Renunciations at Tule Lake ruled invalid, and a Princeton physicist lost

Vol. 25, No. 10, September 13, 1947. 8 pages. View this issue

Two stories led this eight-page issue. Judge Charles C. Cavanah ruled that renunciations of citizenship made under duress at Tule Lake were invalid and restored citizenship to four petitioners in an ACLU test case. The ruling may affect about 6,000 people. Judge Louis E. Goodman separately ordered the release of 330 renunciants held at Crystal City and Bridgeton. The front page also reported the drowning of Princeton physicist Shuichi Kusaka, 31, and an editorial honored his career.

Inside are Mary Alice Baldinger’s review of the 80th Congress on civil rights, Ina Sugihara’s report on restrictive covenant cases heading to the Supreme Court, and Larry Tajiri’s profile of Sessue Hayakawa. Bill Hosokawa’s column recounted a circus visit. Tak Maruyama described a summer at the Encampment for Citizenship. News pages covered stranded Nisei returning home and a VFW committee post for Mike Masaoka.

What’s in this issue

In-Depth

• Shuichi Kusaka, Noted Princeton Physicist, Drowns in New Jersey Vacation Tragedy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Princeton physicist Shuichi Kusaka, 31, drowned at Beach Haven, N.J., on Aug. 31 while attempting to swim to a sandbar. His career, including his path to American citizenship through Army service and work under Einstein and Oppenheimer, is recounted.

Community

• Expect Third Quota of Businessmen to Leave in October, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL-ADC Washington office outlined the procedure for businessmen seeking permits to travel to Japan to negotiate private trade. The Commerce Department reported the second quota has been filled and the third quota is expected in October.
• Seabrook Farms Issei Organize to Support Naturalization Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Resident aliens of Japanese ancestry at Seabrook Farms, N.J., formed an association to support the legislative naturalization program. Funds raised will go to the national JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee program.
• Idaho Falls JACL Members Give $2500 for New Hospital, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Members of the Idaho Falls JACL chapter donated $2,500 in cash and pledges to the Sacred Heart hospital sisters for a new Catholic hospital. The funds were raised among 103 members.
• Youths of All Races Attend Encampment for Citizenship, by Tak Maruyama, page 5. Tak Maruyama, a University of Utah student, describes his summer at the Encampment for Citizenship in New York City with diverse young participants. He recounts lectures, discussion groups, workshops, and trips he took.

National

• Renunciations of Citizenship Under Duress Held Invalid, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Judge Charles C. Cavanah ruled that renunciations of citizenship made under duress at Tule Lake were invalid and restored citizenship to four petitioners in an ACLU test case. The ruling may affect about 6,000 persons who renounced citizenship at Tule Lake.
• Federal Judge Orders Release of 330 Tule Lake Renunciants, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Judge Louis E. Goodman ordered the release of 330 American-born renunciants held at Crystal City and Bridgeton pending government appeal. He also directed the government to provide transportation for them.
• Prepare Restrictive Covenant Test Cases for Supreme Court, by Ina Sugihara, page 2. Lawyers and civil rights groups met in New York to plan strategy for two restrictive covenant cases from St. Louis and Detroit before the Supreme Court. The article explains how covenants create ghettoes and why the cases matter for minority groups including Japanese Americans.
• Officer Found Guilty of Taking Tokyo Bribes, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Second Lt. Clifford Kono was sentenced to one year at hard labor and dismissal after a court martial convicted him of accepting bribes from Japanese motion picture companies. Evidence showed he spent 80,000 yen on a Tokyo house.
• Restraining Order Dismissed in L.A. Housing Case, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Los Angeles judge dismissed a restraining order against Edgar L. Lee, a Chinese American, who had already moved into his home in a racially restricted area. The Lees were represented by A. L. Wirin and Fred Okrand.
• Alien Property Office Outlines Way for Recovery of Deposits, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Office of Alien Property explained how claims for yen deposits in Japanese banks and wartime bond interest may be filed. Claimants were advised to file Form APC-1C with the OAP in Washington.
• More Stranded Nisei Return to U.S. Homes, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Seventy-three war-stranded Nisei returned to San Francisco aboard the General W. H. Gordon from Japan. The article lists passengers by state of residence.
• Japan File Suit to Regain U.S. Citizenship Taken Away by Action of Interior Ministry, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Ten American-born persons of Japanese ancestry filed suit in Tokyo against the Japanese Ministry of the Interior, claiming their U.S. citizenship was taken without a choice. Japanese officials said the case was without precedent.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Veteran Gets National VFW Position, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Mike Masaoka, JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee legislative director, was appointed to the VFW National Americanism Committee at the Cleveland encampment. He is the only Nisei on the committee.
• Yugoslavs Free U.S. Soldier in Border Affair, by P.C. Staff, page 3. T/5 Keiji Hoshino of Honolulu was among six American soldiers detained by Yugoslavs after a truck made a wrong turn into the Yugoslav-occupied zone. They were released after the U.S. Army filed a formal protest.
• Paintings by Disabled Nisei Veterans Included in Exhibit, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Paintings by two wounded Nisei veterans at Birmingham VA hospital, Kakuo Terao and Yoshio Nakamura, were included in a nationwide and overseas rehabilitation art show. Terao had recently been denied a home purchase due to restrictive covenants.
• “Approves in Spirit” Proposal of Citizenship for Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The VFW national encampment referred a Utah resolution urging naturalization for resident Japanese aliens to its Legislative Service for study after the Americanism committee approved it in spirit. California delegates had opposed it as circumventing the Alien Land law.

Obituaries

• Nisei Student Dies of Swimming Accident Injuries, by P.C. Staff, page 3. James Tadao Inomata, 26, a pre-medical student at the University of San Francisco, died from spinal injuries he received while swimming at Ocean Beach last month. He had served as an instructor in the Navy language school and in the OWI during the war.

Commentary

• Shuichi Kusaka, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial honors Shuichi Kusaka as a pioneer in theoretical physics whose career showed there are no race or color lines in science. His untimely drowning is described as a tragic loss to the world.
• Veterans Groups, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that the VFW, DAV and other veterans groups have shifted attitudes toward Japanese Americans due to Nisei war service. It cites the VFW Americanism committee vote and the election of Herbert Yamamoto as a DAV officer.
• The Renunciants, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial welcomes Judge Cavanah’s ruling that coerced renunciations of citizenship are invalid and gives context from the Spoilage study on why renunciants acted as they did. It hopes higher courts will uphold the decision.
• Face to Face with Gargantua, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa describes encountering the gorilla Gargantua at a Ringling Bros. circus and a fire-immune sideshow performer. The column is a light personal account of circus experiences.
• Record of 80th Congress on Civil, Minority Rights Make Gloomy Reading, by Mary Alice Baldinger, page 5. Mary Alice Baldinger, ACLU legislative representative, assesses the 80th Congress as largely unfavorable to civil rights but praises the JACL-ADC legislative achievements. She describes bills that passed the House and the committee’s effective advocacy.

Arts & Entertainment

• Starring Sessue Hayakawa, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Larry Tajiri profiles Sessue Hayakawa, the silent film star who lived in Paris as an expatriate after his Hollywood career faded. The piece examines his roles, his controversies, and his wartime years in France.

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