Redress in the news, and a close look at ethnicity and mental health

Vol. 87, No. 18, November 10, 1978. 12 pages. View this issue

Redress ran through the front page and the pages after it. Former national JACL president Henry T. Tanaka commended a Cleveland newspaper for its coverage of the JACL campaign, and opinions on redress from Minoru Yasui, Bill Hosokawa, Dr. Clifford Uyeda and Sen. Daniel Inouye continued inside. Letters and columns by Doris Yokoyama and Hosokawa returned to the subject. A page-three feature by K. Patrick Okura of NIMH looked at how culture and ethnicity shape the diagnosis of mental illness, and he wrote again on page 12.

Also inside: the Japanese Village Plaza in Little Tokyo held its grand opening with 48 shops, and Frank Yorimasa Chikasawa was named to the JACCC board. Chapter news came from Fresno, Fremont, New York, Salt Lake and East Los Angeles. The Washington, D.C. chapter’s Japanese language school opened with 50 students, and a page-two item described a session on the camp experience planned for an anthropology meeting in Los Angeles.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Cleveland Paper Commended for Redress Coverage, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Former national JACL president Henry T. Tanaka praised the Plain Dealer for its front-page feature on JACL’s redress campaign. Tanaka argued that Japanese Americans interned during World War II deserve redress and that such treatment must never happen again.
• Percy Seeks Implementation of Internment Credit Law, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sen. Charles H. Percy asked the Comptroller General to oversee implementation of a law granting civil service retirement credit for time spent in WWII internment camps. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Daniel Inouye and signed by President Carter on Sept. 22.
• Evacuation Topic of Anthropology Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A session on the Japanese American Concentration Camp Experience will be presented at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting in Los Angeles on Nov. 18. Speakers include Harry Kitano, Morris Opler, and Sue Kunitomi Embrey.
• Redress (continued from front page), by P.C. Staff, page 2. Opinions on redress are presented from Minoru Yasui, Bill Hosokawa, Dr. Clifford Uyeda, and Sen. Daniel Inouye. Yasui calls for a larger moral issue to be addressed, while Hosokawa argues money demands are crass and proposes a foundation instead.
• Minority Mental Health Initiatives Within NIMH, by K. Patrick Okura, page 3. Okura describes NIMH efforts over six years to address minority mental health, including national planning conferences and fellowship funding. He highlights the Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center and the formation of the Pacific/Asian Coalition.
• Laundered Raffle Tickets?, by Frank Nishio, page 4. Fresno JACL member Frank Nishio recounts how a batch of raffle tickets was mailed in a cost-saving package and got water-damaged in a car trunk. He explains the mishap with humor and notes the tickets were still mailed.

Community

• Wasatch Front North Couple’s Work With Retarded Recognized, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mack and Alice Hirai of Ogden received the Carnation Community Award for more than 1,800 hours of volunteer work with the Association for Retarded Citizens. The couple has worked on state and local community services for the retarded as an alternative to institutionalization.
• JACL-Sponsored Gakuen Opens With 50 Students in D.C., by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Washington, D.C. JACL-sponsored Japanese language school opened Oct. 7 with three teachers and 50 students at Cedar Lane Unitarian Church. Its teaching methods emphasize enjoyable learning unlike prewar approaches.
• Minority-Owned Businesses Do More Contract Work With Calif., by P.C. Staff, page 2. Minority- and women-owned businesses supplied California with $41 million in goods and services last year, a 100% increase over the prior fiscal year. The state office continues efforts to encourage more such businesses to compete for state purchases.
• Overpass Named for Sgt. Miyamura, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Gallup, New Mexico city council unanimously named an overpass east of town after Hershey Miyamura, the local Nisei who won the Medal of Honor in Korea. Mayor Edward Junker described him as the greatest hero Gallup ever had.
• Equitable’s Asian American Agents Convene, by P.C. Staff, page 2. About 70 agents and district managers attended Equitable Life’s Asian Agents Forum in San Francisco. Peter Yamazaki presented an analysis of Japanese communities in American cities and shared marketing strategies.
• Ex-Staffers Chair Ethnic Concerns, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Former JACL staffers Ron Wakabayashi and Craig Shimabukuro were appointed co-chairpersons of the PSWDC Ethnic Concerns Committee. The committee’s members were also listed.
• Scholarship Benefit Ball Nov. 11, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The East Los Angeles JACL will hold its fifth annual Benefit Scholarship Ball on Nov. 11 to fund annual scholarships for students from seven local high schools. Tickets are $5 in advance or $6 at the door.
• Dr. Ken Kurokawa Elected Fresno JACL President, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Fresno JACL board elected Ken Kurokawa as its 1979 president, succeeding Barbara Taniguchi. Officers will be installed at the district council convention banquet on Nov. 12.
• 150 Names on Chapter Ballot, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Fremont JACL 1979 election slate contains 150 names for 20 open positions, a record for the chapter. Dr. Clifford Uyeda is the guest speaker at the installation dinner in December.
• White Elephant Sale and Holiday Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The New York JACL will hold a holiday dinner and white elephant sale on Dec. 2 at the Japanese American United Church to raise funds for chapter coffers and scholarships. Dinner tickets are $7.50.
• Surprise Treat Promised at Salt Lake JACL Annual Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Salt Lake JACL holds its annual meeting and dinner at the Japanese Church of Christ on Nov. 11 to close out its busy 1978 year. Officers and committee chairs will be recognized.
• Keiro-kai Headlines Winter Season, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Seabrook JACL plans a Senior Citizen keiro-kai on Dec. 3 at the local Buddhist Church hall. The chapter also honored Rev. Shingetsu Akahoshi, who received a Japanese government decoration.
• Sonoma JAYS Installation Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Sonoma JAYS held an installation dinner that honored the Issei with a program combining traditional and modern entertainment. A skit blending odori with disco drew laughter from the audience.
• Japanese Village Plaza Opens Grandly, by P.C. Staff, page 9. Japanese Village Plaza in Los Angeles held its grand opening on Oct. 28 with a ribbon-cutting, Shinto dedication, and entertainment. The plaza houses 48 shops, many longtime Little Tokyo businesses.
• Issei Philanthropist Named to JACCC Board, by P.C. Staff, page 9. Frank Yorimasa Chikasawa, a semi-retired operator of Coast Farms and Japanese community philanthropist, was named to the JACCC board of directors. He will serve the remaining two years of a term vacated by Alfred Hatate.
• Japanese American Democratic Club Formed in Los Angeles, by P.C. Staff, page 10. A Japanese American Democratic Club was formally organized in Los Angeles and endorsed Rose Bird for Chief Justice and opposed Proposition 6. The steering committee includes Robert Nakagawa and Amy Ishii.
• Abused Wives in Japan Flock to Woman’s Counseling Center, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Tokyo’s Metropolitan Woman’s Counseling Center, the first public institution of its kind in Japan, opened last year to assist women leaving abusive marriages. Mrs. Kaoru Kasama, who heads the center, says similar facilities are needed.

