Stranded Nisei in Japan and the fight against discriminatory laws

Vol. 24, No. 1, January 11, 1947. 8 pages. View this issue

Nisei stranded in Japan and the laws that kept Japanese Americans out of citizenship, land and work filled this eight-page issue. Frank L. Auerbach of the Common Council for American Unity reported that about 5,000 American-born Nisei in Japan faced a long wait to prove their citizenship and sail home. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee set its 1947 aims, Mike Masaoka prepared to leave for Washington and New York, and the national JACL planned to join a brief against restrictive covenants. Editorials took up discrimination by law and Hawaiian statehood.

Other pages carried news of the 442nd Combat Team, including a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross for Pfc. Joe M. Nishimoto and two Silver Stars for Staff Sgt. Buddy Y. Kagawa. Columns by John Kitasako, Toshio Yatsushiro and Sachi L. Wada appeared on page 5. Chapter news came from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Portland, Spokane and the Twin Cities.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Considerable Delay Expected Before Stranded Nisei Can Be Repatriated From Nippon, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Frank L. Auerbach of the Common Council for American Unity reports that about 5,000 American-born Nisei stranded in Japan face lengthy procedures to establish citizenship and return to the United States. Limited passport processing, Army intelligence clearance, and restricted shipping between Japan and the U.S. will prolong their repatriation.
• Voluntary Repatriation Program Completed by Canada Government, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The final group of 400 persons of Japanese ancestry sailed from Vancouver for Japan on Dec. 24 aboard the Marine Falcon. The departure brought the total of voluntary repatriates to 4,074.

Community

• Chuman Heads New JACL Unit in Los Angeles, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Los Angeles JACL chapter was reactivated on Jan. 7 and attorney Frank Chuman was elected president. Chuman predicted the chapter will become the largest JACL group in the country and announced the new cabinet.
• Nisei’s First Traffic Fatality of New Year, by P.C. Staff, page 1. George S. Nakashima, 28, was San Francisco’s first traffic fatality of 1947 after his car struck a parked car on New Year’s Day. Police believe he fell asleep at the wheel.
• Masaoka Will Leave for ADC Work in East, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka, JACL national secretary, departs for Washington and New York to lead the ADC, with Mas Satow taking over his duties. The ADC will back bills for evacuation claims, citizenship rights, and entry of Japanese wives of American servicemen.
• Nisei Mother, Child Killed As Truck Plunges Off Highway, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mrs. Toshiye Shibata and her one-year-old child were killed when their truck plunged 500 feet down Berthoud Pass in Colorado on Jan. 5. Her husband Paul was critically injured and their four-year-old daughter was hurt less seriously.
• Form New Group in California, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A new organization of Japanese American war veterans was formed in Central California with Yoshimi Hiraoka of Fresno as president. Committee members were appointed to draft a constitution for the group.
• Nisei Girl Gets Teaching Position In Milwaukee, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Betty Hachisuka, an honor graduate of Milwaukee State Teachers College, is now teaching third and fourth grade students at Hartford elementary school. A former Los Angeles resident, she was evacuated to Manzanar and later relocated to Milwaukee.
• Fresno Church Will Dedicate New Chapel to Nisei War Dead, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Japanese Congregational church of Fresno acquired an Army surplus chapel to be dedicated as a memorial to Japanese American troops killed in World War II. A Memorial Chapel Fund campaign has been started to help pay for relocating and improving the building.
• Incidents at Sports Events Discussed at Box Elder Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Representatives of three Box Elder Nisei organizations and the Utah Japanese American Athletic Union met to address incidents after local sports events. The delegates unanimously passed a resolution urging cooperation in maintaining order.
• CIO Workers Continue Strike Against Mill, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Kameo Ichimura, president of ILWU Local 144, said the strike of 1,063 members at Pioneer Mill in Lahaina, Maui will continue until eleven discharged members are reinstated. The company fired the eleven for allegedly violating house rules during the strike.
• Japanese Americans Suffer Crop Damages In Washington Flood, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Japanese American farmers in the White River Valley suffered crop damages estimated at more than $5,000 in the recent flood. The Narita family was isolated for four days on their farm, and the Seattle JACL prepared relief work.
• Disclose Japanese Scholarship Winner Married, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Robert Nishiyama, a former kamikaze pilot, won a scholarship to Lafayette College established by the parents of a U.S. Army private killed on Luzon. He will be accompanied by his Nisei wife, Helen Matsuoka of Berkeley, who works for the U.S. Army Air Forces in Tokyo.
• Plan Campaign To Raise Fund For ADC Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Fundraising campaigns for the Anti-Discrimination Committee and JACL Legal Defense Fund will launch in Los Angeles, and four southern California chapters are scheduled to reactivate in January. A calendar of January events in the region was also announced.
• Kawano Participates in Negotiations on Longshore Contract, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Jack Kawano, president of Honolulu Longshore Local 137, helped negotiate a new wage contract expected to include a 30-cent hourly increase. The $1.30 hourly rate is retroactive to Nov. 25.
• Portland JACL Will Open New Office, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Portland JACL has established an office in the Kraemer Building staffed by volunteers for the present. The office is located at 206 W. Washington Street.
• Kenny Objects to Legal Action By JACL, ACLU on Schools, by P.C. Staff, page 3. California Attorney General Robert W. Kenny criticized the ACLU and JACL for naming him in a school segregation suit, saying he opposes segregation. The suit was dismissed after Kenny expressed his official opinion that the law is unconstitutional.
• Relocated Evacuee Reopens Business in Eastern City, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Bunshichi Okuno, a Japanese alien who relocated to New York City from the Pacific Coast, runs the Umeya Wholesale Rice Cake company supplying hotels, stores, and Chinese restaurants. His son Noboru serves as a lieutenant with occupation forces in Germany.
• Spokane Nisei Team Wins First Game, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Grant Street Methodist No. 1 Nisei basketball team won its debut game in Class B of Spokane’s inter-church league, 33 to 29. Mark Matsui and Roy Shiraga led the scoring.
• Japanese Babies Among First to Get Relief Shipments, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The American Friends Service Committee reported that the first American relief shipment to Japan, arriving at Yokohama on November 30, is being distributed to babies, institutions, schoolchildren, and repatriates. Distribution is based on need regardless of religion or politics.
• Minneapolis Labor Considers New Plan to End Restrictions On Racial Basis in Housing, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A Minneapolis union plan to eliminate racial and religious restrictions in new home construction would have building trades refuse work on restricted housing as a final step. The plan was prompted in part by the case of Nisei veteran Jon Matsuo, barred from a veterans housing project by a restrictive covenant.
• Twin Cities JACL Asked for Report On Matsuo Case, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Twin Cities JACL research and education committee was asked by the Governor’s Interracial Commission to report on the Jon Matsuo housing discrimination case. The committee is also studying laws restricting Americans of Japanese ancestry.
• Twin Cities JACL Will Join with GIs In Dance on Jan. 25, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Twin Cities JACL and the St. Paul AVC chapter plan a joint fundraising dance tentatively set for January 25 at the International Institute. Organizers hope the event will introduce JACL members to other active groups and attract a larger crowd.
• Hoshiyama Plans Membership Drive For Salt Lake JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Tom Hoshiyama, the new Salt Lake City JACL president, will launch a membership drive with a goal of 250 active members. Other chapter plans for the year include sports, veterans’ projects, and a program for married couples.
• Spokane JACL Elects Okamoto President, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Joe Okamoto was elected president of the Spokane JACL chapter at a December 22 meeting. Everett Matsui and Tom Iwata were named first and second vice-presidents, with other officers chosen for the year.

