Bill Hosokawa honored, and JACL looks to a younger generation

Vol. 137, No. 5, September 5, 2003. 12 pages. View this issue

Bill Hosokawa received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th Asian American Journalists Association convention in San Diego, a story that led this 12-page issue. It followed his career from the Singapore Herald to the Heart Mountain Sentinel and The Denver Post. Gail Tanaka’s front-page commentary asked how JACL could attract Yonsei and Gosei members, and readers answered in letters, including one from Dori Takata’s admirers. The issue also reported on Ward Connerly and Proposition 54, and on Rep. Howard Coble’s remarks about the wartime incarceration (often called internment).

Elsewhere: new Japantown street signs in San Francisco, a curriculum on the Rohwer and Jerome camps, and plans for the JACL gala dinner on Sept. 13. Page 5 listed the 2003 JACL National Scholarship winners, and chapter scholarships appeared on page 12. Sports covered Michael Chang’s last match and the Little League World Series.

What’s in this issue

National

• Hosokawa Honored at 16th AAJA Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Bill Hosokawa received AAJA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th Asian American Journalists Association convention in San Diego, along with Tritia Toyota, while the Rafu Shimpo received the Dith Pran Service Award. The article traces Hosokawa’s career from the Singapore Herald through internment at Heart Mountain, the Des Moines Register, and a 38-year career at The Denver Post.
• Protesters Oppose Prop. 54 Outside Speech by Its Backer, Ward Connerly, by Associated Press, page 1. More than 30 demonstrators protested outside a Sacramento hotel where Ward Connerly, backer of Proposition 54, spoke to the press club about the ballot measure banning racial data collection. Connerly defended the initiative while protesters argued it would hinder detection of discrimination in government processes.
• Scholars Help Teachers Tell History of World War II Camps, by Associated Press, page 1. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Japanese American National Museum, and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation are collaborating to develop curriculum about the Rohwer and Jerome internment camps in Arkansas. Materials including a children’s book, CD-ROMs, and teacher training are being developed for distribution to schools statewide.
• Group Hopes to Rebuild Congresswoman Mink’s High School, by Associated Press, page 1. A community group called Friends of Old Maui High is working to restore the ruins of Maui High School into the Patsy T. Mink Center, a career-training facility for prison inmates and drug rehabilitation patients. The late congresswoman attended the school, and estimates suggest the project will cost $5-8 million.
• SDCBA, NAPABA Rebuke Congressman Coble, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The San Diego County Bar Association adopted a resolution condemning Rep. Howard Coble’s statements justifying the WWII internment of Japanese Americans as being for their own protection. NAPABA also asked the Association of Trial Lawyers of America to stop contributing to Coble’s campaign, and California’s legislature urged him to resign his subcommittee chairmanship.
• National Newsbytes, by Pacific Citizen Staff and Associated Press, page 4. This roundup covers several stories: California’s Prop. 54 diverting attention from a similar Michigan ballot effort; a California Senate bill requiring sales contracts in Asian languages; 12-year-old Sho Yano beginning medical school at the University of Chicago; a judge ordering police to vacate a Chinatown plaza in Manhattan; and a federal judge ordering Kamehameha Schools to admit a possible non-Hawaiian student pending litigation.

Community

• S.F. Mayor Brown Unveils New Japantown Street Signs, by P.C. Staff, page 1. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Jr. joined residents and merchants to unveil new directional signs for Japantown. The new signs correct old pagoda signs that had six roofs, considered bad luck, replacing them with culturally accurate five-roof designs in English and Japanese.
• APAs in the News: Awards, Appointments, Announcements, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Gov. Gray Davis announced several appointments including Thomas Iino to the State Board of Accountancy and reappointments to the Lanterman Developmental Center Advisory Board. Other honorees include Herbert Kawahara as UCLA Foundation president-elect, Hiroshi Uchida honored by Pacific Grove on his 77th birthday, and the late Randy Senzaki honored posthumously by the California State Assembly.
• Military Intelligence Service Launches Website, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Military Intelligence Service of Northern California launched a website documenting the experiences of about 6,000 Nisei soldiers who served in the Pacific Theater and postwar occupation of Japan. The site includes oral histories, biographies, and research materials collected over 15 years, funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
• Alameda County Looking for JA WWII Internees Who May Be Eligible for High School Diploma, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Alameda County Office of Education is seeking Japanese Americans who could not complete high school due to WWII internment, as well as WWII and Korean War veterans, to offer them honorary diplomas. The program began in Massachusetts in 1999 and has since expanded to recognize internees in California counties including Alameda and Santa Clara.
• Southeast Chapter Awards Inaugural Education Scholarship, by P.C. Staff, page 12. The Southeast Chapter of JACL awarded its first Education Scholarship, worth $500, to Whitney Wakasugi, who will attend Brenau University to study mass communications. The chapter hopes to grow the scholarship program to two annual awards funded through chapter fundraising efforts.
• Eden Township JACL Presents 2003 Scholarship Awards, by P.C. Staff, page 12. Eden Township JACL presented multiple scholarships at its annual potluck awards night to six graduating high school seniors including Lisa Iijima, Derek Valerio, and Lauren Kawabata. Guest speaker Diane Matsuda, director of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, addressed the event.
• San Gabriel Valley Chapter Presents Annual Scholarship Awards, by P.C. Staff, page 12. The San Gabriel Valley JACL presented scholarship awards to graduating seniors Allison Haraguchi and Minoru Robert Nishida. Haraguchi received $1,000 in combined scholarships and will study environmental and political science at UC San Diego, while Nishida received the Higa Scholarship and plans to study alternate energy and Japanese at UCLA.

