JACL membership, scholarships and the 1997 Tri-District Conference

Vol. 124, No. 12, June 20, 1997. 12 pages. View this issue

JACL’s growth and direction were the main subject of this 12-page issue. At the Tri-District Conference in Las Vegas, President Helen Kawagoe and National Director Herb Yamanishi reported on membership and projects, and Karen-Liane Shiba projected nearly 24,000 members by year end. Grayce Uyehara promoted the 1998 national convention in Philadelphia, and the National Board voted to support railroad and mining workers of Japanese ancestry who were denied redress. Bill Hosokawa wrote about pianist Jon Nakamatsu’s Van Cliburn win, and Bill Lann Lee was nominated for the Justice Department’s top civil rights post.

Chapter scholarship news fills much of the middle, from San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento, Portland and others, including Watsonville winners who wrote on Executive Order 9066. Don Tamaki spoke on the Korematsu case, and Michi Weglyn examined Justice Department records. Harry K. Honda reviewed books on camp haiku and Tule Lake, and a notice sought a designer for a Manzanar tour brochure.

What’s in this issue

JACL

• Membership on the Rise, Trend Suggests 24,000 by Year End, by Caroline Aoyagi, page 1. At the Tri-District Conference in Las Vegas, National JACL President Helen Kawagoe and National Director Herb Yamanishi reported strong membership growth and ongoing projects including a $40,000 CLPEF grant for education initiatives. VP for Membership Karen-Liane Shiba reported membership payments up significantly compared to the previous year, projecting nearly 24,000 members by year end.
• Philadelphia JACL Pitches for ’98 National Convention, by Harry K. Honda, page 1. Grayce Uyehara promoted the 1998 JACL National Convention to be held in Philadelphia under the theme “Striving for a More Perfect Union,” encouraging Tri-District delegates to attend. The convention will run June 30-July 5, 1998, with events including a golf tournament and the installation of a new national board.
• Watsonville Scholarship Winners Write on Impact of Executive Order 9066, by Mas Hashimoto, page 4. The Watsonville JACL/Kee Kitayama Memorial scholarships were presented to seniors Mindy Uyematsu and Nikolas Chan, who each wrote essays reflecting on the significance of Executive Order 9066 and the internment experience. Both students discussed how learning about the internment shaped their understanding of civil rights and history.
• San Gabriel Valley Awards 5 Scholarships, page 4. San Gabriel Valley JACL announced winners of its 1997 high school scholarships, including the Hide & Fumi Kiyan Memorial and David Ito Memorial awards. The chapter also announced its first annual Scholarship golf tournament to build up the scholarship fund.
• County Sheriff Addresses Arizona JACL Luncheon, page 4. The 36th annual Arizona JACL/Sara Hutchings Clardy scholarship awards luncheon featured Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as guest speaker. Kris Nakagawa and Terry K. Schiefer won the $500 Clardy awards, named for a teacher who helped Japanese Americans during WWII.
• Stockton JACL Luncheon to Honor 11 Scholarship Winners, page 5. The Stockton JACL scholarship luncheon was scheduled with Kara Ueda as guest speaker, honoring recipients of various named scholarships. Eleven students received awards ranging from $250 to $700 for high school and collegiate achievements.
• San Diego JACL Celebrates 40 Years of Scholarships, page 5. San Diego JACL held its annual scholarship awards banquet with KNSD-TV news anchor Del Takahara as keynote speaker, marking 40 years of the scholarship program. Brian Hill of Patrick Henry High won the $1,000 top scholarship among several other award recipients.
• Greater Portland Nikkei Groups Salute Scholars, by Sharon Takahashi, page 5. Twenty-one Nikkei high school scholars were honored at a Portland banquet attended by 160 friends, relatives and supporters, with Oregon’s Teacher of the Year Ford Morishita as guest speaker. Special recognition was given to athletes of the year and various community organizations presented scholarships.
• Pocatello-Blackfoot JACL Awards Two $1,200 Scholarships, page 6. The Pocatello-Blackfoot JACL awarded $1,200 scholarships to Steven Abe and Chelsea Kawakami for the 1997-98 academic year. The chapter also announced contributions to National JACL and the Pacific Citizen and plans to create a volume of essays about the Issei generation.
• Mt. Olympus Awards Four Scholarships, page 6. Mt. Olympus JACL awarded four scholarships at its annual banquet following the chapter’s Fund-a-rama fundraiser, which chapter president Jeff Nakashima called a “smashing success.” Dustin Matsumori received the top $600 award as class valedictorian and multiple award finalist.
• 10 San Jose JACL Awards Total $8,500, page 6. Ten scholarships totaling $8,500 were awarded to outstanding high school seniors at the San Jose JACL scholarship luncheon. The largest award, the $2,500 George Masunaga Endowment, went to Tracy Hirai of Pinewood.
• Sacramento JACL Scholarship Fete Honors 22 Recipients, page 6. More than $20,000 in scholarship awards were presented at the annual Sacramento JACL scholarship dinner, with donors including VFW Post 8985 and East Lawn Memorial Park. Twenty-two students received named memorial scholarships ranging from $500 to $2,500.
• San Mateo JACL/Tomodachi Scholarships Awarded, page 6. San Mateo JACL and Tomodachi announced winners of their annual scholarships for high school seniors, coordinated by George Ikuta. Applications for JACL and youth membership are available through the San Mateo JACL office.
• More Than Discussion Needed to Attract Youth, by Caroline Aoyagi, page 6. At a JACL Tri-District Conference workshop on youth programs, panelists including Kimi Yoshino, Gary Mayeda, Hiromi Ueha and Ken Inouye emphasized that chapters need real commitment and action, not just discussion, to attract young members. Speakers highlighted successful models like the Selanoco-Tomonokai chapter relationship and the importance of Nisei mentorship in engaging youth.
• Wasatch Front JACL President Wins Mattie Wattis Harris Award, page 10. Wasatch Front JACL president Marion Hori received the Mattie Wattis Harris Award honoring women in Northern Utah for career excellence and community contribution. Hori, a former internee at Rohwer, has increased chapter membership by 200 percent during her tenure.

