Coverage of the CWRIC hearings in San Francisco

Vol. 93, No. 8, August 21, 1981. 8 pages. View this issue

The Pacific Citizen covered the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings held in San Francisco on Aug. 11-13. Peter Imamura reported on the testimony of retired Col. Boris T. Pash, former counter-intelligence chief under Gen. DeWitt, who told the commission he did not believe the U.S. owed an apology and faced sharp questions from Commissioners Fr. Robert Drinan and Edward Brooke. The front page also carried an account of the Feb. 23, 1942 submarine shelling near Santa Barbara, and inside are a witness list and further testimony on the World War II incarceration (often called internment).

Elsewhere in the issue are columns by Bill Hosokawa, Bill Marutani, Kay Tateishi and Gail Fujioka, whose return to the paper is explained in her column. News items cover Victor Carter’s $25,000 pledge to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, the closing of Jackson Drugs in San Jose’s Japantown after 35 years, and a Sister City agreement between Sacramento and Matsuyama.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Battle of Ellwood: 1st Enemy Fire on Mainland Since 1812, page 1. The article recounts the Feb. 23, 1942 shelling of Ellwood Canyon oil fields near Santa Barbara by the Japanese submarine I-17, commanded by Kozo Nishino, who reportedly held a grudge after an embarrassing incident years earlier. Despite extensive shelling, damage was minor, and the event heightened wartime hysteria that contributed to the argument for removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast.
• DeWitt’s CIC Chief Faces Stiff Questions, by Peter Imamura, page 1. At CWRIC hearings in San Francisco, retired Army Col. Boris T. Pash, former counter-intelligence chief under Gen. DeWitt, testified that he did not believe the U.S. owed an apology for the evacuation, drawing sharp questioning from Commissioners Fr. Robert Drinan and Edward Brooke. Pash’s claims about lacking information on Japanese Americans and his objection to the term ‘concentration camps’ were challenged repeatedly, with Brooke noting Pash had never actually visited the camps.
• Redress Reports: Witness List for CWRIC Hearings, page 2. This listing details the order of witnesses who appeared before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians during hearings held Aug. 11-13 in San Francisco. Witnesses included officials, veterans, community members, and individuals testifying on redress, psychological impact, and constitutional issues.
• Hearings Continued: Testimonies on Evacuation Impact, by Peter Imamura, page 2. Continuing coverage of the CWRIC hearings describes testimony from Hawaiian Nisei WWI veteran Ernest Kinzo Wakayama, who described his arrest and internment despite his military service, and recounts the 1942 ‘Government House incident’ at Santa Anita. The piece also details further exchanges between Col. Pash and Commissioner Brooke regarding the lack of justification for internment.
• Hearings Continued: More Witness Testimonies on Camp Impact, page 3. Additional testimony from the CWRIC hearings includes accounts from George Hagiwara on lost family property, Philip Zimbardo’s prison-guard psychology study, and Lorraine Bannai’s legal analysis of unconstitutional military authority during the evacuation. Other witnesses, including Wilson Makabe, Violet DeCristoforo, Kinya Noguchi, and Ben Takeshita, shared personal stories of loss, humiliation, and calls for reparations.

National

• Victor Carter Pledges $25,000 to JACCC, page 1. Victor M. Carter, a charter member of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center board, pledged a $25,000 gift to JACCC. Since retiring from Republic Corp. in 1967, he has devoted his time to philanthropic activities including the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Pacific Citizen Receives ZIP+4 Number, page 1. The Postmaster informed the Pacific Citizen of its new ZIP+4 number, 3891, to be used for mail addressed to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. The Postal Service is offering rate incentives to mailers using the new ZIP+4 codes for bulk First Class mail.
• Kawakami Pleads Guilty, page 1. Gene Kawakami, former manager of Wells Fargo’s Miracle Mile branch, pleaded guilty to misapplying $175,000 in bank funds connected to the larger $21.3 million embezzlement case involving boxing promoter Harold Smith (Ross Fields). Kawakami and another banker, Ben Lewis, are expected to testify for the prosecution at Fields’ upcoming trial.
• Racial Agency Set Up by Harvard Univ., page 3. Seiji Ozawa, Alex Haley, and Rivington Winant have been asked to serve as associates of the newly created Harvard Foundation, formed in response to complaints that the university failed to recruit minority students and faculty. The foundation aims to use Harvard’s resources to foster racial understanding.
• Sansei Scientist Receives Major MS Grant, page 8. Dr. Robert Fujinami, 31, received a $311,820 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society as the country’s most promising young MS researcher. He is a 1972 University of Utah graduate and has worked at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation for four years.
• Mayor Kato Lobbies for City in WDC Visit, page 8. Oxnard Mayor Tsujio Kato attended a White House briefing on Reagan’s economic and tax-cut program along with 125 other city and state officials, the first time he was invited to such an event. Kato and city staff also lobbied area congressmen Robert Lagomarsino and Barry Goldwater Jr. during the Washington visit.

