Redress hearings, a murdered Egyptian president and a slur on a map

Vol. 93, No. 17, October 23, 1981. 8 pages. View this issue

Redress and the wartime incarceration (often called internment) filled much of this eight-page issue. Former officials John J. McCloy, Milton Eisenhower and Karl Bendetsen were scheduled to testify before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in Washington on Nov. 2 and 3, and Leland Barrows described life in the relocation centers. Ex-Poston administrator Hugh Harris Anderson backed redress, Ron Wakabayashi weighed its chances in a budget-cutting climate, and Bill Marutani wrote on words that misdescribe the camp years. Senators Spark Matsunaga and S.I. Hayakawa spoke on the death of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Also inside: a Portland attorney’s complaint about a derogatory place name on an Oregon map, a Tule Lake reunion set for May 1982 in Sacramento, and Bill Hosokawa on the 1980 census. JACL chapter news covers a Sacramento 50th anniversary dinner-dance, golf tournaments in Seattle and Stockton, and a Las Vegas district meeting. Chuck Kubokawa reported from the first Pan American Nikkei Conference in Mexico City.

What’s in this issue

National

• Senators Mourn the Death of President Anwar Sadat, page 1. Senators Spark Matsunaga and S.I. Hayakawa expressed deep regret over the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat during a military parade. Hayakawa urged the U.S. to fully support Sadat’s successor Hosni Mubarak, noting Japanese Ambassador Toshio Yamazaki was seated near the scene when the attack occurred.
• Judd Gets Freedom Medal, page 1. Dr. Walter M. Judd, a former Minnesota congressman who aided JACL’s legislative goals, received a Presidential Freedom Medal from President Reagan. Judd, a medical missionary to China, had introduced Mike Masaoka to fellow congressmen and sponsored a 1947 bill extending naturalization rights to Japanese residents, which became the Walter-McCarran Act of 1952.
• Candidate Wants to Drop Use of Bilingual Ballot, page 1. California Assemblyman Gordon Duffy, announcing his candidacy for Secretary of State, called for eliminating bilingual ballots and reinstating periodic voter roll purges. He noted only about 4,000 of nearly 11 million California voters requested bilingual ballots last year, despite the state spending $7 million on the program over six years.
• County Welfare Director Looks at Federal Cuts, page 4. Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Social Services director Eddy S. Tanaka warned that federal cuts effective Oct. 1 will have a major impact on recipients and staff, with some losing food stamp eligibility. State officials have yet to agree on implementation of the federally mandated cuts.

