Evacuation claims hearings and the fight over California’s Alien Land law

Vol. 24, No. 20, May 24, 1947. 8 pages. View this issue

Congressional hearings on the evacuation claims commission bill, H.R. 2768, led the front page. They were set to open May 28 before a House judiciary subcommittee, with JACL National President Hito Okada expected to testify in favor. On page 4, Larry Tajiri wrote about the better prospects for remedial legislation, and Mike Masaoka wrote to President Truman on behalf of JACL-ADC asking for naturalization rights for Issei. The front page also covered the California Assembly’s 37 to 34 vote to keep $65,000 for enforcing the Alien Land law, and a charge by Joe Grant Masaoka and Henry Taketa about how part of the money would be used.

The rest of this eight-page issue ranges widely. Milton Ozaki talked about writing mystery novels, and Bill Hosokawa’s column offered short observations. George Streator reported on a study of how returned evacuees fared in the Seattle area. Other pages carry Nisei sports news, MISLS graduation, and community items from chapters and families.

What’s in this issue

National

• Public Hearings Will Open Next Week in Congress on Evacuation Claims Measure, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Public hearings on H.R. 2768, the evacuation claims commission bill, will begin May 28 before a House judiciary subcommittee. JACL National President Hito Okada is expected to testify in favor of the measure.
• Evacuees File Suit For Property Sold by U.S. Agency, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two evacuees, Paul Honda and Kusunoki, have sued the U.S. government over personal property stored with a San Francisco Buddhist church that the WRA later moved and sold at auction for $100. They claim the goods were worth $2600 and seek full recovery.
• California Assembly Votes To Retain Land Law Fund, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California Assembly reinserted a $65,000 Alien Land law enforcement appropriation after its Ways and Means committee had deleted it. The final vote was 37 to 34 after three legislators changed their votes.
• Ways and Means Group Deletes Appropriation From State Budget, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Ways and Means committee of the California Assembly voted 14 to 3 to delete a $65,000 enforcement appropriation for the Alien Land law. The item was later reinserted by the full Assembly after heated debate.
• California Budget Has Fund For Undercover ‘Gestapo’ in Land Law Item, Says Masaoka, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Joe Grant Masaoka and Henry Taketa of JACL-ADC charged that $43,300 of the Alien Land law enforcement funds was earmarked for undercover personnel. They said the activity was unworthy of California.
• New York Group Urges Equality In Naturalization, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Japanese American Committee for Democracy, joined by the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born, issued a leaflet urging an end to the racial clauses in naturalization and immigration law. The leaflet cites the wartime service of Issei and Nisei.
• Senator Downey Introduces Bill to Give Citizenship To Parents of Nisei GI Dead, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Senator Sheridan Downey introduced S. 1300 to allow naturalization of persons racially ineligible whose sons or daughters died in U.S. service. The bill also waives education and filing-of-intentions requirements.
• Evacuee Claims Bill Passes Congress, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The first bill beneficially affecting persons of Japanese ancestry passed the 80th Congress and was signed by the president. It provides payment to evacuees whose property was damaged in the Poston and Manzanar fires.
• JACL-ADC Asks President For Issei Citizenship Rights, by Mike Masaoka, page 8. Mike Masaoka wrote to President Truman on May 18, I Am an American Day, urging him to support naturalization rights for Issei. The letter cites the wartime service of Nisei and the contributions of Japanese immigrants.
• Canadian Senate Committee Hears Heated Debate on Controls Over Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A Canadian Senate banking committee voted 11 to 4 against canceling government authority over Japanese Canadian evacuees. Senator Crerar of Manitoba condemned the controls as suppression of a minority, while others defended the policy.

