Vol. 29, No. 3, July 16, 1949. 8 pages. View this issue
Takeshi Yoshihara, 18, of Renton, Wash., became the first Nisei to enroll at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the front page told how he spent the war years in the Minidoka relocation center before winning appointment through a competitive examination. Beside it ran coverage of the Iva Toguri d’Aquino treason trial in San Francisco, reported by M.O.T. and Marion Tajiri, and a federal ruling restoring the citizenship of Yoshiro Shibata, who had served in the Japanese army.
Elsewhere in the eight pages are Togo Tanaka’s rebuttal of dual citizen rumors and Bill Hosokawa’s review of Morton Grodzins’ Americans Betrayed. Several stories followed evacuation claims under Public Law 886, including JACL leaders meeting a Justice Department official. Sports, the Nisei Week queen contest and a Hawaii bank branch fill out the issue.
What’s in this issue
National
- Takeshi Yoshihara Becomes First Nisei Midshipman at Annapolis, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Takeshi Yoshihara, an 18-year-old Renton, Wash. youth who spent the war years in the Minidoka relocation center, became the first American-born Nisei to enroll at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. He was appointed by Rep. Tollefson after placing first in the competitive examination.
- “Tokyo Rose” Trial Opens in San Francisco, by M.O.T., page 1. Iva Toguri d’Aquino sits silently through the first treason trial in San Francisco as the case proceeds slowly through an interpreter. The article describes the courtroom and the defendant’s appearance as the trial enters its second week.
- Stranded Nisei Files Suit to Regain Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Masao Segi filed suit in U.S. district court claiming he was drafted against his will into the Japanese army and seeking restoration of his citizenship. His attorneys plan to bring him back to the United States to testify under a provision of the Nationality Act of 1940.
- New California Law Will Bar Alien Brokers, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Governor Earl Warren signed legislation sponsored by Sen. Arthur Breed barring non-citizens from becoming real estate brokers. The measure also tightens license requirements for brokers.
- Defense Charges Coercion By Officials on “Tokyo Rose”, by Marion Tajiri, page 1. Defense attorney Wayne Collins cross-examined former Japanese lieutenant colonel Shigetsugu Tsuneishi, attempting to prove that prisoner-of-war and civilian broadcasters acted under duress. Tsuneishi repeatedly answered “I don’t remember” as Collins tried to establish coercion and surveillance.
- JACL Leaders Discuss Claims Law Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 4. JACL president Hito Okada and national director Masao Satow met with Justice Department official Mangum Weeks in Salt Lake City to discuss evacuation claims processing under Public Law 886. The officials discussed the role of JACL clinics in helping claimants file.
- Oriental Exclusion Damages U.S. Leadership, Roger Baldwin Tells Fisk Race Relations Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Roger Baldwin of the ACLU told the Fisk University Institute of Race Relations that the Oriental exclusion act has been the greatest single damage to American democratic leadership abroad. He urged passage of the full civil rights program to contest Communism.
- Removal and Return: Government Should Appropriate $350 Million to Cover Evacuee Losses, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Authors Leonard Bloom and Ruth Riemer estimate that more than $350 million should be appropriated to cover losses suffered by Japanese American citizens and resident aliens in the wartime evacuation. Their book criticizes Public Law 886 for omitting losses of earned income.
- JACL ADC Statement Will Urge Early Senate Action to Give Citizenship Rights to Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee prepared a statement for a special Senate subcommittee urging immediate passage of legislation granting naturalization rights to resident Issei. Masaoka will urge action on the Judd bill or Walter resolution.
Incarceration & Redress
- U.S. Court Restores Citizenship Rights to Japan Army Veteran, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Federal Judge D. Dudley Metzger ruled that Yoshiro Shibata did not lose his U.S. citizenship through service in the Japanese army because he was conscripted under legal coercion. The judge found Shibata had remained loyal to the United States and ordered his citizenship rights fully restored.
- Justice Department to Open Los Angeles Field Office to Assist in Processing Claims, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Justice Department will open a field office in Los Angeles around July 25 to help process evacuation claims under Public Law 886. Claims will be processed on a first-filed, first-served basis.