National

• National JACL Will File Brief In Restrictive Covenants Suit, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL will join the American Jewish Congress and the Urban League in filing an amicus brief in a New York case challenging a racial restrictive covenant. The organizations argue such covenants are contrary to public policy and constitutional principles.
• Vancouver Sun Asks Ban on Evacuee Return, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Vancouver Sun editorial director Roy Brown urged the Canadian government to prohibit any large-scale return of evacuated Japanese Canadians to the Pacific Coast. He argued Powell Street and Steveston must remain white.
• Anti-Discrimination Committee of JACL Will Stress Fight Against Bias in Naturalization, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee’s primary 1947 aim is passage of a bill by the 80th Congress to remove racial restrictions from naturalization and immigration statutes. The committee notes Issei are barred from 93 professions and occupations, and it will also push for evacuation claims legislation.
• New Japanese Bill Will Be Sponsored To Ease Expatriation, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A bill to revise Japan’s nationality law will let dual citizens relinquish Japanese nationality simply by declaring the desire to do so. The bill will be introduced at the 92nd Diet session.
• Groups Ask Legislature for Repeal of Alien Land Statute, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Five Utah veterans leaders called on the state legislature to repeal the 1943 Alien Land Law aimed at persons of Japanese ancestry. They argued the law violates American principles and that Japanese alien parents of veterans contributed greatly to the war effort.
• Proposition 15 Defeated by 350,000 Votes at Election, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Final tabulation shows California voters defeated Proposition 15, which sought to validate restrictive amendments against persons of Japanese ancestry, by 350,000 votes. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee led the opposition campaign.
• Senator Says Evacuee Claims Bill Requires Urgent Attention, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Senator Kenneth Wherry wrote that indemnification of evacuees for wartime losses requires urgent Congressional attention. The letter responds to Des Moines veteran Robert S. Morris, who had urged restitution.
• ACLU Predicts Bill In Congress to Repeal Oriental Ban, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The American Civil Liberties Union said treatment of racial minorities was the most striking development of 1946 and predicted a bill to repeal the Oriental Exclusion Act will be introduced in Congress. The prediction follows UN General Assembly decisions on racial issues.
• Ordinary Letters To Japan Permitted Under New Rules, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Post Office relaxed rules to allow ordinary letters up to one ounce to be mailed to Japan, along with certain business communications and documents. Financial instruments remain prohibited from enclosure.
• Interned Enemy Aliens May Be Shipped Soon as Circuit Court Upholds Deportation Program, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on Jan. 2 allows deportation of all interned enemy aliens, including 410 Japanese. The government plans to act quickly, with Japanese aliens to be shipped from San Francisco.

