Fishing rights, alien land laws and stranded Nisei, April 1948

Vol. 26, No. 14, April 3, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue

The right of Japanese aliens to fish commercially in California led the front page. Attorneys for Torao Takahashi filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the state’s ban on fishing licenses was racial discrimination and not a conservation measure. A related story on page 3 describes the 40-page brief. The paper also reported that California’s 1948 legislative session passed no new anti-Japanese bills, in a piece by Joe Grant Masaoka and Henry Taketa, and that most escheat cases under the Alien Land law had been dismissed after the Oyama decision.

The front page also carried a photograph of Ensign Grace Tanizawa, a Nisei Navy nurse. Inside are stories on Nisei stranded in Japan, the return of Nisei war dead from Europe, and a plane crash that killed two Army Language School graduates. Columns by Bill Hosokawa and T. W. Tanaka, and Hideo Kuwahara’s survey of postwar Japanese literature, fill the opinion pages. The issue also has chapter news and sports.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

  • Takahashi’s Attorneys Declare California Anti-Alien Fishing Ban Based on Race Prejudice, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Attorneys for Torao Takahashi filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that California’s ban on commercial fishing licenses for Japanese aliens is racially discriminatory and not a conservation measure. The brief contends the law violates the equal protection clause and conflicts with federal authority over foreign affairs.
  • Oyama Case Decision Affirmed: Right of Nisei to Hold Property in California, Says Howser, by P.C. Staff, page 2. California Attorney General Fred Howser stated that land acquired by Americans of Japanese ancestry is not presumed to be acquired fraudulently under the Alien Land law. The opinion followed Senator Ralph Swing’s demand for an explanation of dismissed cases.
  • Report Majority of California Escheat Cases Now Dismissed, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Most pending California escheat cases against Japanese Americans under the Alien Land law have been dismissed following the Supreme Court’s Oyama decision. Dismissals in San Luis Obispo and San Diego counties were noted, though San Diego delays persisted.
  • Briefs Filed in Takahashi Case, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The 40-page brief in the Takahashi case argues that California’s 1945 amendment to the Fish and Game Code conflicts with federal authority over foreign relations and international human rights commitments. It was submitted by A. L. Wirin, Dean Acheson’s co-counsel Charles Horsky, and others.
  • Stranded Nisei Seeks to Regain U.S. Citizenship Forfeited Without Knowledge During War, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Mizuho Tsuneishi, a Nisei stranded in Japan, filed suit to regain U.S. citizenship she lost without her knowledge after her grandfather filed a naturalization application on her behalf. Attorneys Wirin and Kido represent her, and efforts are underway to bring her back to the U.S.

Community

  • Ishikawa Will Aid ADC Work in Washington, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sam Ishikawa, eastern states director of the JACL ADC, has been temporarily assigned to the Washington office to assist national legislative director Mike Masaoka during the second quarter. He will remain with the local ADC office until the major legislative work is complete.
  • Long Beach JACL Begins ADC Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Long Beach JACL launched its fund-raising campaign for the ADC at a cabinet meeting called by president Fred Ikeguchi. The drive got underway in March.
  • Dr. Yatabe Credited With Capture of Bandit Suspect, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Chicago dentist and former national JACL president Dr. T. T. Yatabe helped capture one of two would-be bandits who attempted a holdup at an Easter service in Berkeley. Dr. Yatabe subdued the suspect at his home until police arrived.
  • Cleveland JACL to Sponsor Joint Issei-Nisei Meets, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Following a joint dinner meeting, the Cleveland JACL planned a talent show in May, a joint Issei-Nisei meeting in June, and a community picnic in July. The activities aim to improve relations between the city’s Nisei and Issei.
  • Funeral Rites Held for Nitta, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Funeral services were held in Lodi, California, for Tokuo Nitta, 21, who died in the March 21 plane crash near Woodland, Washington. He is survived by his father, brothers and sisters.
  • Chapters Swell ADC Contributions, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Results of three ADC fund drives were reported by Los Angeles regional director Eiji Tanabe, including Santa Barbara’s total of $1500, Riverside’s $1217 and Ventura County’s $1548. Each drive was conducted by local JACL or Issei-Nisei committees.
  • Midwest Buddhists Plan Two-Day Fete in Chicago, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Midwest Buddhist church will hold a two-day hana-matsuri celebration on April 10 and 11 at the Olivet Institute in Chicago. Events include supper, basketball playoffs, Japanese films and a dance.
  • Washington Chapter Holds Benefit Movie, Food Bazaar, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Washington JACL chapter held a benefit movie and food bazaar at the YWCA on March 27, the first of its planned activities for the year. The event was well attended and income went to the chapter treasury.
  • Snake River JACL to Cooperate in Directory Project, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Snake River chapter agreed to cooperate with the Portland and Boise chapters on a directory of persons of Japanese descent in Oregon and the Boise valley. James Wakasugi will head the directory project.
  • Hibbard Leads SLC Bowl League, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Hibbard Drug took a two-point lead in the Salt Lake City bowling league after a 3-1 win over U.S. Cafe. The league season was set to conclude April 12.
  • Venice Cabinet Is Installed, by P.C. Staff, page 6. George Mikawa and his cabinet were scheduled to be installed as officers of the Venice JACL by Pacific Southwest district council chairman Frank Chuman. Dr. Leonard Bloom, UCLA sociologist, was the featured speaker.
  • Denver JACL Honors Issei ADC Workers, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Nearly forty Issei and members of the Denver JACL were honored at a potluck supper for their work establishing Kika Kisei Domei branches for the ADC. Regional director Roy Takeno reported ADC contributions from six states.
  • Students Tour ‘Little Tokyo’, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A group of University of Southern California students toured the Japanese American community in Los Angeles on a tour led by G. Raymond Booth. Eiji Tanabe briefed them on the JACL ADC legislative program at a dinner.
  • Seek Repeal of Restrictions on Logging, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Japanese Canadian organizations in British Columbia decided to raise $10,000 to fight the Crown Timber Act’s ban on employing persons of Japanese ancestry in logging. Delegates were sent to Victoria to seek permanent removal of the restriction.
  • Dr. Takahashi Heads Faculty at Chicago Optometry School, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Dr. Ernest Takahashi was appointed dean of faculty at the newly incorporated Chicago College of Optometry. The college admits qualified students regardless of race, creed or color.
  • Stranded Argentine Japanese Find Hospitality in U.S., by P.C. Staff, page 8. Thirty-two Argentine-born Japanese stranded by the war received hospitality in San Francisco from the Takahashi Trading company while awaiting passage home. The company provided clothing, meals and sightseeing trips.

