A new Japantown center campaign, plus Hiroshima and redress news

Vol. 95, No. 20, November 12, 1982. 8 pages. View this issue

The front page carried news of a $3-million campaign for a multi-service community center in San Francisco’s Japantown, led by Mayor Dianne Feinstein and Yori Wada. It also reported the first Japanese car built in the United States, a Honda Accord from the Marysville, Ohio plant, along with the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the Zenith television dumping suit. Inside, Bill Hosokawa paid tribute to Dillon S. Myer, who ran the War Relocation Authority, and Bill Marutani wrote on the “crabs in the barrel” habit of self-defeating behavior in communities.

Other pages covered election wins for Robert Matsui, Norman Mineta and Spark Matsunaga, and a Los Angeles Times column by Dan Sullivan on the racial slurs controversy over the play “A Little Family Business.” Karen Seriguchi reviewed the Hiroshima play “Hibakusha.” The JACL section announced new member rates for 1983, and the Pacific Southwest District Council’s redress letter kit appeared on page 8.

What’s in this issue

National

• Campaign Underway for $3-Million N.C. Center, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California has launched its Vision 80’s Development Campaign to build a multi-service center in San Francisco’s Japantown, led by honorary chair Mayor Dianne Feinstein and general chair Yori Wada. The planned facility will include a performance hall, gymnasium, an Issei memorial floor for senior services, and office space for community organizations.
• High Court Rejects TV Dumping Suit, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a suit by Zenith Radio Corp. and COMPACT seeking to overturn rulings allowing settlement of a longstanding dumping case involving Japanese color television imports. The decision means the dumping dispute, ongoing since 1968, will likely be resolved out of court under a Commerce Department settlement proposal.
• Reparations Bill for Canadian Nikkei Announced in Vancouver, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Member of Parliament Ian Waddell announced plans to introduce a private member’s bill to compensate Japanese Canadians who lost property during WWII relocation, in memory of former M.P. Angus MacInnis. Waddell expressed hope that other M.P.’s would support the bill when introduced in the next session of the House of Commons.
• 1st U.S.-Built Japanese Autos Roll Off at Marysville Plant, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Honda Motor Co. produced the first Japanese car built in the United States, a four-door Accord, at its new Marysville, Ohio plant in a private ceremony. The plant is expected to reach full production by spring, eventually employing about 2,000 workers and building 150,000 Accords annually.
• Plan to Replace L.A. Minority School Panels Gets Shelving, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A proposal by L.A. Board of Education president Tom Bartman to eliminate six minority advisory commissions was referred back to committee after community opposition. Dr. Marsha Hirano-Nakanishi and other Asian American community members argued the commissions were vital for ensuring educational concerns were addressed directly by the board.
• 2nd Year of Japan Import Curbs Urged by U.S. Trade Rep, by P.C. Staff, page 1. U.S. trade representative Bill Brock sought to extend the voluntary ceiling on Japanese car imports for a third year to protect the struggling domestic auto industry. Japan’s auto export restraints began in 1981, and U.S. officials warned that failure to further limit imports could prompt Congress to require higher domestic content in Japanese-made cars.
• Japan’s Politics Look a Bit Like America’s, But Not Quite, by P.C. Staff, page 1. As Japan prepared to select a new Prime Minister following Zenko Suzuki’s resignation, the article examined the Liberal Democratic Party’s primary process among four candidates vying for party leadership. Despite superficial similarities to American primaries, the LDP election was shown to be a narrower, faction-controlled process heavily influenced by money politics and a small pool of registered party voters.
• Attorneys in Noguchi Hearing Present Their Final Arguments, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Final oral arguments were presented in the civil service hearing of demoted L.A. County coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who was removed earlier in the year on mismanagement charges. Attorneys for both Noguchi and the county expressed confidence in their respective positions, with a recommendation to be prepared by hearing officer Sara Adler.

