Japantown’s fight over a Starbucks, and funding to restore camps

Vol. 140, No. 10, June 3, 2005. 12 pages. View this issue

San Francisco’s Japantown was the lead story of this 12-page issue. Caroline Aoyagi reported on merchants like Carol Murata of Café Hana and community groups who opposed a proposed Starbucks at 1600 Webster Street, and a follow-up on page 12 covered the continuing dispute. Funding for historic sites also made news. A House committee approved $38 million to restore World War II incarceration (often called internment) camps, including Tule Lake and Manzanar, and the House agreed to $15 million for the Angel Island immigration station.

Elsewhere, Lynda Lin interviewed filmmaker Alice Wu about her film Saving Face, and wrote about Jane Hyun’s book on the bamboo ceiling. Grace Kimoto urged support for the paper’s spring campaign to build a new website. Community pages covered the Go for Broke Monument anniversary, a Heart Mountain walking tour and chapter scholarship luncheons. Sports covered Michelle Kwan and Ayako Okamoto.

What’s in this issue

Community

• S.F. Japantown Merchants and Community Groups Say No to Proposed Starbucks, by Caroline Aoyagi, page 1. San Francisco Japantown business owners like Carol Murata of Café Hana and Bobby Okamura of Benkyodo fear a proposed Starbucks moving into the historic 1600 Webster Street building will devastate their small businesses. Community groups are organizing against the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s approved leases, citing the loss of Japantown Bowl in 2002 as a cautionary precedent.
• APAs in the News, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 4. This roundup highlights Yongyi Song receiving the ALA Paul Howard Award for Courage, Dr. Alyce Sato earning emeriti status at Idaho State University, Jae Ku being appointed to head Freedom House’s North Korea programs, and Rev. Clarence Silva being named Bishop of Honolulu by Pope Benedict XVI. Each honoree’s background and achievements are briefly detailed.
• Nat’l JACL President Inouye Keynotes San Diego Chapter’s Scholarship Luncheon, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The JACL San Diego chapter held its 48th annual Scholarship Awards Luncheon, honoring area high school scholars including Tets Kashima Memorial Scholarship recipients Evangelina Oka and Michael Shinzaki. National JACL President Kenneth Inouye keynoted the event, discussing challenges facing scholars in a diverse society.
• Go For Broke Monument 6th Anniversary to Highlight Lost Battalion Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Go For Broke Educational Foundation will host its 6th Anniversary Monument Tribute honoring Nisei WWII veterans and the Rescue of the Lost Battalion, featuring keynote speaker Lt. Martin Higgins. The event will also award the 2005 Go For Broke Award to Mary Graybill and Bruce Kato and celebrate the opening of a new Visitor’s Center.
• Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation to Dedicate Interpretative Walking Tour, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation will dedicate an eight-station walking tour at the original camp site, featuring wartime photos and text describing various camp areas including the hospital, school, and living quarters. Speakers will include Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta and former Sen. Alan Simpson.
• JAMsj to Celebrate Completion of Japantown Visual History Project, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Japanese American Museum of San Jose will celebrate the completion of a visual history project documenting six past and present Japantown businesses through a CCLPEP grant. The project, developed with help from Densho, provides digitized interviews online with narrators including Perry Dobashi and Dave Tatsuno.
• Georgia Asian-American Heritage Foundation Hosts Gala Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Georgia Asian-American Heritage Foundation held its fourth annual gala dinner celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, drawing over 450 guests including government officials and community leaders. The event recognized Georgia’s rapidly growing Asian American population and its increasing economic and political influence.
• Arizona Chapter Holds Sara Hutchings Clardy Scholarship Luncheon, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The JACL Arizona chapter honored four Valley High School graduates at its 44th annual Sara Hutchings Clardy Scholarship Luncheon, held at Phoenix College. The award honors the memory of Sara Hutchings Clardy, who helped Japanese immigrants learn English and American traditions.
• Gift Honors Memory of Longtime Strawberry Growers and Creates Legacy to Benefit Fullerton Arboretum, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A $15,000 gift from Kurtis Nakagawa and his uncles honors the memory of Tom and Chiz Miyawaki, longtime strawberry farmers, benefiting Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Oral and Public History and the Fullerton Arboretum’s Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum. Part of the gift funds a scholarship for students writing about Orange County agricultural history and Japanese American heritage.