Military & Veterans

• Army Recalls Nisei Officer To Active Duty, by P.C. Staff, page 1. First Lieutenant George Kanegai of Denver was recalled to active service by the MISLS and will go to Japan for assignment with occupation forces. A veteran of 33 months overseas service, he took part in several Pacific campaigns.
• 442nd Veteran Signs Up in Naval Reserve, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lester C. Zukeran, a 442nd Combat Team veteran, became the first American of Japanese ancestry accepted into the U.S. naval reserve. Approximately 200 Japanese Americans from Hawaii are expected to enlist.
• Honolulu GIs Plan Hawaiian Aloha Fund for Mainland Family, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A group of Honolulu veterans of Japanese ancestry established an aloha fund to sponsor a trip to Hawaii for the Tasaka family of Washington, D.C., in appreciation of their wartime hospitality. Oda, a Marine veteran, serves as general chairman.
• Importance of Nisei Soldiers Stressed at MISLS Ceremony, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Col. Elliott R. Thorpe addressed the fifth graduating class of MISLS, stressing the importance of graduates serving in Japan as liaisons with SCAP. Forty-three graduates received diplomas at the May 10 ceremony.

Community

• Boy Born to Canadian Wife of Nisei Ex-GI, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Robert Kitajima and his Canadian wife Molly, a Japanese Canadian, welcomed a son in Windsor, Ontario. Immigration officials have refused her entry to the United States under the Soldiers’ Bride act, and a special bill has been introduced to admit her.
• Nisei Selected as Vale Valedictorian, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Harry Yamada was chosen valedictorian of the graduating class at Vale senior high school in Oregon. The class was the second largest in the school’s history.
• Masunaga Heads JACL Delegation At Denver Ceremony, by P.C. Staff, page 2. George Masunaga, president of the Denver JACL chapter, led a delegation to the I Am an American Day ceremonies on May 18. The chapter also sent a letter to President Truman expressing pride in the celebration.
• Nisei Girls Reign Over School Festival, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Fujiko Tamura was crowned queen of the May Day festival at Gault junior high school in Tacoma. She was the only Nisei enrolled at the school and won by a landslide vote.
• Sugihara Promoted To New Rating at University of Utah, by P.C. Staff, page 3. James M. Sugihara, a chemistry instructor, was promoted to assistant professor at the University of Utah. He joined the faculty the previous year.
• Baby Girl Born To Nisei Lieutenant And Wife in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lt. Gunji Moriuchi and his wife Atsuko, a former WAC, welcomed a daughter in Tokyo. The couple had married in Tokyo the previous September.
• Congress Approves Payment Of Damages for Fire Losses, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Congress approved about $30,000 in claims for evacuees whose property was lost in the Poston Camp Two and Manzanar warehouse fires. The Washington JACL-ADC office urged claimants to contact the General Accounting Office.
• Chicago Issei Aid ADC Fund Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Chicago Issei met to form a citywide fundraising committee for the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee’s legislative work. The committee was selected unanimously at a meeting presided over by Tahei Matsunaga.
• Returned Evacuees Forced To Change Living Patterns In Northwest, Says Report, by George Streator, page 5. A University of Washington study found returned evacuees in the Seattle area have had to change their occupations, with fewer self-employed and many Nisei women in civil service. Many older residents report lower incomes than before the war.
• Eden Township JACL Is Reactivated At Dinner Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Eden Township chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League was reactivated at a dinner meeting in San Leandro. Tom Hatakeda was named chairman of a committee to lead the revival.
• Bataan Survivor Slated to Speak at JACL Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Major Garry James Anloff Jr., a survivor of the Bataan death march, will speak at the Salt Lake City JACL meeting on May 27. Army signal corps films on Japan will also be shown.
• Kumagai Will Head Girls Council At Salt Lake School, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Kumagai was elected president of the Associated Girls’ Council at Salt Lake’s West High School. She will represent the high school girls on the student executive board.
• Stone Shaft Will Be Dedicated to Memory of GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A stone memorial shaft honoring eighteen Japanese American servicemen from Utah who died in World War II will be unveiled at Salt Lake City cemetery. Speakers include representatives of the VFW and the JACL.
• JACL Credit Union Reports on Progress, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Chicago JACL credit union has 45 member shareholders with $680.71 on deposit. Deposits and loan applications may be handled through officers at the JACL office.

Incarceration & Redress

• War-Stranded Nisei Return From Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Twenty-four war-stranded Nisei arrived in San Francisco aboard the General Gordon from Yokohama. The group included Mrs. Tsuru Fukuda, the second Issei to return since the war, and a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor.
• Vancouver Paper Asks Payment for Evacuee Losses, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Vancouver Sun editorialized that the Canadian government should reimburse evacuees of Japanese ancestry for goods looted from government storage. The paper argued the government had a plain duty to pay.

