Convention plans and the fight over anti-Nisei films on TV

Vol. 45, No. 2, July 12, 1957. 8 pages. View this issue

Preparations for the joint EDC-MDC convention led the front page. The Chicago Chapter’s work toward its Labor Day weekend gathering produced a new Jr. JACL affiliate and a New Citizens division. JACL also pressed its campaign against television showings of wartime films that portray Japanese Americans as spies and saboteurs. Mike Masaoka wrote to the NARTB, which passed the message to its members, and 20th Century-Fox assured JACL that its film Stopover: Tokyo had no disloyal Nisei character. Larry S. Tajiri traced the history of Mr. Moto, and Masao Satow urged viewers to complain directly.

Other pages offer Bill Hosokawa on judo in the Strategic Air Command, Mike Masaoka on the Senate civil rights filibuster, Tamotsu Murayama on Tokyo politics after Prime Minister Kishi’s US visit, and Elmer Ogawa’s Seattle column. There are scholarship winners, chapter picnics, a House subcommittee’s recommendation on Japanese farm workers, and sports from Denver and Japan.

What’s in this issue

JACL

  • Convention work pays off, page 1. The Chicago Chapter’s planning for the joint EDC-MDC convention produced a new Jr. JACL affiliate and a New Citizens division. Both groups are expected to boost convention attendance and membership efforts.
  • Convention work pays off (continued), by Shig Wakamatsu, page 5. Wakamatsu reports that the New Citizens division has appointed 18 standing committee chairmen and 50 directors. They will help boost convention attendance and recruit members among naturalization graduates.

National

  • Small claims court hears civil rights cases, page 1. Four members of the A. M. Drew Foundation won $100 each in Los Angeles small claims court after being denied hotel accommodation. The hotel owners plan to appeal the ruling on the court’s jurisdiction.
  • JACL campaign against anti-Nisei films on TV circularized by NARTB, page 1. The National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters informed its members of JACL’s campaign against broadcasting WWII films that portray Japanese Americans as spies and saboteurs. JACL’s Mike Masaoka’s letter to the NARTB asked for cooperation in stopping these showings.
  • House group recommends temporary farm labor plan be continued, page 1. A House Judiciary subcommittee unanimously recommended continuing the Japanese temporary agricultural workers program in California. The panel found no ill effects on domestic labor and suggested possible limited expansion.
  • No ill effects on domestic labor market recorded, page 2. The House Judiciary subcommittee found that the temporary Japanese agricultural workers program functioned satisfactorily with no abuse reported. It recommended continued caution and scrutiny as the program continues.
  • Filed in traffic death, page 2. A $86,550 suit was filed in Seattle superior court over the 1955 traffic death of blind Nisei James Y. Sakamoto. The defendants are Mr. and Mrs. Jay R. Robinson, who struck him with their car.
  • New York solons urge passage of emergency bill to admit 5,000 orphans, page 2. Senators Irving Ives and Jacob Javits urged Senate approval of emergency legislation admitting 5,000 alien orphans. The bill would provide non-quota visas for two years.
  • Nat’l Director’s Report: Militancy of Viewers, by Masao Satow, page 4. Satow reports that effective protest against objectionable TV films depends on individual viewer complaints, not just official JACL representations. He also notes the new San Francisco FEPC ordinance barring employment discrimination.
  • JACL Endowment Fund reaches $98,000, page 5. National JACL Endowment Fund received $764.02 in gifts, bringing the trust total to $98,000. National President Dr. Roy Nishikawa expressed hope that evacuation claim payments would boost the fund further.
  • Robert Shimizu appointed to Naval Academy, page 8. Cincinnati Nisei Robert Shimizu received a direct executive appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy from Secretary of the Navy Charles Thomas. He is the first American of Japanese ancestry to receive such an appointment.
  • Progress of civil rights bill, page 8. The Senate civil rights bill was debated as Senator Knowland led efforts to bring it to a vote. Southern senators led by Russell opposed the measure but the filibuster did not materialize that week.

