The end of the redress program and the 1998 JACL scholarship winners

Vol. 127, No. 6, September 19, 1998. 16 pages. View this issue

The close of the Japanese American redress program led the news. A Department of Justice ceremony marked the end of payments under the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, with remarks from Attorney General Janet Reno and former internee Sox Kitashima, reported by Caroline Aoyagi. Commentary followed the theme: Bill Hosokawa asked why a Denver-area commemoration drew so few people, and Brian Niiya wrote about the Honolulu chapter’s work for families excluded from their homes in Hawaii. Ray Uchiyama revisited the draft resisters. A bill extending public education grants about the World War II incarceration (often called internment) awaited the governor’s signature.

Page 6 profiles the 1998 JACL scholarship winners, and chapters in Diablo Valley and Sequoia named their own recipients. Other pages cover plans for the National Japanese American Memorial, the Amache reunion in Las Vegas, the new Mike Masaoka fellows, the death of director Akira Kurosawa, and Gil Asakawa’s column on sushi.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Atonement for the Past … Justice for the Future: DOJ Ceremony Celebrates Completion of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, by Caroline Aoyagi, page 1. The U.S. Department of Justice held a ceremony on September 10 marking the end of the 10-year redress program under the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, featuring speeches from Attorney General Janet Reno and former internee Sox Kitashima. The event honored the sacrifices of Japanese Americans interned during WWII and celebrated the completion of over $1.6 billion in redress payments to more than 81,000 claimants.
• AB 1915 Adopted by Both Houses, Awaits Governor’s Approval, by Tracy Uba, page 1. California’s State Senate and Assembly adopted AB 1915, a bill by Assemblyman Mike Honda that extends the legacy of the federal Civil Liberties Public Education Fund for three more years with $1 million in grants. The bill now awaits the signature of Governor Pete Wilson and aims to educate the public about the Japanese American internment experience.
• Draft Resisters Revisited, by Ray Uchiyama, page 11. Ray Uchiyama examines the experiences of young Nisei men who faced family pressures and internal conflict over the draft during WWII incarceration, including a poignant story of a father disowning his son for volunteering. The piece explores the complex generational and moral divisions the draft created within interned Japanese American families.
• DOJ Ceremony Marks End of 1988 Civil Liberties Act, page 14. The continuation of the DOJ ceremony article details remarks from Attorney General Janet Reno, Bill Lann Lee, and former internees about the significance of the redress program’s completion. It also discusses the recent Mochizuki settlement providing partial redress to Japanese Latin American internees and the personal experiences of ORA staff members.

Community

• Shall We Dance? JA Senior Citizens and the Singles Circuit, by Tracy Uba, page 1. Many older Japanese American widows, divorcees, and singles have created vibrant social lives through dance classes and singles clubs in the Los Angeles area. Longtime dancers like Tomiko Nakayama and Clifford Kageno describe how these events, rooted in wartime camp dance traditions, provide friendship, exercise, and sometimes romance for seniors.
• Central California Campaign Committee to Hold Reception for National Memorial to Patriotism, page 4. The Central California Campaign Committee of the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation held a reception/dinner in Fresno to present plans for the Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, D.C. The event aimed to raise awareness and funds toward the $8.6 million goal required for construction by the 1999 deadline.
• First Annual Asian Association of Utah Benefit Banquet, page 4. The Asian Association of Utah held its first annual benefit banquet in Salt Lake City, honoring Senator Orrin Hatch with a Lifetime Achievement Award and founder Jimi Mitsunaga with the Trailblazer Award. Numerous community service and youth awardees representing various Asian nationalities were also recognized.
• Pocatello Honors Nat’l JACL and P.C., page 4. At the Pocatello-Blackfoot Chapter’s annual summer salmon bake, chapter president Micki Kawakami and Kari Endo presented Helen Kawagoe with two $1,000 checks for the P.C. Save fund and National JACL. The event was held at Sister City Park in Pocatello, Idaho.
• Benefit to Raise Funds for Issei Memorial Building, page 4. The JACL San Jose Chapter is celebrating its 75th anniversary on Oct. 10 with a dinner honoring community leaders and featuring keynote speaker Dale Minami. The event will also serve as a fundraiser to renovate the Issei Memorial Building, a San Jose Historical Landmark needing $15,000 to $20,000 in repairs.
• Sonoma County JACL to Host History Buffs, by Mei Nakano, page 4. The Sonoma County JACL will host a busload of Bay Area visitors organized by the National Japanese American Historical Society to explore historic Japanese American sites in Sonoma County, including the Round Barn and Fountaingrove vineyards once owned by Kanaye Nagasawa. Local storytellers will share the history of Japanese Americans in the region dating back to the early 1900s.
• Highlights of the Amache Reunion, page 10. The upcoming Amache Reunion in Las Vegas will feature presentations including a video documentary by Corey Ohama, camp-life slides collected by Richard Hidaka and Jane Van Baricom, and a 20-year quilt project by Kazi Aoki chronicling her life in the Amache camp. Students from Granada High School will also display a scale model of the Amache camp.

