A federal judge on a Tule Lake renunciant’s citizenship, and the Eastern District Council

Vol. 44, No. 2, January 11, 1957. 8 pages. View this issue

A federal judge’s ruling on citizenship led the news. Judge William M. Byrne found that Shigeko Nakata did not lose her U.S. citizenship, because her renunciation at Tule Lake was made under duress and coercion. Page 1 also profiled the small but influential Eastern District Council, by K. William Sasagawa, and set an early Jan. 25 entry deadline for the National JACL Bowling Tournament, with 130 teams expected. Inside, Edward J. Ennis answered a Saturday Evening Post editorial about his JACL convention speech, and George Kanno called the editors’ view of the Nisei ignorant.

Bill Hosokawa wrote about Nisei designer Linda Kinoshita. Lorry S. Tajiri reported on wartime films about the Nisei showing again on television, and Mike Masaoka marked the opening of the 85th Congress. Harry Honda’s travel column looked at Nisei in Mexico. The rest of the eight pages carried chapter installations and community news.

What’s in this issue

JACL

• EDC plays key role in Nat’l JACL, by K. William Sasagawa, page 1. The Eastern District Council, though small with only four chapters, plays a vital role in the National JACL due to its location near major national organizations and headquarters. Its chapter members, typically professionals and businessmen integrated into their communities, use JACL to stay informed on national affairs affecting persons of Japanese ancestry.
• Nat’l JACL bowling deadline entry Jan. 25; expect 130 teams to vie, by P.C. Staff, page 1. An early entry deadline of Jan. 25 has been set for the 11th annual National JACL Bowling Tournament at Albany Bowl, Mar. 5-10. Organizers expect 130 teams, including 15 from Hawaii, with fees and event schedules announced.
• Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Eden Township chapters to install officers jointly, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, and Eden Township JACL chapters will hold a joint installation of officers on Jan. 27 at the Claremont Hotel. The event will also crown the Queen for the coming National JACL Bowling Tournament.

Incarceration & Redress

• Judge rules renunciant did not lose citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Federal Judge William M. Byrne ruled that Shigeko Nakata did not lose her U.S. citizenship, finding her Tule Lake renunciation was made under duress and coercion. The decision is notable as the first since the Murakami and Abo cases in which a court ruled for a renunciant despite government opposition.
• Nisei commander of Civil Air Patrol wins service award, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Capt. Tom Enomoto, commander of the Orange County Civil Air Patrol squadron, received the Civic Service Award from radio station KWIZ. He is believed to be the only Nisei currently commanding a CAP squadron in the United States.

National

• Flip of coin decides which statehood bill designated as HR 49, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Delegate John A. Burns won a coin toss with Alaska Delegate E.L. Bartlett, so his Hawaii Statehood bill became H.R. 49 in the 85th Congress. The Bartlett bill was designated H.R. 50, though this does not necessarily mean it will receive less consideration.
• Intensive congressional campaign for civil rights bill expected, by P.C. Staff, page 1. President Eisenhower and GOP leaders agreed to support an intensive congressional campaign for civil rights legislation in the new session. The previous Congress had shelved the administration’s program, which included a Justice Department civil rights division and expanded federal injunction powers.
• Ennis agrees with Satevepost warning, but not as ‘extraordinary piece of advice’, by Edward J. Ennis, page 2. Former official Edward J. Ennis responds to a Saturday Evening Post editorial criticizing his JACL convention speech on minority foreign policy influence. He argues he supported national loyalty and only urged that minorities be allowed to advocate policies beneficial to both the U.S. and foreign countries.