Community

  • Nakatsuka named Gov.’s admin. ass’t, page 1. Hawaii Governor King appointed press secretary Lawrence K. Nakatsuka as his administrative assistant. The Nisei former newspaperman will serve in both roles.
  • Chief to visit U.S. during global tour, by Tamotsu Murayama, page 2. Pacific Citizen Japan Bureau correspondent Tamotsu Murayama will travel to London for the 1957 scouting jubilee with the Japanese contingent. He plans to visit the United States in late August.
  • Hood River Nisei earns M.D. degree, page 2. Henry Akiyama of Hood River received his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Oregon. He is interning at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Portland.
  • Togo Tanaka selected editor of month by S.C. industrial group, page 3. Togo Tanaka, publisher-editor of School-Industrial Press, was named editor of the month by the Southern California Industrial Editors Association. He was cited for his editorship of American School News.
  • Name winners of Elk Grove scholarship, page 3. Alice Takeoka and Gayland Larson were named the first recipients of $200 Elk Grove scholarships funded by the former Japanese language school property. The awards are competitive and not limited to Nisei.
  • Yamato Sukiyaki wins Holiday restaurant award for third straight year, page 3. Yamato Sukiyaki in San Francisco received Holiday magazine’s Restaurant Award for the third straight year. It was one of eight San Francisco restaurants honored and one of two Oriental restaurants in the national list.
  • Sister of two brothers winning chapter scholarships shines academically, too, page 4. Setsuko Morimoto, graduate of Sierra College, won a UCLA alumni scholarship and multiple campus honors. Her brothers Yosh and Hiroaki also won Placer County JACL scholarships.
  • Fashion Spectacular set for lakeside luncheon, page 5. The Oakland JACL will hold a fashion show luncheon at Lake Merritt Sailboat House featuring Japanese-influenced American fashions. Gowns designed by Mrs. May S. Aoki of Tokyo’s Japan Costume Arts Institute will be shown.
  • Innovations for PC readers, by Harry K. Honda, page 5. The Pacific Citizen introduces chapter ‘kicker’ headlines to identify the source of JACL stories. It also launches a special offer of 25 weeks for $1 to new readers.
  • NY chapter director of APL shipboard class between U.S.-Japan, page 5. Marion Glaeser, New York JACL chapter treasurer, is serving as director of American President Line’s Student Orientation Program on a voyage to Japan. The program prepares students for cross-cultural travel.
  • Annual picnic at Castle Rock park, page 5. The Eden Township JACL will hold its community picnic at Castle Rock Park in Walnut Creek on July 14. The event includes games, swimming and a chapter fund-raising project.
  • Bowler, chapter president chosen as Pocatello JACL personalities of month, by Ronald Yokota, page 5. Pocatello JACL selected bowler Amy Kawamura as girl of the month and chapter president Novo Kato as boy of the month for June. Both were recognized for their chapter service and community activity.
  • 11th annual community picnic planned July 14, page 5. The Detroit JACL and partner groups will hold their 11th annual community picnic at Middle Rouge Park. Committee chairman Eddie Matsui announced the plans.
  • Ex-regional director Toru Ikeda takes over PR job for CCDC, page 5. Toru Ikeda, former Central California JACL regional director, became public relations director for the Central California JACL. He is also a teacher in the Reedley College district.
  • Pen-pal writes to Detroit church and orphanage in Japan, page 7. Detroit housewife Ruth Morovitz’s son began a pen-pal correspondence with a Japanese boy, leading her to raise funds for the Izumi Lutheran Church and an orphanage in Fukushima. She raised over $4,300 for the church and $1,500 for the orphanage.
  • Landmarks to go for redevelopment, page 8. Sacramento’s Main Hotel and several Japanese-owned businesses will close for the Capitol Mall redevelopment program. Fusakichi Dairiki, who operated the hotel since before World War II, will close it at the end of July.