Arts & Entertainment

• Interview With Milton Ozaki: Second Mystery Novel by Nisei Writer Will Be Published Soon, by Masamori Kojima, page 3. Chicago mystery writer Milton K. Ozaki, author of Cuckoo Clock and A Fiend in Need, describes his writing process and craft. He also discusses the mystery writers’ market and his role as president of the Chicago chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.
• Three Nisei Girls Vie For Chicago Area AVC Crown, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Three Nisei women, Emi Jane Matsumoto, Rose Kokubu and Suzanne Narahara, are among entrants in the American Veterans Committee’s Real American Beauty contest in Chicago. The winner will reign over the AVC Memorial Day dance.

Sports

• Kajikawa Leads Girls Team on Mexican Trip, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Bill Kajikawa, manager of the Park-N-Shop girls’ softball team, flew his team to Guaymas, Mexico, for exhibition games against the A-1 Queens. Kajikawa is considered one of Arizona’s top softball players.
• Four Hawaii Nisei Boxers Will Fight In San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Four top Nisei amateur boxers from Hawaii will compete for the 49th State Athletic Association team against Bay Area All-Stars on May 29. The lineup includes flyweight Mokey Hanagami and featherweight Mamoru Hiroya.
• Make Hit With Boxing Fans in Scotland, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Four young Hawaii fighters managed by Sam Ichinose have drawn large crowds in Glasgow. Dado Marino will fight Jackie Paterson for the world flyweight title at Hampden Park on June 1.
• Nisei Baseball Star Honored in San Diego, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Paul Kaneyuki, an 18-year-old Point Loma High pitcher, was named the Breitbard Athletic Foundation’s star of the month for April. He pitched a three-hitter against San Diego High and led his team to the Pomona tournament title.

Commentary

• No Longer Cowed, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial praises the California Assembly members who voted against the Alien Land law enforcement appropriation, noting the shift in legislative attitudes. It argues that the 34 votes against the fund signal substantial opposition to the discriminatory law.
• Taro Yashima, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial recounts artist Taro Yashima’s anti-fascist record in Japan and his wartime service to the OWI, OSS and the War Department. It describes the deportation order he faced and the private bill introduced on his behalf.
• The American Look, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that beauty contests should not define American beauty by Anglo standards, praising AVC’s inclusive contest. It notes Nisei entrants in Chicago and in the 442nd carnival queen contest in Hawaii.
• Legally Undemocratic, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes an Illinois master-in-chancery’s ruling upholding racial restrictive housing covenants. It argues that a legal decision can be legal yet undemocratic.
• Prospects For Legislation, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri analyzes the improving prospects for remedial legislation affecting Japanese Americans in Congress and California. He explains that the naturalization bill is the key measure, though congressional procedure makes quick passage unlikely.
• New York Evacuees Won’t Go Back, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column describes former western evacuees who have settled in New York and remain there rather than return to California. It contrasts the pace of life in New York with the South.
• Leisurely Life of Old New Orleans, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The writer describes the slower pace of southern cities during a train trip to New Orleans. The column recounts local charm, food, and the small Issei and Nisei community there.
• Opportunity for Nisei in the Deep South, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The writer surveys possibilities for Nisei in the Deep South, including camellia cultivation, fishing, and vacant war housing in Louisiana. Issei farmers have had difficulty reaching markets for produce.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa offers short observations on Hollywood casting of Asian roles, Nisei eating habits, used car speculation, and Chicago youth. He also comments on Mike Masaoka’s effectiveness in Washington.
• Heirs, by Sachi L. Wada, page 8. Sachi Wada writes from Minneapolis about springtime, the lives of Nisei students and workers there, and reflections on memory and past lives. The column is personal and reflective in tone.

In-Depth

• The Story of an Artist in Japan: Taro Yashima’s The Horizon is Calling, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A review of Taro Yashima’s new book of drawings and text recounting his life in Japan after prison and the rise of militarism. The reviewer describes his drawings as powerful and emotionally driven.

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