Redress bill nears signing, and a San Francisco benefit for earthquake relief

Vol. 109, No. 17, November 24, 1989. 8 pages. View this issue

Redress ran through this issue. On the front page, JACL’s Pacific Southwest District Council and the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations announced a press conference for when President Bush signs the redress appropriations bill, and J.D. Hokoyama called it a bittersweet victory. An editorial on page 4 looked back at the long campaign as a civics lesson, and Bill Hosokawa reviewed Lise Yasui’s documentary A Family Gathering, about her Issei grandfather Masuo Yasui and the lasting harm of wartime incarceration.

Also on the front page, the San Francisco JACL planned its annual Spaghetti-Crab Feed for Dec. 2, with proceeds going to the Earthquake Relief Fund. Inside, Rufus Tojo’s path from Heart Mountain to the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion and the liberation of Dachau gets a page, and Shig Kihara writes on plans for a 1991 Military Intelligence Service anniversary. Columns by George Johnston, Jin Konomi and Ken Nakano round out the commentary pages.

What’s in this issue

Community

• San Francisco JACL Spaghetti-Crab Feed to Benefit Earthquake Victims, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The San Francisco JACL will hold its annual Spaghetti-Crab Feed on Dec. 2 at Christ United Presbyterian Church, with proceeds this year going to the Earthquake Relief Fund. Chapter president Greg Marutani said the event offers a chance for members to meet chapter board members in a relaxed, speech-free setting.
• Santa to Visit Children’s Twin Cities Party Dec. 2, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Twin Cities JACL will host a holiday party for children on Dec. 2 at the Folwell Community Center in Minneapolis, featuring refreshments, games, music and a Santa visit. Attendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable food for a local food shelf.
• Cal Japanese Alumni Scholarships for 90-91 Open to Science, Medical Students, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California Japanese American Alumni Association announced its 1990-91 scholarship program offering $1,000 to $2,000 awards to UC students of Japanese ancestry studying science, medicine, or related fields. Funding comes from a trust established from the 1972 sale of the Japanese Men’s Students Club dormitory near UC Berkeley.
• Culver City Dedicates Garden Next to Freeway, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Culver City unveiled a landscape garden on Nov. 14 in memory of Kiyoto ‘Herky’ Shinmoto, a longtime resident and garden landscaper, near the San Diego Freeway. The garden has been designated by Cal-Trans as a model for freeway beautification projects.
• Al Sugiyama Elected to Seattle School Board, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Al Sugiyama became the first Asian American elected to the Seattle school board, winning 73% of the vote in District 7. He is executive director of the Center for Career Alternatives, an employment training center he founded for disadvantaged youth in 1979.
• College Students Picket ‘Discriminating’ Club, by Los Angeles Times, page 2. More than 400 college students protested outside Hollywood’s Florentine Gardens nightclub, alleging the club used dress codes to discriminate against Asian American students. Students say they will continue protesting weekly until the club owner agrees to meet with them.
• Berkeley Asian Youth Center Receives $287,000 from City for Its ‘Real Alternatives Project — RAP’, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Berkeley Asian Youth Center received a $287,000 city grant to run a program for high-risk youth, implemented by a consortium of nine Asian, Black and Chicano organizations. The program will provide counseling, academic support, subsidized employment and family services to 130 targeted youth.
• Greater Chicago Nikkei Singles Programs Shows Wide Selection and Kinds of Activities, by P.C. Staff, page 3. New Horizons, the Nikkei Singles of Greater Chicago, continues offering social and educational activities under President Merle Kaneko, including seminars, dances, and participation in a Nisei veterans tribute banquet during the Tri-District JACL Convention. The group also sent a large delegation to the National Singles Convention in Torrance, Calif.
• Calif. State Senate Fellows Program Beckons, by P.C. Staff, page 3. State Sen. David Roberti announced applications are open for the 1990-91 California State Senate Fellows Program, which places college graduates in full-time Senate staff positions for 11 months while earning graduate credit. Fourteen fellowships are awarded annually, with a Feb. 14, 1990 application deadline.
• SCAN, NLA JACL Chapters Hold Joint Brunch Installations, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Southern California American Nikkei and Nikkei Leadership Association JACL chapters installed their 1990 officers in a joint ceremony at Sausalito South Restaurant in Manhattan Beach. Guest speaker Wakako Yamauchi read from her work ‘And the Soul Shall Dance,’ and George Ogawa served as installing officer.
• San Jose Nikkei Prep for Gala New Year’s Eve, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Japanese American Community Foundation of Santa Clara County is hosting a New Year’s Eve ‘Decadance’ dinner-dance at San Jose’s Old Convention Center. Special guest June Kuramoto of the band Hiroshima will perform and emcee part of the program.

JACL

• NCWNPC Scholastic Achievers Honored, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Northern California-Western Nevada-Pacific District Council announced 1990 scholarship applications are being mailed, continuing an annual awards program established in 1976 to recognize outstanding graduating high school seniors from member families. The 1989 recipients included Charles A. Boch, Robert E. Franks Jr., and Paul Tanaka.