Arts & Entertainment

  • Mr. Moto, Nisei in Stopover: Tokyo novel fo be missing in film version, page 1. 20th Century-Fox assured JACL that the film version of Stopover: Tokyo omits the Mr. Moto character and contains no disloyal Nisei portrayals. JACL national director Mas Satow said the group now has the ability to prevent objectionable films from being made.
  • Painting with sumi proves popular as educational TV station sends 1000th set, page 2. San Francisco’s KQED mailed its 1000th sumi painting kit to viewers of Takahiko Mikami’s 13-week Japanese brush painting lessons. Demand forced the station to order additional kits from Japan.
  • Order new settings, costume for opera, page 2. The Metropolitan Opera will stage a new production of Madame Butterfly with sets and costumes designed by Tokyo theater craftsmen Yoshio Aoyama and Motohiro Nagasaka. It marks the first new sets and costumes in 34 years.
  • Mr. Moto, Nisei in Stopover: Tokyo, by Larry S. Tajiri, page 3. Tajiri traces Mr. Moto’s history from Marquand’s 1930s novels to Fox’s sympathetic film series. He explains how the 1957 Stopover: Tokyo novel reintroduced Moto and how JACL secured assurances about the film.
  • Denver Sansei in The King and I, page 3. Twenty-three children of Japanese ancestry will perform in The Denver Post’s 1957 summer opera The King and I in Cheesman Park. The Nisei-run casting spans ages 3 to 10 and includes a speaking role.
  • Kansas City Sansei in South Pacific roles, page 3. Sandra and Win Odo, children of a Hawaiian-born dentist and former Midori Satomi, open the Starlight Theater production of South Pacific. They also appeared last season in The King and I.

Military & Veterans

  • Ambassador praises Nisei return of sword, page 1. Eagle Scout William Kinaka of Maui returned a sword to the American embassy in Tokyo, which Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II praised as a gesture of goodwill. The sword was presented to the Maui County museum.
  • Tom Tanaka wins Holiday restaurant award, page 5. Toshio Tanaka, a 442nd veteran, was recognized for his service. The article covers recent Nisei veterans’ activities.

Commentary

  • From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 2. Hosokawa describes Strategic Air Command’s enthusiasm for judo under Gen. Thomas Power, who sees it as training for discipline and decision-making. He also contrasts Japanese and American household income and spending.
  • Semanticist in headlines again, high-powered autos seen as sex symbol, page 3. S. I. Hayakawa argues in Etc. that buyers of high-powered 1957 cars are purchasing sex symbols rather than transportation. He says these models sacrifice safety, economy and beauty for psychosexual fulfillment.
  • Nikkei View: Washington Newsletter, by Mike Masaoka, page 6. Masaoka analyzes the Senate civil rights filibuster as possibly breaking the long-standing conservative Republican-Southern Democrat voting coalition. He identifies Senator William Knowland as leader of a new civil rights bloc.
  • The Northwest Picture, by Elmer Ogawa, page 6. Ogawa profiles an Issei couple in Seattle who returned after the war and recalls a hardware store encounter showing changed attitudes. He also describes a stuffed owl gift and a dinner at Katie Tenkatsu.
  • Letters: To tell the truth, by Naomi Kashiwabara, page 7. A San Diego reader asks PC readers to identify the two Japanese doubles who appeared on CBS-TV’s To Tell the Truth with Dr. Sammy Lee. The editor says he did not see the show.

Incarceration & Redress

  • Mr. Moto, Nisei in Stopover: Tokyo novel fo be missing in film version, page 2. Frank McCarthy of 20th Century-Fox confirmed the screenplay has no Nisei character and no disloyal Japanese American portrayal. JACL’s Tats Kushida had raised objections after learning of the original story’s Nisei agent.

In-Depth

  • BY TAMOTSU MURAYAMA: Tokyo politics after Kishi’s US visit, by Tamotsu Murayama, page 2. Murayama reports that Japanese public opinion approved of Prime Minister Kishi’s US visit but criticized the wasteful entourage of politicians and press. He notes growing distrust of politicians in Tokyo after the trip.

Sports

  • Pacific Citizen golf tournament NC-WNDC, page 6. The fourth annual NC-WNDC JACL golf tournament will be held at Del Monte golf course on August 11. Monterey Peninsula JACL is the host chapter.
  • 15-year-old prep third sacker hailed as best in Denver area, page 6. Jack Miyamoto, a 15-year-old Manual High School third baseman, was praised by coaches as the best in the Denver area. He hit .353 and committed only three throwing errors in public school play.
  • Hawaii publinx champ sets Japan course mark, page 6. Isamu Murata, Hawaii publinx champion, shot 74-70 for 144 in the Japan amateur golf qualifying rounds, a course record for amateurs. He was later defeated in match play.

Obituaries

  • Los Angeles Newsletter, by Henry Mori, page 7. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce announced nine Issei couples and one widow will be honored at the Nisei Week Pioneer Night. Henry Mori also reports on Miss Universe contestant Kyoko Otani’s arrival in Los Angeles.

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