Evacuation claims and a Nisei soldier’s scholarship, November 1951

Vol. 33, No. 19, November 17, 1951. 8 pages. View this issue

Money, claims and the memory of a soldier ran through this eight-page issue. The front page told of a scholarship at Carleton College created by the Shigemura family of Seattle in honor of their son Frank, a Nisei who volunteered for the 442nd Combat Team and was killed in France. Evacuation claims followed inside: Richard Takashi Sata thanked JACL for its work, Justice Department rulings covered an abandoned gardener’s route and property sold after the exclusion orders were lifted, and JACL held claims meetings in Stockton and Portland and planned clinics in Chicago.

Columns by Larry Tajiri and Bill Hosokawa, and a piece by Professor Elmer R. Smith on segregation, fill the commentary pages. Editorials took up an arson attack in Santa Cruz and a Forest Service ruling against discrimination in permits. Sports covered a weightlifting team in Japan and Nisei football players, and a list of 49 Nisei Korean War casualties ran on page one.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Shigemura Scholarship Created to Honor Nisei Soldier Killed in Last War, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Carleton College received a memorial gift from the Shigemura family of Seattle in honor of their son Frank, a Nisei who volunteered for the 442nd Combat Team and was killed in France. The first $200 scholarship was awarded to Annie Kaneshiro, a senior from Hawaii.
• Nisei Soldier Reported Dead of Rare Fever, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pfc. Edward Oshiro, 22, of Los Angeles died in a Tokyo hospital after contracting a rare Manchurian fever on the Korean front. His older brother, Corp. Eiki Oshiro, remains in Korea.
• List 49 Nisei on Longest Korea War Casualty List, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Defense Department reported 49 more Nisei casualties in Korea, including eleven killed in action and two who died of wounds. Most of those listed were soldiers from the Hawaiian Islands.
• VFW Members Donate Blood for Wounded, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Members of Nisei Post 8985 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and their auxiliary donated blood at the Sacramento Blood Bank for soldiers wounded in Korea. Twenty veterans and auxiliary members participated.
• War Veteran Asks Minorities Join Fight Against Bigotry, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Nisei veteran of the 442nd Combat Team called on racial and religious minorities in Los Angeles to unite against bigotry. He recounted how the segregated unit’s record proved Nisei equal to any soldiers.

JACL

• Evacuee Thanks JACL for Work on Claims Program, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Richard Takashi Sata, the first local awardee under the compromise settlement amendment of the Evacuation Claims Act, thanked JACL national president Dr. Randolph Sakada for the organization’s legislative efforts. Sata credited JACL vigilance with keeping the claims program moving.
• JACL Joins in Services Honoring U.S. War Dead, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The National JACL Arlington Cemetery Committee laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Armistice Day. WAF Corporal Florence Imaizumi placed the wreath with an honor guard.
• Social Workers Hold Discussion of Welfare Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Chicago Nisei social workers met to discuss welfare problems affecting children and the aged. Speakers came from the Welfare Council and various children’s and charitable agencies.
• Nine Utahns Will Be Cited at District Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Intermountain District Council convention in Salt Lake City will honor nine Utahns for wartime service to Japanese Americans. Mike Masaoka will speak at the awards dinner.
• Ishikawa Meets With Issei Group, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Sam Ishikawa and Min Yasui discussed evacuation claims procedure under the new compromise act at a Portland Buddhist Church meeting. Technical questions on affidavits were answered.