Arts & Entertainment

• Director Kurosawa Dies, but Films Live On, page 1. Legendary Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, born in Tokyo in 1910, has died, leaving behind an influential body of work including collaborations with actor Toshiro Mifune. He is survived by his son Hisao, also a director, and daughter Kazuko.
• A Novel Book on Japanese Feudal Armour, page 12. A new pictorial catalog on Japanese armor, published by Sam Nomi Publications, features detailed images of kabuto, mempo, doh, and other historic battle accessories photographed at shops and antique fairs in Tokyo. The book concludes with a section on the Tanegashima, Japan’s first firearms introduced by the Portuguese in 1543.

In-Depth

• Triumphs of Faith Chronicles Lives of JA Christians During WWII Internment, by Craig Ishihara, page 3. Triumphs of Faith is a 173-page self-published book compiling the stories of 52 Japanese American Christians and how their faith helped them endure WWII internment. The Japanese American Internment Project Committee spent three years compiling and publishing the book independently to preserve each contributor’s authentic voice.
• Catching Up on the Nikkei in Science, by Harry K. Honda, page 12. Harry Honda revisits a 1972 paper by Dr. George M. Fukui on the contributions of Japanese Americans to science, exploring how cultural traditions like dozoku and shinto helped Nisei scientists overcome discrimination. The piece profiles several pioneering JA scientists including Harvey Itano and Paul Terasaki, whose work advanced fields like organ transplantation.

JACL

• Diablo Valley Chapter Scholarship Winners Announced, page 5. The Diablo Valley JACL announced its scholarship winners including Christine Quan, who received the 1998 Dr. Yoshiye Togasaki Scholarship, along with Catherine Manabat, Julien Bonnel, and Magnolia Tun. Each recipient’s academic achievements, community service, and career goals were highlighted.
• Sequoia Presents 1998 Scholarships, page 5. The Sequoia JACL held its annual Scholarship Program at the Issei Community Center in Palo Alto, honoring numerous high school and community college scholarship recipients. Winners included Woei-Wei Khek, Kanya Yoshihiro, and others pursuing degrees in business, education, and other fields.
• 1998 JACL Scholarship Winners, page 6. The Pacific Citizen profiles numerous recipients of the 1998 JACL national scholarship and awards program, which offers roughly 42 awards totaling over $70,000 annually to students nationwide. Featured winners include graduate and undergraduate students pursuing fields such as medicine, law, dentistry, film, and public policy, with excerpts from their winning essays.
• Stewart, Nagao Named Latest Mike Masaoka Fellowship Congressional Fellows, page 10. Andrew Daisuke Stewart and Christina Aya Nagao have been selected as the 1998-1999 Mike Masaoka Congressional Fellows, each receiving a $7,500 stipend to serve fellowships in Washington, D.C. Stewart will work in Rep. Robert Matsui’s office while Nagao will serve in Rep. Patsy Mink’s office.

Military & Veterans

• West LA JACL Auxiliary Presents Check to 100th/442nd/MIS Memorial Foundation, page 5. Members of the West Los Angeles JACL Auxiliary presented a donation check to Colonel Young O. Kim of the 100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial Foundation, contributing to a $2.5 million campaign for a monument near the Go For Broke Monument in Los Angeles. The unveiling ceremony for the monument is scheduled for June 5, 1999.
• Conference Room Dedicated to Marine Corporal, page 12. A conference room at the Leeward Branch of the Honolulu YMCA was dedicated in memory of U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Roger Kimo Yamanaka, who was killed in the Vietnam War. The dedication ceremony was attended by his family and Hawaii political dignitaries including Representatives Patsy Mink and Neil Abercrombie.

