Remembering Edward Ennis and a year of redress, 1989 in review

Vol. 110, No. 1, January 5, 1990. 16 pages. View this issue

The loss of Edward J. Ennis led the issue. He strongly opposed the World War II incarceration (often called internment) of Japanese Americans and the issuance of Executive Order 9066, and he died on Jan. 7 at age 82. He spent 14 years with the Justice Department, later led the ACLU, and served as national legal counsel of the JACL-Anti Discrimination Committee. Redress news ran alongside: the JACL-LEC decided to phase out its Washington office, and an editorial credited Gov. Thomas H. Kean for urging President Reagan to back redress. Vincent Tajiri wrote a personal essay on Pearl Harbor and a later visit to his family at Poston.

Elsewhere, a 1989 chronology and necrology looked back on the year. The 100th/442nd/MIS memorial foundation opened a design contest for a Little Tokyo memorial. Bill Hosokawa and Bill Marutani wrote columns, St. Louis JACL members reported on the Rohwer camp memorials, and the Census Bureau began hiring temporary enumerators.

What’s in this issue

National

• Ed Ennis Opposed Japanese American WWII Internment, page 1. Edward J. Ennis, who strongly opposed the WWII internment of Japanese Americans and issuance of Executive Order 9066, died Jan. 7 at age 82 of complications from diabetes. He spent 14 years with the Justice Department, later led the ACLU, and served as national legal counsel of the JACL-Anti Discrimination Committee, aiding the campaign for Issei naturalization.
• Census Bureau Opens Campaign to Hire Temporary Enumerators, page 1. The 1990 census will create more than 300,000 temporary jobs nationwide, and the Census Bureau has launched a major recruiting campaign targeting minority applicants including Asians and Pacific Islanders. Jobs pay $5-$8 per hour for enumerators and are open to qualified applicants 18 and older, with bilingual speakers especially encouraged to apply.
• Class-Action Reparations-Minded NCJAR Disbands, page 1. The National Council for Japanese American Redress, founded in 1980 to pursue reparations through the courts, has decided to disband, as announced by chairman William Hohri. Remaining donations will go to the United Methodist Church in Chicago or the Japanese American Library in San Francisco.
• L.A.-Area Asian Students Being Victimized, page 1. The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations reported 741 anti-immigrant incidents during the school year involving Hispanic or Asian victims, representing 30% of hate crimes that received disciplinary action. Asian students comprised 14.5% of victims despite being only 8.6% of the county’s school population.
• Nikkei Woman Wins Her Sexual Harassment Case, page 1. Denise Okamoto, a receptionist at a Pasadena accounting firm from 1980-1986, won a unanimous decision in a sexual harassment case before the Fair Employment and Housing Commission. Partner Richard Tuckley was ordered to pay $30,000 in damages in what was called the first case where the state civil rights commission found an Asian American woman had been sexually harassed by an employer.
• Japan Ambassador Matsunaga Leaves Post in Washington, page 2. Japan’s Ambassador to the United States, Nobuo Matsunaga, returned home after nearly five years in Washington, during which U.S.-Japan ties grew closer. He was succeeded by Ryohei Murata, former vice minister for Foreign Affairs.
• Chicago Judge’s Remarks on Dec. 7 Criticized, page 2. Chicago Judge Gerald Murphy ordered a moment of silence in his courtroom on Dec. 7, referring to the Pearl Harbor attack as caused by ‘the treacherous, no-good Japanese.’ Sandra Otake of the Asian American Bar Association said her group would draft a letter to the judge, calling the remarks inappropriate.
• Japanese Don’t Respect Americans, Reports U.S. Poll, page 14. A Business Week magazine poll conducted by Lou Harris and Associates found a majority of Japanese respondents have little or no admiration for the United States, its economic success, or its people. The poll also found many Japanese believe the U.S. imposes unfair trade pressure while American companies aren’t trying hard enough to compete.

