Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Canadian MP Howard C. Green opposed the return of Japanese Canadian evacuees to the British Columbia coast, warning of bloodshed if they re-entered the fishing industry. He vowed to hold the government to its policy of deportation.

Incarceration & Redress

• Alien Land Act Case Tried in Visalia Court, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Visalia superior court judge took under advisement the State’s escheat action seeking to confiscate farmland held by the Nagata family of Dinuba. The State contends the land was purchased in a son’s name to evade the alien land law, while the son testified the ranch was his with his own money.
• Tule Lake Center Will Be Transferred to Reclamation Use, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Tule Lake center, last war relocation camp to close, may be transferred to other government agencies by May 6. Most buildings are expected to go to the Bureau of Reclamation, while some barracks may be converted to temporary housing.
• Three Issei, Fathers of GIs, Sue for Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Three alien Japanese fathers of U.S. servicemen filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles to challenge naturalization limits. The suit argues the restriction to white persons is unconstitutional and that loyal Issei should be considered nationals.
• Validity of U.S. Renunciations in WRA Camps Will Be Challenged by ACLU, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The ACLU will argue in U.S. Supreme Court briefs that wartime renunciations of citizenship by about 3,000 Japanese Americans were invalid because they were obtained under duress. The organization said it would ensure that renunciants without private counsel receive free representation.
• Johnson Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Wounded Nisei War Veteran, by P.C. Staff, page 3. S. J. Johnson was found guilty of first-degree murder for the beating death of George Yoshioka, a wounded 442nd veteran, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Codefendant LeRoy Bob had earlier been sentenced to death.
• Two to Go, by P.C. Staff, page 4. WRA Director Dillon Myer identified compensation and naturalization laws as the two unresolved problems facing Japanese Americans. He urged a less cumbersome claims procedure and an end to racial restrictions in immigration and alien land laws.
• Anniversary, by Lawrence E. Davies, page 4. Four years after mass evacuation, most returned evacuees have found employment, though small businesses face difficulties. Welfare statistics show many relied on state aid, while professionals serve clients of all races.

Community

• Nisei Soldiers Act as Observers in Japan Elections, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nisei soldiers serving with occupation forces in Japan were assigned as observers in the general election. Among them was Lieut. Sueko Oji of Denver.
• Terminal Isle Evacuees Win Settlement, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Residents of Japanese ancestry forced to leave Terminal Island in 1942 were notified the government had issued a $16,025 settlement check. Some claims remain pending, including a $7,500 suit by the Southern California Japanese Fishermen’s association.
• WRA Prepares List of Agencies for Evacuee Aid, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Relocation Authority issued a directory of agencies and individuals evacuees can contact for housing, employment and other aid after WRA offices close. The list covers Utah, Idaho and Nevada.
• Boise Valley JACL to Honor Nisei GIs at Dinner in May, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Boise Valley JACL will honor Nisei veterans and War Relocation Authority officials at a banquet and dance in Caldwell, Idaho. The event will feature a committee of local volunteers and music by Ralph Fry’s orchestra.
• Nisei Join Drive to Honor Miss Fanning With Memorial, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A committee in Pasadena is raising funds for a living memorial to Katherine Fanning, a race relations educator who died in January. The fund will provide scholarships for minority students and support children’s work in Japan.
• Nisei GI Choir Records Music for Broadcast, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The 75-voice Japanese American choir of the Military Intelligence Service Language School recorded sacred Easter music at a St. Paul station for broadcast to Hawaii. Soloists included Cpl. Fred Chino and Pvt. Robert Nishihara.
• City Council of Denver Will Change Policy on Nisei Business License Requests, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Denver City Council tabled an ordinance guaranteeing business licenses regardless of race but promised Japanese Americans would no longer face discrimination. Safety Manager Robert Kirschwing admitted Nisei had been discouraged from operating businesses outside certain areas during the war.
• Nisei Invited to Join Summer Service Project, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The National Japanese American Student Relocation Council invited Nisei students to join the Cornell Summer Service Project in Ithaca, New York. Projects include community, rural and farm labor camp work.

Commentary

• Court Leniency Assailant Hit by Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Harry Kita, spokesman for returned evacuees in the Salinas valley, called a $25 battery fine against Larry Madalora for attacking a Nisei veteran with a beet knife too lenient. He argued the charge should have been assault with a deadly weapon.
• Indemnification for Evacuation Losses, Continued Federal Aid for Group Asked by Baptists, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The American Baptist Home Mission Society asked Interior Secretary James Krug for indemnification of evacuation losses, naturalization for Issei, and continued federal resettlement responsibility. The society said those who proved loyal deserve compensation and legal equality.
• Issue Sidestepped, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Denver City Council sidestepped an ordinance guaranteeing business licenses regardless of race while promising no further discrimination against Japanese Americans. The editorial argues that such ordinances are needed because constitutional guarantees have not secured equal economic rights for minorities.
• Vagaries, by P.C. Staff, page 5. This column collects brief news items and gossip, including a Vanderbilt column about a Nisei job applicant and notes on mail service to Japan and a National Film Board documentary. Several other short items on Nisei figures are included.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa recounts that Joan Toshiye Omura survived the Hiroshima bombing while her husband was killed, and notes that Staff Sgt. Ken Omura, a Nisei GI, had died in New Guinea. The column also includes reflections on vestigial organs, wisdom teeth, war crimes trials, and Spokane VFW segregation.

Arts & Entertainment

• L.A. Nisei Weds Film Star, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lieut. George H. Goda, a Los Angeles Nisei, married Mitsuko Miura, one of Japan’s best-known movie actresses, at the 42nd General Hospital in Tokyo. The ceremony was attended by fellow officers and a chaplain.
• Nisei!, by M. H. Constable, page 5. This poem reprinted from Common Ground explores the speaker’s sense of identity as a Nisei, feeling his face and eyes mark him as the enemy. It expresses an internal conflict between his American life and the hostile gaze of others.

Obituaries

• Mama Bedarida Befriended Nisei GIs on French Riviera, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Laura Bedarida of Monte Carlo, known as Mama Bedarida, sculpted a portrait head of Allan Doi of Waimea, Hawaii, and housed and fed Japanese American troops in Italy. Her comments describe her work and her affection for the soldiers.

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