Canada’s Chinese immigration ban and Japanese American claims, 1947

Vol. 24, No. 4, February 1, 1947. 8 pages. View this issue

Immigration and the aftermath of wartime incarceration shared the front page. Canada’s Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced plans to repeal the Chinese immigration act, while Vancouver MP Howard Green said he would campaign to keep persons of Japanese ancestry out of British Columbia. Other stories covered evacuation claims legislation: Dillon Myer rejected automatic lump sum payments, Mike Masaoka pressed for a more liberal bill, and a Clason naturalization bill left out parents of Japanese American soldiers. Larry Tajiri wrote on the Japanese spy scare, and Bill Hosokawa’s column looked at racial features.

Elsewhere, the paper reported on Hawaii statehood and the war record of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Combat Team, a new book on the 442nd, and the Poston fire damage awards. Returnees faced housing and farm disputes in California. The eight pages also include sports, a JACL membership drive, and a Katharine Luomala study of the evacuees’ return.

What’s in this issue

National

• Canada Plans to Repeal Ban on Chinese Immigration, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced that Canada’s government intends to repeal the Chinese immigration act that sharply limited Chinese entry. A bill will be introduced in the approaching session of Parliament, which the Chinese government regarded as discriminatory.
• Canadian Legislator Seeks Permanent Exclusion of Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Vancouver MP Howard Green said he would campaign for permanent exclusion of persons of Japanese ancestry from British Columbia as a defensive measure. He was the only Vancouver member of Parliament to comment on the Japanese question.
• Nisei Army Employee Convicted on Sale of U.S. Supplies, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Victor N. Ito, a Nisei employee of an Army hospital in Sendai, Japan, was sentenced to three years at hard labor for selling U.S. supplies on the black market. A court-martial found he received more than $2000 for the goods.
• Suit Tests Hawaii Language School Regulation Law, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Three Chinese language schools in Hawaii challenged the territory’s foreign language instruction act, which closed foreign language schools during the war. The case argues the law violates the Fifth Amendment.
• Two Bills to Stay Deportation of Japanese Aliens Introduced, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Congressman George Miller introduced H.R. 674 and H.R. 578 to affect Japanese nationals subject to deportation. The first provides relief for hardship cases and those who aided the war effort, while the second addresses entry and deportation provisions.
• British Columbia Community Opposes Racial Settlements, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Associated Boards of Trade of the Okanagan and Main Line passed a resolution opposing communal settlement of any racial group, including Japanese Canadians, in interior districts. The Kamloops board had earlier protested similar resettlement.
• 25 Private Bills Introduced for Japanese Alien Deportees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Twenty-five private bills have been introduced in the 80th Congress seeking permanent stays of deportation for Japanese aliens on hardship grounds. Delegate Farrington sponsored many of them.