Arts & Entertainment

• High School Teacher Wins Cliburn Prize, page 1. Jon Nakamatsu, a 28-year-old high school teacher from Mountain View, Calif., won first prize in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, becoming the first American in 16 years to do so. Despite not attending a music conservatory, he beat out finalists from Russia, Italy, Israel and Germany with his performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
• Isamu Noguchi PBS-TV Set June 25, page 2. A new documentary film, Isamu Noguchi: Stones and Paper, aired nationally on PBS-TV’s “American Masters” series. Japan-born cinematographer Hiro Narita provided an intimate portrait of the artist’s life and work.
• The Japan We Never Knew: A Voyage of Discovery, by Harry K. Honda, page 10. A book review of David Suzuki and Keibo Oiwa’s exploration of Japan’s diverse minority communities, including the Ainu, Okinawans, and Peruvian dekasegi workers. The book challenges conventional notions of Japanese identity through interviews with those on the margins of mainstream Japanese society.
• Introducing ‘Asia’ to Child & Parents, by Harry K. Honda, page 10. A review of the children’s book “A Is for Asia” by Cynthia Chin-Lee, an alphabet book introducing young readers to Asian culture, languages, and symbols. The reviewer praises the book’s educational value for both children and accompanying adults.
• Berkeley Orchestra Season Ends with World Premieres, page 12. The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra concluded its 1996-97 season under Maestro Kent Nagano with two world premieres, including Aoki/Izu’s Mermaid featuring storyteller Brenda Wong Aoki and koto artist Miya Masaoka. Composer Mark Izu, known for scoring Steven Okazaki’s Academy Award-winning film, contributed to the performance.

Incarceration & Redress

• JACL Seeking Denied Redress for Railroad Workers, page 1. The JACL National Board voted to support railroad and mining workers of Japanese ancestry who were denied redress after being fired during WWII, and is now working to locate affected families for a letter-writing campaign. The Office of Redress Administration has engaged an independent researcher to look for documentation of federal government involvement in the firings.
• CLPEF Review Panelist’s Perspective: Telling Our Story, Preserving Our Legacy, by Pat Hayashi, page 7. Pat Hayashi describes his experience reviewing grant proposals for the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund, including projects on Japanese American communities in Denver and the redress movement’s internal debates. He reflects on how reviewing a survey about internment’s psychological effects gave him new understanding of his own father’s experience.
• Meiji Fujizawa: A Hero Remembered by Former POWs, by Harry K. Honda, page 8. Nisei interpreter Meiji Fujizawa was honored by Texas WWII veterans he helped as a POW camp interpreter in Japan, decades after the war. Former prisoners credited him with easing beatings and providing crucial war news despite personal risk, and helped restore his U.S. citizenship after the war.
• Deeper Understanding of E.O. 9066 with MIS Shed, by Don Tamaki, page 9. In a speech at the Presidio, Don Tamaki detailed how General John L. DeWitt and government officials fabricated evidence and suppressed contradicting intelligence reports to justify the internment of Japanese Americans in the Korematsu case. He described how Fred Korematsu’s conviction was ultimately overturned decades later when this suppressed evidence came to light.
• Justice Dept. After Pearl Harbor Supported Loyal Aliens in Industry, by Michi Weglyn, page 9. Michi Weglyn examines Attorney General Francis Biddle’s early 1941 statements opposing discrimination against loyal Japanese American workers, contrasted with the subsequent pressure from military officials like Karl Bendetsen that led to internment policy. Documents reveal internal government conflict between the Justice Department’s stated ideals and the War Department’s push for exclusionary measures.
• Designer Sought for Manzanar Self-Guided Tour Brochure, page 11. The nonprofit Manzanar Committee received a $20,000 CLPEF grant to produce 15,000 copies of an interpretive guidebook featuring self-guided tours of the Manzanar National Historic Site. The committee is seeking bids from designers experienced in desktop publishing to create the guidebook by June 30.

