JACL’s financial crisis, draft resisters and the Gila River reunion

Vol. 120, No. 7, April 7, 1995. 20 pages. View this issue

JACL’s financial and leadership disputes ran through this 20-page issue. Reports by Cynthia Campbell and Helen McIntire and by Scott J. Seo examined the organization’s books, while President Denny Yasuhara, Secretary-Treasurer Jon Kaji and four terminated staff members, represented by attorney Donna Ryu, gave differing accounts. A timeline of the controversies and commentary from Bill Marutani, Hank Sakai and Peter Harris filled the pages around them. The Pacific Southwest District also split over a public apology to World War II draft resisters.

Elsewhere, Joe Allman reported on the 50th anniversary reunion at Gila River, where more than 1,150 former internees, families and friends gathered, and Karl Nobuyuki wrote about his own return to the camp where he was born. A letter-writing campaign persuaded the producers of Grease! to remove the word “Jap” from the show, and JACL protested Senator Alfonse D’Amato’s mocking of Judge Lance Ito.

What’s in this issue

National

• Views on JACL Wartime Role Differ in PSW, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Four Pacific Southwest District chapters have organized an educational forum on JACL’s wartime role after PSW leadership issued a public apology to WWII draft resisters. The controversy centers on whether JACL’s wartime leadership, including Mike Masaoka and Saburo Kido, wrongly stigmatized the Fair Play Committee and draft resisters.
• JACL Success Story: ‘Jap’ Cut From Musical, by Richard Suenaga, page 1. A coast-to-coast letter-writing campaign by JACL members and staff convinced producers of the musical Grease! to remove the offensive word ‘Jap’ from a line in the show. The campaign began with San Mateo Chapter member George Ikuta and grew to include national JACL leadership before producers agreed to change the dialogue.

JACL

• Review of Past Procedures Show Controls Lacking; Financial Records at HQ Revealed by Campbell Report, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A March 20 financial report by Professional Exchange Service found JACL headquarters lacked basic accounting controls, with missing 1994 records and no oversight of the business manager who controlled all finances. The report concluded that a projected $31,000 surplus was premature given the absence of proper documentation and reconciliation.
• Kaji Blocks JACL Bank Account, Causes $6,000 in Checks to Bounce, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL Secretary-Treasurer Jonathan Kaji removed all names from JACL’s bank signature card on March 21 after believing he had been improperly omitted, causing $6,000 in checks to bounce including a staff salary. The action followed a complicated sequence of events involving unapproved bank signature changes going back to 1994.
• JACL Controversies: A Chronology, by P.C. Staff, page 1. This timeline traces the escalating financial and leadership disputes within JACL from the failed 1994 convention budget vote through the March 1995 bounced checks, including the December staff reorganization and dissident board members’ actions. It documents key decisions, reports, and reversals that fueled the ongoing controversy.
• Yasuhara Calls for End to Divisiveness, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL President Denny Yasuhara stated that his efforts to restore JACL’s financial health have been met with personal attacks from dissident board members trying to undermine the rebuilding process. He refused to resign despite a demand made by Secretary-Treasurer Jon Kaji and other officers at a March 18 press conference.
• PSW Chapters Challenge Mizobe’s Support of Resignation Demand, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Six Pacific Southwest District chapters, calling themselves the ‘PSW Coalition for Denny Yasuhara,’ questioned Governor Ruth Mizobe for not allowing the District Council to vote before she joined the call for Yasuhara’s resignation. The chapters expressed support for Yasuhara’s efforts to fix the organization’s finances.
• Mizobe Governor Controversy Continues Over Resignation Demand, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Ruth Mizobe defended her actions by saying she spoke as a National Board member rather than as PSW governor representing district positions, but critics like past president Harry Kajihara say the PSW constitution requires her to represent the district’s position. The six chapters emphasized their support for the National Board’s staff reorganization decision.
• Financial Mismanagement, Discrepancies Revealed, by Cynthia Campbell and Helen McIntire, page 6. The full Campbell Report details a total absence of accounting controls at JACL headquarters, missing records, and irreconcilable discrepancies between different financial statements for Pacific Citizen, the Legacy Fund, and the National account. The report concludes that the Secretary-Treasurer bears ultimate responsibility for the financial chaos and that a claimed $31,000 surplus cannot be verified.
• Barrington Report Supports Yasuhara’s Financial Analysis; Disagrees With Staff Reduction, by Scott J. Seo, page 7. An independent financial analysis by Barrington Consulting Group found that JACL faced real cash deficits in 1993 and 1994 due to shrinking membership and rising costs, though the actual 1994 deficit was smaller than projected due to late fundraising revenue. The report projected future scenarios showing JACL’s financial health depends heavily on revenue growth outpacing expenses.
• 1994 JACL Annual Giving Report, by Grayce Uyehara, page 12. Grayce Uyehara reports that at least 1,834 JACL members contributed nearly $100,000 to the first Annual Giving Campaign between November 1994 and March 1995. She urges the National Board to end internal disarray and focus on cooperative rebuilding to sustain future fundraising efforts.
• Bounce: Kaji’s Bank Actions Detailed, by P.C. Staff, page 16. This continuation article details the sequence of bank signature card changes at JACL, from the original 1994 resolution through Kaji’s March 21 action blocking accounts, resulting in bounced checks. National Legal Counsel Tom Hara later obtained board approval for a new signature card after most members voted to approve it, with several dissidents not responding or dissenting.
• Divisiveness: JACL Leaders Take Stand Against Dissident Behavior, by P.C. Staff, page 19. JACL leaders including Joe Allman and Harold Harada spoke out against dissident board members’ actions, arguing they were attempting to overthrow decisions made by the National Council in electing Yasuhara. Allman criticized the ‘nonsensical news conferences’ as attempts to discredit and potentially destroy JACL.