Community

• Nikkei Congressmen Score Easy Wins in Elections, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Reps. Robert Matsui and Norman Mineta won re-election handily, along with Sen. Spark Matsunaga and Hawaii Gov. George Ariyoshi, while other Nikkei and Asian American candidates won various local and state offices across the country. Winners included Toru Miyoshi, Nao Takasugi, Gary Locke, and Judge Ron Mamiya, among others.
• Issei Dies After 4-Day Forest Ordeal, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Searchers found the body of 90-year-old Portland Issei Seijiro Fujita in Gifford Pinchot National Forest after he went missing for four days while picking matsutake mushrooms. More than 120 people searched for Fujita, who may have died of exposure shortly after disappearing in cold, rainy conditions.
• S.F. Charter Member Horikoshi Succumbs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Akira Horikoshi, a longtime San Francisco city employee and charter member of the San Francisco JACL chapter, died suddenly at age 74. He had been the first Nisei hired by a Japanese firm before WWII and later served 25 years as clerk of the municipal court after returning from internment at Topaz.
• Children’s Songbook Released, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Nihonmachi Little Friends in San Francisco released ‘Japanese Children’s Songs,’ a compilation of 30 songs with English translations and transliterations for use at cultural events. The book includes notes on the significance of holiday songs and will be distributed to childcare centers and preschools.
• BCA to Hold Program for Thanksgiving ’82, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Buddhist Churches of America announced a ‘Thanksgiving Offering’ program to expand its social welfare activities beyond the BCA community, following earlier relief efforts for Cambodian refugees. The program aims to raise funds to help those in need regardless of their affiliation with BCA or the Nikkei community.
• JACCC Slates Artists’ Workshops, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center announced an Artists-in-Residence program featuring workshops with playwright Momoko Iko, dancer/singer Nobuko Miyamoto, taiko drummer John Mori, and visual artist Patrick Nagatani. The first workshop, led by Iko, begins Nov. 16 at the JACCC in Los Angeles.
• Chicago Slates ‘Fast Lane’, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Chicago JACL Chapter will sponsor the city’s premiere performances of ‘Life in the Fast Lane,’ a one-man show starring Lane Nishikawa of the Sansei Theatre Company, on Dec. 10-11. Chapter president Kaihatsu and MDC Regional Secretary Alice Esaki praised the show’s exploration of Issei, Nisei, and Sansei experiences in America.
• PSWDC Redress Lobbying Kit Out, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The JACL Pacific Southwest District Council developed a ‘PSWDC Redress Letter Preparation Kit’ with guidelines and sample letters to help gather grassroots support for redress legislation. The kit was created by PSWDC Governor Cary Nishimoto and other chapter leaders and is being distributed to district redress chairs.
• Marina JACL Sells Chinese Cookbook, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Marina JACL is offering ‘Cuisine of China,’ a 300-page cookbook by Sharon Wong Hoy, as a chapter fundraiser. Hoy, born in Hawaii to a family of nine children involved in the restaurant business, developed her expertise in adapting fine Chinese cooking for American kitchens.

Arts & Entertainment

• EWP to Open ‘Have You Heard’ Dec. 1, by P.C. Staff, page 3. East West Players will premiere ‘Have You Heard’ by Soon-Teck Oh on Dec. 1 at the EWP Playhouse in Los Angeles. Ticket information was provided for the production.
• A Flap in the Family: Was It Censorship?, by Dan Sullivan, page 4. Los Angeles Times critic Dan Sullivan examines the controversy over anti-Japanese racial slurs in the play ‘A Little Family Business’ starring Angela Lansbury, which prompted protest from JACL and other Asian American community groups. Sullivan argues the producer’s decision to tone down offensive language was not censorship but a reasonable response to legitimate community concerns, contrasting it with true censorship by state or coercive institutions.
• Stunning Play About Hiroshima Survivors, by Karen Seriguchi, page 8. Karen Seriguchi reviews ‘Hibakusha: A Love Story from Hiroshima,’ a play by Modern Times Theater depicting postwar Japanese society’s treatment of atomic bomb survivors through the relationship of two relief workers. The multiracial cast’s performances in Seattle drew strong responses from audiences and local hibakusha, who felt the actors captured the story’s truth despite not being of Japanese descent.

