Redress hearings in Los Angeles and the 1981 CWRIC testimony

Vol. 93, No. 7, August 14, 1981. 12 pages. View this issue

The Pacific Citizen’s front page covered three days of hearings in Los Angeles by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. Peter Imamura reported on emotional testimony, evidence of heavy losses, and disruptions by two anti-redress figures, Sen. S.I. Hayakawa and Lillian Baker. Inside, the paper reported on the San Francisco hearings, Karl R. Bendetsen’s written testimony on Executive Order 9066, and Commissioner Arthur Goldberg’s remarks. Witnesses included Ewan Yoshida, Charles Hamasaki and Hershey Miyamura. One page reported that over 150 people spoke in favor of redress and three against.

Other pages carried columns by Bill Hosokawa, Bill Marutani and Ron Wakabayashi, and Marshall Sumida’s analysis of habeas corpus and Public Law 503. The paper also reported on the dedication of Shinkichi Tajiri’s sculpture in Little Tokyo, a Philadelphia JACL forum on wartime detention, and a new JACL Scholar award fund.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Jeers and Facts Underscore CWRIC-L.A. Hearings, by Peter Imamura, page 1. Hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in Los Angeles drew emotional testimony and were disrupted by anti-redress figures Sen. S.I. Hayakawa and Lillian Baker. Witnesses presented personal stories, statistics on losses, and legal arguments supporting redress, while elected officials like Mayor Tom Bradley expressed support for reparations.’}
• Ex-442nd Bn. Commander, Others Testify in San Francisco Hearings, page 2. Col. James M. Hanley, Col. Boris Pash, and Army Museum curator Eric Saul formed a military panel testifying at San Francisco CWRIC hearings, followed by Japanese American veterans including WWI Issei veteran Ernest K. Wakayama. A full report of the three-day San Francisco hearings was promised for a future issue.
• Bendetsen Explains His Role to CWRIC, page 2. Karl R. Bendetsen, former Assistant Chief of Staff of the Fourth Army and Western Defense Command, submitted written testimony detailing his role in planning and implementing the evacuation of Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066. He described his duties as a liaison officer, his selection as DeWitt’s Assistant Chief of Staff, and the establishment of the Wartime Civil Control Administration.
• People in 1941 Photo Identified, page 2. A reader helped identify a family shown in a 1941 photo depicting a government agent searching a home after Pearl Harbor, revealing them to be the Ino family of Palos Verdes Estates rather than a Terminal Island fishing family as originally captioned. The Ino family farmed above the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean among 30 Japanese American families in the area.
• Goldberg’s Commentary on Evacuation Made, But Not Final, page 8. Commissioner Arthur Goldberg, before leaving CWRIC hearings due to a back injury, stated that the evacuation of Japanese Americans was an unconscionable racist act regardless of terminology debates. He cited the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections and said he was appalled at the Baker-Kawaminami scuffling incident.
• Father Arrested by FBI in ’42, Whereabouts Unknown, page 8. Ewan Yoshida testified that his Japanese father, a commercial fisherman in Kodiak, Alaska, was arrested by the FBI in 1942 and never seen again, leaving him and his brothers orphaned. JACL has since searched archives finding the father was allowed to leave detention to work in Idaho agriculture but his fate afterward remains unknown.
• Hamasaki’s Testimony Sparkles with Humor and Anger, page 8. Charles Hamasaki, a former Terminal Island fisherman, testified in colorful pidgin English about his arrest by the FBI as an ‘enemy alien’ and his loyalty despite the injustice. He strongly favored monetary redress and criticized Sen. Hayakawa’s stance.
• Government Evidence Shows Even Greater Economic Losses, page 8. Larry Boss of CSU Long Beach’s Asian American Studies Center presented research estimating Japanese American community losses from the evacuation at $6-8 billion, far exceeding earlier estimates. Dr. Dean C. Allard, a Navy historian, also testified about the naval context used to justify evacuation, noting no actual Japanese forces were found in the Los Angeles area.
• Over 150 from All Walks of Life Speak for Redress, 3 on Record as Opposed, page 9. Over 150 persons testified before CWRIC across three sessions, with the vast majority favoring monetary redress ranging from $25,000 to $1 million, while only three witnesses opposed reparations. Testimony revealed widespread family trauma, property losses, and psychological damage from the evacuation and incarceration experience.
• Bendetsen’s Summary to E.O. 9066 Action, page 10. Karl Bendetsen’s testimony continues, detailing how evacuee assets, lands, and crops were protected and accounted for rather than confiscated during the evacuation process. He describes the voluntary resettlement program, the Governors’ Conference at Salt Lake City, and how hostile reactions in interior states temporarily halted voluntary relocation efforts.

