Preparing the Hirabayashi coram nobis case and the redress bill

Vol. 100, No. 15, April 19, 1985. 12 pages. View this issue

The coming Hirabayashi hearing led the news. Mayumi Tsutakawa reported on the Seattle team of 11 attorneys preparing for the June 17 evidentiary hearing in Gordon Hirabayashi’s coram nobis case, and a page 2 story covered a gathering at NYU Law School where Min Yasui and Fred Korematsu spoke about their own wartime cases. Redress also ran through the front page: HR 442 gained co-sponsors, reaching 107, and the Auburn City Council backed it. Columns by Bill Marutani, Clifford I. Uyeda, Bill Hosokawa and Minoru Yasui filled the commentary pages.

Other front-page news covered the life sentences given to two men for the murder of journalist Henry Liu. Elsewhere, readers will find a debate over beauty pageants and JACL, a forum on where national headquarters should be, Mike Woo’s runoff bid for the Los Angeles City Council, and new National Endowment for the Arts grants for Asian American writers.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Lawyers Ready ‘Case of the Century’ as Hirabayashi Hearing Nears, by Mayumi Tsutakawa, page 1. A Seattle-based legal team of 11 attorneys is preparing for a full evidentiary hearing in the coram nobis case of Gordon Hirabayashi, scheduled for June 17, aiming to prove the government withheld evidence of Japanese American loyalty during WW2. The team, along with a community support committee, hopes the case will demonstrate that the wartime incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans was a miscarriage of justice.
• Yasui, Korematsu, ‘Unfinished Business’ Attract Large Crowd at NYU Legal Gathering, page 2. Over 700 people attended a screening of Steven Okazaki’s documentary and heard Min Yasui and Fred Korematsu speak about their WW2 Supreme Court cases at NYU Law School. Legal experts including Norman Dorsen and Judge Nanette Dembitz discussed the constitutional and historical significance of the coram nobis cases.
• Measure to Expand L.A. City Council Fails, page 12. A Los Angeles ballot measure that would have expanded the city council from 15 to 17 seats, potentially increasing Asian and Hispanic representation, was defeated by voters. Supporters argued the measure would improve minority representation through redistricting, but many voters viewed it as expanding government unnecessarily.
• Coram Nobis Case Gains Support, Needs Funds, page 12. The Committee to Reverse the Japanese American Wartime Cases continues to build public and institutional support for the Hirabayashi coram nobis case through endorsements from civil rights and religious organizations. The committee needs to raise an additional $17,000 before the June hearing to cover costs of witnesses and archival research, and a fundraising theatrical production is planned for May 25 in Seattle.

National

• Slayers of Journalist Sentenced to Life in Prison, page 1. Two Taiwan-based United Bamboo gang members, Chen Chi-li and Wu Tun, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1984 murder of Chinese American journalist Henry Liu in Daly City, California. The case implicated senior Taiwanese military intelligence officers and sparked international controversy over alleged government involvement and lack of extradition cooperation with the U.S.
• House Redress Bill Gains Sponsors, page 1. Three more members of Congress agreed to co-sponsor HR 442, the redress bill for former Japanese American internees, bringing the total to 107 co-sponsors. Rep. Sid Morrison of Washington also agreed to co-sponsor after meeting with JACL redress coordinators in Yakima.
• Bataan Survivors Will Press Claims, page 1. Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr. wants to amend HR 442 to allow Bataan Death March survivors to sue Japanese companies that enslaved them during WW2. Approximately 3,000 survivors of the 1942 march were forced into labor at coal mines and other sites.
• Redress Representatives Arrested in Anti-Apartheid Demonstration, page 1. Aiko and Jack Herzig, representing the National Council for Japanese American Redress, were arrested outside the South African Embassy while protesting apartheid. Aiko Herzig linked her WW2 internment experience to the plight of Black South Africans, and Amy Carter was also arrested at the demonstration.
• Slayers of Journalist Sentenced to Life in Prison (Continued), page 7. The continuation details conflicting testimony between Wang and Chen over the Henry Liu murder plot, Helen Liu’s mixed reaction to the sentences, and the Committee to Obtain Justice for Henry Liu’s criticism of the trial as a ‘cover-up.’ Congress is considering action, including a possible cutoff of U.S. arms shipments to Taiwan, and Rep. Norman Mineta criticized the Reagan Administration’s muted response to the killing of an Asian American journalist.

Community

• Alcohol Use Among Nikkei Studied, page 2. A joint U.S.-Japan study examining alcohol consumption patterns among Japanese Americans began in Santa Clara County and Honolulu, sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services and Japan’s Ministry of Health. Rep. Norman Mineta urged community cooperation with researchers, emphasizing that the study will help identify and treat alcohol-related problems.
• Woo Gets 35% of Vote; Gains Runoff, page 2. Mike Woo forced incumbent Peggy Stevenson into a runoff in the Los Angeles 13th district city council race, repeating the scenario from 1981. Woo accused Stevenson of exploiting racial tension in the district, a charge she denied.
• Auburn City Council Supports Redress Bill, by Roy Yoshida, page 2. The Auburn City Council in California unanimously adopted a resolution supporting redress for interned Japanese Americans, following a similar resolution by the Placer County board of supervisors. Councilman Daniel Higgins said the resolution was overdue, crediting Frank Kageta and Hike Yego for groundwork on the measure.
• Japan Co-operators Exchange Ideas in U.S., by George Yasukochi, page 10. Several groups of Japanese cooperative employees, including 165 from the Japanese Consumers Cooperative Union, toured Bay Area co-ops to exchange management ideas during a retailing seminar. Visits included sessions with Berkeley Co-op, Palo Alto Co-op, and discussions of cooperative movement history involving Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa.