Commentary

• Chairing PC’s Board, by Henry Sakai, page 4. New PC Board Chair Henry Sakai reflects on his role continuing the work of predecessor Dr. Cliff Uyeda and discusses the division of responsibilities between new editor Peter Imamura and longtime manager Harry Honda. Sakai praises the dedication of JACL volunteers and leaders including Frank Iwama and the Sonodas, and commits to resolving concerns raised by Uyeda in his final report.
• Retirement Video Letter, by John J. Tani, page 4. MDC Governor John Tani writes to clarify confusion around JACL National Board’s handling of funding for the Aging and Retirement video project. He explains that the Board supported the project and that proper financial procedures were followed despite a dispute over the amount needed.
• Coram Nobis Letter, by E.J. Isuyama, page 4. A letter responds to former Justice Arthur Goldberg’s exchange with Gordon Hirabayashi regarding equal protection issues raised during the CWRIC hearings. The writer argues that Chief Justice Stone’s opinion in Hirabayashi v. U.S. implicitly linked racial discrimination to denial of due process under the Fifth Amendment.
• The Crabs in the Barrel, by Bill Marutani, page 5. Bill Marutani explores the ‘crabs in the barrel’ phenomenon of self-defeating community behavior, drawing parallels between ‘waru-kuchi’ (bad-mouthing) among Issei and similar destructive tendencies in other minority communities. He reflects on whether this competitive negativism persists among Nisei and expresses hope that the community has matured beyond it.
• Sharing Cultural Events, by Miki Himeno, page 8. Miki Himeno discusses JACL Resolution No. 8, which calls for a long-range program of sharing cultural events to counter attrition of cultural identity among younger Nikkei generations. She encourages chapters to include cultural programming alongside fundraising efforts and ties this to Resolution 22 establishing Asian Pacific American Heritage Week.

Incarceration & Redress

• A Tribute to Dillon S. Myer, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa delivers a memorial tribute to Dillon S. Myer, former director of the War Relocation Authority, who died Oct. 21 at age 91. Hosokawa credits Myer with operating WWII internment camps as humanely as possible and working to return Japanese Americans to mainstream life despite fierce political opposition.

JACL

• Special Rates for New JACL Members Announced by HQ, by P.C. Staff, page 6. National Headquarters announced a special 1983 membership rate of $30 for individuals and $50 for families for new JACL members, following a constitutional bylaw amendment adopted at the Biennial Convention. The new format allows direct membership applications to National Headquarters, simplifying recruitment in areas without an established JACL presence.
• 6 Nikkei Attend Presidential Classroom for Young Americans in 1982, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Nearly 3,000 high school juniors and seniors attended the 1982 Presidential Classroom for Young Americans in Washington, D.C., including 28 students sponsored by 21 JACL chapters. The article lists the sponsoring chapters and the names of participating students from across the country.
• Puyallup JACLer Feted by Tacoma-Pierce League, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Thomas T. Takemura, a longtime Puyallup Valley JACL member and WWII internee turned 442nd veteran, received a ‘Distinguished Citizen’ award from the Municipal League of Tacoma-Pierce County for his decades of community service. Takemura has held numerous JACL leadership roles and was instrumental in redress efforts and Issei naturalization assistance.
• CCDC Convention Set Nov. 13-14, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Rep. Norman Mineta will headline the Central California JACL District Council convention in Fresno, where officers from the district’s nine chapters will be installed. National JACL President Floyd Shimomura and National Director Ron Wakabayashi are also scheduled to speak on JACL activities and redress.

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