- Announce New Regulations for Filing Claims for Loss, Damage to Contraband Goods, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Justice Department announced procedures for filing claims for losses to contraband property such as radios, cameras, and weapons deposited at the outbreak of war. Claims up to $1,000 will be paid under Public Law 17, with a March 15, 1950 filing deadline.
Military & Veterans
- Final Rites Held for 442nd Veteran, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Military services were held at the Sacramento Buddhist church for Pvt. Phil Nakagaki, killed in action with the 442nd Combat Team in the Po Valley campaign. The rites were sponsored by the Nisei Post of the VFW.
Commentary
- Racists Originated Dual Citizen Stories, by Togo Tanaka, page 2. Tanaka rebuts a Chicago commentator who repeated the old rumor of Japanese American dual citizens transmitting radio messages to attacking planes during Pearl Harbor. He argues the claims were propaganda and that the Nisei war record refutes them.
- The Butler Report on Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes Sen. Hugh Butler’s report opposing Hawaiian statehood, arguing it wrongly injects a Japanese racial issue into a Communist-threat argument. It recalls wartime rumors about Hawaii’s Japanese Americans that proved unfounded.
Community
- Bank of Hawaii Has New Look As Nisei Is Appointed Manager of New Branch Office, by Lawrence Nakatsuka, page 2. The Bank of Hawaii opened a new Market Branch in downtown Honolulu staffed largely by local-born Oriental employees, with Tasuke (Gus) Yamagata named branch manager. The article profiles Yamagata’s banking career and community service.
- Margaret Kikuchi Takes Lead in Nisei Week Queen Contest, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Margaret Kikuchi, sponsored by the Kiwanis club, led the Nisei Week queen contest in its second tabulation of votes. Yukie Sato and Joan Ritchie trailed in second and third place.
- Seattle JACL Plans Evacuee Claims Office, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Seattle JACL chapter is setting up an office to help returned evacuees file evacuation claims forms. George Okada and Jaxon Sonoda were named co-chairmen of the claims committee.
- Nisei Girl Crowned Queen of Western Stampede in Canada, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Sixteen-year-old Frances Kato was crowned queen of the Kamloops Stampede in British Columbia, becoming the first girl of Japanese ancestry to reign over the pageant. She won a trip to Hollywood as part of the honor.
- Uyeda Sisters Will Take Part in Midwest Dance Festival, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Uyeda sisters and their students will represent Japanese dance at the United Nations Folk Festival in Michigan City, Indiana. They prepared a new number, Dance of the Parasol Girls, for the performance.
Arts & Entertainment
- Sessue Hayakawa May Film Own Screen Play in Hollywood, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Actor Sessue Hayakawa plans to produce his own screenplay, “In a Tea House,” a story with a Madame Butterfly theme. He is currently in San Francisco after an absence of more than 15 years from the film colony.
- Documentation on Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reviews recent books on the wartime evacuation, including Morton Grodzins’ Americans Betrayed and Bloom and Riemer’s Removal and Return, calling them valuable historical records. It notes that the evacuee story has not been told on film.
- Living the Evacuation Story, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa reviews Morton Grodzins’ Americans Betrayed, describing its documentation of the political pressures behind the mass evacuation. He examines the congressional hearings and the JACL’s position during the decision.
Sports
- Kitamura Turns Down Pro Ball Contract, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Weber College shortstop Dick Kitamura declined a contract offer from the Ogden Reds of the Pioneer League and instead signed with the Harlem Globetrotters as their first non-Negro player. Scouts from several teams had been watching him.
- Seattle Nisei Vets Win Baseball Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Seattle Nisei Vets won the annual Fourth of July baseball tournament, defeating Hood River 12 to 0 in the finals. The Western Giants took the consolation title.
- Bakersfield Team Spoils Debut of Modesto’s All-Nisei Battery, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Jiro Nakamura and Hank Matsubu made their debut as pro baseball’s first all-Nisei battery for the Modesto Reds, but Bakersfield knocked Nakamura out in the third inning. Modesto lost both games of the doubleheader.
Obituaries
- Nisei Athlete Meets Death in Riptide, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Kenji Watanabe, an 18-year-old Los Angeles Poly football star, drowned at Huntington Beach while trying to teach his younger brother to swim. The brother was rescued, and Kenji’s body was recovered the following morning.
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