Military & Veterans

  • Nisei Veteran Held ‘Not Guilty’ in Patricide, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tommy Tsutomu Miura, a Rexburg war veteran and 442nd veteran, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the killing of his father. Testimony at the sanity hearing attributed his condition to war stress.
  • Remains of Nisei War Dead Arrive from Europe Aboard Army Transport Robert Burns, by Tosuke Yamasaki, page 1. The first Nisei war dead returned from overseas aboard the Army transport Robert F. Burns at Brooklyn, with the JACL participating in a ceremony honoring the American dead. More Nisei remains were expected on the John L. McCarley the following week.
  • Memorial Service to Honor Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A memorial service will be held in Los Angeles for Pvt. Tom T. Nishimoto, a member of the 442nd who was killed in action in Italy. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
  • Father Prepared Family for News of Son’s Death in Crash, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Shuichi Fukui, father of T/5 Herbert Fukui who died in a March 21 Army plane crash near Woodland, Washington, had anticipated the news after a premonition. His family had been prepared for the loss of a son, following the earlier death of another son in the war.
  • Body of Nisei Found After Plane Tragedy, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Searchers found the bodies of T/3 Tokuo Nitta and Pvt. Olin Ralph Horn in a canyon after the Army transport crash near Woodland, Washington. Both men had survived the initial crash and tried to reach help before dying of burns, shock and exposure.
  • Crash Victims Were Graduates of Army’s Language School, by P.C. Staff, page 2. T/3 Tokuo Nitta and T/5 Herbert Fukui, both recent graduates of the Army Language School at Monterey, were killed in the transport crash while on furlough. Both had been scheduled for occupation duty in Japan.
  • Nisei Attends Housing Meet in Washington, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Gene Takei, a Nisei college student and former OSS serviceman, attended a national Veterans Housing conference in Washington to press for the Taft-Ellender-Wagner housing bill. Delegates lobbied congressmen to move the bill out of committee.