Community

• Lillian Hijikita Wins Speech Contest, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lillian Hijikita of Pepperdine College placed first in oratory at the Santa Barbara State College speech tournament. She also won the women’s extemporaneous speaking division against contestants from twelve Southern California schools.
• Pretty Nisei Girl Reigns as Queen at Homecoming, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tsukiyo Tanino was crowned queen of Franklin High School’s homecoming in Seattle. The senior, who is studying to be a nurse, was surrounded by her court during the halftime ceremony.
• Coast Fisherman Says Life Saved by Sea Miracle, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Suyeo Nakanishi survived after a falling boom knocked him into the sea when the purse seiner Pacific sank off California. A hook caught in his clothing and all eleven crew members were rescued.
• Charge Bunco Ring Clipped Nisei Barbers for $13,000, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Three Japanese Americans and a Korean American were arrested in San Francisco for allegedly swindling two barbers out of more than $13,000 through a phony diamond scheme. Police recovered most of the money from safety deposit boxes.
• Angelenos Donate to Fund to Erect MacArthur Statue, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Persons of Japanese ancestry in the Los Angeles area contributed $1,580 toward a monument to Gen. Douglas MacArthur in MacArthur Park. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce ran the fundraising campaign among 110 donors.
• Nisei Student Named Whittier’s Homecoming Queen, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Carolyn Matsuda, an 18-year-old freshman from Waimea, Kauai, was chosen Homecoming Queen at Whittier College by popular student vote. She was crowned at halftime of the Whittier-Pomona football game.
• Rescue Canadian Nisei Fisherman, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Hisao Yamamoto, a fisherman from Humpback Bay, B.C., was rescued after his gill-netter nearly sank. The incident occurred the previous week.
• Final Rites Held for Boy Killed in Auto Mishap, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Services were held for a young boy who was killed instantly when he fell from a moving car near Millbrae, California. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Reynolds, who have two other children.
• North California Chapters Plan District Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Northern California-Western Nevada JACL district council will hold its convention in Berkeley on November 24 and 25. Business sessions, a chapter clinic, and a dinner and dance are on the agenda.
• Nisei Beauty Winner Signs Complaint Against Ex-Gridder, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Hawaiian Nisei dancer Gloria Kanemura filed a complaint after former University of Hawaii football player Moses Kealoha allegedly broke into her New York apartment and beat her. Kealoha was arrested and booked on burglary and resisting arrest charges.
• Stockton Chapter Holds Meeting on Evacuation Claims, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Stockton JACL chapter held an evacuation claims meeting at the Buddhist Church where attorney Joe Omachi explained filing procedures for the compromise forms. Work sheets and Japanese translations were distributed.
• Portland JACLers Hold Meeting to Reorganize Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Portland JACL members met to reorganize their chapter, with 22 persons signing up for 1952 membership. Sam Ishikawa told members the national organization values individual commitment over chapter size.
• Vital Statistics, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Births, deaths, marriages, and marriage licenses in Nisei communities were listed for the period. Entries came from Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and other cities.
• Violette Kosaka Weds GI Veteran of Korean War, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Violette Kosaka of Chicago married Lieut. Gene Takahashi, a Korean War combat veteran, in a ceremony at Western Reserve University. The couple settled in Chicago after a wedding trip.
• Nisei Experimental Group Will Give Kyogen Plays, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Los Angeles Nisei Experimental Group will perform The Plums Can Wait and Kyogen plays in San Francisco and Berkeley in December. Tickets are available at the Buchanan YMCA and Fuji Inn.
• Chicago JACL Will Sponsor Two Evacuee Claims Clinics, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Chicago JACL announced evacuation claims clinics on December 7 and 17 featuring a panel of attorneys who will explain the compromise settlement requirements. Claimants may ask questions from the floor.
• Historian Gets Fellowship From Ford Fund, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Dr. Frank T. Inouye, who recently earned a Ph.D. in history from USC, received a $3,500 Ford Foundation grant to publish his thesis on Sir William Johnson. He was selected from 80 candidates.
• Peter Ohtaki Named to Staff of Trans-Pacific Airline, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Veteran Peter Ohtaki joined Northwest Airlines as special representative to assist Japan-bound passengers. His duties include meeting flights from Tokyo at Seattle-Tacoma and advising travelers on the Orient route.