Community

• Two Nisei Elected to Sacramento Produce Board, by P.C. Staff, page 1. John Hayashi and Shigeichi Masuhara were elected to the board of directors of the Sacramento Produce Market at the annual election on Jan. 26. Hayashi received the highest vote total of all candidates.
• Palo Verde Valley Farmers Declare Japanese Americans Not Wanted by Community, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A tense meeting of Blythe, California farmers protested the hiring of a Japanese ancestry farm supervisor by Colorado River Farms. Speakers stressed the valley’s non-Japanese status and asked the company to replace him with a white man.
• Enomoto Named to Board of New Civic Organization, by P.C. Staff, page 1. William Enomoto, president of the San Mateo JACL chapter, was named to the board of the Redwood City Council for Civic Unity. The council formed to prevent antiracial attacks after an arson fire at a Negro war veteran’s home.
• GOP Nominates Ushiroda for Hawaii House, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Republicans of West Hawaii nominated former Rep. Shunzo Ushiroda, unopposed, for the Feb. 8 special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Francis Aona. Democrats were reportedly urging Sakuichi Sakai to run for the vacancy.
• Los Angeles Returnees Number 25,000; Social Adjustment Slow, by John Kitasako, page 2. Tom Sasaki’s study found that Los Angeles’ Japanese American returnees, now numbering 25,000, have progressed slowly toward community organization. Economic recovery, lack of Nisei leadership, and residence in minority districts were cited as key factors.
• Stranded Nisei Return to U.S. on Victory Ship, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Several Nisei stranded in Japan during the war returned to the United States aboard the President Victory after clearance by American authorities. Sumio Kawasaki was reunited with his wife and met his daughter for the first time.
• Salt Lake VFW Asks Passage of Utah Bills, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Salt Lake Council of Veterans of Foreign Wars endorsed two Utah bills guaranteeing freedom from racial discrimination in employment and public accommodations. The VFW and four other veterans’ groups also called for repeal of the Utah Alien Land Law.
• 233 Evacuee Families Live in Richmond Project, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Two hundred thirty-three Japanese American families returnees from relocation centers are housed in the Richmond Housing Authority project. Their pre-war residence in the Bay Area left them unable to find private housing.
• Methodist Choir Will Take Part in Seattle Interracial Festival, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Japanese Methodist church choir, directed by Kazuko Osawa, will perform in an interracial hymn festival on Feb. 9 in Seattle. The event is sponsored by the Seattle Council of Churches and the Washington chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
• Utah University Students Vote Equal Rights for Minorities, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A poll of 636 University of Utah students overwhelmingly supported equal accommodations and fair employment practices for minority groups including Japanese Americans. The Utah University Chronicle and Intercollegiate Knights conducted the survey.
• Chicago Nisei Council to Hold Testimonial for Brother Theophane, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Chicago Japanese American Council will honor Brother Theophane Walsh, director of the CYO Nisei Center, with a testimonial dinner on Feb. 8. He is leaving the post due to poor health after assisting the first evacuee group at Manzanar.
• Minneapolis Initiates Survey on Social, Economic Prejudice Against Minority Race Groups, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Minneapolis launched a self-survey by 300 volunteers investigating discrimination against Japanese Americans, Negroes, Jews, Indians, and Slavic Catholics. Interviews will cover economic conditions, social organization, attitudes, and experiences with officials.
• JACL Members Speak to Issei-Nisei Meeting in Oxnard, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Saburo Kido, Scotty Tsuchiya, and Eiji Tanabe addressed an Issei-Nisei meeting in Oxnard, asking support for JACL citizenship and indemnification legislation. The more than 40 Nisei present unanimously approved reactivating the Oxnard JACL chapter.

Incarceration & Redress

• Seek Payment of Damages for Victims of Fire at Poston, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Eighty-three persons awarded damages after the December Poston relocation center fire are asked to contact the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee immediately. About $25,000 is involved, and Congress may be asked to appropriate the funds if response is sufficient.
• Lump Sum Damages to Evacuees Opposed by Myer, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dillon Myer pledged support for a naturalization bill but rejected automatic lump sum payments to evacuees in an evacuation claims measure. He argued claims should be filed individually and adjudicated by a commission or court.
• Masaoka Seeks Liberalization in Evacuee Claims Legislation, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka asked Interior Department officials to sponsor a more liberal evacuation claims bill providing automatic lump sum payments to evacuees. He also proposed exempting claim recoveries from income taxes, waiving the statute of limitations, and reducing attorney fees.
• Bill to Naturalize Parents of GIs Excludes Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Clason bill providing naturalization for alien parents of American war veterans bars aliens ineligible for citizenship, thereby excluding parents of Japanese American soldiers. Masaoka planned to bring the issue to Representative Clason’s attention.
• Returnee Wins Right to Reoccupy Home, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Judge Charles P. Johnson ruled that Jerry Karaki, a returned evacuee, was entitled to occupancy of her Los Angeles home. She had been forced to take court action after being unable to evict the tenants who rented it during the war.
• Planned Permanent Group to Fight Housing Bans, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A temporary Berkeley neighborhood committee formed to aid the William Ijsumi family, ousted from their Oakland home under restrictive covenants, may become a permanent group. A mass protest meeting preceded the proposal.

