Vol. 91, No. 20, December 19, 1980. 112 pages. View this issue
The Pacific Citizen’s 1980 holiday issue ran 112 pages and leaned toward history and memory. The front page opened a 12-part narrative on Englishman Will Adams in Japan and began Seizo Oka’s biography of Kyutaro Abiko, founder of the Japanese American News and the Yamato Colony. Inside, Nobu Miyoshi examined why Nisei parents rarely speak to their Sansei children about the wartime incarceration (often called internment). Raymond Okamura wrote a pilgrimage guide to the temporary detention camps, and Luciana Esteban described her visit to Topaz, where her mother had been held. A front-page bulletin reported that funding for the redress commission was imminent.
Also here are Sachi Seko’s Christmas letters, Bill Hosokawa’s column on reopening old wounds, and Clifford I. Uyeda on the ethics of whaling. Fiction includes Ferris Takahashi’s detective story and Robert H. Kono’s story of an Issei widow. About 79 of the 112 pages carry holiday greetings, including ads from San Diego, Orange County, Stockton and Salinas Valley.
What’s in this issue
In-Depth
- Saga of (the Real) William Adams: A Stranger in Kyushu, page 1. A 12-part narrative, reprinted from Koryu magazine, recounts the true story of Englishman Will Adams, who arrived in Japan in 1600 as pilot of the Dutch ship Liefde after a harrowing two-year voyage, and became an important adviser to Ieyasu Tokugawa. This first installment describes the castaways’ arrival in Kyushu, their near-execution as suspected pirates, and the backstory of the Liefde’s departure from Holland and its disastrous voyage around South America.
- Biography of Kyutaro Abiko: Issei Pioneer with a Dream, by Seizo Oka, page 1. Seizo Oka, historian/curator at California First Bank, introduces his biography of Kyutaro Abiko, founder of the Japanese American News and the Yamato Colony farming community, compiled from his uncle’s research materials and interviews with people who knew Abiko. The biography traces Abiko’s arrival in America in 1885 and his lifelong dedication to the welfare of Japanese immigrants until his death in 1936.
- The Inside Story of Chuo Gakuin, by Allan Beekman, page 8. Allan Beekman recounts the history of Chuo Gakuin, Hawaii’s first Japanese language school, and the tragic death of a young student, Masako Arakaki, killed by a stray anti-aircraft shell during the Pearl Harbor attack while students sang in the auditorium. The piece details the political background leading to the attack, the chaos at the school, and the eventual dedication of a memorial plaque at the site in Honolulu’s Foster Botanic Garden.
- Identity Crisis of the Sansei and the American Concentration Camp, by Nobu Miyoshi, page 41. Nobu Miyoshi presents a scholarly analysis, based on multigenerational family therapy sessions, examining why Nisei parents rarely discuss their WWII concentration camp experiences with their Sansei children and how this silence contributes to a Sansei identity crisis. The piece explores concepts like split loyalty, filial piety, and intergenerational communication gaps, drawing on family therapy theory and interviews with Nisei and Sansei subjects.
- A Pilgrimage Guide to the Temporary Detention Camps, by Raymond Okamura, page 56. This compilation provides detailed location information, dates of operation, detainee numbers, origins, permanent camp destinations, remaining physical traces, and published references for numerous WWII temporary detention (assembly) centers including Fresno, Pinedale, Pomona, Santa Anita, Tanforan, Sacramento, Marysville, Turlock, Stockton, Merced, Tulare, Salinas, Portland, and Puyallup. It serves as a reference guide for those wishing to visit the sites where Japanese Americans were held before transfer to permanent incarceration camps.
- The Tracing of an Identity, by Barry Saiki, page 67. Barry Saiki traces his family surname ‘Saeki’ back through centuries of Japanese history, linking it to a feudal-era checkpoint near Hiroshima and the influential Mohri and Asano clans of the Sanyodo region. He explains how the historic Sanyodo highway’s exposure to foreign travelers may help explain why so many Japanese immigrants to America came from Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, and Okayama prefectures.
- Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf: Men of the Sea, by John Gota, page 85. John Gota continues his historical series on Monterey’s Japanese American fishing community, detailing the abalone and sardine fishing boats, their Issei owners and crews, and the businesses that lined Fisherman’s Wharf in the early 20th century. The piece lists dozens of boat names, families, and fish market operators who built Monterey’s fishing industry alongside Italian, Greek, and other immigrant fishermen.
National
- Redress Commission Funding Imminent, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A news bulletin reports that funding for the redress commission is imminent, as part of ongoing developments in the Japanese American redress movement. The brief notice appears alongside the holiday issue schedule announcement.
Commentary
- Sachi Seko’s Christmas Letters: Unsent Letters to Grandfather, an Unknown Friend, a Teacher, and Larry Tajiri, by Sachi Seko, page 4. In a holiday column, Sachi Seko writes a series of deeply personal, never-sent letters reflecting on her grandfather’s choice to repatriate to Japan during WWII, a kind gift received in a concentration camp, a teacher who reminded her of her prewar mother, and her enduring gratitude to the late editor Larry Tajiri. The letters blend nostalgia, grief, and reflection on identity and loss during and after the wartime incarceration.
- From the Frying Pan: Reopening of Old Wounds \u2014 Is It Worth the Pain?, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa discusses the views of economist Thomas Sowell and an anonymous JACL member who argue that confrontational tactics and dwelling on past injustices are less effective than quiet persistence and pride in accomplishment for minority groups seeking acceptance. Hosokawa concludes that both reality and perception of Japanese Americans have changed since the Issei era, suggesting that fanning old resentments may not be the best path forward.
- The Ethics of Whaling, by Clifford I. Uyeda, page 73. Dr. Clifford Uyeda examines the decade-long controversy over whaling, noting that Japan and the Soviet Union are now the primary whaling nations while criticizing boycotts that unleashed racist attacks against Japanese Americans. He argues that whales deserve special ethical consideration due to their intelligence and the need to shift from commercial exploitation toward cooperative conservation and scientific understanding of cetaceans.
Arts & Entertainment
- A False Lead, by Ferris Takahashi, page 9. In this sequel to a previous detective story, Detective Sakai investigates a storefront ‘Holistic Joyous Temple’ run by the mysterious Reverend Elva Rossiter while searching for a runaway girl, and desk clerk Gladys Frantz suspects a connection to an earlier con-artist case. The story ends with Sakai and Gladys discovering that Reverend Elva has vanished, leaving behind a coy farewell note signed ‘Marja.’
- Akiko’s Acre of Love, by Robert H. Kono, page 28. This short story follows Akiko Shimada, an elderly Issei widow, as she waits on her porch for her son’s family to visit while reminiscing about her hardworking life with her late husband Tomoyuki, their struggles during the Depression and wartime incarceration, and the loss of their eldest son in WWII combat with the 442nd. The story poignantly captures her loneliness and eventual realization that she mixed up the visiting schedule, prompting self-reflection on aging and family bonds.
Incarceration & Redress
- An Affront to Human Dignity, by Luciana Esteban, page 62. Luciana Esteban recounts learning that her mother was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII despite being an American citizen, and describes her emotional pilgrimage to the Topaz campsite in Utah searching for physical traces of her mother’s experience. She finds a deliberately arranged rock path and broken pottery fragments at the site, which move her to tears as tangible evidence of the humanity and dignity maintained by those interned there.
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