Commentary

• D’Amato Mocks Judge Ito on National Radio, by P.C. Staff, page 2. JACL condemned Senator Alfonse D’Amato for using a fake Japanese accent to mock O.J. Simpson trial Judge Lance Ito on national radio, calling him inexcusable and demanding a real apology. JACL leaders including Denny Yasuhara and Leigh-Ann Miyasato said the remarks perpetuated dangerous ethnic stereotyping reminiscent of WWII-era prejudice.
• It’s Wild in This Wonderland, by Bill Marutani, page 9. Marutani uses the Alice in Wonderland metaphor to describe the bizarre swings in JACL’s reported finances, from a projected $187,000 deficit to a claimed $31,000 surplus. He cites the Professional Exchange Service report’s warnings about lack of accounting controls and board members’ failure to understand their fiduciary responsibilities.
• ‘Naniwa-Bushi’, by Bill Hosokawa, page 9. Hosokawa reflects on the Japanese folk singing tradition of naniwa-bushi from his childhood and compares it whimsically to various American music genres he encountered over the decades. The column blends nostalgic memories of big bands like Glenn Miller and Lawrence Welk with reflections on cultural forms passed down from the Issei generation.
• JACL/LEC Member Praises Yasuhara, by P.C. Staff, page 9. A letter writer credits Denny Yasuhara with helping establish JACL-LEC and praises his courage in tackling difficult financial issues facing the organization. The writer urges Pacific Citizen readers to support Yasuhara’s decisions to ensure JACL’s survival.
• Disagrees With Reader’s Anti-Gay Position, by Gulia S. Nishihara, page 9. A letter writer responds to a prior anti-gay letter, arguing that the same blind bigotry used against gay and lesbian couples was used to justify Japanese American internment in 1942. The writer asks readers to embrace ‘live and let live’ regardless of the form love takes.
• Treasurer Must Take Responsibility for JACL Finances, by Hank Sakai, page 10. Former JACL treasurer Hank Sakai explains the proper role of the Finance Committee and treasurer in overseeing JACL’s finances, arguing that current Treasurer Jon Kaji should explain how spending controls broke down despite established procedures. He also defends Pacific Citizen against criticism, noting it has long subsidized membership costs.
• Excruciating Pain of Shrinking, by Peter Harris, page 11. Harris argues that JACL’s financial crisis stems from a long-term decline in membership rather than any single decision, and that reinstating terminated staff won’t solve the underlying problem. He calls for increased membership recruitment and better fundraising as the real solutions to JACL’s financial troubles.
• Open Letter to JACL Members, by Donna M. Ryu, page 11. Attorney Donna Ryu, representing four terminated JACL staff members, details how the National Board failed to meet its own deadlines for providing severance and job information, ultimately leading her clients not to reapply for restructured positions. She argues the staff were treated disrespectfully despite years of loyal service and used as scapegoats for the organization’s financial problems.
• PC Needs Financial Support, Says Kajihara, by Harry Kajihara, page 16. Ventura Chapter President Harry Kajihara argues that Pacific Citizen needs a reliable funding source rather than relying on donations or checkoffs, citing Barrington Consulting’s finding that flat revenue and modest expense growth create an unfavorable long-term financial picture for JACL. He calls for informing members they may need to pay more than the current $12 per family to sustain the newspaper.
• Staff Members Respond to Termination Treatment, by P.C. Staff, page 20. This continuation article details the terminated JACL staff members’ final treatment, including being asked to return office keys and make appointments to enter their former workplace. It notes that as more accurate financial information emerged showing a surplus rather than the projected deficit, no apology was offered to the affected employees.