Community

• Dance Hall Hawaiian…, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Flower Terminal in San Francisco was featured on Richfield Oil’s Success Story TV program, with Nisei market officials and growers participating. The million-dollar terminal opened last September as a 50-50 venture of the Nisei-operated California Flower Market and the San Francisco Flower Growers Association.
• Hawaii’s new auditor, succeeding another Nisei, owes success to his mother, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Michael M. Miyake, a 100th Battalion veteran and certified public accountant and lawyer, became Hawaii’s Territorial Auditor. He credits his success to his immigrant mother, who supported the family as a laundress and maid after his father died.
• Tats Kushida set for Colorado tour, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Southern California Regional JACL Director Tats Kushida will visit five chapters on a circuit including installations in Alamosa, Fort Lupton, and Denver. The tour follows a dinner meeting with the Arizona JACL in Glendale.
• Dental office free from anti-bias law, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Appellate Department of the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that a dentist’s office is not a place of public accommodation under state anti-discrimination law. The decision upheld a ruling that a Duarte dentist was not required to treat a Negro patient.
• Livingston fruit farmers merge own associations, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Livingston Fruit Exchange and Livingston Fruit Growers Association consolidated as of Jan. 1 into the Livingston Farmers Association. Association secretary Buddy T. Iwata called the merger a great step forward.
• Satevepost editors show ‘colossal ignorance of Nisei’, says O.C. Clergy, by George Kanno, page 2. Orange County JACL president George Kanno criticized Saturday Evening Post editors for their ignorance of the Nisei after an editorial questioning Nisei activities on behalf of Japan. He suggested the misperception may partly reflect JACL’s own weak public relations.
• L.A. artist illustrates article for Ford magazine, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Los Angeles Nisei artist Gompers Saijo prepared five illustrations for Ford Times accompanying an article on Little Tokyo. He had previously illustrated articles for the 1952 Pacific Citizen Holiday Issue.
• Man who taught Issei Americanization class brings Japan to Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Benjamin P. Hoffman, who taught naturalization classes to Issei in San Jose and Mountain View, is now teaching a new San Jose adult education course on Japanese cultural heritage. The course uses films and slides to illustrate Japanese life, customs, art, and industry.
• Issei celebrates 100th birthday, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Issei pioneer Matsunosuke Tsukamoto celebrated his 100th birthday, receiving a congratulatory letter from President Eisenhower. He founded a laundry business in Tiburon and later San Francisco, and was an active Issei community leader before the war.
• 20 chick sex experts arrive from Japan, head for Lansdale institute, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Twenty Japanese chick sexors arrived in Seattle to teach at the American Chick Sexing Association institute in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Japanese practitioners have long excelled at this difficult art of identifying chick sex early.
• Four fire companies battle flames, stop residential area destruction, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Four fire departments prevented the total destruction of a Watsonville residential community when a fire struck the Tom Nozawa home and spread to the neighboring Henry Nakagawa house. The estimated loss was $3,300, and no one was injured.
• California-born Nisei with restored citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Federal Judge William J. Byrne ruled that Glendale-born Goichi Nerio did not renounce his citizenship voluntarily at Tule Lake or voluntarily vote in Japan. His attorneys argued that fear induced his actions, and the judge agreed his protests of loyalty should have been believed.
• Satevepost editors show colossal ignorance of Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Nisei students at the CINO convention elected David Yamakawa as state president after a debate over the group’s future. Dorothy Hata received the CINO scholarship award and Midori Nakagawa was crowned Miss Nisei Coed.
• Two stake winners inside week at Anita, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Jockey George Taniguchi won the San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita aboard outsider Battle Dance. The win was his seventh of the season at Santa Anita.
• Sacramento JACL to host NC-WNDC workshop for Jr. JACLers, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Sacramento Junior JACL is hosting the NC-WNDC District Council quarterly meeting on Feb. 3, with a junior workshop, registration, and a banquet. The event is planned by a 20-person committee headed by Bill Matsumoto.
• Togasaki tells N.Y. JACLers education and youth are answers to world problems, by P.C. Staff, page 4. George Togasaki, principal speaker at the New York JACL installation dinner, said education and youth are the answers to the world’s problems. He also reminisced about early JACL history, including his role as a charter member at the 1930 national convention.
• East L.A. JACL ’57 season opens with membership mixer, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The East Los Angeles JACL opens its 1957 program with a membership mixer on Jan. 19 at the Soto-Michigan Jewish Community Center. Hi-fi music, refreshments, and door prizes are offered, with new and prospective members encouraged to attend.
• Mt. Olympus JACL holds first meeting of the year, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Mt. Olympus JACL in Salt Lake City holds its first meeting of 1957 on Jan. 12. The chapter is also planning a joint meeting with national JACL director Mas Satow during the Intermountain District Council winter meeting.
• French Camp JACL names Nakano head, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Lawrence Nakano was elected president of the French Camp JACL for 1957, with committee appointments also announced. The chapter’s annual Shinnen-kai New Year’s party will be held Jan. 18 at the French Camp Hall.
• Salt Lake JACL names committee, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Ichiro Doi, newly elected Salt Lake City JACL president, announced committee appointments at the first board meeting. The chapter set a 1957 membership goal of 400 and planned assistance with the annual Issei alien address report.
• Two Nisei bowlers lead Boise Valley JACL tournament, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Joe Sato of Pocatello captured the all-events scratch championship with a 1760 total at the eighth annual Boise Valley JACL handicap bowling tournament. Awards were presented at a dance at the Boise Hotel after the tournament.
• Ona Nisei councilman, by Henry Mori, page 7. Councilman Edward R. Roybal, the first person of Latin descent elected to the Los Angeles City Council, proposed expanding the council to create new districts including one for southeast Los Angeles. His district includes significant Japanese American populations including Little Tokyo.
• Bonin evacuees ask for help in repatriation, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A letter from the Bonin Islands league seeks U.S. government assistance in repatriating about 7,700 former Bonin islanders evacuated by the Japanese Army during World War II. The league says negotiations with the U.S. and Japanese governments have been unsatisfactory to date.
• Nisei elected head of chamber group, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Berkeley architect Harry Nakahara was elected president of the Martinez Chamber of Commerce for 1957. He has designed buildings for Contra Costa Junior College and the County of Contra Costa.
• Issei who sought trained technicians for hospital lab once seemed ‘idealistic’, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. Kano Ikeda, director of pathology at Miller Hospital in St. Paul, proposed national registration for laboratory technicians in 1927, a proposal that seemed idealistic at the time. The resulting Registry of Medical Technologists has since greatly improved medical technology.
• Northwestern scientist finds key to anti-cancer drug action, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. Edwin T. Nishimura, formerly of Sacramento, and colleague Joseph H. Baum found that anti-cancer drugs prevent clotting inside cells needed for cell division. The American Cancer Society supported the research, which studied bacterial polysaccharides and colchicine in mice.
• Urge California OK pension for aliens, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is petitioning the state legislature to allow non-citizens to receive old-age assistance. Estimates suggest the change would save local taxpayers $306,516 a year by removing 646 aliens from county relief rolls.
• English editor quits post for studies, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Henry Moritsugu resigned as English editor of the New Canadian to resume his studies. Marjorie Umezuki was named temporary editor of the semi-weekly bilingual publication.