JACL

• Joe Masaoka to Join Group on Hawaii Trip, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Joe Grant Masaoka will join JACL and ADC leaders on a February fundraising tour of the Hawaiian Islands. The delegation will seek support for citizenship and naturalization legislation.
• Book on 442nd Combat Team Published by Infantry Journal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Orville Shirey’s 154-page history Americans: The Story of the 442nd Combat Team has been published by the Infantry Journal Press. Advance orders from former members are being filled first.
• JACL Will Launch National Membership Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The 1947 national JACL membership campaign runs February 15 to March 15, with the goal of approaching the pre-evacuation total of 18,000 members. Local chapters including Salt Lake City and Milwaukee have already begun drives.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei War Veteran Robbed for Third Time in Washington, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tom Yamamoto, a Nisei veteran who moved to Washington to run a grocery, was robbed for the third time in six weeks. He vowed to arm himself after losing $115 to a bandit who entered his home.
• Congress May Vote on Hawaii Statehood as War Record of Territory’s Nisei Stressed, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Proponents of Hawaiian statehood hope Congress will vote this session, stressing the war record of Japanese American units including the 100th Battalion and 442nd Combat Team. Rep. Larcade reported that wartime doubts about Japanese American loyalty had been removed.
• Problems of Nisei Veterans Dramatized on Radio Program, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A radio play titled The Open Door dramatized the difficulties faced by returning Japanese American veterans in finding jobs and housing. It was broadcast over KALL in Salt Lake City, co-sponsored by the JACL, NAACP, and Council for Civic Unity, to support anti-discrimination bills.
• Fair Employment Practices Measure Also Introduced, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Colorado legislators introduced bills to outlaw restrictive housing covenants and enact fair employment practices. The proposals were prepared by the Denver Unity Council, whose member Min Yasui is Tri-State JACL regional director.
• War Department Seeks Nisei Volunteers to Meet Critical Shortage of Trained Personnel, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Department launched a national campaign to recruit Nisei veterans and others aged 18 to 34 for Military Intelligence Service assignments in the occupation of Japan. Recruits will receive a nine-month language course at Monterey.

Commentary

• Immigration Service, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Pacific Citizen editorial condemns discourteous treatment of Chinese arrivals at San Francisco by Immigration Service officials. It traces this attitude to long-standing exclusion policies and urges overhaul of immigration laws to end racial discrimination.
• Divide and Conquer, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial examines how the evacuee return was used to pit minority groups against one another, particularly Filipinos and Negroes. Citing anthropologist Katharine Luomala, it notes the feared violence largely failed to materialize.
• The Great Japanese Spy Scare, by Larry Tajiri, page 5. Tajiri argues the Japanese spy scare, fueled by yellow journalism and racists, had no factual basis since no persons of Japanese ancestry were arrested for espionage during the war. He contends the myth nonetheless shaped evacuation decisions.
• From the Frying Pan: Reflections on Racial Characteristics, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa uses the story of Chicago youth David Ruge, whose plastic surgery freed him from a congenital facial deformity, to reflect on racial features. He compares it to Nisei who wished to escape Oriental features and to past cosmetic fads in Japan.
• Lieutenant Asks for Food for Japanese Orphans, by Lt. Tullins Acampora, page 6. A U.S. Army lieutenant appeals to readers to send clothing, soap, and basic supplies to an orphanage run by Salesian priests in Tokyo. The orphanage cares for about 100 homeless children and a tubercular hospital nearby.

In-Depth

• Crisis Over Evacuees’ Return to California Resulted in Reaffirmation of Democracy, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Katharine Luomala’s study of California communities examines how the return of evacuees moved through ideological, compromise, and accommodation periods. The author concludes that American principles allowed diverse opinion while protecting minority rights.

Sports

• Misaka Stars as Utah Beats Wyoming, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Murray Misaka led the University of Utah to a victory over Wyoming with a sensational performance that earned him athlete of the week honors. He had been a national champion team member before serving in military intelligence.
• Kishida and Nakatsuka Lead Playhouse Square Keglers to Cleveland Title, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Jim Kishida and Kay Nakatsuka led the Playhouse Square team to the championship of the fourth season of the Cleveland Nisei Bowling League. Playhouse Square also posted the league’s high game and series.

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