A diplomat robbed in Japantown and new questions on census data and redress

Vol. 92, No. 3, January 23, 1981. 8 pages. View this issue

The front page carried a robbery in San Francisco’s Japantown, where Japanese deputy consul general Gohachiro Shono was accosted by three youths, and a report by Raymond Okamura on census data. Census Bureau director Vincent Barabba disclosed that the Bureau supplied statistics on Japanese Americans to war agencies that helped plan the World War II incarceration (often called internment). Okamura’s article continued on page 7 with a look at legal remedies. In Commentary, John Tateishi reflected on the progress of the Redress campaign, and Michi Weglyn replied on the plagiarism of her book “Years of Infamy.”

Inside are two new scholarships added to the JACL National Scholarship program, a redress meeting set for Feb. 14, and word of Executive Order 9066 and monetary compensation from the Pacific Southwest district meeting. Other pages cover Canadian Nikkei testimony on a Charter of Rights, the new Honolulu JACL chapter, and columns by Bill Marutani and Raymond S. Uno.

What’s in this issue

National

• Three Youths Assault, Rob Diplomat in S.F. Japantown, page 1. Japanese deputy consul general Gohachiro Shono was accosted and robbed by three youths near his San Francisco apartment, losing $35 cash and a wrist watch. Consul General Hiroshi Kitamura planned to file a protest with the mayor and police chief following the incident and a similar mugging of a visitor from Japan in December.
• Catholic Bishops Reject ‘Melting Pot’ Aim, page 1. The U.S. Catholic Conference published a statement on cultural pluralism, calling for wider appreciation of ethnic differences rather than assimilation. The bishops’ action arm argued that recognizing cultural diversity benefits society and world peace.
• Canadian Nikkei Speak for Charter of Rights, page 1. Three Nisei testified before Canada’s Special Joint Committee on the Constitution on Nov. 26, advocating entrenchment of a Charter of Rights that would not be subject to exceptions like the War Measures Act used to exclude Japanese Canadians in 1942. Speakers included Gordon Kadota, Roger Obata, and Dr. Arthur Shimizu, whose testimony was praised by committee members for its poignancy and brevity.
• Minority Students Increase in Calif., page 1. A State Board of Education survey found California’s ethnic minority public school enrollment rose from 36.5% in 1977 to 40% in 1979, with Latino students showing the greatest increase in lower grades. The report noted minority teachers and principals remained underrepresented relative to student population growth.
• Japan Gratified Mansfield Still Envoy, page 1. President Reagan’s decision to retain Sen. Mike Mansfield as U.S. ambassador to Japan was welcomed by Japanese Premier Zenko Suzuki and cabinet secretary Kiichi Miyazawa. Officials said Mansfield’s continued presence was gratifying given the need for close U.S.-Japan cooperation.
• Hawaii Dentists Discrimination Suit Settled, page 1. A lawsuit alleging anti-Caucasian discrimination on Hawaii state dental licensing exams was settled out-of-court for $325,000, approved by Federal District Judge William Schwarzer. More Asian Americans reportedly failed the exams despite the state’s denial of bias.
• Refugee Welfare, page 7. A California state fact-finding committee reported that over 10,000 Indochinese refugees are set to lose federal financial support on April 1, potentially increasing state and local welfare costs by $24 million. California currently hosts about 150,000 Indochinese refugees, mostly in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties.
• Pope to Visit Japan, page 8. Pope John Paul II will visit Japan Feb. 23-27 on his way from the Philippines and Guam. He will meet with the Emperor and Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki in Tokyo and visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Incarceration & Redress

• Census Data Used to Plan ’42 Evacuation, by Raymond Okamura, page 1. Census Bureau director Vincent Barabba disclosed that census confidentiality was suspended during WWII under the Second War Powers Act of 1942, and that aggregate statistics on Japanese Americans were supplied to war agencies to help plan the mass incarceration. Researchers including Michi Weglyn and William Hohri disputed the Bureau’s earlier claims of non-involvement, citing wartime documents showing the census was a key information source.
• Census Continued: Legal Remedies May Now Be Possible, by Raymond Okamura, page 7. The article continues discussing how Watergate and Supreme Court decisions since 1971 have expanded individuals’ rights to sue government officials for constitutional and civil rights violations. A 1980 Supreme Court ruling extended this right to cover adverse effects from violations of any federal law, potentially opening remedies for the census confidentiality breach of WWII.