National

• Equipping APAs with Tools to Break the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’, by Lynda Lin, page 1. Jane Hyun, a Korean American career coach, wrote ‘Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling’ to address how Asian cultural values like filial respect and conflict avoidance can hinder APA career advancement in Western corporate settings. The book combines her human resources experience with case studies to help APAs navigate self-imposed and organizational barriers to success.
• Radio Hosts Apologize for Remarks About AA Candidate, by Associated Press, page 1. New Jersey radio hosts Craig Carton and Ray Rossi apologized on-air to Korean American mayoral candidate Jun Choi after making racially stereotyped comments and an accent mockery during an April broadcast. Choi accepted the apology in person, saying the comments crossed a line by suggesting minority groups were un-American.
• House Committee Approves Funding Restoration of WWII Camps, by Associated Press and P.C. Staff, page 1. The House Resources Committee approved $38 million to restore and preserve World War II internment camps, based on legislation by Rep. Bill Thomas, despite opposition from the Bush administration over National Park Service budget constraints. The bill covers 10 internment camps including Tule Lake and Manzanar in California.
• House Agrees to Fund Angel Island Restoration, by Erica Werner, page 3. The House passed legislation to spend $15 million restoring the Angel Island immigration station, which processed over 1 million immigrants including Chinese detainees under the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Bush administration opposes the funding, while supporters aim to raise $50 million total to preserve the site and its carved poems.
• Census Profile Shows Less English Ability and More Recent Population Growth for AAs in NYC Boroughs than General Populations, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A report from the Asian American Federation of New York found Asian American populations across NYC boroughs had lower English proficiency, larger households, and higher growth rates than general populations. The profiles also revealed significant socioeconomic differences among Asian groups within and between boroughs.
• Rep. Wu Introduces Legislation to Support AAPI Students, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Congressman David Wu introduced a bill to provide grants to institutions serving low-income and underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander students, expanding a program that currently only serves other minority groups. The legislation is supported by Rep. Mike Honda and 21 cosponsors, with a companion bill planned in the Senate by Sen. Barbara Boxer.
• Canadian MP Apologizes for Racial Slurs, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 4. Conservative MP Steven Fletcher apologized after referring to Japanese WWII soldiers using racial slurs at a Canadian veterans convention. Fletcher cited his family’s wartime experience, including his grandfather’s capture during the fall of Singapore, as context for his emotional remarks.
• Asian American Study Foundation Bill Passes First Senate Hurdle, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 4. A New Jersey bill sponsored by Sen. Joseph Y. Doria to establish an Asian American Study Foundation promoting APA culture and contributions was unanimously approved by the Senate State Government Committee. The foundation would help develop policies to improve the community, economic, health and social well-being of the state’s APA population.
• California Groups Gear Up to Fight Proposed Gay Marriage Ban, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 4. A coalition including the JACL is organizing to defeat a proposed California constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and revoke domestic partnership spousal rights. Sponsors need nearly 600,000 signatures to qualify the measure for the June 2006 ballot.
• MIT, Harvard Researchers Design ‘Tsunami-Safe(r)’ Homes, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 4. Researchers from MIT and Harvard designed tsunami-resistant homes with concrete corners and bamboo walls that allow waves to pass through rather than collapsing the structure. About 80 of these homes have already been built for families affected by the Asian tsunami.
• Time Running Out for Ty, by Associated Press, page 4. Eleven-year-old Ty Perkins, adopted from a Taiwan orphanage, is battling Fanconi anemia and struggling to find a bone marrow match due to limited donor diversity among Asians. A promising donor match in New York backed out, devastating the family as they continue hoping another donor will be found in time.
• WWII Camps Funding Bill Details, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Rep. Bill Thomas’s bill to spend $38 million restoring internment camps stems partly from his friendship with former JACL president Floyd Mori, and has been supported by national coordinator Gerald Yamada of the Japanese American National Heritage Coalition. Thirty organizations including JACL and the Japanese American National Museum have joined the coalition supporting the legislation.
• Starbucks Controversy Continues in Japantown, by P.C. Staff, page 12. San Francisco’s Japantown community continues fighting a proposed Starbucks, with the Japantown Task Force and Merchants Association arguing the chain doesn’t fit the neighborhood’s character and could harm existing mom and pop businesses. Redevelopment Agency officials say leases haven’t been finalized while community members organize petitions and prepare for a June 7 commission meeting.

JACL

• Spring Campaign: The Lifeline of JACL, by Grace Kimoto, page 1. CCDC PC Board Representative Grace Kimoto urges JACL members to support the Pacific Citizen’s spring fundraising campaign, noting the paper’s long history dating back to 1932 as JACL’s national newspaper. All proceeds this year will go toward establishing the PC’s new website.

Commentary

• JA Digital Archive, by Adrienne Banner, page 2. A reference librarian at Occidental College describes a new digital archive project documenting historical materials related to Japanese American relocation during WWII, preserved by President Remsen DuBois Bird and Librarian Elizabeth McCloy. The library seeks permission from letter authors or their descendants to post personal correspondences online.
• Being Angry and Asian Through Theater, by Yumi Sakugawa, page 8. UCLA student Yumi Sakugawa describes her experience joining Lapu the Coyote that Cares, one of the largest college Asian American theater groups in the country, as a way to challenge stereotypes through performance. She reflects on how the group demonstrates that Asian Americans can be funny, entertaining, and cast in diverse meaningful roles beyond typical stereotypes.

Sports

• Ayako Okamoto Voted Into Golf Shrine, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Ayako Okamoto, who won 62 tournaments worldwide and became the only Japanese player to win the U.S. LPGA Tour money title, was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. She joins fellow Japanese golfers Isao Aoki and Chako Higuchi as recent inductees, with the induction ceremony scheduled for November 14.
• NBA Great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Teaches Basics of the American Game in Shanghai, by Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press, page 7. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar taught a basketball psychology and attitude course to 55 young players in Shanghai as part of the Adidas Superstar Camp, covering physicality, footwork, and mental preparation. The class comes as China emerges as one of the NBA’s fastest-growing markets, with Yao Ming’s success fueling interest in the sport.
• Michelle Kwan to Compete at 2006 Olympics, by Andrea Adelson, AP Sports Writer, page 7. Michelle Kwan announced she will compete at the 2006 Turin Olympics after being inspired by spending time with other Olympians at the Visa Gold Medal Athlete Summit. Though she has won silver and bronze medals in previous Olympics, Kwan has never won Olympic gold despite being the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history.

Arts & Entertainment

• Alice Wu’s ‘Saving Face’ Explores Love, Complications and All, by Lynda Lin, page 9. Filmmaker Alice Wu discusses her debut feature ‘Saving Face,’ a film about a Chinese American daughter’s secret lesbian relationship and her pregnant traditional mother, picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for distribution. Wu shares insights on authenticity in dialogue, working with actress Joan Chen, and her journey from Microsoft employee to filmmaker.

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.