Commentary

• How to Attract Young People to JACL, by Gail Tanaka, page 1. Gail Tanaka argues that JACL must rethink its focus to attract Yonsei and Gosei generations, who are more interested in learning about their Japanese American culture than in civil rights activism per se. She recommends developing a new organizational vision and culturally-relevant programs while leveraging JACL’s unique national network.
• Concentration Camps, page 2. A letter writer from Pocatello, Idaho, who attended a Park Service workshop on the Minidoka Internment National Monument, argues that the term ‘internment’ is too innocuous and that the camps should honestly be called concentration camps. The writer compares the treatment of Japanese Americans to that of Jews under the Nazis.
• Patriot Act USA, page 2. A letter writer praises JACL and Japanese Americans for helping Arab Americans targeted under the Patriot Act, warning that the proposed Patriot Act II is even more concerning. The writer highlights Rep. Dennis Kucinich as the only presidential candidate who voted against the Patriot Act and plans to introduce a repeal bill.
• Case-by-case, by Bill Wetherall, page 2. A longtime JACL member and academic responds to a previous letter about use of the word ‘Jap,’ arguing the term has a complex semantic range and that a rigid ‘no Jap’ censorship policy would be less honest than a case-by-case approach. The writer draws parallels to varied usage of the word ‘nigger’ by different communities.
• Congratulations to Dori Takata, by Hugh Curlecou, page 2. A UC Berkeley alumnus and Lake Washington Chapter member congratulates Dori Takata for her essay on attracting younger and older generations to JACL. He praises the Pacific Citizen staff for publishing her lengthy essay uncut.
• Reader Disagrees With Chuman, by Phil Shigekuni, page 2. Phil Shigekuni, Civil Rights Chair of the San Fernando Valley Chapter, disputes Frank Chuman’s letter supporting honoring Sen. Hayakawa, noting Hayakawa opposed redress and testified against it at hearings. He also criticizes Ward Connerly’s role in Propositions 209 and 54 as harmful to minority communities.
• Putting JACL’s Curriculum Guide to Good Use, page 2. A teacher in the Anaheim school district describes strategies for promoting JACL’s curriculum guide in California, including holding teachers accountable through state teaching standards and new credentialing legislation requiring diversity training. The writer notes over 60 teachers in the Anaheim district have been trained using the JACL curriculum.

JACL

• JaAmPAC Seeks Nat’l JA Heritage Legislation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The National Japanese American Political Action Committee (JaAmPAC) plans to seek federal legislation creating a public-private partnership to preserve and manage the 10 WWII relocation camps and related sites under National Park Service jurisdiction. The group will form the National Japanese American Heritage Alliance to serve as a legislative liaison and disseminate information.
• Final Reminder: Few Tickets Still Available for 2003 JACL Gala Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 3. JACL’s national gala dinner on Sept. 13 in Los Angeles will honor Norman Mineta, Daniel Inouye, Robert Matsui, Michael Honda, and posthumously Patsy Mink. Organizers report strong corporate sponsorship and ticket sales as they aim to bring together 1,000 attendees to support JACL’s operations and programs.
• 2003 JACL Scholarship Winners: Freshman and Undergraduate Divisions, by P.C. Staff, page 5. National JACL announced its 2003 scholarship winners, awarding 28 scholarships totaling $48,500 to students attending schools including Yale, Stanford, UCLA, and Amherst. Excerpts from winning essays reveal students’ interests in Japanese American history, community service, and cultural identity.

Sports

• Chang Says Goodbye to Tennis After Four-set Loss, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 7. Michael Chang played his final professional match at the U.S. Open, losing to Fernando Gonzalez in four sets before retiring at age 31. Chang, who won the French Open in 1989 at age 17, received a standing ovation as he waved goodbye to the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
• Nat’l JACL Credit Union Hosts 2nd Annual Volleyball Invitational, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The National JACL Credit Union hosted its 2nd Annual Volleyball Invitational in Murray, Utah, drawing more than 60 players across eight teams. The JACL Mt. Olympus chapter team won the recreational division while Reiko Smith’s team won the competitive division.
• Japanese Team Wins Little League World Series, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 7. Tokyo Musashi-Fuchu routed East Boynton Beach 10-1 to win the Little League World Series title, marking Japan’s third championship in five years. Yuutaro Tanaka struck out 14 batters and homered, while Hokuto Nakahara hit a grand slam in the decisive fourth inning.
• Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation to Hold 5th Annual Golf Tournament Sept. 13, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation will hold its 5th Annual Golf Tournament at The Reserve in Spanos Park in Stockton, featuring local media personalities and Sacramento Kings representatives. The event will honor the late Derrek Dickey, a former Golden State Warriors player and Kings broadcaster, with a dedicated memorial hole.

Obituaries

• Kenji Ito, L.A. Civic Leader Who Fought Spy Charges, Dies at 94, by Associated Press, page 11. Kenji Ito, the first Japanese American admitted to the California state bar after World War II, died at age 94 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Ito was found innocent of spying charges in 1942, practiced law in Los Angeles for over 50 years, and helped found the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo.
• Takeo Okamoto, San Francisco JA Community Pioneer, Passes at 95, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Takeo Okamoto, a pioneer of the San Francisco Japanese American community, died at age 95 at his home. He helped found several organizations including JACL, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, and the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, and was the first Japanese member of the San Francisco Board of Realtors.

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