Community

• Hawaii Nisei Judge Injured From Mysterious Causes, page 1. Hawaii circuit Judge Harold Shintaku was found badly injured and bleeding at his family’s beach house, suffering skull fractures and a broken clavicle. The incident followed public controversy over his reversal of two murder convictions and a prior drunken driving arrest, though doctors say his injuries could not have been self-inflicted.
• Oregon State Map Showing ‘Jap Hollow’ Ires Portland Nisei, page 1. IRS attorney James Sogi complained about the derogatory place name ‘Jap Hollow’ appearing on a 1972 Oregon highway map of Wasco County, prompting assurance the map would be reprinted with a renamed designation. The article recalls a similar successful effort by Fremont JACL’s Ted Inouye to rename ‘Jap Creek’ in Crook County to ‘Bull Creek’ after a five-year process involving JACL, senators, and federal mapping authorities.
• Prewar Arizona Residents Plan ’82 Reunion, page 3. A reunion of pre-1942 Arizona residents is planned for April 23-24, 1982, organized by the Arizona Reunion Committee. The Phoenix JACL chapter is also holding its annual meeting Oct. 25 to elect officers and discuss forming a united Asian-Pacific American organization.
• Tule Lake Reunion Set May 29-30, 1982, page 3. Former Tule Lake residents will gather for a reunion in Sacramento over Memorial Day weekend 1982, featuring a dinner-dance, picnic, and tours. Pre-registration costs $50 and includes meals and a souvenir booklet.
• Nihonmachi Youth Patrol Continues, page 3. San Francisco’s Nihonmachi youth patrol, originally a summer program of the Buchanan YMCA, resumed operations Oct. 19 and will continue through January 1982 due to its success reducing crime. The Nihonmachi Merchants Association sponsors the patrol, which works with young black individuals alongside the NMA’s security program.
• U.S.-Japan Mayors Conference Slated for San Diego, page 3. The 16th Japan-American Conference of Mayors and Chamber of Commerce Presidents will be held in San Diego Nov. 8-11 under the theme of business and government partnership in renewing cities. Participants include mayors from Los Angeles, San Diego, Honolulu, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Yokohama.
• ‘O.C. Debs’ Reunion Planners Issue First Call, page 3. Former Orange County Debutantes are planning a reunion of past members and friends. Interested persons should contact organizer Peggy Tanaka by Oct. 31.
• Jazz Concert Set for Asian Women United, page 3. Asian Women United will hold a jazz concert and party fundraiser called ‘Mellow Yellow Madness’ in New York on Oct. 30. The event runs from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
• Free Classical Japanese Music Concert Slated, page 3. A free classical Japanese musical concert featuring koto, samisen, yokyoku, biwa, and shakuhachi performances will be held Oct. 25 at the Miyako Hotel in San Francisco’s Nihonmachi. Multiple traditional music groups are scheduled to perform.
• Kashu Mainichi to Fete Its 50th Anniversary on Nov. 5, page 3. The Kashu Mainichi newspaper will publish a special supplemental edition on Nov. 5 marking 50 years of publishing, reviewing its history and founder Sei Fujii’s story. Fujii, who arrived from Japan in 1903 and became a lawyer, founded the paper in 1931 to address social problems in the Japanese community, later resuming publication after internment at Santa Fe.
• 1000 Club Golf Tourney, page 6. Seattle JACL’s 1000 Club held its 10th annual golf tournament on July 26 at Jefferson golf course, with Mits Abe and Reiko Sato winning top honors in the men’s and women’s flights respectively. Results across multiple flight categories are listed along with the tournament committee members.
• Stockton JACL Golf Tourney Attracts 72, page 6. The annual Stockton JACL golf tournament drew 72 players on Sept. 27 at Van Buskirk course, with Dr. Noby Oshidari winning low gross honors and Kiyoshi Arakawa taking low net. Results for all flights including women’s competition are detailed.
• Contra Costa to Host Monte Carlo Night #2, page 6. Contra Costa JACL will hold its Monte Carlo Night #2 fundraiser on Oct. 24 at San Pablo Maple Hall. Proceeds will benefit the Sakurai fund.
• Japan JACL Hears From Nikkei Businessmen, page 6. Tokyo JACL’s recent meeting featured a panel of Nisei and Sansei businessmen in Japan including Kiyo Nogami, Tom Watanabe, Len Kaihara, and Gene Yamagata discussing their varied business ventures and challenges operating in Japan. Nogami is noted as a top ice cream cone manufacturer in Japan while Yamagata works to market aloe health products.
• Sac’to JACL 50th Anniv. Tickets Now on Sale, page 6. Tickets for the Sacramento JACL’s 50th anniversary dinner-dance on Nov. 14 are available for $20 per person at several local business locations. The event marks a major chapter milestone.
• West Valley All Set for Chicken Teriyaki Sale, page 6. West Valley JACL organized a detailed 12-shift schedule for its annual chicken teriyaki lunchbox sale on Nov. 7 at two San Jose sites. Preparation begins Wednesday with barbecuing, rice cooking, and packaging shifts running through Saturday evening cleanup.