Community

• Mayor Kitayama Survives Union City Recall by 490, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Union City Mayor Tom Kitayama narrowly survived a recall campaign stemming from a labor dispute with nursery workers. Kitayama won by a 490-vote margin but opponents vowed to continue their fight against him.
• 90 Organizations Endorse APAAC, page 3. The statewide board of directors of the newly-organized Asian Pacific American Advocates of California met in San Diego with Dr. Allan Seid as interim president. As of July 27, 90 organizations had endorsed APAAC.
• Vincent Okamoto Announces Babcock as Pacific Heritage Bank President, page 3. Vincent H. Okamoto, chairman of the board of Pacific Heritage Bank, announced the appointment of Lucious ‘Bud’ Babcock as president of the Nikkei-controlled financial institution based in Torrance. Babcock, a bank officer-administrator for over 20 years, took over as the bank’s assets approached $8 million.
• Reunion of the ‘Paris Three’ as Tajiri Sculpture Dedicated, page 3. Nisei sculptor Shinkichi Tajiri’s ‘Friendship Knot’ sculpture was dedicated in Little Tokyo’s Weller Mall, representing friendship ties between the U.S. and Japan. The dedication reunited Tajiri with old friends Lou Weber and Baird Bryant from his Paris days.
• Pacific Valley Bank’s New Building to Be Highest in San Jose, page 3. Pacific Valley Bank, founded nearly five years ago with many Nikkei shareholders, is constructing a 12-story $25 million office building in San Jose. Buddhist leader Yasushi Kato is a member of its board of directors.
• Banks Pledge $20,000 to Bay Keiro, page 3. California First Bank and Sumitomo Bank of California each contributed $10,000 to the Bay Keiro fundraising drive after four months of active soliciting. Details on the overall campaign were provided in the brief.
• Mental Health Service Gets Media Funding, page 3. An $85,000 award was granted to the Asian Community Mental Health Services in Oakland to pilot a media mental health promotion project. The project will use television spots and booklets to highlight cultural strengths of Asian/Pacific Americans and coping strategies for stress.
• Jan Yanehiro Marks Fifth Anniversary of Show, page 3. Jan Yanehiro celebrated the fifth anniversary of her KPIX-TV show ‘Evening Magazine’ by sharing highlights from the past five years. She is also a board member of the San Francisco JACL.
• Harry & Phil: PSW Redress Coordinators Praised, by John Saito, page 6. Saito praises Harry Kawahara and Phil Shigekuni for their extensive work coordinating the Pacific Southwest District’s preparation for the CWRIC hearings in Los Angeles. Their duties included media relations, community coordination, and helping witnesses prepare testimony over many weeks.
• Riverside JACL Changes Festival to October Fundraiser, page 6. Riverside JACL announced changes to its annual fundraising schedule, moving its community fund-raiser to Saturday, Oct. 17, instead of the traditional July Sendai Festival. The brief also mentions the Salt Lake JACL hosting the First Biennial JACL IDC Convention Nov. 27-28 with National Director Ron Wakabayashi as keynote speaker.
• Philadelphia JACL Forum on WW2 Detention Slated, page 6. Philadelphia JACL will hold an all-day forum on the wartime detention of Japanese Americans on Saturday, Oct. 3, featuring historian Roger Daniels and a panel of Japanese Americans discussing their camp experiences. The forum will also include legal analysis of the government’s actions and their contemporary implications.
• Nikkei Lions Donate $8,000 to Community Groups, page 9. A Nikkei Lions club presented checks totaling over $8,000 to four charitable community organizations including the Japanese Cultural center, raised through a benefit fashion show held May 2. The funds support various community service programs.
• Sister City Business Groups Sign Affiliation, page 9. Business groups from sister cities signed an agreement to exchange ideas, participate in each other’s festivals (Matsuri), and maintain close ties. The signing formalized an ongoing cultural and business relationship.
• Ceramic Arts Guild Show Features Mabel Jingu Enkoji, page 12. Mabel Jingu Enkoji prepares her ceramic pottery for the California Japanese Ceramic Arts Guild presentation at the Nisei Week Festival. Enkoji, originally from San Antonio, Texas, has been a fulltime studio potter in Los Angeles since the war.
• Happi House Chain Hopes to Expand, page 12. The Happi House fast-food chain, featuring teriyaki and shrimp tempura, plans to open 19 more units in the Bay Area and Sacramento over the next 30 months. The concept originated from brisk sales of teriyaki skewers at an Obon carnival a decade earlier.
• Goshen Graduate Lauds Peace Studies, page 12. Nobuyuki Nakajima, a Cleveland JACLer and one of the first students from Japan to study at Goshen College, returned to share ideas with students in a ‘Violence and Nonviolence’ course. Nakajima praised Goshen students’ Mennonite-tradition motivation for peace even without direct exposure to war.

