Campus strikes, Little Tokyo and the Wakamatsu pioneers, 1969

Vol. 68, No. 3, January 17, 1969. 6 pages. View this issue

The strike at San Francisco State College ran through this six-page issue. Jerry Enomoto, then National JACL President, wrote about it in two pieces, a front-page Perspectives column on Mrs. Unno’s court challenge to the Emergency Detention Act and a column on Dr. Hayakawa’s role. Donovan Bess reported why S.I. Hayakawa accepted the acting presidency. Dan L. Thrapp covered Rev. Roy Sano’s doubts about the melting pot, and Harry K. Honda compared the student movement to Russian nihilism.

Elsewhere, the Coloma Gold Discovery Day parade honored the Wakamatsu colonists, and Joe Grant Masaoka wrote a letter about the colony’s founder. Little Tokyo redevelopment advanced in Los Angeles, and Rep. Spark Matsunaga introduced immigration bills. Bill Hosokawa and Roger Nikaido wrote about Japanese cooking, and Mike Masaoka reviewed the new Congress.

What’s in this issue

Commentary

• Perspectives, by Jerry Enomoto, page 1. National JACL President Jerry Enomoto comments on the Mrs. Unno court challenge to the Emergency Detention Act and praises the Asian Studies 100X course at UC Berkeley. He sees both as signs of Japanese American commitment to social issues.
• New Congress Organizes, by Mike Masaoka, page 2. Masaoka reviews organizational developments in the new 91st Congress, including leadership elections in both houses. He notes that major legislative activity is expected to be slow until the new administration takes office.
• New Year’s Dining, by Bill Hosokawa, page 3. Hosokawa praises the holiday Japanese dishes Nisei homemakers prepared and contrasts them with everyday country cooking. He describes the refined Japanese cuisine he encountered in Osaka and New York.
• San Francisco State Situation Involves Us, by Jerry Enomoto, page 3. Enomoto offers his personal view of the San Francisco State College strike and Dr. Hayakawa’s role, saying JACL must be engaged in social issues. He supports Hayakawa’s efforts to keep the campus open while calling for dialogue and constructive change.
• ‘Melting Pot’ Concept Resisted by Some Ethnic Groups, by Dan L. Thrapp, page 3. Rev. Roy Sano argues that the melting pot ideal has not been realized and may not be desirable if it means Anglo-Saxon domination. He describes the tension Japanese Americans feel within Caucasian-led church structures.
• Sansei Slant: How Is Your Chapter Feeling?, by Patti Dohzen, page 4. National Youth Council Chairman Patti Dohzen addresses membership problems faced by youth in chapters with few young Japanese Americans. She encourages chapters to make younger members feel welcome and involved.
• A Dying Art, by Roger Nikaido, page 5. Nikaido laments that younger Japanese American women have not learned traditional Japanese cooking from their mothers. He urges Sansei and Yonsei to preserve this cultural heritage.
• Nihilism and Youth Revolt, by Harry K. Honda, page 6. Honda compares the 1960s American New Left with the nihilism of 19th-century Russian student movements. He traces the roots of nihilistic destruction through Turgenev, Bakunin, and Dostoevsky.
• Letters from Readers: Wakamatsu Colony Founder, by Joe Grant Masaoka, page 6. Masaoka clarifies that Eduard W. Schnell and J. Henry Schnell were separate individuals and that J. Henry Schnell founded the Wakamatsu Colony. He cites the 1870 census as evidence.

Community

• Yokohama Lass, Gold Discovery Parade Headed by Enomoto, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Coloma Gold Discovery Day celebration on January 25-26 honors the Wakamatsu colonists and early Japanese pioneers. Five Northern California JACL chapters will assist with the Sunday program and parade.
• Reno JACL Seeks Heirs of First Issei in U.S., by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Reno JACL is seeking relatives of Umekichi Takahashi, buried in Hillside Cemetery, before the city relocates remains amid a proposed cemetery clearance. The chapter hopes to move the remains to a suitable resting place with family consent.
• Little Tokyo Redevelopment Plans Progress, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Los Angeles City Council approved an application for a federal NDP grant to fund Little Tokyo redevelopment. The program aims to rehabilitate rather than bulldoze parts of the district over six years.
• Asian American Studies Popular at UC Berkeley, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The UC Berkeley Asian Studies 100-X course, initiated by the Asian American Political Alliance, announced nine guest lecturers for its winter quarter. Enrollment demand exceeded the limit of 80 students.

In-Depth

• Birth Rate Declines in Japan Through Family Planning, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Muramatsu of Japan’s Public Health Demographic section describes how induced abortions, and later contraceptive methods, lowered Japan’s birth rate. He notes the shift from abortion to mechanical and chemical methods after 1960.

National

• Hayakawa Tells Why He Accepted SF State Presidency, by Donovan Bess, page 1. S.I. Hayakawa explains to the San Francisco Chronicle that he took the acting presidency of San Francisco State College to defend academic freedom. He criticizes faculty who sided with student strikers and warns against disruption of campus life.
• Immigration Law Changes Sought by Matsunaga, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Spark Matsunaga introduced bills to extend admission preferences to near relatives, ease entry of adopted children, and revise naturalization residency requirements. The bills aim to remove inequities in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Arts & Entertainment

• Difference Between Cartoons and Animation Explained by J. Murakami, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Animators Jimmy Murakami and Fred Wolf distinguish animation from cartooning and discuss the growing acceptance of adult animated films. Their short works have won recognition, including an Oscar for Wolf’s The Box.

Obituaries

• Tamotsu Murayama, Irrepressible Spirit, Dies, by Welly T. Shibata, page 6. Shibata remembers Tamotsu Murayama, a founder of JACL and standing director of the Boy Scouts of Japan, who died of a heart attack at sea. He describes Murayama’s energy, journalism career, and contributions to Japanese American and Japanese-American relations.
• Senator George Miller, Jr. Remembered for Nisei Support, by P.C. Staff, page 6. California State Senator George Miller, Jr. died of a heart attack at age 54 and is remembered for his support of Japanese Americans. He sponsored a 1965 Senate resolution honoring Nisei wartime service and helped secure alien land law refunds.

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