Redress prospects dim under Reagan, and a Central California convention

Vol. 91, No. 17, November 28, 1980. 8 pages. View this issue

Redress led the front page of this eight-page issue. The National JACL Redress Committee met in San Francisco and concluded that immediate prospects were not high, given the new Congress and the incoming Reagan administration. Committee chair John Tateishi called it “a very difficult struggle ahead.” Bill Hosokawa’s column on page 5 took up the campaign’s goals, and Bill Marutani wrote about the defeats of Nikkei legislators Paul Bannai and Floyd Mori. The front page also covered the Central California JACL District Convention in Fresno, where Hawaii Lt. Gov. Jean Sadako King spoke and Tony Ishii became the district’s first Sansei governor.

Inside are the ‘Hito Hata: Raise the Banner’ premiere announcement and Soji Kashiwagi’s piece on his father’s role in it, a JACL membership drive, new couples memberships, and a letters-page dispute over a JACL documentary film project. Also found here: Seattle Mayor Charles Royer’s appointment of Ron Mamiya to the municipal bench, and a Tokyo survey on foreign spouses.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Early Solution to Redress Dim, JACL Committee Says, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Members of the National JACL Redress Committee meeting in San Francisco concluded that immediate prospects for monetary redress for Japanese Americans interned during WWII were not high given the conservative mood of the new Congress and incoming Reagan administration. Committee chair John Tateishi said JACL’s bottom-line position remains unchanged, seeking monetary redress based on real damages determined by federal agencies, with testimony planned before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.

National

• State Panel Backs Firing of Nisei School Teacher, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mitsue Takahashi ended 20 years as a teacher in Livingston, California after a state panel upheld her firing on grounds of incompetence, possibly the first such case under a nine-year-old state law. The Livingston school district said she lost control of her eighth-grade class, while her defense argued the district failed to prove incompetence.
• Vietnam War Film Cited for Campus Melee, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Garey High School in Pomona, California reopened with additional police patrol after racially inspired violence shut it down for two days. Principal Pedro Garcia said tensions rose after the Vietnam war film ‘The Deer Hunter’ aired on TV, leading to fights between Chicano and Asian students that resulted in six arrests and a stabbing.
• GOP Challenger Shiozawa Unseats Bannock Chairman, by P.C. Staff, page 1. George Shiozawa, a Republican and member of the Pocatello-Blackfoot JACL chapter, defeated incumbent Bannock County Commissioner Vernal Horton in Idaho’s general election. Shiozawa attributed his win to door-to-door campaigning and a conservative political trend benefiting Republicans nationwide.
• JACL-Blue Shield Rates Going Up 25% Jan. ’81, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The JACL Blue Shield group health plan rates will rise approximately 25% effective Jan. 1, 1981 due to inflation and high claim experience, announced health plan chairperson John Yasumoto. The comprehensive coverage plan reverts to an earlier deductible system with a $100 member responsibility before benefits kick in at 80% and then 100%.

JACL

• Lt. Gov. King Turns on CCDC Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The 31st annual Central California JACL District Convention in Fresno featured Hawaii Lt. Gov. Jean Sadako King as keynote speaker, an Asian-Pacific Women’s panel, and the election of Tony Ishii as CCDC’s first Sansei governor. Over 400 attended the banquet which included recognition of chapter leaders, silver pins, and ethnic entertainment.
• Chapters Ratify New Couples Memberships, by P.C. Staff, page 3. JACL chapters ratified by mail a Puyallup Valley JACL amendment establishing a couples membership dues structure at $5 less than regular national dues. Of 115 chapters balloted, 79 voted in favor, 5 against, 2 abstained, and 29 did not vote, meeting the required quorum.
• Dr. Nakashima Heads NC-WN-PDC, by P.C. Staff, page 6. San Francisco JACLer Dr. Yosh Nakashima was installed as the new NC-WNDC governor at a quarterly session hosted by Lodi JACL. National redress chair John Tateishi summarized committee activities, rejecting direct monetary compensation demands as futile, while other reports covered membership, fundraising, and youth programs.
• NC-WNDC Convention Adopts Constitutional Revisions, Committee Reports, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The NC-WNDC convention adopted several constitutional revisions including appointing a parliamentarian and establishing Honolulu and Japan chapters within the district. Committee reports covered redress fundraising, 1000 Club donations, and youth programs now reorganized as ‘youth members of JACL.’