National

• UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center Releases New Edition of National Political Almanac, page 10. UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center released the 1998-99 National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac, the nation’s most comprehensive political resource guide on APAs, now in its eighth edition. The 300-plus page guide lists nearly 2,000 elected and appointed APA officials and includes demographic data, research studies, and a directory of major Asian American political organizations.
• UCLA Establishes Center for EthnoCommunications, page 16. UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center launched a new Center for EthnoCommunications headed by Professor Robert A. Nakamura, aimed at documenting Asian Pacific American communities through film and media. The center plans to develop academic programs, a national consortium, and various projects focused on visual ethnography and oral history.

Commentary

• Redress: Ten Percent Support?, by Bill Hosokawa, page 11. Bill Hosokawa reflects on a Denver-area redress commemoration event that drew only about 135 attendees despite thousands of former internees living in Colorado, questioning why participation was so low. He explores possible reasons for the community’s limited engagement with redress-related events despite the historic significance of the program.
• A Celebration of Justice & Courage in Hawaii, by Brian Niiya, page 11. The Honolulu JACL chapter held an event commemorating the end of the redress era, highlighting the lesser-known stories of Japanese Americans in Hawaii who were excluded from their homes but not interned during WWII. The piece details the Honolulu chapter’s research efforts, led by figures like Donald and Ray Kanemaru, that uncovered buried history and secured redress for excluded families.
• Ethnic Horizons: Part II, by Bill Marutani, page 11. Bill Marutani recounts his personal experience with racial segregation during his Military Intelligence Service training at Fort Snelling, where white recruits received officer commissions while Nisei trainees received only enlisted promotions. He describes filing a complaint with Col. Rasmussen and later being reassigned and eventually commissioned as a second lieutenant.
• The First Sushi Is the Sweetest, by Gil Asakawa, page 12. Gil Asakawa recounts introducing his coworker Dave to authentic sushi for the first time, reflecting on his own childhood memories of sushi dinners in Tokyo and his mother’s New Year’s Eve sushi parties. He shares his personal favorites and aversions among sushi varieties, tying the experience to his cultural identity.
• Japanese Americans and the Nanking Massacre of 1937, page 13. The author, JACL’s former national redress chairman, compares Japan’s lack of restitution for the 1937 Nanking Massacre to Germany’s extensive reparations for Holocaust victims. The piece argues Japan has a moral obligation to address the atrocities committed against China during WWII.
• Letter: Los Angeles’ Nisei Week Queen Pageant Ceremony, page 13. A reader defends the Nisei Week Queen Pageant as a valuable cultural tradition, criticizing overly political scrutiny of the innocent aspects of the event. The letter responds to a previous article questioning the pageant’s role in Japanese American identity.
• Letter: Travels Through Canada and Alaska, page 13. A reader shares travel anecdotes from a trip through Canada and Alaska, describing encounters with Japanese Canadian history including Mt. Manzo Nagano, the Japanese Canadian National Museum, and a Japanese garden in Hope, B.C. built by a former internee.
• Letter: Response to Tracy Tanner’s Analysis, by Lawrie M.H., page 13. A Brown University reader, Lawrie M.H., criticizes writer Tracy Tanner’s analysis of Japanese American identity, arguing she failed to recognize the historical importance of distinguishing Japanese American and Asian American identities. The letter emphasizes the sacrifices JAs made to prove their Americanness despite societal exclusion.

Obituaries

• Arthur T. Morimitsu, 86, Veteran and Community Leader, page 15. Arthur T. Morimitsu, a decorated WWII MIS veteran and longtime Chicago Japanese American community leader, died at age 86. He served as president of the Japanese American Service Committee, was honored as JACLer of the Biennium in 1990, and was active in redress and memorial fundraising efforts until his death.
• George Ariyasu, O.D., page 15. Dr. George Ariyasu, 76, an optometrist from Northridge, California, passed away on August 24. He is survived by his wife Bettie, several children, and extended family, with a private memorial service held at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

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