Community

• New Landlords Padlock Coffee House, page 1. A brief item noting new landlords have padlocked a coffee house, though details are truncated in the OCR text.
• Education Seminar, page 1. The National Assn. for Asian and Pacific American Education, based at UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center, expanded its seminar series on educational and national issues including Asian American Public Policy.
• New England Fund for Students Planned, page 2. A group of Nisei in New England formed the tax-exempt Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund, Inc. to establish a scholarship fund aiding minority students, with Lafayette Noda as president. The fund aims to honor the legacy of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council that helped Nisei students complete their education during WWII.
• Two New Scholarships Added to Nat’l JACL Program, page 3. JACL’s 1981 National Scholarship Program will offer over $39,000 in awards, adding two new categories: the Aiko Tashiro Hiratsuka Memorial Scholarship for the Performing Arts and the JACL-Carleton College Scholarship. The program also continues the Henry and Chiyo Kuwahara Memorial Graduate Scholarship, which awards $5,000 grants to five individuals.
• Auburn, Wa., High School Rededicates Historic Issei Gifts, page 3. A rededication ceremony was held Nov. 25, 1980 for lampposts originally given to the Auburn School District by the Auburn Japanese Association 51 years earlier. The White River Valley JACL chapter also presented a miniature Japanese garden, funded by donations from over 100 former pre-WWII Auburn High School students nationwide.
• Dr. Newton Wesley, Contact Lens Pioneer, Renews CL Support, page 3. Dr. Newton F. Wesley, former JACL president in 1939 and renowned contact lens optometrist known as the ‘Father of Contact Lenses,’ renewed his Century Club and 1000 Club memberships. He recently sold his Duro-Soft Contact Lens Co. for $28 million and received his MD degree from Osaka University at age 57.
• Mile Hi JACL Secretary Honored as Denver Employee of the Year, page 3. Linda M. Fujii, a clerk-typist for Denver’s Commission on Community Relations and Mile Hi JACL secretary, was named 1980 Employee of the Year by Mayor William H. McNichols. She was recognized among more than 9,000 municipal employees for her work and community contributions.
• APPC—Advocacy Group, page 3. The Asian Pacific Planning Council, a network advocating for greater representation of Asian-Pacific concerns, will hold a retreat workshop in March. Roy Morales, project director of the Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center, is involved in the planning.
• Radio Active, page 7. Warren Furutani is host-producer of ‘Radio Active,’ a talk show that began Dec. 28 on Radio Pacific Japan (KMAX/107.1). The show focuses on current events, people, and points of view.
• Mayor Takaki Heads ‘Discover Pueblo’, page 7. Pueblo, Colorado Mayor Melvin Takaki led a delegation to Denver to launch the city’s ‘Discover Pueblo’ campaign aimed at attracting new business investment. The Nisei mayor-dentist cited planned major expansions by CF&I Steel and Anheuser-Busch, plus a $20 million HUD request for a convention center.
• Diablo Valley JACL Installation Dinner, page 8. UC regent Yori Wada was guest speaker at the Diablo Valley JACL installation dinner on Jan. 11 at the Concord Inn. Mollie Fujioka and the 1981 cabinet were sworn in by J.D. Hokoyama, acting national JACL director, with Dr. John Kikuchi emceeing.

JACL

• Honolulu JACL Set for First Inaugural, page 1. The newly formed Honolulu JACL will hold its first inaugural on Jan. 25 at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel, with Lt. Gov. Jean S. King as keynote speaker. The chapter has agreed to potentially host the 1984 national JACL convention.
• NC-WN-P to Meet on Redress Feb. 14, page 6. JACL chapters in the Northern California-Western Nevada-Pacific district council will hold a special redress meeting on Feb. 14 at California First Bank’s Japan Center office in San Francisco. Chuck Kubokawa, DC redress chair, announced the agenda includes updates and chapter/district action planning.
• PSWDC Meets With Redress Groups, page 6. The Pacific Southwest District JACL board met with the National Council for Redress/Reparations and National JACL Redress chairman John Tateishi to discuss the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. NCRR leader Alan Nishio outlined concerns about the Commission’s composition and hearing process, while Tateishi reaffirmed JACL’s commitment to monetary compensation for E.O. 9066 victims.
• Super Wing-Ding in Tokyo Due in Oct., page 6. Details are being finalized for a 1000 Club event this fall at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, with the trip departing Oct. 3 and returning Oct. 24. The first 10 people to sign up will receive a complimentary night’s stay at the hotel courtesy of JACL.

