Vol. 118, No. 11, March 25, 1994. 8 pages. View this issue
Bruce I. Yamashita was commissioned as a captain in the Marine Corps on March 18, after a five-year fight against racial discrimination, and the front page covered the Capitol Hill ceremony. He pledged to keep pressing for military reform. Beside it ran a second subject: JACL officials, including John Nakahata of the Washington D.C. chapter, objected to Asian stereotypes in the video game ‘Lethal Enforcers,’ and Gwen Muranaka reported on Nintendo’s requested changes. Related stories covered game ratings and a study of violence and children.
Other pages looked back at the World War II incarceration (often called internment). Rep. Robert T. Matsui said the Justice Department had formed a team to look into possible radiation tests at the camps, Gila River veterans were remembered at an Arizona ceremony, and a study examined the effect of camp silence on Sansei. Bill Hosokawa wrote about the Shimamoto siblings, reunited after 52 years and tied to Poston and Redress. Columns by Bill Marutani and Tom D. Crouch complete the eight pages.
What’s in this issue
Military & Veterans
- Yamashita Commissioned but He’ll Continue Fight for Military Reform, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Former Marine Corps officer candidate Bruce I. Yamashita was commissioned as a captain in a Capitol Hill ceremony after a five-year battle for justice against racial discrimination in the Marine Corps. Despite his victory, Yamashita pledged to continue pursuing reforms to the military’s administrative process for handling discrimination complaints, including new appeals to the Board for Correction of Naval Records.
Incarceration & Redress
- Investigation Into Possibility of Radiation Tests at Internment Camps to Begin, Matsui Says, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Robert T. Matsui announced that the U.S. Justice Department has formed a special research team to investigate whether the government conducted radiation tests on Japanese Americans at WWII internment camps. The action follows Matsui’s request to Attorney General Janet Reno after reports surfaced of secret government radiation experiments on U.S. citizens during the 1940s and 1950s.
National
- Video Violence: Nintendo Seeks Changes to ‘Lethal Enforcers’ Over Asian Stereotypes, by Gwen Muranaka, page 1. JACL officials raised concerns about racial stereotyping in the video game ‘Lethal Enforcers,’ which depicts Asian villains in Chinatown settings for players to shoot. John Nakahata of the Washington D.C. JACL chapter criticized the game for going beyond generic settings to specifically target Chinatown and Asian stereotypes, prompting Nintendo to request numerous changes from developer Konami.
- Two Firms Issue Game Guidelines, Ratings, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Both Sega and Nintendo have established content guidelines and rating systems for video games amid concerns about violence, with Sega using a three-tier classification system (GA, MA-13, MA-17). Nintendo’s guidelines prohibit ethnic stereotypes, sexual content, excessive violence, and other objectionable material in games carrying its Seal of Quality.
- Study: Video Games Encourage Violence in Kids, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Parker Page of the Children’s Television Resource and Education Center presented research to a Senate hearing showing that children who play violent video games display more aggressive behavior afterward. The study warned that increasingly realistic, lifelike video game characters could have a greater influence on children’s attitudes and behaviors than earlier violent media.
- Nintendo Seeks ‘Lethal Enforcer’ Changes, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Nintendo released a detailed list of 18 requested changes to Konami’s Super Nintendo version of ‘Lethal Enforcers,’ including removing ethnic stereotyping, graphic violence, and racial references like ‘China Town.’ Many of these problematic elements were noted as still present in the Sega Genesis version of the game.
Community
- Gila River Vets Remembered; Reunion, Monument Planned, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Arizona Chapter JACL members participated in the re-dedication of the Ira H. Hayes American Legion Post 84, honoring 21 Japanese Americans from the Gila River internment center killed in action during World War II. Former MIS veteran Masaji Inoshita announced plans for a monument to Gila River internees and a 1995 reunion of camp survivors.
- All Aboard: New 1994 Board Members Listed, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Pacific Citizen lists newly installed 1994 board members for several JACL chapters including Friends of Little Tokyo Branch Library, Detroit Chapter, Gardena Valley Chapter, Seattle Chapter, and Fremont Chapter. Officers and committee members are named for each organization along with their respective roles.
- Marrow Transplant Milestone, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Joan Loof celebrated the one-year anniversary of her bone marrow transplant, which she received through the Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches program. The project, run by the Little Tokyo Service Center, works to increase the number of potential Asian marrow donors in the registry.
In-Depth
- Effect of Internment on Sansei Is Subject of Study, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Graduate student Debra Kuwahara is conducting a study at the California School of Professional Psychology examining the psychological effects of WWII internment on third-generation Japanese Americans (Sansei). The study seeks to understand how the internees’ silence about their camp experiences may have created a generational gap and affected the well-being of their children.
Commentary
- Reunion and Redress, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa recounts the story of Noval Shimamoto and his sister May Shimamoto Bretthauer, who were separated for 52 years after their family’s WWII internment at Poston and were finally reunited in an Iowa nursing home. The column questions whether Noval, living quietly in rural Iowa, ever received his Redress payment from the government.
- Issei Yiddish, by Bill Marutani, page 6. Marutani reflects on the unique pidgin English-Japanese language developed by Issei immigrants, blending English terms with Japanese pronunciation and regional dialects. He wonders whether anyone has compiled this nostalgic terminology before it is lost, comparing it to Yiddish and other linguistic traditions that have been preserved in writing.
- Smithsonian Official Explains 1995 Enola Gay Exhibit, by Tom D. Crouch, page 6. A Smithsonian Institution official responds to a previous Pacific Citizen article, assuring readers that the planned 1995 exhibition on the atomic bomb and Enola Gay will be handled with honesty, balance, and sensitivity. The museum has consulted extensively with officials and survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and formed an advisory committee of scholars to guide the exhibition’s development.
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