Incarceration & Redress

• Former U.S. Government Officials Slated to Testify at CWRIC-Washington Hearing, page 1. Former officials involved in the WWII relocation of Japanese Americans and Aleuts, including John J. McCloy, Milton Eisenhower, and Karl Bendetsen, are scheduled to testify before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in Washington on Nov. 2 and 3. Mike Masaoka is also expected to testify, with additional hearings planned for New York and Boston.
• McCloy Letter Lauds Wartime Nikkei Behavior in Camps, page 1. A 1949 letter from John J. McCloy to Rep. Walter Judd, reprinted from the Pacific Citizen, praised the loyalty and exemplary conduct of Japanese Americans during their wartime evacuation and supported legislation removing race restrictions from naturalization. McCloy also credited the Nisei battalions with an outstanding combat record that demonstrated their full loyalty to the United States.
• Barrows Speaks on WRA to CWRIC, page 2. Leland Barrows, a top WRA administrative official, testified before the CWRIC about the agency’s formation, operations, and the physical conditions of the relocation centers, including pay scales, schooling, self-government councils, and the leave program that eventually allowed evacuees to resettle outside the exclusion zone. He described the centers as army-style camps with little privacy, surrounded by barbed wire and military police, and detailed the gradual relocation process that moved tens of thousands of people out by 1944.
• Canadian Updates Evacuation Story, page 2. A new book by Ann Sunahara of Edmonton titled ‘Politics in Racism’ was published in Toronto using material from Ottawa archives and Japanese Canadian Citizens Association files. JCCA leader George Tanaka called the book ‘painfully revealing,’ noting the Canadian government was already planning to dispose of Japanese Canadians’ possessions while those possessions were being entrusted to government custodians before the 1942 evacuation.
• Ex-Poston Boss Backs Redress; Camp ‘Far From Comfortable’, page 3. Hugh Harris Anderson, a former Poston camp administrator, wrote to the South Pasadena Review describing harsh camp conditions including low wages and inadequate heating, countering a letter opposing redress payments. Anderson, who testified before the CWRIC in Los Angeles, argued Japanese Americans should be reimbursed for their wartime losses to both right a wrong and set a precedent against future mistreatment.
• Gardena Redress Group Holds Aftermath Workshop, page 3. The Gardena Committee for Redress and Reparations held a workshop titled ‘In the Aftermath of the Hearings’ on Oct. 22 at the Gardena Buddhist Church. The workshop focused on redress and reparations issues.

JACL

• Detroit to Host MDC Fall Session, by Elaine Prout, page 1. The Midwest District Council fall session will be held Nov. 6-8 in Farmington Hills, Michigan, featuring workshops on JACL survival and Roberts Rules of Order along with installation of Detroit JACL and JAY boards. Detroit councilwoman Maryann Mahaffey, a JACL supporter who testified at CWRIC Chicago hearings, will be the keynote speaker.
• JACLers Step Up Push for Bill to Aid Hibakusha, page 6. JACL’s liaison committee intensified its campaign supporting HR 1022, introduced by Rep. George Danielson, to provide medical support for atomic bomb survivors and nuclear test-exposed veterans. The American Medical Association has shown interest given the medical value of treating American survivors in the event of nuclear accidents, with committee members urging support from congressional subcommittee members.
• Pasadena JACL Slates Nov. 6 Election Meeting, by Mack Yamaguchi, page 6. Pasadena JACL’s year-end activities include an election meeting Nov. 6 and a Christmas party Dec. 5, following earlier membership campaign planning. Keith Kitani won the chapter’s 1981 scholarship award.
• PCYA Scholarships Offered by WLA JACL, page 6. West Los Angeles JACL is offering two full-tuition scholarships for the Presidential Classroom for Young Americans program in Washington, D.C. The program provides high school seniors a concentrated week-long study of U.S. government with visits to various agencies.
• Las Vegas to Host PSW Meet, page 6. The Pacific Southwest District Council will hold its first convention in southern Nevada at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel Nov. 13-14, hosted by the Las Vegas chapter. National President Jim Tsujimura will be the guest luncheon speaker, and the chapter recently held a scholarship benefit luau won by UN-Reno student Dean Matsuura.

