Postwar deportation plans for Nisei and the Manzanar Pilgrimage

Vol. 88, No. 38, April 13, 1979. 12 pages. View this issue

Documents about plans to deport Nisei after World War II led this 12-page issue. A front-page story cited a 1943 Washington Post editorial and related papers, and Ronald Ikejiri’s Washington Wrap-Up column urged JACL to demand release of all wartime removal records. Other front-page news included Min Yasui as featured speaker at the 10th Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 28, a page-6 report on speakers Minoru Yasui and Ernest Iiyama at a Day of Remembrance event at Tanforan, and Karl Nobuyuki’s Down to Earth column on Redress and the Constitution.

Also in this issue: the 1980 Census, expected to cost more than $4 a head, and a bill to raise the refugee quota. Sam R. Fujimoto entered a Los Angeles school board runoff, and Chol Soo Lee was sentenced to death in the Deuel case. Clifford Uyeda wrote on new JACL chapters and membership growth, and two chapters of Joseph D. Harrington’s Yankee Samurai follow Nisei linguists in the Pacific.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• U.S. Deportation of All Nisei After WW2 Sought, page 1. A 1943 Washington Post editorial and related documents are cited regarding proposals to deport Nisei after World War II. The piece argues the Justice Department and federal troops could be used to forcibly remove individuals deemed dangerous.
• Min Yasui to Speak at Manzanar Pilgrimage, page 1. The 10th Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 28 will pay tribute to Toyo Miyatake and Rev. Sentoku Maeda, with Min Yasui as featured speaker. Yasui, who challenged the wartime curfew, will make his first visit to Manzanar.
• Chol Soo Lee Handed Death in Deuel Case, page 2. Chol Soo Lee was sentenced to death for the 1977 fatal stabbing of a fellow inmate at Deuel Vocational Institution. The jury found he was a convicted murderer at the time, based on a 1974 conviction that is under appeal.
• Laws Are Not Enough, page 6. Speakers Minoru Yasui and Ernest Iiyama at Tanforan on Day of Remembrance warned that laws can be twisted under wartime hysteria. The article argues good citizens must actively remember and defend constitutional rights.

National

• 1980 Census to Cost $4 a Head, page 1. The 1980 Census is projected to cost more than $4 per person, up from about $1 in 1970, as officials seek to reduce the undercount of minorities. The Census Bureau conceded it missed 2.5 percent of the 1970 population, including Asian Americans.
• Japanese Executive Says Lowering Trade Barriers Will Take Years, page 1. Sumitomo Chemicals chairman Hasegawa told a Honolulu business forum that Japan supports lower trade barriers but change will take years. He cited high Japanese beef and rice prices and Japan’s dependence on Iranian oil.
• Regular Federal Data on Asians in U.S. Sought, page 1. Senate and House bills co-authored by Sen. Spark Matsunaga, Sen. Daniel Inouye, and Reps. Norman Mineta and Robert Matsui seek better federal data collection on Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. Community support is described as crucial to their success.
• Civil Rights Panel Calls May 8-9 Meet, page 1. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a two-day consultation on concerns of Asian and Pacific Island Americans in Washington on May 8-9. The JACL Washington Office is expected to participate.
• Carter Proclaims APAH Week, page 1. President Carter proclaimed the seven days beginning May 4 as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week. The proclamation honors contributions of Asian immigrants to the United States.
• Quota May Be Up to 50,000 Refugees, page 1. The Carter Administration sent Congress a bill to raise the normal refugee flow from 17,400 to 50,000 annually, with more when the President deems necessary. The measure would amend the 1952 immigration law.
• Wendy Yoshimura’s Appeal Fails; Faces 15-Yr. Sentence, page 1. The California appeals court upheld Wendy Yoshimura’s 1977 weapons conviction, and her attorney said the case will be appealed to the state supreme court. The court rejected claims of trial errors, including prejudicial references to her association with Patricia Hearst.
• Bilingual Education Bill Introduced, page 2. A bilingual education bill, SB 2149, passed the Washington state senate 37-10 and has the support of the Commission on Asian American Affairs. The bill provides instruction in students’ native tongue while transitioning them to English.