National

• Still No Arrests in Beating at Syracuse Denny’s, page 1. More than two months after seven Syracuse University students were allegedly attacked by a group of white males at a Denny’s restaurant parking lot, no arrests have been made. Attorney Elizabeth OuYang of AALDEF, representing the students, expressed disappointment with the pace of the investigation while awaiting a decision from federal civil rights monitors.
• Clinton Names Atty. Lee to Top Civil Rights Post, page 1. President Clinton nominated Bill Lann Lee, son of Chinese immigrants, for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. If confirmed, he would become the first Asian American to hold the nation’s top civil rights law enforcement position.
• JACL Condemns Anti-Immigrant Bill, page 6. The Pacific Southwest District JACL Office condemned HR7, a bill authored by Rep. Brian Bilbray that would deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants. Regional director Al Muratsuchi criticized the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ endorsement of the bill as scapegoating children.
• Cal Poly Pomona’s Bob Suzuki Confirmed for 24-Member National Science Board, page 7. The U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Bob H. Suzuki, president of California Polytechnic University Pomona, as a member of the National Science Board. He was nominated by President Clinton to a six-year term on the board, which advises the President on science policy.
• South Carolina Officials Hit for Anti-Buddhist Bias, page 7. A coalition of Asian Pacific American organizations including JACL criticized South Carolina board of education member Dr. Henry Jordan for bigoted comments against Buddhists and Muslims. Governor David Beasley’s response, accepting Jordan’s apology without seeking his resignation, was deemed inadequate by civil rights groups.

Community

• Asian Law Caucus Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary, page 2. The Asian Law Caucus celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Grand Hyatt Union Square, with keynote speaker Dale Minami reflecting on the organization’s history since its founding in 1972. Minami noted that Asian Pacific Americans today have more allies and political power than in the past but urged continued vigilance in civil rights work.
• Sonoma County Citizens Demand Investigation of Death by Police, page 6. A grass-roots coalition including the JACL’s Sonoma County Chapter is calling for a citizen police review board following eight police-related killings in the county over two years. The latest incident involved the fatal shooting of Kuanchung Kao by Rohnert Park police in his own driveway.
• Nisei Elected President of Community College Trustees, page 7. A Nisei architect involved in the renovation of CSU-Monterey Bay was elected president of the California Community College trustees association. He has a long history of civic involvement including chairing commissions and helping commission the Ruth Asawa sculpture memorializing Japanese American internment in San Jose.
• Yonsei Heads for Girls State, page 7. A young Yonsei woman was selected to attend the 54th annual session of California Girls State at Pitzer College, sponsored by the American Legion Post 299 Auxiliary. She maintains a 4.67 GPA and is active in numerous extracurricular activities.
• JACL Scholarship Winner Teaching in Tokyo, page 10. Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, a former recipient of the JACL Henry and Chiyo Kuwahara Memorial Scholarship, received a tenured associate professor appointment at Tokyo University. He used his scholarship to support clinical training and later completed a doctorate at Harvard before pursuing ethnic identity research in Okinawa.
• Coalinga Dedicates Park to Issei Pioneer Watanabe, page 11. The City of Coalinga renamed a natural habitat area the Harry S. Watanabe Natural Science Park in honor of the late nurseryman who beautified the city for decades. Watanabe and his family were interned during WWII but returned to Coalinga afterward, where he resumed his nursery work until retirement.
• Chizu Iiyama on the Road: Children of Chernobyl in Cuba, by Chizu Iiyama, page 12. During a study tour to Cuba, the author visited a camp at Tarara Beach where Cuba has hosted thousands of children from Chernobyl for medical treatment since 1986. The piece explores Cuba’s humanitarian program amid its own economic hardships under the U.S. embargo.
• New York’s JASSI Has New Director, page 12. Mari Sakaji, a longtime staff member of Japanese American Social Services in New York, was named the organization’s new director, replacing Cyril Nishimoto. Sakaji’s bilingual skills have made her a key resource for Japanese-speaking clients since joining the staff in 1985.
• San Diego’s Kiku Gardens Seeking More Applicants, page 12. Kiku Gardens, a 100-unit senior housing project in San Diego operated by the Nikkei Community, is seeking additional names for its waiting list of prospective tenants. Applicants must be 62 or older and meet income requirements, with an application deadline of Aug. 31, 1997.

