Voting, budgets and a Tule Lake plaque: JACL news, August 1976

Vol. 83, No. 9, August 27, 1976. 4 pages. View this issue

A short four-page issue, it opened with Utah JACL chapters presenting Governor Calvin L. Rampton and his wife Lucy Beth with a framed Mas Satow original of the Japanese American Creed. JACL matters ran through the paper: memberships passing last year’s pace, a farewell dinner for retiring Executive Director David Ushio, and the JAYS keeping their name at the St. Paul convention. An editorial urged members to vote in the 1976 election. Edison Uno argued for plaque wording at Tule Lake, and a reader wrote on reparations.

Other pages carried Wakako Yamauchi’s review of Garrett Hongo’s play Nisei Bar and Grill, and Bill Hosokawa on the republishing of John Okada’s No-No Boy. Also inside: Salinas Valley volunteers restoring the Yamato Cemetery, six Sansei graduating from West Point, the Little Tokyo Weller Street eviction talks, and Richard Gima’s travel piece on Montevideo.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Utah Governor Calvin Rampton Presented with Japanese American Creed Scroll, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Utah JACL chapters presented Governor Calvin L. Rampton and his wife Lucy Beth with a framed Mas Satow original of the Japanese American Creed at the Governor’s Mansion on July 15. The presentation honored the governor’s longtime support of JACL and the Japanese American community.
• Farewell Dinner for Dave Ushio Set for Sept. 11, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Friends of retiring National JACL Executive Director David Ushio will host an informal dinner in San Francisco on Sept. 11 to honor him and his wife Judi. The dinner is open to the public and members, with tickets at $12.50 per person.
• Yonsei Attend Jan Ken Po Gakko Summer School in Sacramento, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A summer school at Parkview Presbyterian Church in Sacramento aims to instill awareness and pride in Japanese heritage among Yonsei children. Issei teachers offer origami, ceramics, doll making, and language lessons, and many children use Japanese names.
• Puyallup Valley to Host Next PNW District Council Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Puyallup Valley JACL will host the Pacific Northwest JACL District Council session September 25-26 at the Doric Tacoma Motor Hotel. Business sessions will be held Sunday, with a Saturday evening informal meeting for updates on national affairs.
• Sandra Toshiyuki Named 1976 Nisei Week Queen, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sandra Toshiyuki, 23, representing West Los Angeles, was selected 1976 Nisei Week Queen at the coronation ball on August 14. Margaret Yuri Bow of Citrus Valley Optimists was first runner-up.
• Two Women Convicted in Miyako Hotel Assaults on Japanese Tourists, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two women were convicted of felony charges for burglarizing and assaulting four Japanese tourists at the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco in July. It was the first successful prosecution of a crime against a tourist in the city.
• Nisei Carnation Growers May Be Forced to Quit Greenhouse, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors delayed until Sept. 2 a decision on whether the Okada Brothers must leave their 63-year-old Oakland greenhouse. Lifting the agricultural preserve designation would raise taxes beyond what the family could afford.
• PC Budget Rises as Postal and Printing Costs Increase, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Second-class postage rose 30 percent in July, and presswork costs are expected to rise about 15 percent in September. The editorial explains how the $160,000 Pacific Citizen budget for FY 1977-78 depends on advertising, nonmember subscriptions, and a proposed subscription increase.
• Salinas Valley JACLers Restore Yamato Cemetery, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Salinas Valley JACL volunteers spent seven Sundays restoring the Yamato Cemetery, one of only two accredited Japanese cemeteries in California, and established a perpetual upkeep fund. The cemetery was founded in 1908 and was restored after wartime neglect.
• Murakami Speaks on Doi Ouster from Foundation Responsiveness Project, by P.C. Staff, page 3. National JACL President Jim Murakami wrote to chapter presidents explaining his acceptance of the National Executive Committee’s decision to terminate Amy Doi as coordinator of the Foundation Responsiveness Project. He acknowledged members’ hurt feelings while stressing respect for organizational lines of authority.