National

• Judge Tuai Unopposed, Gives Election Fund Surplus to U.W., by P.C. Staff, page 1. Superior Court Judge Liem Eng Tuai donated the remainder of his unopposed election fund, $7,724, to the University of Washington Law School. The gift will support a new clinical-education program directed by Prof. Charles Z. Smith.
• U.S. Poll Still High on Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Potomac Associates poll found Americans hold a favorable view of Japan, with Japan ranked second only to the Soviet Union in importance to the U.S. The survey also showed a growing tilt toward protectionism in trade policy.

Commentary

• Asakawa’s Ire on Political Ad, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Glenn Asakawa’s letter endorsing Terry Knoepp appeared in a San Diego newspaper ad after his wife Jo Ann was murdered in Tijuana. The letter criticized the laws that he believed hindered police from catching her killer.
• JACL in Hawaii, by Stephen Nakashima, page 4. Nakashima argues JACL should form chapters in Hawaii, which has the largest concentration of Japanese Americans yet is excluded. He suggests a low-key start with former Mainland members and notes JACL represents roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans.
• Redress, by Doris Yokoyama, page 4. Yokoyama writes in support of redress as a matter of justice, arguing that apologies alone are insufficient and that compensation would show America’s willingness to correct its mistakes. She recounts her family’s losses and expresses faith in the American public.
• United Way in L.A. vs. Asians, by Paul Tsuneishi, page 5. Tsuneishi reports on efforts by Asian community groups to secure United Way funding, noting that Chinatown Service Center receives $16,000 while Pioneer Center applications were denied. He describes plans to request a meeting with United Way leadership and possible volunteer pressure if demands are not met.
• Redress Stand Same, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa reports that Sen. S.I. Hayakawa, who criticized the redress campaign at the JACL convention, maintains his opposition to redress payments. Hayakawa instead emphasizes the U.S.-Japan trade imbalance and calls for more Japanese language instruction in American schools.
• Spartan Beat: Furor Over Headlines, by Mas Manbo, page 10. Manbo discusses a controversy in Japan over the use of the abbreviation ‘Jap’ in British headlines after a press council ruling. He notes Japanese papers then began using ‘Brits’ and suggests the Japanese accept such abbreviations with humor.
• Nikkei Views on Mental Health Strategies Abroad, by K. Patrick Okura, page 12. Okura discusses the American Psychiatric Association’s debate over the abuse of psychiatry for political purposes at the World Psychiatric Association meeting. He also reviews a World Health Assembly resolution calling for mental health collaboration with developing countries.

In-Depth

• Okura on Ethnicity and Mental Health, by K. Patrick Okura, page 3. NIMH official K. Patrick Okura examines how culture and ethnicity affect the diagnosis and expression of mental illness, citing schizophrenia research and Hawaii studies. He argues professionals must rely less on a disease model and more on community definitions of psychosis.
• Healing Through the Performing Arts, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Bertram Brown describes a Japanese psychiatric hospital where tea ceremony and flower arranging serve as cultural therapy. The article ties these practices to NIMH support for arts in therapy.
• 500 Japan Soldiers Still Fighting WW2, by P.C. Staff, page 11. The Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry reports more than 500 former soldiers still receive treatment for war-induced mental disorders 33 years after the war’s end.

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