Day of Remembrance and the Asian bride catalog debate

Vol. 100, No. 7, February 22, 1985. 16 pages. View this issue

Los Angeles County proclaimed February 19 a permanent annual Day of Remembrance, with Supervisor Kenneth Hahn calling Executive Order 9066 a blot on the nation’s history. The same front page reported on the IRS review of the Sequoia chapter’s tax status, the Derrick Bell resignation at the University of Oregon Law School, and a Canadian redress offer that drew criticism. Inside, a JACL committee report on Asian bride catalogs ran on page 10, and J.K. Yamamoto argued for a pan-Asian outlook. Bill Hosokawa wrote about Detroit’s response to the Vincent Chin case.

Other pieces include Richard T. Miyao’s account of his family’s wartime incarceration (often called internment) and the long effort to reclaim Honolulu’s Izumo Taisha shrine, and Judy Yao’s profile of a Vietnamese refugee. The issue also covers a Poston III reunion, a Tulelake reunion, and a Philadelphia JACL session on the camps, with Seattle’s installation honoring the Issei and a medal for diplomat Sempo Sugihara.

What’s in this issue

National

• Monk Ordered to Leave U.S., by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Japanese Buddhist monk who demonstrated against nuclear submarine build-ups has been ordered by the INS to leave the United States by early March. The Rev. Gyotoku, who lived on Bainbridge Island helping build a peace pagoda opposite the Trident submarine base, was detained after his visitor’s visa extension was denied.
• Inouye Given Jackson Award, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. Daniel Inouye was presented the first Henry M. Jackson Senatorial Leadership Award by the Jewish Community Relations Council for being an outstanding advocate of Israel and the Jewish cause. He was recognized for his role in supporting Soviet Jewry and strengthening Israel-American friendships.
• Asian American Denied Faculty Post; Law School Dean Resigns in Protest, by P.C. Staff, page 1. University of Oregon Law School dean Derrick Bell resigned after faculty members blocked the hiring of a Chinese American woman attorney, alleging she was being considered only due to affirmative action. Minority law students and community groups condemned the school’s hiring policies and the ‘substantial objections’ clause that allowed a few faculty members to override majority decisions.
• Justice Department Meets with Asians, by Teru Kanazawa (New York Nichibei), page 2. A U.S. Dept. of Justice Community Relations Service staffer met with Chinatown community leaders in New York to discuss documenting anti-Asian violence. Attendees questioned the agency’s neutral conciliatory role, citing the case of Ly Yung Cheung, a garment worker pushed under a subway train by an assailant who claimed a phobia of Asians.
• Horii Assumes High Engineering Post, by P.C. Staff, page 15. Robert S. Horii was named City Engineer of Los Angeles, becoming the first minority person to hold this position in the city’s history, succeeding Philip King upon his May retirement. Horii, chief deputy city engineer since 1982, will oversee a bureau of over 1,000 employees handling major public works projects.
• Affirmative Action Dispute Continues at University of Oregon, by P.C. Staff, page 15. Following Dean Derrick Bell’s resignation, the Minority Law Students Association called for abolishing the ‘substantial objection’ hiring rule and freezing tenure-track hiring until a written policy is developed. University president Paul Olum expressed regret over Bell’s resignation while denying the issue stemmed from racism or sexism.

Incarceration & Redress

• L.A. County Declares Feb. 19 a ‘Day of Remembrance’, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, on a motion by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, proclaimed February 19 a permanent annual ‘Day of Remembrance’ for the injustices endured by Japanese Americans during internment. Hahn called Executive Order 9066 a ‘blot on the history of our nation,’ and the motion passed unanimously.
• Canadian Gov’t Offer Draws Criticism, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Canadian government proposal for a $6 million redress fund for interned Japanese Canadians has drawn sharp criticism from the National Association of Japanese Canadians, who say the decision was made without proper community consultation. NAJC had sought as much as $500 million, considering the government’s offer far too low compared to U.S. redress recommendations.
• Tulelake Reunion Slated for Memorial Day, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The second campwide Tulelake Reunion will be held during Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26, at the Red Lion Inn in Sacramento. Issei who were interned at Tulelake will be honored as guests at the Sunday night banquet.
• Conference on Camp Life Held, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Six Philadelphia JACL members presented a session titled ‘The Concentration Camps of America’ at an educational conference for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, describing the history of anti-Asian discrimination and personal internment experiences. A Holocaust survivor among the attendees noted dangerous parallels to his own experience.