National

  • Washington Attorney Will Join Wirin in Strandee Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Attorney Jack Wasserman, formerly of the Justice Department’s board of immigration appeals, will join A. L. Wirin in cases concerning Nisei stranded in Japan. Wasserman previously dissented in a case involving a Japanese treaty trader’s right to remain in the U.S.
  • Equality Group Seeks Published Material on Immigration Issue, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Committee for Equality in Naturalization requested published articles and editorials on Issei naturalization and immigration for use in its campaign. Material was to be sent to its Washington office by airmail.
  • Rep. Bradley Favors Use of Munemori Ship in Pacific, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Congressman Willis W. Bradley endorsed the JACL’s suggestion that the Army transport Pvt. Sadao S. Munemori be deployed to Pacific service and call at Japanese ports. He inserted his support into the Congressional Record.
  • Senate Passes Bills to Permit Permanent Stay for Deportees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Senate passed private bills allowing several Japanese aliens facing deportation to remain permanently in the U.S., including Gentaro Takahashi and Mrs. Teruko Matsukawa. The bills were pushed by the JACL due to the hardship separation would cause citizen children.
  • Kamada Convicted for War Cruelty by Military Tribunal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Suji Kamada, a former Japanese army sergeant raised partly in Arizona, was sentenced to four years at hard labor for mistreating Allied prisoners of war. He had served as an interpreter at the Sendai prisoner camp.
  • Reveal No Anti-Japanese Bills Passed During 1948 Session of California’s Legislature, by Joe Grant Masaoka and Henry Taketa, page 4. No new anti-Japanese laws or budget items were enacted in California’s 1948 legislative session, the first since the war without such bills. Several assemblymen expressed that the Alien Land law is effectively dead, though vigilance remains necessary.
  • California Legislators Believe Pressure Still Being Exerted for Anti-Japanese Measures, by Joe Grant Masaoka, page 4. Legislators at Sacramento believe agricultural pressure continues to push for anti-Japanese measures, tracing its influence through budget fights over Alien Land law enforcement funding. Opponents successfully blocked new enforcement appropriations this session.
  • Nisei to Go to Japan for National Academy of Sciences, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Makoto Iwashita, former Portland JACL president, is returning to Japan as an administrative and fiscal officer for a National Academy of Sciences medical project. His position was one of the first filled by the Academy, which has been recruiting Nisei professionals.

Arts & Entertainment

  • Kuniyoshi Becomes First U.S. Living Artist to Get One-Man Show at Whitney Museum, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Yasuo Kuniyoshi became the first living American painter to receive a one-man show at the Whitney Museum, which opened in March. More than 300 artists honored him at a dinner by the Artists Equity Association, of which he is president.

JACL

  • National Secretary of JACL Leaves on Eastern Tour, by P.C. Staff, page 3. JACL national secretary Masao Satow left Salt Lake City on a two-week tour of the Midwest and East to confer with committee members and chapter officials. His itinerary included Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington and Denver.
  • Okada Names New Commission on National Planning, Policies, by P.C. Staff, page 8. JACL president Hito Okada announced a committee on national planning to formulate JACL program and policies for the next national convention in Salt Lake City. Saburo Kido chairs the committee, with Teiko Kuroiwa and Minoru Yasui as vice chairmen.

Commentary

  • Equality in Naturalization, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that racial ineligibility for naturalization forces legally resident aliens of Japanese ancestry into an inferior status, as dramatized by Mrs. Nawa Munemori, mother of Medal of Honor recipient Sadao Munemori. It urges Congress to pass bills like the Judd bill to end racial restrictions in citizenship law.
  • Mr. Tenney and His Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns State Senator Jack Tenney and his Un-American Activities Committee for fueling wartime anti-Japanese hysteria and reactivating the Alien Land law. It criticizes Tenney’s 702-page report for wrongly including the ACLU among communist front groups.
  • I’m Listening, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The columnist reflects on hearing foreign languages throughout New York City, from French in Fifth Avenue shops to Chinese on the subway. The column also profiles the growing Puerto Rican population in Manhattan and their challenges with housing and employment.
  • The Nisei Are Newsworthy, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa argues that Nisei remain newsworthy by showing how Pacific Citizen headlines would read if ‘Nisei’ were replaced with ‘local.’ He also highlights Nisei activists like George and Susan Sunada at Denver’s Fort Logan housing project, who are seeking local governance.
  • Nisei and Politics, by T. W. Tanaka, page 6. Tanaka argues that Nisei voters are no longer naive enough to fall for politicians who claim to be ‘friends of the Japanese.’ He recalls how Nisei once supported candidates like Hiram Johnson, Jack Tenney and Earl Warren, who later helped support wartime exclusion.

In-Depth

  • Literary Bombast: Postwar Literature in Japan, by Hideo Kuwahara, page 4. Kuwahara surveys the flood of postwar Japanese literature in 1947, focusing on the rebellious ‘literature of possibility’ movement led by Sakunosuke Oda and Ango Sakaguchi. He concludes that much of the output is bombastic and needs more discipline and connection to real experience.

Sports

  • Tokuda Drug Team of Seattle Wins Salt Lake Tournament, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Seattle Tokuda Drug team upset the favored Harlem Seagulls of Salt Lake City 35 to 24 to win the Intermountain JACL invitational basketball tournament in Shelley, Idaho. Chuck Kinoshita led Seattle in scoring, and an all-tournament team was named.
  • Hawaiian Bowlers Stress Race Harmony on Mainland Tour, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Hawaii’s bowling ambassadors, a touring team of Oriental and Caucasian American bowlers, defeated two Salt Lake City teams to promote racial harmony in the sport. The group also sought to open ABC tournament competition to all members of the Honolulu Bowling Association.
  • Takeshita Knocks Out Californian in Honolulu Bout, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Robert Takeshita, a young Nisei boxer, knocked out Frankie Fernandez of Bakersfield in the second round of their ten-round bout in Honolulu. A crowd of 12,660 attended the matches.

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