Community

• JACCC to Celebrate 10th Anniversary, page 1. The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with a 90-page commemorative book edited by Kats Kunitsugu. The book will document the JACCC’s accomplishments over its first decade and is being funded through Gold Patron, Silver Patron and other contribution levels.
• Donors Sought to Aid Teenager: Bone Marrow Wanted for Leukemia Victim, page 1. Elaine Chin of Naperville, Illinois, met with Secretary of State Jim Edgar to appeal for Asian bone marrow donors for her son Raymond Chin Jr., 19, who suffers from leukemia. She is seeking Asian volunteers, preferably Chinese, to undergo blood testing to find a match.
• Design Contest for Little Tokyo Nikkei War Memorial Announced, page 1. The 100th/442nd/MIS World War II Memorial Foundation has opened a design competition to create a memorial honoring Japanese American WWII veterans, to be located in Little Tokyo’s First Street Plaza development. The winning design will be announced on or before Memorial Day 1990, commemorating the veterans who served while their families were interned.
• Gila River Canal High 1990 Reunion Site Set, page 2. Plans for the next Gila River Canal High School Reunion are being organized by a committee chaired by George Tamon and Jiro Fujii, to be held the last weekend in October 1990 at the Westin Hotel near San Francisco airport. The class of ’49 will be invited to join classes ’43-’48 for the event.
• AIDS Video by Asian Group Released, page 2. The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations released ‘Behind the Mask: AIDS…It Affects All of Us,’ the first AIDS education video made for and by Asian and Pacific Islander communities. The video is available in multiple languages amid reports that AIDS cases among the community increased 47 percent from September 1988 to August 1989.
• Kawasaki Motors to Open Plant in Missouri, page 2. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is converting a long-vacant Uniroyal plant in Marysville, Missouri, spending $17 million to renovate the 240,000 square foot facility. The plant had been empty since 200 workers were laid off in 1983.
• ‘Just Say No’ Link with Japan Formed, page 2. A partnership between the U.S. and Japan to prevent substance abuse was formed when ‘Just Say No’ Japan became the first foreign affiliate of the American-based organization. The Japanese program was initiated by actor Ryotaro Sugi and Ivy G. Cohen, with over 1,100 children attending inaugural celebrations.
• WWII GI Claims Killing 500 Japanese Soldiers, page 8. David Rubitsky, 72, of Milton, Wisconsin, claimed he single-handedly killed 500 Japanese soldiers in a WWII jungle battle but was denied a Medal of Honor by the Pentagon. Investigators found his supporting photograph’s handwriting was not authentic Japanese, and he believes he was denied the medal partly because he is Jewish.
• Japanese Teahouse Links Newport News with Japan, page 8. A Japanese teahouse was moved from the National Gallery of Arts in Washington to Christopher Newport College’s campus in Newport News, Virginia. Virginia Governor Gerald Baliles praised its value for international trade given the area’s concentration of Japanese companies.
• Saké Brewer to Open Plant in Colorado, page 8. Tatsuma-Honke Brewing Co., brewers of Hakushika sake, plans to break ground in April for a $7 million plant in Golden, Colorado’s Coors Technology Center. The company chose Colorado over California competitors due to superior water quality important to their brewing process.
• Fremont, Eden Township Officers Installed Jointly, page 14. The Eden Township and Fremont JACL Chapters held their joint installation on Nov. 11 at the Holiday Inn in Union City, California, with Dr. Yosh Nakashima serving as installing officer. Guest speaker Judge Irene Takahashi shared her family’s internment experience and spoke about civic duty.

JACL

• JACL-LEC to Phase Out Its Washington Office: Office of Redress Administration Can Process 3,000 Recipients Per Month, page 1. The JACL-LEC Board decided it no longer needs to maintain its Washington, D.C. office and will operate at reduced levels through 1990 before closing entirely. ORA administrator Bob Bratt told the board that redress funds should be released by fiscal 1991, with computer operations now capable of processing 3,000 names per month.