JACL

• JACL Tax Status Discussed, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The national JACL board met in San Francisco to discuss the IRS investigation of Sequoia chapter’s tax-exempt status and its potential effects on JACL’s overall 501(c)(3) standing, as well as redress, membership renewal systems, and Asian-bride catalogs. Legal counsel Floyd Shimomura addressed questions of national versus chapter tax filing responsibilities.
• JACL Report on Asian Bride Catalogs, by P.C. Staff, page 10. A detailed JACL committee report examines mail-order bride catalog businesses marketing Asian women, raising concerns about exploitation, dehumanizing racial and sexual stereotyping, and the legal vulnerability of women entering the U.S. through fiancee visas. The report outlines objectives for public awareness and potential government investigation into the legitimacy and ethics of such companies.
• PANA Convention in Shape — 4-Day Program Set, by P.C. Staff, page 13. The III Pan American Nikkei Convention will be held July 25-28 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, themed ‘Americanism of the Nikkei in the Americas,’ featuring simultaneous translations and professional workshops. Organizers detailed a four-day program including keynote speeches, panels, and cultural tours, with registration available through National JACL headquarters.
• Seattle Chapter Honors Issei, Hears Inouye, by Ann Fujii, page 13. Over 400 people attended the Seattle JACL installation banquet honoring the Issei generation, featuring keynote speaker Sen. Daniel Inouye, who praised the Issei’s legacy and discussed the difficulty of passing redress legislation. The chapter also unveiled a plaque inscribed with over 200 names of deceased Issei pioneers.

Community

• Child Molester Resentenced, by From a report by Rafu Shimpo, page 2. Daniel K. Barrera, convicted of molesting and killing nine-year-old Jenny Kao in 1982, was resentenced from life without parole to 25 years to life following a California Supreme Court ruling on special circumstances. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to urge an appeal of the decision, with Supervisor Mike Antonovich objecting strongly.
• Student Development Symposium Offered, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics is presenting a day of leadership workshops on March 9 at USC’s Davidson Conference Center. Topics include campus-community linkages, mentoring, Asian Pacific women as leaders, and coping with leadership demands.
• Photo of Missing Boy Posted on Store Bags, by From a report by Rafu Shimpo, page 2. A photo and description of kidnapped Eurasian American boy Clark Toshiro Handa will be printed on grocery bags distributed throughout California in April as part of a nationwide missing children effort. Clark was kidnapped from his mother’s Fairfield home in August 1984 and has not been found despite a ransom note and fliers.
• Journalists Assn. Seeks Executive Director, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Asian American Journalists Association is launching a nationwide search for its first executive director to develop programs improving community issue coverage and increasing Asian American representation in newsrooms. The position, funded by grants including from the Gannett Foundation, offers a salary range of $20-30,000.
• Poston III Reunion Set for Mid-April, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The 1985 Poston III Reunion, themed ‘Friendships — Renewing Old Ties,’ will be held April 19-21 at the Biltmore Hotel, featuring Tak Shindo and his Orchestra at the Saturday banquet. More than 900 former residents have been mailed registration forms, with a $65 fee due by March 15.

Military & Veterans

• Morita Highlights 100th/442nd Installation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Actor Pat Noriyuki Morita was the special speaker at the 100th/442nd Veterans Association installation banquet, sharing stories of his wartime youth and entertainment career, and was made an honorary member for exemplifying the ‘Go For Broke’ spirit. Dr. Arthur Sakamoto was installed as the new president, succeeding Monte Fujita.
• Israelis Decorate Ex-Japan Envoy, by From Japan press reports, page 14. Former Japanese consul Sempo Sugihara, now 85, received a medal from the Israeli organization Yad Vashem for issuing visas that helped 4,500 Jews escape Nazi persecution during WWII in Lithuania. Sugihara defied Japanese government orders to issue the visas, working nonstop even as he was being expelled by Soviet authorities, and was later dismissed by Japan’s Foreign Ministry for his actions.