National

• Mori Warns of Calif. ‘Trade Famine’, page 3. S. Floyd Mori, director of the Calif. Office of state agency, warned that the U.S. west coast faces a trade famine if American companies continue to ignore foreign commerce opportunities. He accused U.S. firms of complaining about trade restrictions rather than developing exportable products.
• Hostage Families Group Seeks Comparison to Japanese American Compensation, page 3. An action group formed by families of the Iran hostages held during the 444-day captivity drew comparisons regarding compensation. The brief references ongoing public discussion about compensation amounts relative to Japanese American wartime incarceration.
• Monorail Service in Japan to Rise, page 10. Three major Japanese cities—Kitakyushu, Chiba and Osaka—are planning new monorail lines as solutions to traffic congestion, since subway construction has become too expensive. Kitakyushu plans an 8.4-km line while Chiba will build two 15-km monorail lines.
• Mitsui-Manufacturers Banks Merged, page 11. The Mitsui Bank of California and Manufacturers Bank merged to create Mitsui Manufacturers Bank with assets of nearly $1.5 billion, making it one of the 12 largest banks in California. The merger was announced by Leonard Weil and Taizo Nakamura, presidents of the respective banks.
• Shipbuilder to Aid in Amtrak Studies, page 12. Ryoichi Sasakawa, who revitalized Japan’s shipbuilding industry after WW2, met with Amtrak President Alan Boyd to announce support for studies on using Japanese-style bullet trains between Los Angeles and San Diego. Sasakawa served as honorary grand marshal in this year’s Nisei Week parade and is providing funding through Japan National Railways.
• Bannai Appointed to VA Position, page 12. Paul Bannai, currently serving as director of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, was named director of the Veterans Administration Dept. of Memorial Affairs and national cemetery system. Bannai, a WW2 veteran and former seven-year California assemblyman, was in Los Angeles for the CWRIC field hearings when the announcement was made.

Commentary

• Sansei Geneticist Raps Academic-Industrial Ties, page 3. Canadian Sansei broadcaster-geneticist Dr. David Suzuki supported concerns that a shortage of genetic engineers is luring universities into risky relationships with industry. Suzuki described the academic-industrial relationship as more like ‘illicit and irresistible’ sexual attraction than a straightforward agreement.
• Letter: Nisei Stranded in Japan During War, by Vaughn M. Greene, page 4. A reader comments on previous letters about Nisei stranded in Japan during the war, noting that many more were stuck there than most people realize. The letter also discusses issues with returning servicemen’s papers being mysteriously lost.
• A Mother’s Take: Phoenix Memories, page 4. The columnist recalls a 1945 trip from the Gila River camp to Phoenix to buy graduation clothes, where she and fellow evacuees experienced discrimination at restaurants and stores, being refused service because of their race. The piece reflects on the lingering emotional impact of these wartime experiences, triggered by her husband’s complaints about Phoenix heat decades later.
• Fibbing (Matsutake) Season in the Rockies, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa writes about the annual ‘fibbing season’ when mushroom hunters in Denver become secretive about where they found prized matsutake mushrooms. He describes an unusually early mushroom season this year and debates the merits of commercializing mushroom hunting versus keeping it a pure amateur sport.
• East Wind: A New Game in Town, by Bill Marutani, page 5. Marutani discusses the newly formed Asian Pacific American Round Table (A-PART) in Los Angeles, led by young Nikkei lawyer Fred Fujioka, aimed at addressing racism facing the Asian American community. He advocates for JACL to engage in similar coalition-building efforts, citing Philadelphia’s successful Asian American Council as a model.
• Musubi: Based on Rumor, by Ron Wakabayashi, page 5. Wakabayashi critiques California SB 49, a bill to criminalize killing dogs or cats for consumption, driven by unsubstantiated rumors about refugees eating pets. He argues the bill’s negative social impact, including attacks on Asian Americans wrongly suspected of the practice, outweighs any benefit given the lack of documented evidence.
• Suspension of Writ of Habeas Corpus Detailed, by Marshall Sumida, page 5. Sumida analyzes the constitutional violations inherent in Executive Order 9066 and Public Law 503, arguing they effectively suspended habeas corpus rights without formally doing so. The piece details how Japanese Americans faced a no-win legal situation, imprisoned whether they complied with or violated military orders.
• Ye Editor’s Desk: Little Tokyo’s Centennial Approaches, by Harry Honda, page 12. Honda reflects on Little Tokyo’s history dating to 1884 and upcoming 1984 centennial coinciding with the LA Olympics, describing ongoing redevelopment and new public art installations by FOLTA including Shinkichi Tajiri’s sculpture. He also comments on the significance of the CWRIC hearings held nearby, urging commissioners to focus on substantive dialogue over repetitive rhetoric.