Commentary

• Hills and Rivers Ablaze (Sanga Moyu), by Bill Marutani, page 4. Columnist Bill Marutani reviews the NHK television production about Japanese American internment, comparing its fictionalized narrative to the multiple perspectives in the film ‘Rashomon.’ He expresses concern that non-Japanese American viewers unfamiliar with the history may misunderstand the dramatized inaccuracies as fact.
• Where Should National Headquarters Be?, by Clifford I. Uyeda, page 4. A Golden Gate Chapter forum debated whether JACL’s national headquarters should move to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., or remain in San Francisco, with panelists making the case for each location. The article outlines demographic, financial, and strategic considerations for each option, concluding that opposition to a move would be minimal if Los Angeles proponents secured funding for the Nishi Honganji building.
• A Peculiar, Hairy-Podded Bean, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa revisits his earlier claim that Commodore Perry brought soybeans back from Japan, after a reader challenged the assertion with historical evidence. Citing correspondence with Dr. John M. Maki, he concludes that Benjamin Franklin introduced the first soybean seeds to the U.S. and William P. Brooks was responsible for establishing it as an American crop.
• Shared Ideals, by Neil Abercrombie, page 6. A Hawaii state senator writes in support of JACL and the Asian Pacific Caucus, criticizing DNC Chair Paul Kirk’s dismissal of minority ‘special interests’ within the Democratic Party. He argues that minority interests reflect shared ideals of social justice rather than private interests at the public’s expense.
• Beauty Contests, by William Kashiwagi, page 6. A letter writer criticizes JACL’s involvement in debating beauty pageant sponsorship, arguing it is not a proper JACL issue and that most Japanese Americans are not JACL members. He contends there is nothing wrong with celebrating the beauty of Japanese women through pageants like Nisei Week.
• Beauty Contests Response: Civil Rights Perspective, by Raymond Okamura, page 6. Raymond Okamura criticizes Douglas Masuda’s comments as sexist and argues that Japanese American beauty pageants, including Nisei Week, discriminate by imposing ancestral ‘purity’ tests that exclude biracial and multiracial women. He contends that as a civil rights organization, JACL cannot in good conscience support events that discriminate based on ancestry.
• Advice to Hayakawa, by Tom M. Nakaji, page 6. An elderly former internee writes critically of Senator S.I. Hayakawa’s opposition to redress, recounting the hardships faced by Japanese Americans during internment and recent Day of Remembrance events in San Jose. The writer rebukes Hayakawa’s claims about Japanese American success and urges him to retire from public commentary on the issue.
• More than Gambling in Las Vegas, by Minoru Yasui, page 7. Yasui profiles Nevada Nikkei community leaders Wayne Tanaka, George Goto, and Lillian Morizono who are active in redress efforts, including lobbying the Las Vegas city council and Nevada’s U.S. senators. He emphasizes the importance of local constituent pressure on senators like Paul Laxalt given his influence within the national Republican Party.
• Style: Errol Heights, Los Angeles, the White House, by Bob Shimabukuro, page 8. Shimabukuro reflects nostalgically on softball games and community life in Errol Heights, Oregon, musing about dog health spas in Los Angeles and comparing presidents’ leisure pursuits like golf versus woodworking. He humorously defends Jimmy Carter’s image as a furniture-maker against the golf-playing tradition of other presidents.
• On Nikkei Celebrities and PSW Conference, by Henry Sakai, page 8. Sakai praises the turnout and organization of the PSWDC conference and commends Tritia Toyota for her continued community support, while criticizing Pat Morita for making jokes that reinforce negative stereotypes about Japanese Americans. He also calls for more communication and accountability from JACL’s national leadership to its membership.
• Sansei Involvement, by Mika Hiramatsu, page 9. The youth council chair discusses how the documentary ‘Unfinished Business’ is inspiring Sansei to engage with Japanese American history and the redress movement. She describes a racially mixed young audience’s enthusiastic response to the film at UC Berkeley and calls on more Sansei to join JACL.
• U.S.-Japan Relations: A Local Issue, by Floyd Shimomura, page 9. Shimomura argues that U.S.-Japan trade relations increasingly affect local American communities as Japanese companies establish operations across the United States. He suggests JACL, as a grassroots organization, can play a positive role in fostering cooperative local relationships amid this economic integration.

JACL

• Aging and Retirement Workshop Planned for Tri-District Conference, page 7. JACL’s aging and retirement committee will present a workshop at the Tri-District Conference in Fresno, featuring updates on the ‘A Tale of Nisei Retirement’ videotape and the Masuda study done in Seattle. Co-chairs Pat Okura and Ford Kuramoto will discuss NIMH support and collaboration with community organizations serving the elderly.

In-Depth

• Study on Chinatown Unemployment, Health Published in Amerasia Journal, page 9. UCLA’s Amerasia Journal published new research examining Chinatown unemployment patterns in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, alongside a study of health service utilization in San Francisco’s Chinatown. A related article by historian Linda Pomerantz examines ties between Chinese American merchants and the anti-Chinese movement’s role in supporting China’s 1911 revolution.

Arts & Entertainment

• Grants Supporting Asian American Works, page 10. Five Asian American writers, including poets David Mura, Ai Ogawa, and Marilyn Chin, received 1985 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship grants. The article highlights their backgrounds and literary accomplishments, including Mura’s and Chin’s poems featured in the anthology ‘Breaking Silence.’

Military & Veterans

• Sac’to Nisei Veterans Leader Succumbs, page 10. Frank Oshita, a Nisei WW2 veteran and leader of Sacramento VFW Post 8985, died at age 66 following heart bypass surgery complications. He had led the effort for a VFW resolution supporting Japanese American redress and condemning the WW2 internment as unjustified.

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