JACL

• 1976 Memberships Pass Last Year’s Pace in Many Chapters, by P.C. Staff, page 1. As of July 31, about 95 percent of last year’s membership total had been acknowledged at National Headquarters. Gardena Valley led the chapters as the 1976 Ichiban chapter with 1,078 members.
• JAYS Keep Name at Twin Cities Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A proposal to rename the JACL Japanese American Youths to Asian American Youths was withdrawn at the biennial convention in St. Paul. Delegates also passed resolutions supporting a presidential pardon for Iva Toguri d’Aquino and endorsing reparations.

Arts & Entertainment

• Pat Morita Stars in New Prime-Time Series Mr. T and Tina, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pat Morita, who previously played Arnold on Happy Days, stars as Taro Takahashi in the ABC series Mr. T and Tina, a Japanese businessman who moves his family to Chicago. The Asian Americans for Fair Media protested the show’s stereotypical content and the hiring of a non-Asian consultant.
• Gardena’s Own Garrett Hongo’s Nisei Bar and Grill Premieres in Seattle, by By Wakako Yamauchi, page 2. Garrett Kaoru Hongo’s play Nisei Bar and Grill premiered at the Pacific Northwest Asian American Writers Conference in Seattle, set in a Chicago bar where Hawaiian and Japanese American characters face eviction. Reviewer Wakako Yamauchi praises the sharp characterization and direction by Frank Chin while noting the second act’s over-long scene.
• Okada’s No-No Boy to Be Republished by CARP Publishing, by Bill Hosokawa, page 2. Bill Hosokawa reports that John Okada’s 1957 novel No-No Boy, about a Nisei who refused military service in World War II, will be reprinted by CARP Publishing Co. after going out of print. The article also notes Okada’s untimely death in 1971 and the new Asian American literary press’s other planned projects.

National

• Judge’s Ban on Killing Porpoises Upheld but Delayed, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling banning the killing of porpoises associated with commercial tuna fishing but delayed its effective date until January 1. The delay allows the current tuna season to conclude.

Incarceration & Redress

• Japanese Pays Respects at Oregon Memorial to Balloon Bomb Victims, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sakyo Adachi, a retired Japanese scientist who designed radio equipment proving balloon bombs could reach the United States, laid wreaths at a monument in Bly, Oregon. The monument honors six people killed in 1945 when a balloon bomb exploded while they were fishing.
• CRA Meets with Little Tokyo Groups on Weller St. Eviction, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A three-hour meeting between the Community Redevelopment Agency and Little Tokyo groups produced little new information about evictions in the Weller Street triangle. JACL has pressed for protections for Nikkei residents and small businesses affected by urban renewal.

Commentary

• Editorial: On Being a Registered Voter, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The editorial urges JACL members to vote in the 1976 election, framing the franchise as the people’s ability to control their government. It connects participatory democracy at the polls with the role of organizations like JACL in shaping public policy.
• Reparations, by Nobuyuki Nakajima, page 2. A reader writes that he is impressed by efforts to bring the reparations issue forward, while struggling to understand the arguments of opponents. He questions whether psychological effects of past harassment underlie those objections.
• Tule Lake Plaque, by Edison Uno, page 2. Edison Uno argues that the California State Historical Resources Commission should approve JACL’s proposed Tule Lake plaque wording describing the camps as concentration camps. He contends the term is historically accurate and urges former evacuees to write to Parks Director Herbert Rhodes in support.

Military & Veterans

• West Point Graduates Six Sansei in Class of 1976, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Six Japanese Americans were among the roughly 800 graduates of the U.S. Military Academy in 1976, including Matthew Hada, Michael Asada, Stephen Heriuchi, Robert Taira, Harold Zaima, and Paul Migaki. The article profiles each graduate’s background and assignments.
• Canadian Nisei Veterans Hold Fourth Reunion in London, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Canadian Nisei veterans and members of the S-20 Japanese Language School met in London on August 16 for their fourth reunion since 1967. The article notes earlier reunions in Toronto, Tokyo, and Vancouver and that the next may be held in Southeast Asia.

In-Depth

• Montevideo: Time Tunnel Through Uruguay, by Richard Gima, page 4. Richard Gima describes Montevideo, Uruguay, as a city that feels like a window into 1930s and 1940s life, with vintage automobiles still on the streets and cash rarely used in favor of credit. He portrays the capital as a well-kept, largely white European-descended city that seems frozen in an earlier era.

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