Community

• Fujimoto Now in Runoff for School Post, page 1. Nisei nurseryman Sam R. Fujimoto finished first in the April 3 primary for the Los Angeles board of education District 7 seat and will face John R. Greenwood in the May 29 runoff. Fujimoto’s platform includes smaller classes, special tutoring, and reprioritized spending.
• 19 Chapters Sponsor 29 Students to PCYA, page 2. Nineteen JACL chapters sent nearly 30 students to the 1979 Presidential Classrooms for Young Americans, a week-long seminar program in Washington, D.C. The list names participants by week and home chapter.
• Watanabe Will Head UW Regents, page 2. Dr. Paul Watanabe, a railroad executive and economist, was elected president of the University of Washington Board of Regents for a one-year term. He was one of four appointees of Gov. Dixy Lee Ray to the board.
• Gov. Brown Accused of Fomenting Climate Like 1942, page 2. Rep. Norman Mineta accused Gov. Brown of helping create political tactics reminiscent of the climate that put Japanese Americans in internment camps. Mineta is also a champion of a sunset bill for government spending review.
• Nippon no Hiroba—Japan Hour Set for Sacramento Radio, page 3. Sacramento State’s FM station KXPR will introduce a locally produced one-hour Japanese radio program, Nippon no Hiroba, on Sundays. The program seeks music, event information, and donations to cover costs.
• Santa Rosa Asked to Honor Issei Who Built Fountaingrove, page 3. A movement is underway for the Santa Rosa City Council to honor Kanaye Nagasawa by preserving the round barn and dedicating land as Nagasawa Park. Nagasawa became master of Fountaingrove Ranch in 1906 and was known as the Grape King.
• Nikkei Navy Officer Heads Medical Center Section, page 4. Capt. Norman K. Takaki became chairman of Obstetrics-Gynecology at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Oakland. Hawaii-born, he is one of the highest-ranking Japanese American Navy officers.
• JARR Application Released to All, page 6. The JACL-Japanese American Resource Registry application form was released for public reprinting before the First Edition closes this fall. Completed forms are due to the Washington JACL Office by the end of April.
• Three Nisei Discuss Retirement Planning, page 7. Three panelists at the JACL Diablo Valley Chapter retirement program addressed health, diet, and Medicare for older Nikkei. They advised staying active and overcoming reluctance to use available programs.
• 1978 Convention Minutes Printed, page 7. Official minutes of the 1978 National JACL Convention in Salt Lake City have been published as a 52-page phototypeset booklet. Extra copies are available for $3 postpaid.

Military & Veterans

• Dr. Katsumi Kometani Dies, page 2. Dr. Katsumi Kometani, 72, of Honolulu, died March 16. A dentist who served gallantly with the 100th Infantry, he was a longtime Scouting supporter and territorial board of education chairman.
• Yankee Samurai, Chapter 11, by Joseph D. Harrington, page 9. This excerpt describes Nisei linguists in the Pacific campaigns, including Kazuo Yamane’s intelligence find and the Leyte operations. It recounts their vital translation work with divisions across the theater.
• Yankee Samurai, Chapter 12, by Joseph D. Harrington, page 11. This installment covers Nisei linguists on Leyte and Mindoro, including Stanley Shimabukuro’s translation of captured documents that helped secure Ormoc. It also describes the early 1945 push toward Luzon and the expansion of the Military Intelligence Service Language School.

Arts & Entertainment

• Waka Yamada TV Story to Include Life in Seattle, page 3. A Japanese film crew spent a week in Seattle photographing Nippon Kan and Chinatown for a two-hour TV documentary on writer and women’s movement leader Waka Yamada. Researchers recreated Seattle circa 1900 to depict her early years there.
• Hawaii PBS Trilogy Airs Late Spring, page 3. A PBS trilogy of Japanese documentaries will air in Hawaii, including studies of the Sugiura obento family, actor Shintaro Katsu, and the Kato family rice farm. The programs offer views of contemporary Japanese life.

Commentary

• President’s Corner: New Chapters, by Clifford Uyeda, page 4. National JACL President Clifford Uyeda notes membership has grown 34 percent over ten years to 31,842 dues-paying members. He praises the emergence of new chapters as a sign of renewed energy.
• Down to Earth: Redress and the Constitution, by Karl Nobuyuki, page 4. The author argues the core issue of Redress is the failure of constitutional protections during wartime evacuation, not just money. Congress must acknowledge that failure to restore the viability of the Constitution.
• On Becoming a True Citizen, by Miyuki Yoshikami, page 4. Yoshikami questions whether Nikkei political leaders are true citizens or mere followers, urging active participation at local levels. She argues Nikkei must become visible, engaged Americans rather than relying on a few officials.
• Higher Education, by Nobuyuki Nakajima, page 4. The author contrasts motivated students abroad in Kenya and Uzbekistan with American classrooms where discipline problems waste effort. He argues Americans without college education risk falling behind global developments.
• Washington Wrap-Up: Going for the Jugular, by Ronald Ikejiri, page 5. The author argues that newly disclosed documents from Assistant Secretary Breckinridge Long show postwar deportation plans for Japanese Americans. He calls on JACL to demand release of all wartime removal records.
• Spartan Beat: Bothered & Bewildered, by Mas Manbe, page 6. Manbe writes from Tokyo on Japanese baseball ball policies and the awkward English gender-neutral terms being adopted. He pokes fun at changes like personhole and sportspersonship.
• JARRing Ahead, by Ron Nakayama, page 6. Nakayama urges every JACL member to register for the JARR talent bank, calling non-participation a lost battle. He notes the registry could help identify candidates for national appointments.

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