Incarceration & Redress

• Loyalty Clearances Hold Up Restoration of Liquor Permits, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Restoration of liquor licenses suspended from Japanese Americans during World War II is delayed pending loyalty clearances, the California Committee for Justice to Japanese Americans reported. Officials said the Army and FBI refused to open their files to the state board.
• Abandoned Gardener’s Route Declared Compensable Item, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Department of Justice ruled that an abandoned gardener’s route is compensable personal property under the Evacuation Claims Act. The route was treated as transferable intangible property valued at twice the monthly income.
• Four Strandees Seek Citizenship in Court Suits, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Four Nisei who lost U.S. citizenship while in Japan are returning to testify in federal court cases seeking restoration of their citizenship. Their cases are being handled by attorneys A. L. Wirin and Fred Okrand.
• Lack of Citizenship Affects Nisei, Says Ishikawa, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Sam Ishikawa told a Portland meeting that Japanese Americans remain second-class citizens until their Issei parents obtain naturalization. He said the National JACL is working toward first-class citizenship for all persons of Japanese ancestry.
• Losses After Lifting of Ban Ruled Not Compensable, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Department of Justice ruled that losses from selling property after exclusion orders were rescinded are not compensable under the statute. The claimant had chosen to sell voluntarily and was free to return to Tacoma.
• Tokyo Rose Asks Rehearing on Court Ruling, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Iva Toguri d’Aquino, convicted of treason in the Tokyo Rose case, applied for a rehearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Her attorney claims the court erred in denying her appeal.

National

• President Signs 7 Private Bills to Aid Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 3. President Truman approved seven private bills allowing Japanese children to be admitted as adopted children of American parents, and two bills admitting Japanese fiances of American citizens. The bills were sponsored by senators and representatives.

Commentary

• Equality in the Forests, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Forest Service ruled that permits for national forest land and facilities may not discriminate by race, religion, or ancestry. The editorial calls the ruling a welcome step while noting that enforcement requires vigilance.
• Incident in Santa Cruz, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns an arson attack on a home purchased by Negro minister Rev. W. M. Brent in Santa Cruz, California. It notes that the Ministerial Association’s petition may help make peaceful occupation possible.
• Baby Doll, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reports on a new Negro baby doll marketed to counter racial prejudice in children’s play. It contrasts the doll with earlier stereotyped toys.
• Violins on Manhattan, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Two violinists of Japanese ancestry, Toshiya Eto and Masashi Hashida, made New York debuts that week. Critics praised Eto’s talent and technique in his Carnegie Hall recital.
• Supporters of Segregation Maintain White Supremacy Must Not be Molested, by Elmer R. Smith, page 5. Professor Elmer Smith examines segregation as a means of managing race relations, distinguishing voluntary from involuntary forms. He argues that segregation and discrimination are not synonymous and promises further analysis next week.
• Three on the Western Slope, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa profiles three Nisei in Montrose, Colorado: soil conservationist John Nishimura, his wife Masa, and newspaper reporter Katherine Kawamura. He describes their work and community roles.
• Vagaries, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. A column of entertainment and community notes covering Eileen Yaeko Nakamura’s television role, a rumor about Hawaii legislator Mitsuyuki Kido, and a Salt Lake girl dancing with Sadler’s Wells. It also notes the Nisei-themed film Go for Broke’s box office success.

Sports

• Nisei-Studded Weightlifting Team Wins Praise in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A Hawaiian weightlifting team with four Nisei members was praised by Japanese newspapers as the best-behaved athletic group ever to visit Japan. The team competed in four tournaments there.
• Hank Yamagata Plays for Humboldt State, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Several Nisei football players were profiled, including Hank Yamagata of Humboldt State and Lefty Kikkawa of Compton College. The column reports their performances in the week’s games.
• Bowling and Golf Roundup, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Bowling scores and standings were reported from Indio, Seattle, Denver, and Los Angeles. A golf tournament was scheduled for Berkeley in connection with the district council convention.

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