The plight of Vietnamese boat people, and redress news

Vol. 89, No. 53, July 27, 1979. 12 pages. View this issue

Vietnamese boat people were the main subject of this 12-page issue. President Carter pledged to use Navy ships and planes to save refugees at sea, and Congress was considering the Refugee Act of 1979. Sen. S.I. Hayakawa wrote that America was built by boat people. Another front-page story reported 372,000 refugees in Southeast Asian camps. Redress also ran through the issue. John Tateishi discussed the bill’s prospects in the Senate and House, and JACL President Clifford Uyeda wrote about protecting constitutional rights in times of crisis.

Other pages looked back at the incarceration (often called internment). Ben Takeshita described his experience as a No-No boy at Tule Lake, and a reader urged that the camp’s history be openly acknowledged. Bill Hosokawa and Bill Marutani contributed columns. Page 11 carries book reviews, and a front-page report estimated that 905,000 Japanese emigrated over the past 100 years.

What’s in this issue

National

• U.S. responds to ‘Save the Boat People’ campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 1. President Carter pledged to use Navy ships and planes to save Vietnamese boat people after a White House demonstration. Congress was considering the Refugee Act of 1979 to raise refugee admissions substantially.
• Estimate 905,000 Japanese emigrated in the last 100 years, by Special to The Pacific Citizen, page 1. About 905,000 Japanese emigrated abroad over the past century, with Brazil the main destination before World War II. Emigration has since slowed, and current emigrants are increasingly young engineers seeking to test their abilities overseas.
• Calif.’s Easter lily industry bloomed overnight during war, by Charles Hillinger, page 3. Smith River, California grows Easter lilies on a large scale, an industry that expanded after Japan’s prewar lily imports stopped following Pearl Harbor. Growers now harvest and ship bulbs nationwide.

Community

• UN reports 372,000 refugees in camp, by P.C. Staff, page 1. UN counts show 372,000 refugees in Southeast Asian camps, mostly Vietnamese boat people. The United States has led resettlement with President Carter pledging to admit 168,000 refugees a year.
• First Asian American heads Sacramento lawyers group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Theodore Tamikazu Nishimura Slocum was elected president of the Capitol City Trial Lawyers Association. He is the first Asian American to lead a chapter of the California Trial Lawyers Association.
• Warren Tsuneishi promoted at Library of Congress, by P.C. Staff, page 12. Warren M. Tsuneishi was named director of Area Studies at the Library of Congress. He had previously headed the Orientalia Division and the East Asian Collection at Yale.
• Hawaii Okinawans to start history project, by P.C. Staff, page 12. The United Okinawan Association of Hawaii launched a history project funded partly by the state legislature. The group aims to complete the project by its 30th anniversary in 1981.

Commentary

• America: the Country of Boat People, by Sen. S.I. Hayakawa, page 3. Senator Hayakawa argues that America was built by boat people and urges rescuing Indochinese refugees and sheltering them in temporary quarters. He contends that admitting them would demonstrate the moral failure of the Vietnamese government.
• President’s Corner: Crises, by Clifford Uyeda, page 4. JACL President Uyeda argues that constitutional rights must be protected even during energy and other national crises. He says guarantees lose meaning if violated and must be redressed when wrongs occur.
• DC-10s flying again, page 4. A letter to the editor disputes characterizing the DC-10 as a suicide plane before investigations conclude. The writer argues such prejudgment is in poor taste.
• Right to Our Heritage, page 4. A Midwest letter writer laments declining turnout and motivation in JACL chapters following a Fourth of July picnic. The writer reflects on what the chapter’s future may require.
• ‘Boat People’, page 4. A letter writer praises Bill Hosokawa’s column on Vietnamese boat people and urges Nikkei to support the refugees. The writer proposes extending Marutani’s redress trust fund idea to the world’s needy.
• The Housing Paradox, by Sachi Seko, page 5. Seko criticizes age-restricted senior housing as discriminatory even though it serves a purpose. She recounts a neighborhood example of a house transformed through renovation.
• East Wind: Once More: Kimigayo, by Bill Marutani, page 5. Marutani traces the history of Japan’s national anthem Kimigayo and the hinomaru flag. He notes that the anthem was composed with British help and first played in 1890.
• From the Frying Pan: Search for ‘Big Nisei’, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa profiles Nisei physicians and professionals nominated as Big Nisei, including Dr. Sasahara and Dr. Mamiya. He also highlights Canadian Nisei leaders such as Tom Shoyama and architect Raymond Moriyama.
• Tule Lake: Right to Our Heritage, page 9. A reader argues that the Tule Lake camp’s history must be openly acknowledged and that past wrongs should be understood rather than buried. The writer urges Japanese Americans to confront the experience to move forward.
• Yankee Samurai Here and Now, by Barry T. Soiki, page 10. Soiki recounts reunions with Nisei Military Intelligence veterans in California, recalling their wartime and postwar service. He notes many continued in government and private careers.
• U.S. Homes for Japan Universities, by Nobuyuki Nakajima, page 10. Nakajima proposes that Japan build 100 universities in the United States to foster global thinking among Japanese students. He suggests transplanting Japanese curricula and faculty while keeping the structure of Japanese higher education.

Incarceration & Redress

• Justice & Clemency: Wendy Yoshimura, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The article argues Wendy Yoshimura, imprisoned after a conviction the author calls unfair, deserves clemency as Patricia Hearst received. It asks readers to support her petition to Governor Brown.
• A ‘No-No’ Segregee, by Ben Takeshita, page 4. Northern California-Western Nevada JACL Governor Ben Takeshita recounts his experience as a No-No boy at Tule Lake, including his years of Japanese schooling there. He describes how he came to see speaking Japanese and his camp past without shame.
• Redress Phase 2: About the Bill, by John Tateishi, page 4. Tateishi discusses the redress bill’s prospects in the Senate and House and reports optimism about passage. He explains the strategy of pressing for passage despite likely resistance.

Arts & Entertainment

• Modern Japanese plays are translated, page 11. A review of Ted Takaya’s anthology MODERN JAPANESE DRAMA covers plays by Mishima, Yamazaki, and others. The reviewer notes the book is a valuable start toward translating modern Japanese drama.
• Lee Ruttle reviews Ella Leffland’s novel about a Japanese American girl in wartime California, by Lee Ruttle, page 11. Ruttle reviews a novel following a teenage girl whose coming of age unfolds against war-era fears in a California town. The review praises the author’s skill with language and characterization.
• Tule Lake, page 11. An advertisement-style description introduces a novel about Japanese Americans incarcerated at Tule Lake during World War II. It addresses the No-No Boys, loyalty questionnaires, and the denationalization issues.
• Random Musings: First in the World, by Robert H. Kono, page 12. Kono argues that Japan’s innovative capacity now rivals the West and highlights The Tale of Genji as the world’s first novel. He connects the novel’s themes to Japanese cultural continuity.

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