JACL Headquarters renamed the Masao W. Satow Building

Vol. 84, No. 10, March 18, 1977. 12 pages. View this issue

JACL Headquarters in San Francisco was rededicated as the Masao W. Satow Building on March 5, 1977, and the front page covered it. About 300 people attended, and Mike Masaoka’s banquet speech called for a book chronicling the JACL Story in Satow’s memory. Chiz Satow wrote a column marking one year since Mas Satow’s passing. Jim Murakami reported on the search for a new National Director, and Wayne Horiuchi described a busy day lobbying in Washington.

Elsewhere, Kaz Oshiki and Mike Masaoka offered a questionnaire on a proposed reparations effort, and George Sakaguchi wrote about Civil Service retirement credit for time spent in camps. Bill Hosokawa, George Shiozawa and Sachi Seke contributed columns. Three book reviews cover Counterpoint, Spring Snow and The Book of Tofu. Little Tokyo news includes the Village Plaza plans and the empty Sun Hotel.

What’s in this issue

Community

• ‘JACL Story’ to be published in memory of Satow, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Long-time JACLers gathered in San Francisco on Mar. 5 to rededicate JACL Headquarters as the Masao W. Satow Building. Mike Masaoka called for a book chronicling the JACL Story, to be published in Satow’s memory.
• Integration plans of LA Unified School District refined, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Pacific Southwest District Council’s Ethnic Concerns Committee issued a seven-point statement supporting meaningful school integration and quality bilingual education. The statement also cites past discrimination against Asian Americans in education.
• Kawagoe keynoter for Reno Tri-District Conference, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Helen Kawagoe will deliver the keynote at the third biennial JACL Tri-District Conference in Reno, April 22-24. Her talks will address JACL’s past, present, and future directions.
• Village Plaza plans approved by CRA, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Community Redevelopment Agency approved final design drawings for the Japanese Village Plaza shopping center in Little Tokyo. The project includes one- and two-story buildings around a pedestrian mall.
• Kagiwada, Asians with vice chancellor, by Dr. Richard Ikeda, page 2. UC Davis Vice Chancellor Leon Mayhew met with concerned Asian community members to gather input on the tenure evaluation of Dr. George Kagiwada, director of Asian American Studies. Community program work was argued to be a factor in demonstrating superior intellectual attainment.
• Sun Hotel now empty, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Sun Hotel in Little Tokyo was padlocked after its last tenant vacated March 8, and is being demolished for the New Otani Hotel arcade and parking. Charges against three Japanese Americans who disrupted a City Council meeting on the issue were dismissed.
• ‘Festival Japan’ initiates new cultural shows at Disneyland, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Disneyland will present Festival Japan on March 26-27, featuring nearly 300 native Japanese performers and 200 Japanese Americans. The event includes sword dancers, folk performers, and traditional tea ceremony.
• New York-EDC Japan tour to highlight theater art, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Ruby Yoshino Schaar of New York JACL returned from Japan after arranging an autumn cultural tour featuring Bunraku, Takarazuka, and Kabuki performances. Each event will include a seminar on Japanese theater arts.
• Reparations Project information questionnaire, by Kaz Oshiki and Mike Masaoka, page 4. A four-part questionnaire was prepared to gather community input on the scope, eligibility, computation, and beneficiaries of a proposed reparations effort. Responses are requested to help develop a community consensus.
• Filial Piety in Sansei, by Glenn Furumura, page 7. Furumura remembers his uncle Motoi Okura, who passed away Feb. 16, as a model of family leadership, responsibility, and selfless service to the community. He reflects on the importance of honoring ordinary people who gave their best.
• HEW orders $90,000 cutoff, by P.C. Staff, page 9. An HEW administrative law judge ordered cutoff of 80-90 million dollars in federal aid to Chicago public schools for failing to provide adequate bilingual instruction and discriminatory teacher assignment. JACL’s Midwest Director Tom Hibino coordinated Asian American community testimony in the case.