Military & Veterans

• 442nd Veterans In Hawaii Plan Italy Relief Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The 442nd Veterans club and Club 100 in Honolulu will sponsor a financial drive this month to support a relief project in Italy. Rev. Hiro Higuchi said the project’s form is undecided but is intended as a gesture of goodwill.
• Disabled Veterans Return to Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Six disabled Nisei soldiers wounded with the 442nd Combat Team in Europe returned to Hawaii for the holidays, arriving in Honolulu on Dec. 23. Relatives greeted them at the dock and accompanied them to the 147th general hospital.
• Memorial Rites Held For Nisei Killed In Japan Plane Crash, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Memorial services were held in Crescent Ward, Utah for Army counter-intelligence officer Shigeru Mori, 24, killed in a plane crash at Osaka on Dec. 10. He had been in service since June 1945 and was a member of the Mormon church.
• Nisei Marine Now Serving in Panama, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Pvt. Marvin Yoshikawa, one of the first Japanese Americans accepted into the U.S. Marine Corps, is serving with Marine forces in Panama. He volunteered after the Navy dropped its enlistment ban in 1945.
• Distinguished Service Cross Given Posthumously to Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Distinguished Service Cross was presented posthumously to Pfc. Joe M. Nishimoto of the 442nd Combat Team for heroism at La Houssiere, France in 1944. His parents received the award at a ceremony at Fort Ord.
• Fighting Record of Nisei GIs Hailed by Gen. Cranston at Hood River Testimonial Fete, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Cranston praised the combat record of Japanese American servicemen at a Mid-Columbia JACL veterans banquet in Hood River. The dinner honored 84 Nisei veterans and was dedicated to Frank Hachiya, killed on Leyte.
• Nisei Soldier Awarded Two Silver Stars, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Staff Sgt. Buddy Y. Kagawa of the 442nd Combat Team received two Silver Star medals for gallantry in Italy and France in 1944. He was cited for destroying machine gun nests and continuing to lead his men despite wounds.
• Veterans of Red Bull Division Invite Nisei To Join Group, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Veterans of the 34th Red Bull Division in Minneapolis invited Nisei veterans of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Combat Team who served with them in Italy to join their club. The club meets on the third Tuesday of each month.
• Nisei Selected as Sacramento AVC Chapter Delegate, by P.C. Staff, page 7. George Masuda, a Nisei war veteran, was selected as one of four delegates from Sacramento Chapter No. 1 of the American Veterans Committee to the California AVC convention in San Jose. Delegates will attend a resolutions committee meeting in San Francisco beforehand.
• Amputee Auto Law Criticized By DAV Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Sidney Tokumi Oshiro, a double amputee 100th Battalion veteran and DAV officer in Honolulu, criticized the amputee automobile law as unworkable because the $1,600 ceiling price excludes hydromatic-drive cars suited to amputees. He said the DAV would ask Congress to revise it.

Commentary

• Western Command, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes the War Department repudiated the racial theories of Gen. John L. DeWitt, whose evacuation of Japanese Americans is now regarded as a major wartime mistake. It contrasts DeWitt with his successors, including Gen. Clark, who praised the 34th Division’s Nisei soldiers.
• Discrimination by Law, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial catalogs state and federal laws that deny Japanese aliens occupations, land ownership, and immigration rights despite their service. It argues such discrimination can only be eliminated by revising naturalization and immigration statutes.
• Hawaiian Statehood, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues Hawaii may finally achieve statehood this year, noting Japanese Americans’ wartime loyalty has removed the main objection. It cites the Larcade subcommittee’s findings that Hawaii’s residents demonstrated loyalty and that feared Japanese American voting bloc concerns were unfounded.
• Jack Shirai, Premature Anti-Fascist, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The column recounts the life of Jack Shirai, a Nisei New York restaurant worker who volunteered to fight fascism in Spain and was killed at Brunete in 1937. It describes his service in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and his role as a battalion cook who repeatedly sought combat.
• Washington News-Letter: Mrs. Isenberg Helped Prepare For Return of Evacuee Group, by John Kitasako, page 5. The column profiles Quaker Mrs. Gerda Isenberg of Palo Alto, who was threatened after aiding a Black veteran and who worked tirelessly on behalf of evacuees. It credits her with helping open the way for Nisei return to the West Coast.
• From the Frying Pan: Notes on Nisei Assimilation Problems, by Toshio Yatsushiro, page 5. Anthropologist Toshio Yatsushiro clarifies his view that Nisei will gradually integrate into American society rather than abruptly abandoning Japanese community ties. He argues assimilation is a long process and that segregated organizations can serve as a stepping stone.
• Tomorrow’s Heirs: Today…, by Sachi L. Wada, page 5. Sachi Wada reflects on a congenial evening gathering of Minneapolis Nisei and on the sincerity she values in community life. She also recalls former colleagues from the Gila News Courier and closes with a New Year’s pledge to reject prejudice and build understanding.

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