In-Depth

• 19th Century Article Found on Japan Missions, page 2. A Sophia University journalism graduate student discovered a 19th-century article in a London library describing British missionaries’ views on Japan, published in the Japan Christian Quarterly. The article by Capt. Golownin discussed British Protestant beliefs about Jesuit missionary failures and worldwide interest in East Asian trade.
• 1989 Chronology, by GTJ, page 9. A month-by-month chronology recaps major events of 1989 affecting the Japanese American community, including the Stockton schoolyard massacre, the killing of Jim Loo, redress legislation progress, and JACL personnel changes. The piece notes 1989 was dominated by violence and a reluctant Congress on redress before ending with entitlement funding secured.
• Remembrances from Pearl Harbor Sunday to Poston, by Vincent Tajiri, page 10. In a personal essay, Vincent Tajiri recounts learning of the Pearl Harbor attack while serving in the U.S. Army, and later visiting his family interned at Poston. He weaves personal memory with historical analysis of the political forces, racism, and key figures behind Executive Order 9066 and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Incarceration & Redress

• After 40 Years, Rohwer Camp Memorials in Need of Repair, page 3. St. Louis JACL members inspected the three Nisei war memorials at Rohwer Relocation Center cemetery in 1988 and found significant damage from rain, weather, and ground settling. The Rohwer Restoration Project, organized by St. Louis JACL and the Midwest District Council, is seeking $15,000-$20,000 for restoration.

Commentary

• A Tip of the Hat to Gov. Kean, by P.C. Staff, page 4. An editorial praises outgoing New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean for privately urging President Reagan to support redress legislation for Japanese Americans, despite having little personal stake in the issue. Kean’s advocacy was credited by Grant Ujifusa as crucial to winning Reagan’s support for redress.
• JACL Looks to Future, by Fresno Bee editorial, page 4. A reprinted Fresno Bee editorial discusses the JACL’s potential identity crisis after achieving its major redress victory, noting National President Cressey Nakagawa’s suggestion that JACL could serve as an interlocutor in tense U.S.-Japan relations. The editorial welcomes the idea of JACL acting as an ‘honest broker’ to address rising xenophobia in trade disputes.
• Roads Take Toll on Japanese Drivers, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Columnist Bill Hosokawa reflects on meeting Japanese parents at Denver’s airport who came to claim the body of their son killed in a car accident, noting this was the third such incident that year involving Japanese exchange students. He discusses the disproportionate number of Japanese students dying in U.S. traffic accidents, possibly due to unfamiliarity with American driving conditions.
• Reverse Romaji, by Bill Marutani, page 4. Columnist Bill Marutani discusses the challenges of reading Japanese katakana representations of foreign words, calling it ‘reverse romaji.’ He humorously describes his struggles decoding words like ‘ma-ku-do-na-ru-do’ (McDonald’s) and questions who decides how foreign words are transliterated into Japanese.
• ‘Private Parts’ — An Owner’s Manual, by Mike Hoshiko, page 13. Mike Hoshiko reviews Dr. Yosh Taguchi’s book ‘Private Parts,’ an accessible guide to men’s urological health that has become a bestseller in Canada. The review encourages readers, especially aging Nisei men, to learn about prostate and urological health issues they might otherwise avoid discussing.

Obituaries

• Placer County JACL Pioneer Roy Yoshida, 80, Succumbs, page 8. Roy Takeo Yoshida, a charter member of Placer County JACL founded in 1928, died Dec. 6 after a brief illness in Roseville, California. He operated a grocery store in Newcastle for 50 years and was active in restoring the Okei Grave.
• Veteran Sports Writer Leslie Nakashima Dead at 87, page 8. Satoru Leslie Nakashima, Hawaii-born journalist and former Asia sports editor for United Press International, died of brain hemorrhage in Tokyo at age 87. He was the first American journalist to visit atomic-bombed Hiroshima after the war and filed a widely-published eyewitness account.
• 1989 Necrology, page 9. A comprehensive list of notable deaths in the Japanese American community during 1989, including Karl Bendetsen who devised the WWII evacuation plan, sports figures, JACL leaders, and community pioneers. Entries include brief biographical notes on their contributions and community roles.

Arts & Entertainment

• Running the 28.2-Mile Marathon Into Moments of the Past, by Stanley Kanzaki, page 12. Stanley Kanzaki recounts his experience running the 1989 New York City Marathon, weaving in personal memories triggered along the race route through New York’s boroughs. The essay describes encounters with fellow runners including Japanese visitors and a humorous ending where he had to walk two extra miles after losing his subway token.

Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.