National

• Bilingualism in higher education being urged, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A national conference at the University of San Francisco produced three recommendations promoting bilingual and bicultural education at all levels. The recommendations will be submitted to a national conference in New Orleans.
• Brown picks his 3rd Nikkei judge, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Governor Edmund Brown Jr. appointed Hiroshi Fujisaki to the Los Angeles municipal court bench. Fujisaki is the third Japanese American named by Brown to the judiciary.
• HEW, Labor cabinet heads assure affirmative action, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Secretaries Califano and Marshall told Washington JACL representative Wayne Horiuchi that Asian Americans would be considered for top government positions. Horiuchi said JACL must now hold officials to their commitments.
• Modell’s book on L.A. Japanese due, by P.C. Staff, page 1. John Modell’s book on the Japanese of Los Angeles, 1900-1942, is scheduled for release by the University of Illinois Press in August. The work examines the economics and politics of racial accommodation.
• Nat’l JACL Director selection process, by Jim Murakami, page 2. JACL President Jim Murakami reports on the process for selecting a new National Director, including 16 applications received by the November deadline. Candidates were evaluated, interviewed, and recommendations are being forwarded to the National Board.
• Two Ariyoshi bills to stem flow of newcomers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Hawaii Governor George Ariyoshi submitted bills requiring a one-year residency for government jobs and welfare benefits, and tightening welfare requirements. Legal challenges to the bills are expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Five-year extension of Rice Production Act urged, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Wayne Horiuchi testified before House and Senate agriculture committees on behalf of the Ad Hoc Committee for Rice Consumers, urging a five-year extension of the Rice Production Act. He argued the act has kept rice prices stable.
• 72-year limit in Congress sought, by P.C. Staff, page 10. Five freshman senators, including S.I. Hayakawa, introduced a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment limiting congressional terms to 12 years. Ratification would require three-fourths of the states within seven years.

Military & Veterans

• Camellia queen, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Claire Ogata, a Sacramento State biology major, became the first Asian American named queen of the Camellia Festival in Sacramento. She was crowned March 4.

Arts & Entertainment

• Nikkei animation film opener at L.A. Filmex, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Jimmy Murakami’s 1974 animated film The Good Friend was shown at the Los Angeles International Film Exposition. Murakami, a 1968 Academy Award nominee, now works in commercial filmmaking in Ireland.
• ‘Counterpoint’—a 600-page block-busting anthology, by Jon Inouye, page 11. Counterpoint: Perspectives on Asian America, edited by Emma Gee, is a 600-page anthology of essays, poetry, and fiction by Asian American writers. The reviewer finds it valuable though somewhat esoteric in its scholarly sections.
• Scene of Mishima tragedy set in Tokyo of 1912, by Allan Beekman, page 11. Beekman reviews Yukio Mishima’s Spring Snow, the first novel of his tetralogy The Sea of Fertility, set in Tokyo in 1912. He praises the author’s style and aristocratic detail while finding the narrative structure flawed.
• The Tofu Book, by Masamune Kojima, page 11. Kojima reviews William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi’s The Book of Tofu, covering the history, preparation, and recipes of tofu and soybean products. He recommends it both to Sansei seeking cultural connection and to Nisei.

Commentary

• Pearl Harbor, by Elsie R. Renne, page 4. Renne questions the official account of the Pearl Harbor attack, citing evidence the FBI had advance warning and that Roosevelt’s policies may have provoked Japan. She argues the nation should have answered with food aid rather than war.
• Call and Response, by George Shiozawa, page 4. Shiozawa, a columnist, questions the future of Japanese American identity and cultural continuity as the community assimilates. He reflects on the purpose of his column and invites readers to share their views.
• The Price of Promotion, by Sachi Seke, page 5. Seke, whose husband has worked at IBM for 25 years, reflects on corporate discrimination and the progress made in minority hiring. She argues that the personal costs of promotion often outweigh the rewards.
• Names in the News, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa notes that Japanese Americans are often portrayed through an ethnic lens, when many news items involve their ordinary professional activities. He cites examples including scientists, a surgeon, a senator, and a sugar beet grower.
• A day busier than usual, by Wayne Horiuchi, page 5. Horiuchi describes a busy day on Capitol Hill lobbying on the Rice Act, Asian American appointments, and Civil Service retirement credit for interned Japanese Americans. He recounts testimony, meetings with legislators, and discussions with the Labor Secretary.
• From CIC to Reparations, by George Sakaguchi, page 9. Sakaguchi describes the Committee for Internment Credit’s efforts to secure Civil Service retirement credit for Federally employed Nisei for time spent in camps. He argues this bill would be a positive step toward a broader reparations bill.

Obituaries

• It’s Been Exactly a Year, by Chiz Satow, page 4. Chiz Satow reflects on the one-year anniversary of Mas Satow’s passing and the honors bestowed in his memory, including the Satow County Library and JACL Headquarters rededication. He calls for the community to carry forward Mas’s spirit.

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