Evacuation claims forms and the Tokyo Rose treason case

Vol. 27, No. 16, October 16, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue

Evacuation claims and the treason case against Iva Toguri d’Aquino shared the news in this eight-page issue. Local JACL chapters were preparing to hand out claims forms, and Mike Masaoka and Edward Ennis met district council members in Monterey to explain how. Ennis also asked prosecutors in the Tokyo treason trial to steer clear of actions that would hurt Japanese Americans. Judge Louis Goodman denied bail to d’Aquino and granted a two-week delay. Masaoka outlined a five-month push for the naturalization bill in Congress, and chapters were urged to show support for the Judd bill.

In the commentary pages, Larry Tajiri wrote about Hollywood plans for Nisei soldier films, and Bill Hosokawa looked back at a 1924 Cub Scout pack photograph. Toshio Mori’s short story “Life Is Dance” is on page 5. Editorials took up the courts and civil liberties and the martial law declared in Hawaii. Pearl Buck and Sadie T. M. Alexander appear on civil rights.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Local JACL Groups to Distribute Evacuation Claims Forms, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Local JACL chapters will distribute evacuation claims forms in two or three weeks, following a conference between Mike Masaoka and Edward Ennis with district council members. The Washington office will also provide a copy of the law with translations.
• Louisiana Nisei Wins Scholarship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Flora Mayumi Kenner was awarded a four-year scholarship by a Louisiana scholarship committee. The award was made to a Nisei student in the state.
• Placer County Group Passes Resolution Urging Citizenship For Resident Japanese Aliens, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Placer County Farm Bureau Federation board of directors unanimously passed a resolution in Loomis asking for naturalization rights for aliens of Japanese ancestry. The resolution praised Japanese American war performance and called for naturalization laws to be widened without regard to race or national origin.
• Nisei Letter Carrier Performs on Visit to White House, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nisei letter carrier Don Toyama was one of four Hawaiian postmen who sang and danced for the White House staff on Oct. 8 to show appreciation for a postal pay raise. The men were Hawaii delegates to the National Association of Letter Carriers convention in Miami.
• Evacuees in Toronto Believe 200 Families Have Bought Homes, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Toronto Nisei newspaper estimated that about 200 Japanese Canadian families have bought their own homes in Toronto. The report noted that the city’s Japanese Canadian population is nearing 450 and that new evacuee families continue to arrive.
• Seek Grape-Growers Litigation Settled, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Persons of Japanese ancestry who delivered grapes to wineries during a long-standing grape proration dispute may be entitled to unclaimed refund checks distributed by the state Department of Agriculture. The settlement involved Proration Zone No. 2 and refunds totaling a substantial amount.
• Also to Participate in Presidential Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Hawaii primary election saw a record number of Nisei candidates, with four elected outright and many others nominated. The article reports on the results and notes that race was largely absent from campaign discussions.
• Wallace Criticize Warren for Stand, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Progressive Party presidential candidate Henry Wallace criticized Earl Warren for his opposition to evacuee return and his failure to address anti-Japanese violence in California during the war. He demanded indemnification for plundered Nisei property.
• JACL Personnel Will Be Trained to Assist Claimants on Forms, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Pacific Southwest District Council discussed distributing evacuation claims forms through JACL chapters in Southern California. Forms would be given to the public after JACL personnel are trained to help claimants fill them out.
• Two Nisei Teachers From Hawaii Take Los Angeles Classes, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Two Nisei exchange teachers from Hawaii, Mrs. Mazie Kuriyama and Mrs. Margaret Kuwahara, are teaching elementary classes in Los Angeles. Mrs. Kuwahara graduated from the University of Utah in 1946.
• Ellis Center Will Institute Series of Special Programs, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Ellis community center in Chicago will hold special programs every other Sunday through the winter, beginning with a concert of secular music by a choir on Oct. 17. The 25-voice choir is directed by Mrs. Henrietta Murphy.
• JACL Aid on Evacuee Claims Filing Discussed by Council, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Northern California-Western Nevada JACL district council met in Monterey to discuss evacuee claims filing and membership benefits. Mike Masaoka and Edward Ennis advised chapters on distributing claim forms and urged support for the Judd bill.
• Canada Nisei Bronc Buster Wins Prizes in U.S. Rodeos, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Ivan Sugai, a Canadian-born Nisei rodeo rider, won the saddle bronc riding championship at a Montana rodeo and other prizes. He has competed in rodeos for eight years, and his family moved to Japan in 1946.
• Fire Does Heavy Damage to Sugai Cafe in Ontario, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A fire of unknown origin caused approximately $12,000 in damage to the East Side Cafe and Lounge in Ontario, Oregon, operated by Don and Art Sugai. Volunteer firefighters saved the building.
• Coachella Chapter Schedules Talks, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Sam Ishikawa and Saburo Kido will address the Coachella Valley JACL on Oct. 16 about the Salt Lake City national convention and evacuation claims. Movies on the convention and a bowling league were also planned.