In-Depth

• ‘Americans Betrayed’: Robert Maynard Hutchins and Freedom of the Press, by S.C. Nakamura, page 2. The article examines the controversy surrounding Morton Grodzins’ 1949 book ‘Americans Betrayed’ about the Japanese American evacuation, and the University of Chicago Press director W.T. Couch’s dismissal for publishing it despite pressure from the University of California and Chancellor Robert Hutchins. The piece highlights hypocrisy given Hutchins’ own press freedom commission findings, as detailed in a Chicago Tribune editorial critique.
• The Festive Mexico City Connections, by Chuck Kubokawa, page 8. A detailed account of the first Pan American Nikkei Conference held in Mexico City describes the shared history and distinct experiences of Latin American Nikkei communities, including wartime persecution in Colombia and Peru. The author recounts cultural exchanges including a home-hosted dinner party with singing, and previews future conference details and an upcoming Nikkei singing contest in Lima, Peru.

Arts & Entertainment

• Film on Women Poets to Screen Oct. 31 in L.A., page 3. The CSU Los Angeles Writing Center and Asian-Pacific Women’s Network are sponsoring the Southern California premiere of the film ‘Mitsuye and Nellie: Asian American Poets’ on Oct. 31. The free screening will be held in the Music Hall of CSULA.
• Stone Age Tools Unearthed in Sendai, page 7. Tokohu University archeologists disclosed the discovery of Stone Age tools embedded in volcanic ash at sites in Sendai, providing first evidence of humans in Japan 30,000-50,000 years ago. About 30 stone implements were found at Uwanodai and 40 at Zasaragi, predating previously dated tools from Iwajuku by 10,000 years.

Commentary

• The Payoff, by Ron Wakabayashi, page 4. The Musubi column discusses how the economic climate under the Reagan administration’s budget cuts and supply-side economics will influence redress decisions more than principles of justice. The author cites Congressman Phil Burton’s call to ‘be right’ rather than merely practical, arguing the federal government must remain responsible for its debts to Japanese Americans.
• United Way Letter, by Paul Tsuneishi, page 4. A letter to the editor urges United Way contributors to designate Nikkei social service agencies as recipients, noting that no Nikkei agency in Los Angeles County currently receives United Way funding despite historical ties. The writer recommends the Little Tokyo Service Center and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center as worthy designees.
• Looking for Jiichan, by Roberta A. Molloy, page 4. A reader writes seeking help locating her maternal grandfather, James Toshio Kanasawa, who came to the U.S. in the 1920s, studied engineering in Colorado, and was interned at Manzanar during WWII. Contact was lost with him in the late 1940s when he was living in Los Angeles.
• Forsaking Security for Independence, by Sachi Seko, page 4. The ‘From Happy Valley’ column profiles Lew and Judy Corlett, who left careers in medical research to run The Deli restaurant, finding fulfillment despite the economic risks of small business ownership. The author praises the couple’s determination and contentment, contrasting their satisfaction with most Americans’ dissatisfaction with their jobs.
• Census Count the Asians Just Don’t Have, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. The ‘From the Frying Pan’ column traces historical census data showing Japanese Americans’ population trends relative to Chinese, Filipino, and Korean Americans, noting Japanese Americans dropped to third place in the 1980 census due to slower growth from immigration. Hosokawa argues that assumptions of a unified Asian-American political coalition based on shared ancestry are largely illusory given vast cultural and generational differences among these groups.
• Un-American Use of Words, by Bill Marutani, page 5. The ‘East Wind’ column critiques Nisei misuse of terms like ‘acceptance,’ ‘voluntary evacuation,’ ‘repatriate,’ and ‘intern’ that perpetuate demeaning or inaccurate concepts about Japanese American wartime experiences. Marutani argues precise language is essential to supporting objective redress and reparations efforts.
• Washington Wrap-Up: Solidarity Day March, by Ron Ikejiri, page 5. JACL participated in the Sept. 19 Solidarity Day march of over 260,000 people in Washington, D.C. protesting federal budget cuts affecting vulnerable populations. The columnist describes the solemn mood of marchers from diverse professions and affirms JACL’s support for the march’s civil rights goals.

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