Commentary

• Upbeat Membership Momentum Continuing, by Karen Liane Shiba, page 3. JACL VP for Membership Karen Liane Shiba writes about new membership brochures and tracking surveys being rolled out to chapters, and thanks various chapters for their work on membership drives and scholarships. She also highlights membership benefits including warehouse club memberships and rental car discounts.
• Time for JACL to Look at the Board, by Yas Tokita, page 3. Intermountain District Council Governor Yas Tokita reflects on forecasts about the future and society, referencing his brother’s predictions from the 1950s. The column serves as an introduction to broader discussion of JACL’s board and direction.
• A Belated Book Review, by Bill Marutani, page 4. Bill Marutani reviews Mike Masaoka’s autobiography “They Call Me Moses Masaoka,” reflecting on their friendship and occasional disagreements over the years. He highlights passages about the 442nd Regiment’s shoulder patch design and Masaoka’s touching tribute to his wife Etsu.
• At Last, an American, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa discusses how mainstream media covered pianist Jon Nakamatsu’s Van Cliburn competition win without mentioning his Japanese American heritage, contrasting this with other high-achieving Japanese Americans like Kristi Yamaguchi and Kent Nagano. He argues that ethnic background is often irrelevant to individual achievement and celebrates the successes of younger Japanese American talents.
• Letters to the Editor, by Various, page 8. Reader letters address topics including the WRA Camp Lexicon publication, remembrance of early JACL leader Shigemi Aratani, debate over the terms “Hapa” versus “Hafu,” and directions to Okei’s gravesite. Other letters discuss James Oda’s articles on Japanese-Jewish historical theories and tachyon products.
• Hakujin Midlife Blues, by Akemi Kayleng, page 9. The column reflects on aging through the lens of a Caucasian friend, Steve Knight, contrasting mainstream American attitudes toward aging with the greater respect Nisei culture affords to age and wisdom. The piece explores anxieties about health and mortality as one grows older.

In-Depth

• Portable Kit Showcased at Curriculum Guide Workshop, by Harry K. Honda, page 7. At the Tri-District Conference, a prototype curriculum kit for teaching about the Japanese American internment experience was showcased, featuring materials tailored to the San Diego area. The JACL Curriculum Guide is now used in 34 states, with organizers hoping to expand its reach further.
• Haiku, Like a Comet, a Flash from Obscurity, by Harry K. Honda, page 10. A book review of “May Sky: There Is Always Tomorrow,” a history and anthology of haiku written in WWII internment camps, compiled and translated by Violet Kazue de Cristoforo. The review highlights the rich poetic heritage of Issei haiku poets and profiles several contributors alongside their translated works.
• An Important Find: Tales of Salinas, Poston, Tule Lake and Japan, by Harry K. Honda, page 10. A review of “Treadmill: a Documentary Novel” by Hiroshi Nakamura, a previously unpublished manuscript discovered by Dr. Peter T. Suzuki decades after it was written, based on personal internment camp experiences. The novel follows a family through Salinas Assembly Center, Poston, Tule Lake segregation, and eventual removal to Japan.

Military & Veterans

• ‘Go For Broke’ Monument, page 8. Senator Daniel K. Inouye wrote a letter of support to Col. Youn O. Kim regarding the 100th/442nd/MIS World War II Memorial Foundation’s “Go for Broke” monument in Little Tokyo. Inouye, a 442nd veteran himself, expressed anticipation for the monument’s unveiling planned for summer 1998.
• Inuzuka Sails Around the World on His Ship, ‘Go For Broke’, by Wally/Yori Kagawa, page 12. 442nd veteran Mineo Inuzuka completed a two-and-a-half-year solo voyage circumnavigating the globe on his self-built ship named “Go for Broke,” fulfilling a lifelong dream after retiring from a military career. He faced numerous dangers including storms, equipment failures, and a head injury during the journey.

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