National

• Ennis Says Treason Trial Should Not Jeopardize Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Edward J. Ennis, former Justice Department official and ADC special counsel, asked government prosecutors in the Tokyo Rose treason trial to avoid actions that would jeopardize the position of Japanese Americans. He noted his wartime service directing the Enemy Alien Control Unit as evidence of the Nisei’s excellent record.
• Nisei Unable to Get Credit for Pre-War Postoffice Service, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The ACLU of Northern California reported that a Japanese American postal employee dismissed after evacuation was reinstated following military service, but the postoffice department refused to credit his pre-evacuation service in determining his employment rating. The ACLU protested this decision.
• ADC Has Naturalization Bill Timetable, Declares Masaoka, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka told the Kikaken Kisei Domei of Northern California that the ADC plans five months of intensive naturalization bill work in the 81st Congress, beginning after November elections. He warned that the many lobbyists in Washington would be the greatest obstacle to passage.
• Discrimination Says ACLU Annual Report, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The American Civil Liberties Union’s annual report described the most encouraging results in the past year for civil rights of minorities, especially through court decisions. It highlighted federal court rulings on restrictive covenants, the California alien land law, and Nisei citizenship restoration.
• Minority Week Event at University of Oklahoma, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The University of Oklahoma admitted its first Negro student, G. W. McLaurin, after a federal court ruling against segregation statutes. The school reportedly planned to keep him segregated within classrooms.
• Author and Critic Pearl Buck Addresses Segregated Teachers Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Author Pearl Buck spoke to the Maryland State Teachers Association and criticized the all-white audience, noting Negro teachers were barred. She warned that segregation harms the United States’ standing abroad.
• Warning from Sadie T. M. Alexander on Civil Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Sadie T. M. Alexander, a member of President Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights, warned in New York that the gap between American ideals and practice threatens democracy and international goodwill. She argued that including all workers regardless of race is necessary for economic reasons.
• Coast Shipping Tieup May Delay Return of Stranded Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A west coast maritime strike has halted shipping and delayed the return of Nisei who were stranded in Japan during the war. The strike has left a number of returnees and passengers stranded at ports.
• 25 Seamen Stranded By Coastal Strike, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Twenty-five Nisei seamen, mostly from Hawaii, are stranded in San Francisco due to the west coast shipping tieup. The Nichi-Bei Times reported the situation.

Military & Veterans

• Masaoka to Attend American Legion Encampment, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka will attend the American Legion national encampment in Miami to represent the John A. Mercer post in Loomis. He expressed confidence the Legion’s Americanism committee would recommend the equality in naturalization principle already adopted by several state departments.
• Nisei Passes Draft Physical in Chicago, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Takaaki Tehikawa, a Japanese American war veteran, was the only Chicago resident among the first six men to pass physicals and mental examinations for the 1948 draft. Thirty-seven men were examined at the Army recruiting station that week.
• Twenty Nisei GIs Graduate from Monterey Language School, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Twenty Nisei soldiers graduated from the Army Language School at the Presidio of Monterey and are expected to serve with occupation forces in Japan. Eleven completed a nine-month course and nine completed a six-month course.

Incarceration & Redress

• Two Week Trial Delay Granted as Judge Goodman Denies Request of Tokyo Rose for Bail, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Federal Judge Louis Goodman denied bail to Iva Toguri d’Aquino but ordered the marshal to provide suitable confinement allowing her to prepare her defense, and granted a two-week continuance. Defense counsel Wayne Collins argued she lost U.S. citizenship through marriage, while prosecutors cited the treason charges from her Radio Tokyo broadcasts.
• Disclose Contents of Mother’s Letter to Judge Pleading for Life of Son in Treason Case, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mrs. Yasaburo Kawakita wrote to Judge William Mathes pleading for her convicted son Tomoya Kawakita, whose treason conviction she disputed, and implying a suicide threat. The Los Angeles Times published the letter, which describes the family’s history and her belief in her son’s innocence.
• Major Ince Identified as One Who Wrote Scripts for Tokyo Rose, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Army disclosed that Major Wallace E. Ince helped prepare radio scripts broadcast by Iva Toguri d’Aquino and would be a key witness in her treason trial. Ince reportedly taught her microphone technique and was expected to join prosecutor Thomas DeWolfe in San Francisco.
• JACL Chapters Urged to Inform Congress of Judd Bill Support, by P.C. Staff, page 3. JACL chapters were urged to show Congress widespread support for the Judd bill allowing Issei naturalization. Mike Masaoka and Edward Ennis also discussed evacuation claims procedures with chapter delegates.

Commentary

• Editorial: Courts and Civil Liberties, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises the courts as the most effective agency for extending civil rights of minority groups, citing ACLU findings. It lists Supreme Court decisions on Democratic primaries, restrictive covenants, the California alien land law, and anti-alien fishing laws.
• Editorial: Gov. Poindexter’s Martial Law, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial comments on former Governor Poindexter’s testimony admitting he declared martial law in Hawaii hastily based on unfounded sabotage fears. It argues both martial law in Hawaii and the mass evacuation were unnecessary and driven by fear and racism.
• Nisei Dream and Column by Larry Tajiri, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Larry Tajiri comments on Hollywood plans for films about Nisei soldiers, Henry Wallace’s use of the evacuation as a campaign issue, and the lack of partisanship on Japanese American matters in Congress. He also notes the absence of Nisei evacuation songs.
• Rhapsody on Autumn Days, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Bill Hosokawa writes about autumn in Denver, describing the seasonal changes and a visit to the circus. He reflects on the evacuee claims bill and warns against avarice among those seeking compensation.
• Bill Hosokawa: From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa reflects on his childhood Cub Scout pack photograph from 1924, tracing what happened to each of the twelve boys. Nine survive, with three deceased and one in Japan.
• Vagaries, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A brief column covers private evacuation claims service bureaus competing with Nisei attorneys, a labor exploitation protest at a California farm, and Leslie Nakashima’s report that banned American films are now popular in Japan.

In-Depth

• Short Story: Life Is Dance, by Toshio Mori, page 5. Toshio Mori’s short story follows Jose Haruo Kumi, a part-Japanese dancer, and his partner Marquita, whose partnership ends when she abruptly leaves him. The narrator reflects on Jose’s belief that life is dance.

Sports

• Chicago JACL Team Loses to Zephyrs, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Chicago JACL softball team lost 12-0 to the Zephyrs in the final game of a two-out-of-three playoff in the Chicago Nisei Softball League. The Zephyrs had been third in the league standings.

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