Arts & Entertainment

• ‘Asa Ga Kimashita’ to Open in Bay Area, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Velina Hasu Houston’s award-winning play ‘Asa Ga Kimashita,’ the first in a trilogy about a Japanese warbride and her family, opens March 6 at San Francisco’s Nova Theatre. The play, directed by David Hillbrand, explores obstacles to multi-racial relationships in war-ravaged Japan and has won the Lorraine Hansberry and David Library awards.

Commentary

• The Monument, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A personal column describing a wintry visit to Washington, D.C., including a tour of the Washington Monument. The writer reflects on the monument’s history, construction delays from 1848 to 1884, and the varied stone colors visible from outside.
• The U.S.-Japan Media Warp, page 4. A panelist at a Japan Current English Association conference analyzes a survey comparing international news coverage between U.S. and Japanese newspapers, finding Japanese papers devote far more coverage to the U.S. than American papers devote to Japan. The piece examines differences in newspaper style, editorial practices, and reliance on correspondents versus news agencies between the two countries.
• On Chin, Shimoura and Coalition Building, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Columnist Bill Hosokawa recounts attorney James Shimoura’s account of how Detroit’s Asian American community organized American Citizens for Justice after the killing of Vincent Chin resulted in no jail time for the perpetrators. Hosokawa draws parallels between this coalition-building success and the historical failure of Japanese Americans to find allies during the WW2 internment.
• Once Again: Nikkei, Japanese American, or AJA?, by Raymond Okamura, page 5. Okamura responds to a debate about terminology, arguing for ‘Japanese American’ or ‘American of Japanese ancestry’ as the preferred terms rather than ‘Nikkei,’ which he feels doesn’t clearly distinguish Japanese Americans from Japanese nationals. He proposes a hierarchy of preferred, marginally acceptable, ambiguous, and unacceptable terms for referring to the community.
• Pan-Asian Outlook Needed, by J.K. Yamamoto, page 6. Yamamoto argues that JACL should engage with issues affecting other Asian American groups, not just those with direct impact on Japanese Americans, citing the mail-order bride issue and human rights concerns in South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan. He contends that a narrow focus on self-interest would undermine JACL’s ability to seek or deserve broader support for causes like redress.

In-Depth

• Refugee Describes Struggles, by Judy Yao, page 6. El Camino College student Lac Van Dao recounts his harrowing journey from fighting in the South Vietnamese military, to being captured and held as a POW, to his dramatic escape by boat with his mother to Thailand and eventual resettlement in the United States. Dao, now studying photography, reflects on the war’s impact and his attachment to his native Vietnam.
• Relocation, Reclamation and Restoration — A Long Hawaiian Journey, by Richard T. Miyao, page 9. Miyao recounts his family’s World War II internment experience as the son of a Shinto priest at Izumo Taisha shrine in Honolulu, detailing the shrine property’s wartime seizure and the decades-long legal battle to reclaim and restore it. The shrine was finally rededicated in 1969 after a 1962 court ruling returned the property, and the author’s father continued serving as priest for nearly 60 years.

Obituaries

• Yoshiharu Inadomi, by P.C. Staff, page 14. Yoshiharu Inadomi, 61-year-old Santa Paula-born Nisei and president of Jonsons Markets, Inc., passed away suddenly on Feb. 14 at Glendale Memorial Hospital. He was a longtime East Los Angeles JACL member and founding member of the national JACL 1000 Club, survived by his wife, children, and siblings.
• Wisconsin Minister Succumbs, by P.C. Staff, page 15. The Rev. Perry Saito, a United Methodist minister interned at Tule Lake during WWII who later helped other Japanese Americans find jobs for release, died of congestive heart failure at age 63. He served several Wisconsin churches over his career and is survived by his wife, five children, a sister, and a brother.

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