Incarceration & Redress

• Draft Resisters Controversy Continues to Divide JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The public apology to WWII draft resisters organized by Trisha Murakawa and Ruth Mizobe has sparked strong disagreement, with Harold Harada and writer Frank Chin offering opposing views on JACL’s wartime leadership. Harada, a 442nd veteran, called the apology an insult to those who died in battle, while Chin said JACL should fully repudiate Masaoka and Kido’s actions.
• Showdown at Gila River, by Karl Nobuyuki, page 10. Nobuyuki recounts his personal and emotional experience attending the 50th anniversary reunion of the Gila River internment camp, where he reconnected with his birthplace and childhood memories through family and fellow former internees. The piece reflects on the significance of physically returning to the camp site after nearly 50 years.
• So What Does It Mean?, by Mei Nakano, page 10. Nakano reflects on Sansei author David Mura’s candid admission of shame over the Nisei generation’s perceived passivity during WWII internment, and argues that Nisei should have shared the emotional truth of their wartime experience with their children. She suggests that silence about the pain of internment may have inadvertently conveyed to children that they were ‘less than whole.’
• Huge Turnout at Gila Reunion, by Joe Allman, page 16. More than 1,150 former internees, families and friends attended the 50th anniversary reunion of the Gila River Relocation Center’s Canal Camp #1 and Butte Camp #2 in Arizona on March 17-18. The event included monument dedications, speeches by tribal and community leaders, and visits to former camp sites now marked with memorial plaques.

Obituaries

• Sachiyo Kodama Fujinaka, by P.C. Staff, page 19. Sachiyo Kodama Fujinaka, 71, passed away and is survived by husband Edward Y., son David S., grandchildren, and siblings including Mitsi Baron and Dorothy Narasaki of Seattle. Funeral services were held at Fukui Mortuary with interment at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park.
• Henry H. Tsubota, by P.C. Staff, page 19. Henry Hiroo Tsubota, 84, of Ontario, Oregon, born in Kent, Washington, passed away February 12, survived by wife Peggy Hiromu, children, grandsons, and siblings. He was an electrician at Ore-Ida Frozen Foods and a member of the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Church.
• Taniyo Yamanishi, by P.C. Staff, page 19. Taniyo Yamanishi, 96, a Hiroshima-born Issei resident of Pomona and naturalized U.S. citizen, passed away on March 20, survived by sons, daughters, 15 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Donations in lieu of flowers were requested for Keiro Nursing Home or the JACL Legacy Fund.

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