National

• Vietnamese Fishermen Can Fish … For Now, by Rafu Shimpo, page 1. San Francisco-area Vietnamese fishermen won a temporary court victory allowing them to continue fishing pending appeal of a ruling enforcing a 1797 law barring non-citizens from operating large fishing boats in U.S. waters. The U.S. Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay after a district judge upheld Coast Guard enforcement.
• Jim Loo AJC/Raleigh 7 Committee Enlisting Congressional Support, Eye Civil Rights Trial of Piche Bros., by P.C. Staff, page 1. Leaders of the Jim Loo American Justice Coalition met with congressional staff to build support for a possible federal civil rights trial against the Piche brothers, who are accused in the racially motivated killing of Jim Loo. Lloyd Piche is serving a sentence for misdemeanor charges, while Robert Piche faces a January 1990 murder trial.

Arts & Entertainment

• Asian American Film Festival Entries for Spring 1990 Being Accepted, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Fifth Annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific American International Film Festival is accepting entries for its Spring 1990 event at UCLA, marking the 20th anniversary of Visual Communications. The festival showcases dramatic, documentary, experimental and animated works by and about Asian Pacific Americans.
• ‘Forbidden City, USA’ Due in Little Tokyo for Southern California Premiere Dec. 1, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Filmmaker Arthur Dong’s documentary Forbidden City, USA, about a 1930s-40s all-Chinese nightclub that showcased Asian American performers, will premiere in Southern California at the Japan America Theatre. Proceeds benefit Visual Communications, and the film features rare footage and interviews with performers and late club owner Charlie Low.

Incarceration & Redress

• Press Conference Slated When Bush Signs Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL’s Pacific Southwest District Council and the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations announced plans for a press conference once President Bush signs the redress appropriations bill. J.D. Hokoyama called it a bittersweet victory given community members who died before seeing redress realized.

In-Depth

• Dr. Jin Kinoshita, Vision Research Leader, Retires from NEI as Scientific Director, But Continuing Research at UC Davis, page 2. Dr. Jin Kinoshita, an internationally recognized vision researcher, was honored at a four-day symposium at Columbia University marking his retirement as scientific director of the National Eye Institute. A Japanese American incarcerated during WWII at Santa Anita and Topaz, Kinoshita went on to a distinguished career including groundbreaking cataract research and will continue research at UC Davis.
• A Nikkei’s Perspective: Symposium on Problems in Japan, by Ken Nakano, page 5. Nakano reports on an international symposium in Hiroshima addressing Japan’s internationalization and interface problems, including Nikkei immigration history, Mazda’s hiring issues in Michigan, and the influx of foreign laborers into Japan. He suggests JACL should encourage Nikkei youth to pursue opportunities in Japan and proposes a similar symposium at the National JACL Convention in San Diego.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei MIS Gears for 50th Anniversary Fete in 1991, by Shig Kihara, page 3. The Military Intelligence Service Association of Northern California plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nisei soldier’s service in November 1991, marking the Nov. 1, 1941 start of training at Crissy Field. The author, an original MIS instructor, recounts the history of the program and its significant contributions during WWII and to later redress efforts.
• Liberation of Dachau: The Untold Story of the 522nd Field Artillery, page 5. The article recounts Cincinnati JACLer Rufus Tojo’s WWII journey from Heart Mountain incarceration to service with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, which was among the first American units to reach the Dachau concentration camp in April 1945. It also describes his nephew David Tojo’s 1989 visit to the preserved Dachau site and reflections on the horrors documented there.

Commentary

• The Lesson in Securing Redress, page 4. This editorial reflects on the long struggle for Japanese American redress as a civics lesson, highlighting three key turning points: the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, President Reagan’s decision to sign the redress bill after lobbying by Grant Ujifusa, and Senator Dan Inouye’s emotional speech securing entitlement funding status. It credits the determination of Japanese Americans and the support of fair-minded citizens for the campaign’s success.
• A Family Gathering, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Hosokawa reviews Lise Yasui’s PBS documentary ‘A Family Gathering,’ which traces her search for understanding of her Issei grandfather Masuo Yasui, a Hood River, Ore. businessman arrested after Pearl Harbor and interned despite his community standing. The film reveals the lasting psychological damage of wartime incarceration, culminating in Masuo’s suicide, and is praised as a sensitive portrayal of the human cost of the Evacuation.
• Pix from Japan, by George Johnston, page 4. In his Iroiro column, Johnston recounts a recent trip to Japan visiting family and touring Nikko and Sendai, along with observations on expensive department store shopping. He also comments on photos he took of ‘wild’ youth fashion styles in Harajuku contrasted with traditional Japan, noting similar imagery appeared in Time and the Los Angeles Times.
• A Salt Tactic, by Jin Konomi, page 5. In his Moshi Moshi column, Konomi tells the legend of Emperor Wu of Hsisin’s harem and a clever concubine who used salt to attract his sheep-drawn carriage to her chamber. He traces how this legend led to the custom, still seen today, of placing salt cones at the entrances of Japanese restaurants.

Obituaries

• Robert E. Funke, M.D., Active West Los Angeles JACL Board Member, Dies, page 6. Dr. Robert E. Funke, a longtime West Los Angeles JACL board member and Earth Science Group member, died July 30 of a heart condition while attending his son’s wedding. He was a recipient of the chapter’s Community Service Award and is survived by his wife Dr. Lorraine and family.

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