Obituaries

• Yoneo Arai, Former Yamaichi Securities Chairman, Dies at 91, page 2. Yoneo Arai, former president and chairman of Yamaichi Securities Co. and recognized as the oldest living Nisei on the mainland in 1970, died Nov. 18 at his Greenwich, Conn. home. He had worked in his family’s silk trading business and taught Japanese at Yale during WWII before joining Yamaichi in 1951.
• Michio Yatsuhashi, Boston-born Art-Antique Dealer, Dies, page 2. Michio Yatsuhashi, 65, a Boston-born Nisei art-antique dealer, died suddenly on Dec. 28. He had been vice-president and manager of California First Bank branches in Palo Alto and San Mateo and was a longtime JACL member.

Commentary

• Redress Phase 3: In 2½ Years, by John Tateishi, page 4. JACL Redress chairman John Tateishi reflects on the remarkable two-and-a-half-year progress of the Redress campaign, from the 1978 Salt Lake City convention to the signing of the Commission bill at the White House in 1980. He credits the dedication of individuals like Min Yasui and Mike Masaoka and emphasizes that the campaign’s future success depends on grassroots community participation.
• Letterbox: ‘Years of Infamy’, by Michi Weglyn, page 4. Michi Weglyn responds to Dr. Tsujimura’s explanation regarding plagiarism from her book ‘Years of Infamy,’ arguing that characterizations of the issue as limited to ‘one section’ understate the extent of the problem. She also clarifies details about the JACL Endowment Fund established from evacuation claims award donations, proposing its use to benefit impoverished Issei and Hibakusha.
• From Happy Valley: A Close Neighbor: ‘Bigoted’ Sam, by Sachi Seko, page 4. Sachi Seko recounts stories of Sammy, a cantankerous, bigoted neighbor who refused to sell his house amid commercial development and initially shunned the author’s family’s store. Over the years Sammy’s gruff exterior softened through small kindnesses, including a Christmas gift from the author’s mother and a night when he protected the family’s store with his rifle, believing it was being burglarized.
• A Mile-High Context on Nikkei, page 5. A Denver newspaper editor reflects on conversations with J.D. Hokoyama and Min Yasui about working in mainstream environments where ethnic identity often has little bearing on daily professional interactions. He shares anecdotes of Sansei professionals—including an attorney, a banker, and a steel salesman—whose work places them outside explicitly ethnic contexts despite competing with or interacting with Japanese counterparts.
• East Wind: Enough Is Enough, by Bill Marutani, page 5. Bill Marutani recounts a discussion among Nisei friends about whether a Sansei National Director candidate would be fiscally responsible with JACL’s depleted finances, given generational differences in experiencing hardship. He argues that explicit written guidelines and sanctions should ensure the National Director exercises strict, sacred fiscal responsibility given member sacrifices and community needs.
• U-No Bar: No Such Thing, by Raymond S. Uno, page 5. Raymond Uno reflects on the newly completed 5th Judicial District Courthouse in Utah, noting an architect’s remark that there is no such thing as a perfect courthouse given competing needs of all courtroom participants. He draws a parallel conclusion that there is likewise no such thing as a perfect JACL.

Arts & Entertainment

• Pat Morita to Address Orange County Inaugural, page 8. Comedian Pat Morita will be the guest speaker at the Orange County JACL installation dinner on Feb. 7 in Buena Park, where Dr. Luis Kobashi was re-elected chapter president. Morita, known for his role as Arnold on ‘Happy Days,’ now devotes much of his time to the Pat Morita Funnybone Foundation, which develops comedy programs for disabled children.
• Documentary Film on Hibakusha Set, page 8. A research project on Japanese American A-bomb survivors in the U.S. is being developed into a documentary film, with contributions sought for the JACL-Survivors Film Project. Interested parties can contact the project through addresses in Berkeley and San Francisco.
• Show to Feature Sansei Designers, page 8. The L.A.-Nagoya Sister City Affiliation fashion show on March 29 at the Biltmore Bowl will feature designs from five Sansei designers: Linda Miyagawa, Peggy Higuchi, Cheryl Hamada, Vicki Ragasa, and Charmaine Yamamoto. Models will include KNBC’s Tritia Toyota and 1981 Rose Queen Leslie Kawai, with proceeds benefiting the LANSCA scholarship fund.

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