Fighting a loyalty charge: a Nisei veteran barred from a federal job

Vol. 23, No. 9, August 31, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

A Nisei veteran’s fight to clear his name led this August 1946 issue. Seichi Maeshima, honorably discharged after five years of Army service, was denied a War Department civilian job on alleged disloyalty grounds. He appealed to President Truman and General Omar Bradley, and JACL national secretary Mike Masaoka said the organization would intercede. Nearby stories covered the Treasury Department lifting restrictions on Issei bank accounts and a threat of violence against veteran Frank Yamaguchi, who planned to move his family into a Denver suburb.

The editorial page held Larry Tajiri on why the Little Tokyos re-formed after the forced removal, and on a book about a 1942 White House dinner. A second editorial condemned the deportation of Kosho Matano from Canada. Elsewhere, columns by Bill Hosokawa, John Kitasako and Jobo Nakamura looked at community life, and a survey found one-third of Americans wrongly believed Japanese Americans had committed sabotage.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Maeshima Fights Loyalty Charge Barring Civil Service Job, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Seichi Maeshima, an honorably discharged Nisei veteran with two and a half years of overseas secret service, was denied a War Department civilian job on alleged disloyalty grounds. JACL national secretary Mike Masaoka said the organization would intercede on his behalf.

National

• Treasury Department Action Unblocks Issei Accounts, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Treasury Department removed freezing restrictions on accounts of resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who were not in blocked countries. The change does not apply to Japanese nationals who repatriated to Japan during the war.
• Status of Resettled Evacuees Studied by Federal Agency, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Agency Liquidation Unit’s Resettlement Study is preparing a report on discrimination faced by Japanese American evacuees in resettlement areas. Former WRA official Robert Cullum will visit the Pacific Northwest as part of the survey.
• Canadian Japanese Citizen Forcibly Deported to Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Kosho Matano, a naturalized Canadian and wounded World War I veteran confined in a Vancouver mental hospital, was deported to Japan without requesting it. Canadian Justice Minister Louis St. Laurent confirmed the case in Parliament.
• Canadian Nisei Girl Offered Research Grant, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Yachiyo Yoneyama, a University of Alberta dentistry graduate, was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship for research in pedodontics. She was the first woman to graduate from Alberta’s dentistry faculty.
• One-Third of People Falsely Believe Japanese Americans Sabotaged During War Years, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A National Opinion Research Center survey found one-third of Americans wrongly believe persons of Japanese ancestry committed sabotage during World War II. The FBI reported no such persons were found guilty of sabotage or espionage.
• Decision by Privy Council Awaited to Clarify Rights of Japanese Canadian Group, by Morris McDougall, page 2. Approximately 20,000 Japanese and Japanese Canadians face uncertain futures pending a Privy Council ruling on the legality of Canada’s deportation program. The decision could set precedents affecting minority rights throughout the Commonwealth.
• Lisle Fellowship Sends Work Team Into Denver Area, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A four-member Lisle Fellowship team visited Denver to study the Japanese American community, working at local businesses and the JACL office. The team included members from the United States, Hawaii, and Norway.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Veteran Threatened in Denver Suburb, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Neighbors in a Denver suburb have threatened violence and circulated petitions to block Frank Yamaguchi, a returned overseas veteran, and his family from moving into their new home. Yamaguchi said he intends to move in as planned.
• Civil Service Bars Nisei Veteran on Loyalty Charge, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Seichi Maeshima of Westminster, Calif., an honorably discharged veteran, was denied a civilian War Department job on disloyalty suspicion. He has appealed to President Truman and General Omar Bradley, citing his five years of service.
• Nisei Major Back From German Occupation Duty, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Major Yoshizo Harada returned from duty as division dental surgeon with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany. He has reopened his dental practice in Sacramento.
• Ex-Sergeant Itami Now Serving at War Crimes Trial, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Akira Itami, a former Los Angeles newsman, received the Legion of Merit for building an intelligence reference library during the Pacific war. He now serves as a language monitor at the Tokyo war crimes trials.

Community

• Kido Enters Race For Hawaii Assembly, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mitsuyuki Kido announced he will run as a Democratic candidate for the Hawaii territorial house of representatives. It is his first attempt at public office.
• Evacuee Finds Real Friends After Vandals Burn Garage, by P.C. Staff, page 2. After vandals burned his garage and farm equipment in Leucadia, Calif., evacuee Ushuro Ito was helped by friends who built him a new building. The Christian Science Monitor reported the story on Aug. 19.
• Veteran Settles Down With First Japan War Bride, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Immigration authorities in Seattle detained a Japanese war bride of an American soldier before she was admitted to Portland, Oregon. A federal court ruling on a habeas corpus petition allowed her to enter as a nonquota immigrant.
• California Girl, Stranded by War in Japan, Returns Home, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dorothy Murayama of Los Angeles returned from Japan, where she had been stranded during the war after attending a Tokyo Christian girls school. She reported that Allied Headquarters had been understanding about the stranded Nisei.

Commentary

• The Little Tokyos, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial examines why Little Tokyo communities re-formed after the evacuation, driven by fear and economics, and rejects the notion that Nisei should accept racial separation. It argues integration takes time and that common interests, not physical features, bind Americans together.
• Canadian Justice?, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns the forced deportation of Kosho Matano, a naturalized Canadian and World War I veteran confined in a mental hospital. It calls the action a blot on Canada’s honor.
• Dinner at the White House, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri reviews Louis Adamic’s book on a 1942 White House dinner and Roosevelt’s leadership. He argues postwar leaders have lost the vision that guided wartime allies and warns of a possible Third World War.
• Washington News-Letter: Chapter Formation Shows Change in Nisei Attitude, by John Kitasako, page 6. The formation of a JACL chapter in Washington reflects a shift in Nisei attitudes after years of fear caused by congressional investigations and yellow-press attacks. The author argues Nisei must organize to protect their rights.
• From the Frying Pan: Issei’s Nostalgia Reflected in Communities, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa compares pre-war Japanese American communities, which preserved older Japanese customs, to the Swiss enclave of New Glarus, Wisconsin. He also endorses opening police ranks to minority members on merit.
• A Nisei Tourist in Little Old New York, by Jobo Nakamura, page 6. Nakamura describes his first visit to New York City, reflecting on its scale, immigrant diversity, and the Nisei community he finds there. He notes many old friends now thriving in business and professions.
• Phantom Spies, by Denver Post, page 6. The Denver Post editorial responds to a NORC survey showing many Americans wrongly believe Japanese Americans spied during the war. It recounts wartime rumors and notes most Japanese Americans are native-born citizens.

Arts & Entertainment

• Postwar Novel Set on West Coast Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Harper is publishing Sam Constantino’s novel about a Japanese American girl and a newsman in a West Coast setting. The item also notes Ralph Martin’s forthcoming biography of Ben Kuroki.

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