JACL

• JACL National Council Charts Course for 1980-81, page 4. An editorial reflects on JACL’s past year, describing the organization as a ‘viable, ship-shape vessel’ led by the teamwork of John Tateishi, Min Yasui, Clifford Uyeda and Floyd Shimomura. It notes the CWRIC hearings are now well underway, an important development for the organization’s redress efforts.
• Orange County Hosts Aug. 23 PSW Meet, page 6. Orange County JACL will host the next PSWDC quarterly session on Aug. 23 at the Holiday Inn in Buena Park. The agenda will include a report on the upcoming 1982 National JACL Convention being hosted by Gardena Valley JACL.
• Moriuchis Boost JACL Scholar Award Fund, page 6. Since 1976, Philadelphia JACLers Takashi and Yuri Moriuchi have contributed to two $1,000 JACL Scholar awards for deserving high school seniors. The couple recently presented a $10,000 check at National Headquarters to establish the JACL Scholar Award fund permanently.
• Panamerican Nikkei Assn. on Tap as Key to ’83 Confab, by Harry Honda, page 7. JACL was a signatory to the 1981 CoPaNiMex Agreement establishing plans for future Panamerican Nikkei conventions, with the next one tentatively planned for Lima, Peru in 1983 unless U.S. accommodations can be arranged. Delegates from multiple countries including Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Canada, and Bolivia discussed forming a formal Panamerican Nikkei association.

Obituaries

• Tribute to UCLA Professor Robert A. Wilson, by Robert A. Wilson, page 4. A tribute remembers a professor associated with the Japanese American community at UCLA, described as warm and friendly but rigorous in his standards. He is noted as co-author of ‘East to America: A History of the Japanese in the United States’ with Bill Hosokawa.

Arts & Entertainment

• Census Issues First Report on Races, page 7. The Census Bureau issued a booklet on Race of Population by states for 1980, covering categories including White, Black, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. The booklet breaks down race population by region, percentage, and comparative 1970 figures.
• Anthology of Japanese Poetry Published, page 7. University of Washington Press published ‘From the Country of Eight Islands,’ a comprehensive anthology of Japanese poetry edited and translated by Hiroaki Sato and Burton Watson. The anthology spans from the 8th-century Kojiki to modern poems and has been praised as a landmark work.
• Ishizuka Play of WW2 Camp Life to Debut in October, page 9. Karen Ishizuka’s new play ‘The Truth of the Matter’ about the psychological effects of Japanese American wartime internment will premiere in October as a fundraiser for JACL PSWDC Reparations and Redress Committee. The cast features Nobu McCarthy, Robert Ito, Akemi Kikumura, and Rodney Kageyama, directed by Sab Shimono.
• Pennsylvania Honors Michener and Nakashima, page 12. George Nakashima of New Hope won the Hazlett Memorial Award for Excellence in the Arts in Pennsylvania for his achievements in crafts, presented by Gov. Dick Thornburgh. Author James A. Michener, also of New Hope, received the second Distinguished Pennsylvania Artist Award at the same ceremony.
• EWP to Present a ‘Dance Concert’, page 12. The East West Players will present a ‘Dance Concert’ incorporating Asian folk movements with western influence, featuring actors, children and established dancers. The production will be performed Aug. 28-30 at the group’s theater on Santa Monica Blvd.
• Houston Symphony Signs Sansei Leader, page 12. Toshiyuki Shimada, 29, of Los Angeles was signed as assistant conductor for the Houston Symphony to lead children’s concerts and serve as symphony manager. Shimada, a CSU-Northridge music graduate, competed in international competitions including reaching the 1979 Herbert von Karajan finals in Berlin.

Military & Veterans

• Hershey Miyamura Testifies: Monetary Award a Way of ‘Making It Up’, page 8. Medal of Honor recipient Hershey Miyamura testified before CWRIC that monetary redress would be a small way of making amends to wronged citizens. He emphasized that America’s greatness includes its ability to admit mistakes and provide justice to those who suffered.
• Rohwer-Born Jurist Vows Not to Let It Happen Again, page 9. A Sansei judge born in the Rohwer camp, profiled for his appointment to the municipal court, reflected on how his family’s wartime incarceration experience profoundly affects his judicial philosophy. He expressed determination that fellow judges share his commitment to placing constitutional principle above political expediency.

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