Community

• Nisei Week Disqualifies 2 Princesses, page 1. Nisei Week queen committee chair Richard Murakami announced that two 1981 court members, Patricia Gehr and Diane Yukimi Hirami, were disqualified for failing to fulfill their obligations as representatives of their sponsors, the first such disciplinary action in the festival’s 41-year history. The pair had denied rumors that the queen selection was fixed, saying they left the festival in a silent protest over other grievances.
• Prewar Little Tokyo Photos Go on Display, page 3. A collection of 60 photos titled ‘Before the War: the Japanese in Los Angeles 1890-1942’ from the county museum archives is on display through Dec. 31 at CSU-Los Angeles’s Kennedy Library. The exhibit comes from the Terminal Island Project, UCLA, and Toyo Miyatake Studio.
• French Camp Outing at Mats Murata’s Home, page 6. The French Camp JACL chapter will hold a swimming and barbecue event at Mat Murata’s home in Stockton on Aug. 22, open to all members and guests. Reservations should be made with Nancy Natsuhara.
• Reno Fish Fry Slated at Spahr’s, page 6. The Reno JACL will hold a fish fry and general meeting on Aug. 23 at the Spahr backyard, featuring fish and hot dogs contributed by chapter members. Three scholarship awards were also announced at a recent chapter picnic.
• PC People: Agriculture, Business, Courtroom, Education, Medicine Notes, page 7. This roundup covers Martha Taniguchi’s appointment to the Sonoma County Fair Board, several Nisei farmers named to USDA fruit commodity committees, and Kiyo Kono’s role as PR manager for New Otani Hotels. It also notes a court loss for nude sunbathing advocates, Yuji Ichioka’s Japan Foundation fellowship, and Dr. Joe Shimamura’s Optometrist of the Year award.
• Jackson Drugs (San Jose) Shuts Down, page 8. Lincoln Tokunaga, 70, closed Jackson Drugs in San Jose’s Japantown after 35 years in business, planning to travel with his wife Iku. Tokunaga, a UC Berkeley pharmacy graduate, had opened his original drugstore in Salinas before the war forced his family into Tanforan and Topaz internment camps.
• Sac’to-Matsuyama Sign as Sister Cities, page 8. Mayor Tokio Nakamura of Matsuyama, Japan, and Sacramento Mayor Phil Isenberg signed a Sister City agreement at a ceremony attended by civic and business leaders. Matsuyama, a city of 400,000 on Shikoku, is known for its cultural and educational facilities including a historic 1603 castle.
• Olivers Sports Award Dinner Slated Sept. 5, page 8. A sports award dinner is scheduled for Sept. 5 at Paul’s Kitchen in Monterey Park. The brief notice provides event timing details for the community gathering.

