Planning JACL’s next decade, 1960-70, and the Sacramento convention

Vol. 49, No. 20, November 13, 1959. 8 pages. View this issue

Planning for the coming decade ran through this eight-page issue. National President Shig Wakamatsu announced a 1960-70 Planning Commission and asked local chapters to form committees and report through their district councils, with findings due at the 1960 national convention in Sacramento. The Sonoma County JACL, a rural chapter, offered its own view of what such planning should address. Shig Sakamoto invited families to the Sacramento convention in a column, and Wakamatsu was named keynote speaker for the Intermountain District Council convention in Salt Lake City.

Other pages covered the complaint over Maryland beach resorts that excluded Japanese Americans, and the reactions of Japanese farm laborers returning home from California, reported by Fred Saito and Hiroichi Takagi. Also inside are relief efforts for Nagoya after Typhoon Vera, a fund drive for a Japanese Boy Scout, and Mike Masaoka’s Washington Newsletter on Japan and the U.N. Security Council.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Sonoma County JACL Report on 1960-70 Planning, by H.H., page 1. Sonoma County JACL, a rural chapter, reports on its diversified local program and argues that chapters should stop relying on district and national organizations. It also notes that proposed national goals may favor urban chapters, which hold most JACL members, and calls for proposals that bridge the urban-rural divide.
• Union City Gets Own Post Office, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Union City, incorporated earlier this year as Alameda County’s 13th city, received official recognition from the U.S. Postal Service with the establishment of its own post office. Ceremonies attended by city and federal officials marked the occasion.
• $472 Raised for Boy Scout Project, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Additional contributions have been received for the National JACL project to sponsor a Japanese Boy Scout. A collection at the NC-WNDC meeting in Reno contributed to the total.
• Nagoya Hearts Won Over by Quick Relief Act of Sister City L.A., by Tamotsu Murayama, page 2. Los Angeles Mayor Poulson quickly sent relief funds and supplies to Nagoya after Typhoon Vera, with a planeload of clothing and food arriving in October. U.S. Ambassador MacArthur II praised the Sister City action.
• CLers Pack Blankets for Typhoon Victims, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Navy supply ship Aldura departed San Francisco with 3,000 blankets for Japanese and Korean families left homeless by typhoons. San Francisco JACL volunteers helped pack blankets for the American Red Cross shipment.
• Utah TB Association Thanks JACL Volunteers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Utah Tuberculosis Association praised the Salt Lake JACL as the most efficient and fastest volunteers in its Christmas Seal mailing campaign. Several members are named for their assistance.
• Inagaki Named to FIF Presidents Club Third Time, by P.C. Staff, page 2. George Inagaki earned membership in the Financial Industrial Fund Presidents Club for 1959, the highest national sales award, for the third consecutive year. He also serves as Pacific Citizen Board chairman and devotes time to civic affairs.
• Cooperative Spirit of Long Beach Area Issei-Nisei Lauded at 10-20 Celebration, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Attorney Saburo Kido spoke at a joint celebration of the Harbor Japanese Community Center’s 10th anniversary and the Long Beach-Harbor JACL’s 20th anniversary. He called for changes in attitudes toward community leadership, especially the financial burden placed on leaders.

JACL

• 1960-70 Planning Procedure Outlined, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL National President Shig Wakamatsu announced a plan for the 1960-70 JACL Planning Commission, asking local chapters to form committees to discuss the decade’s program goals. Reports will go to district councils and the commission, with findings presented at the 1960 national convention in Sacramento.
• IDC Convention Keynote Talk by Wakamatsu, by Ida Tateoka, page 1. The Intermountain District Council convention in Salt Lake City, themed ‘I Defy Complacency,’ will feature National President Shig Wakamatsu as keynote speaker. The Nov. 27-28 event includes business meetings, a banquet, a ball, and a bowling tournament.
• $472 Raised for Boy Scout Project, Dec. 1 Deadline, by P.C. Staff, page 1. National JACL has raised $472 of its $1,000 goal to sponsor a Japanese Boy Scout at the 1960 Boy Scouts of America Jamboree in Colorado Springs. Contributors are acknowledged and the fundraising deadline is Dec. 1.
• Request Chapters to Form Local ’60-70 Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The 1960-70 JACL Planning Commission has asked local chapters to immediately establish committees to discuss the organization’s program emphasis for the next decade. Chapters are to designate a chairman, hold meetings, record proceedings, and submit summaries to their district councils and the commission in Chicago.
• IDC Convention Schedule and Committee Details, by Ida Tateoka, page 4. The Intermountain District Council convention in Salt Lake City will include registration, a bowling tournament, a youth session, a talent contest, and a banquet with Police Chief Skousen. A $10 package deal covers registration, a souvenir booklet, and main events.
• Supplemental Committee Recommendations on International Relations, by Ushijima, page 8. The JACL Committee on International Relations recommended protesting derogatory racial references to Japanese Americans in media but not becoming embroiled in non-racial propaganda about Japan. It also set conditions for chapter participation in receiving visitors from Japan.

Military & Veterans

• National VFW Appoints Nisei Deputy Chief, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Bob Hayamizu, commander of Nisei Memorial VFW Post 9938 in Los Angeles, was appointed National Deputy Chief of Staff. He will serve as liaison between the VFW Department of California and National Headquarters on new post formation in California.

National

• Anti-Nisei Bias Practiced by Maryland Beach Resorts Hit, by JACL News Service, page 1. The Washington, D.C. JACL chapter protested to Maryland Governor John R. Tawes over racially discriminatory admission practices at private Chesapeake Bay beaches that excluded Americans of Japanese ancestry. The letter cited a Washington Post editorial arguing that businesses open to the public should not discriminate.
• Japan Farm Laborers Applaud Treatment Received at Oxnard, by Fred Saito, page 1. A group of 107 Japanese farm laborers returning home from California after three-year contracts expressed satisfaction with their treatment and average savings of $2,000 each. Their statements contrasted with complaints from an earlier group who had worked in the Yuba City area.

Commentary

• Sacramento in Sixty: Your 1960 Vacation, by Shig Sakamoto, page 2. Sacramento JACL invites members to bring their families to the 1960 National JACL Convention, which will include supervised activities for children, baby-sitting, and tours of local historic sites. The column describes accommodations, dress code, and the convention mixer.
• Nagoya and Portland Mayors Conference, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Portland Mayor Terry D. Schrank invited delegates to the fifth Japan-America conference of mayors and chamber of commerce presidents. Osaka Mayor Mitsuji Nakai confirmed Japanese delegates will attend the 1961 conference.
• Director’s Report: Northern California-Western Nevada DC, by Masao Satow, page 5. The NC-WNDC final quarterly meeting in Reno drew a packed session, and membership reached a post-war high of 16,914. The report also covers Congressman Daniel Inouye’s San Francisco reception and a Sonoma County chapter trip to Japan.
• Washington Newsletter: Japan in U.N. Security Council, by Mike Masaoka, page 8. A private study for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recommends the U.S. nominate Japan for permanent membership on the UN Security Council. The study also reviews Japan’s economy, trade with China, and political trends, and raises concerns about Okinawa.

Incarceration & Redress

• Congressional Inquiry on Japanese Farm Laborers’ Complaints, by Hiroichi Takagi, page 5. Japanese government officials dismissed complaints from returning farm laborers, saying the program was working well and immigration officials were generous. An emigration official reported that more than 90 percent of returnees look back on their California years with pleasure.

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