Community

• Seattle Mayor Picks Mamiya to Muni Bench, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Seattle Mayor Charles Royer appointed Ron Mamiya, 31, a trial attorney and Seattle JACL board member, to a municipal court judgeship vacated by Judge Charles Johnson. Mamiya’s appointment requires city council confirmation and will face election in 1982.
• Eden Township Mourns Loss of Key Person: Masako Minami, by Tomi Miyamoto, page 2. Masako Minami, a longtime Eden Township JACL member and community leader, died unexpectedly on Oct. 30, followed by the sudden death of her daughter Judi Minami Santiago on Nov. 9. Minami helped naturalize many Issei, organized youth groups, chaired the chapter’s Christmas program for decades, and coordinated the Eden Issei Senior Center since 1972.
• ‘Chinese in America’ Exhibit to Go on Tour, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Chinese Culture Center’s exhibit ‘The Chinese of America, 1785-1980’ remains on display in San Francisco through Dec. 13 before traveling to St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston and Honolulu. Admission to the exhibit is free.
• Alice Kasai Receives Award, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Alice Kasai of Salt Lake City was honored by the Utah State Conference on Human Services for distinguished service to the community. She received an Honorary Life Membership for her service to her ethnic group, WWII GIs, troubled families, and foreign students.
• From Pacific Southwest: Fund Raisers, by John Saito, page 6. John Saito humorously discusses the burden of attending numerous fundraising events during the holiday season while managing a tight family budget. He recounts an anecdote with district board member Mike Mitoma about reciprocating drink purchases at JACL events.
• Nipponjin Cool on Gaijin Spouses, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A Tokyo survey found that a majority of Japanese respondents would not welcome a foreigner marrying into their family, with only a small percentage expressing interest in befriending foreigners despite liberalized immigration attitudes. The survey reflected broader ambivalence among Japanese toward increasing international contact.

Obituaries

• Dr. Joe Yuzuru Abe, Pasadena JACLer, Dies, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Dr. Joe Yuzuru Abe, 66, a Pasadena JACL member, died Nov. 17 of a heart attack. A Tokyo native and naturalized citizen, he is survived by his wife Akiko, a former Pasadena JACL president, and several children and a sister.

Commentary

• Letterbox: Readers Respond on National Director, Redress, and JACL Film Project Dispute, by M. Yamanaka Iseke, Wakako Yamauchi, page 4. Letters to the editor include M. Yamanaka Iseke agreeing with Judge Marutani’s call for a sensitive but visible National Director, and Wakako Yamauchi accusing JACL of plagiarism and exploitative treatment regarding a documentary film project she and Momoko Iko worked on. Yamauchi claims JACL used her and Iko’s names to secure a grant then denied agreed terms.
• Response to Wakako Yamauchi’s Accusations, by Peter Takeuchi, page 4. Peter Takeuchi of JACL responds to Wakako Yamauchi’s letter, disputing her claims about the documentary film project and NEH grant process. He states the dispute arose from a miscommunication over payment demands by the writers’ agent, not from JACL using their names improperly to secure funding.
• From the Frying Pan: Redress Campaign, Good & Bad, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa examines confusion in JACL’s redress campaign goals, noting tension between seeking monetary compensation and educating the public about wartime injustices. He warns that a high-publicity campaign seeking large sums could backfire and damage credibility with the commission, Congress, and the public.
• East Wind: The Phoenix Bird, by Bill Marutani, page 5. Bill Marutani reflects on the electoral defeats of Nikkei legislators Paul Bannai and Floyd Mori in California, noting Japanese American reluctance to risk electoral defeat due to cultural attitudes. He expresses hope that both men will rise again like the phoenix and help restore Nikkei representation in California’s legislature.
• By the Board: Membership, by Vernon Yoshioka, page 5. Vernon Yoshioka discusses JACL’s 1981 membership campaign, encouraging members to recruit family and friends with new brochures and a $2 chapter discount for new members. He notes that dues are JACL’s primary income source and that growing membership strengthens the organization’s ability to address issues like redress.

Arts & Entertainment

• Bookshelf: Catalog Accompanies ‘Chinese of America’ Exhibit, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A new illustrated catalog titled ‘The Chinese of America, 1785-1980’ by Him Mark Lai, Joe Huang, and Don Wong accompanies the Chinese Culture Foundation’s exhibit, covering 200 years of Chinese American history. The book gives equal attention to three main historical periods: free immigration, exclusion, and post-exclusion eras.
• My Father the Actor, by Soji Kashiwagi, page 8. Soji Kashiwagi writes a humorous personal account of his father Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s experience acting in the film ‘Hito Hata: Raise the Banner,’ playing an elderly Issei bachelor named Tatsumi. The piece captures family dynamics and his father’s excitement about his first movie role and the Los Angeles premiere.
• ‘Hito Hata’ to Show Dec. 6 at S.F.’s Palace of Fine Arts, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The film ‘Hito Hata: Raise the Banner,’ presented by the Northern California Friends of Visual Communications, will premiere in San Francisco on Dec. 6 at the Palace of Fine Arts. Proceeds will help offset the $100,000 debt incurred by Visual Communications in producing the film, which depicts Issei and Japanese American history through flashbacks.

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