Commentary

• Inside the Gilded Ghetto, page 3. This guest editorial, reprinted from the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, discusses the cultural clash Asian immigrants face in adapting to American individualism versus traditional group-oriented values. It notes over 60% of Japanese American women now marry outside their race, raising questions about the community’s future identity.
• By the Board: We Need You, by Vernon Yoshioka, page 4. JACL Membership VP Vernon Yoshioka highlights that midyear membership renewals are lagging behind last year’s totals despite gains in new members, urging readers to renew and recruit for JACL. He outlines two major biennium objectives: computerizing membership records and increasing overall membership, citing San Diego JACL’s successful renewal strategies as a model.
• Letterbox: CWRIC Proceedings, by Joseph Kinoshita, page 4. A reader from Beverly Hills requests information on how to obtain copies of the proceedings and hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. He asks the editor for contact information to secure these documents.
• Letterbox: The ‘Elite’ Group, by Ann Y. Hasegawa, page 4. A reader criticizes a previous Herald-Examiner editorial’s definition of an ‘elite group,’ arguing that Councilman Gilbert Lindsay successfully mingles with constituents of all backgrounds. She contends that figures like Dr. Jonas Salk, Martin Luther King, and even Jesus Christ would not qualify for so-called elite organizations.
• Letterbox: Redress, by Tad Tsukida, page 4. A reader who experienced WWII incarceration as a child argues that monetary redress alone will not undo the harm done, and proposes establishing a well-endowed legal fund to protect minority rights in the future. He suggests this would be a more lasting tribute than individual payments.
• Letterbox: Fruitful L.A. Visit, by Edith Tanaka, page 4. A reader from San Francisco describes a productive visit with Kats Kunitsugu and others involved in cultural and community projects in Los Angeles. She shares that the information gathered will help in building a viable community center for Nihonmachi in San Francisco.
• El Pimentero: New Specie of Pollution, by Frank Fukazawa, page 4. This column describes ‘bicycle pollution’ in Japan, where commuters abandon hundreds of thousands of bicycles near train stations daily due to lack of parking space. The town of Kunitachi has organized a Bicycle Pollution Preventive Committee to tag and eventually remove abandoned bikes, which are crushed into scrap metal.
• From the Frying Pan: Passing Parade of Interesting People, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa profiles several notable Japanese Americans, including Charles Ozaki, a town administrator managing energy boom impacts in De Beque, Colorado, and Edward Owada, a Forest Service technician who overcame a difficult childhood including internment. He also mentions AP journalist Kay Tateishi’s 25-year career and speculates about potential political rivalries among Nisei Democrats Patsy Mink, Spark Matsunaga, and George Ariyoshi.
• East Wind: The Sands of Time, by Bill Marutani, page 5. Bill Marutani reminisces about childhood kenjin-kai picnics with his Issei parents and how the significance of ken-based community distinctions faded after the WWII uprooting. He reflects on lost contact with old friends from the White River Valley in Washington State and expresses interest in organizing a reunion.
• Tateishi’s Tokyo: More on ‘Yamato’ Story, by Kay Tateishi, page 5. Kay Tateishi provides additional details omitted from his earlier AP story on the battleship Yamato, naming other Nisei crew members including Kunio Nakatani, Tom Ishii, and Kawasaki. He also recounts a Tokyo JACL meeting where six men shared their WWII camp experiences, including Tom Sakamoto’s story as a ‘no-no’ boy who faced ostracism in postwar Japan.
• Hikari: A Column Reborn, by Gail Fujioka, page 5. Gail Fujioka explains her return to writing for the Pacific Citizen after being invited by Dr. Clifford Uyeda and Ron Wakabayashi, planning to write about Hawaii and her experiences there since 1979. She reflects on her time as a JACL staffer and her deep connection to Hawaii’s culture and people.
• A Scary Scenario, by David Okamoto, page 6. Washington D.C. JACL scholarship winner David Okamoto writes an essay examining how U.S.-Japan trade tensions could fuel anti-Japanese sentiment affecting Japanese Americans like himself in Montgomery County, Maryland. He draws historical parallels to past discrimination against Irish, German, Black, and Asian Americans, concluding he has faith that true friends would judge him by character rather than race.

JACL

• PNW-WSU Fund Announces Scholarship Recipients, page 6. The PNW-JACL Fund for founding an Asian studies program at Washington State University announced recipients of its recent fundraising campaign. Chairman Al Abe announced awards to Ruby Dobana, Ken Nakano, and several others, and the chapter will host the next JACL Tri-District Conference in 1983.

Sports

• JACL 1000 Club Boomers Hot on Course, page 6. A field of 33 Thousand Club golfers competed in Seattle’s annual tournament on a hot July day, with Mits Abe and Reiko Sato winning flight honors. Results for various men’s and women’s flight categories are listed.
• Judo Way of Life for Takemori Family, page 7. Jim Takemori, who has run a judo club in Alexandria, Va. for 25 years, coached the Women’s judo team at the National Sports Festival in Syracuse, N.Y. His four daughters all grew up practicing judo, with two holding national amateur titles.

Obituaries

• Deaths: Jerry Akahoshi and Shiro Nakaso, page 6. Jerry Akahoshi of Santa Ana, a Kashu Mainichi columnist who covered Nisei entertainment and sports, died of a heart attack on Aug. 14, survived by his wife Allison and children. Shiro Nakaso, 63, the 1949-50 Alameda JACL figure, also died, survived by family members including brothers Jiro, William, and sisters Iku, Ingimura, and Betty Miyake.

In-Depth

• Did American Houses Infect Living Patterns in Japan?, page 8. Taeko Matsuda, who helped bring affordable American-style housing to Japan, worries that Western-style separate bedrooms have contributed to family breakdown and rising violence among Japanese youth. She founded the Japan Housing Research Foundation and built 8,000 houses, while noting average Japanese household size has dropped sharply from 1920s levels.

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