Commentary

• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 2. Hosokawa highlights Nisei designer Linda Kinoshita, whose gowns have been featured by the New York Herald Tribune and worn by society figures. He also notes Barron Beshoar’s return to Denver and Ralph Edwards’ This Is Your Life tribute to Mike Masaoka.
• Vagaries: Anti-Nisei films on TV, by Lorry S. Tajiri, page 3. The Southern California JACL has moved to advise Los Angeles TV stations about wartime films that propagate lies about Nisei disloyalty. Titles such as Across the Pacific, Air Force, Little Tokyo U.S.A., and Betrayal from the East are now reaching new audiences through TV syndication.
• Director’s Report: Japan-American Affairs, by Masao Satow, page 4. Satow reports that JACL’s Board decided to form a separate committee outside JACL to handle Japan-America affairs, avoiding internal controversy. JACL will offer limited cooperation only on non-controversial programs with unanimous agreement.
• Tours: Nisei in Mexico, by Harry Honda, page 5. Honda traces early Japan-New Spain contacts through the 1600s ambassador Sebastian Vizcaino and reviews a 1955 Mexican-Japanese directory listing about 3,000 persons of Japanese ancestry in Mexico. He notes Nisei professionals, businesses, and a bilingual newspaper in Mexico City.
• Washington Newsletter: 16th anniversary, by Mike Masaoka, page 8. Masaoka marks the tenth anniversary of JACL’s Washington office and reviews the 85th Congress opening. He outlines JACL legislative objectives including Hawaii statehood and civil rights legislation, and notes the divided Congress with Democrats controlling both houses.

Military & Veterans

• Three Nisei Army officers named for promotions, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Army announced temporary promotions of Capt. Yoshikazu Higashi and Capt. Benjamin T. Obata, both MIS officers, to major, and 1st Lt. Tommy T. Kakimoto to captain. Both majors are early graduates of the MIS Language School and served in the Pacific since 1944.
• Seattle’s new leader, by Elmer Ogawa, page 6. Attorney Toru Sakahara, Seattle JACL’s president-elect for 1957, has served the League since 1941 in Puyallup Valley, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. His service includes two terms as president of the Jackson Street Community Council and several years as Northwest District 1000 Club chairman.

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