Evacuation claims, the Fulbright Act and JACL’s convention plans

Vol. 42, No. 25, June 22, 1956. 8 pages. View this issue

Evacuation claims led the news in this eight-page issue. The Senate unanimously approved a bill to speed claims, with an amendment capping compromise settlements at $100,000, and Helen Mineta reported on the need for House approval. Mike Masaoka urged House members to accept the Senate version without a conference. Dr. T. T. Yatabe asked on the front page whether the JACL had grown up and urged members to set their own house in order. President Eisenhower also signed an amendment to the Fulbright Act.

Elsewhere, Harry K. Honda previewed the 14th biennial JACL convention in San Francisco and reminded chapters of the June 30 booklet ad deadline. Larry S. Tajiri recalled the five legislators who voted against the 1913 Alien Land Act, and Bill Hosokawa wrote about a visiting Chinese newsman. Mike Masaoka analyzed the Supreme Court term, and Nisei Relays and graduation news from local chapters fill the later pages.

What’s in this issue

JACL

• Time now to set own house in order, by Dr. T. T. Yatabe, page 1. The writer asks whether the JACL has matured and urges members to care for its staff with a retirement fund. He argues the organization needs experienced staff and that members should set their own house in order.
• JACL convention time, by Harry K. Honda, page 2. Honda previews the 14th biennial JACL convention in San Francisco, Aug. 31-Sept. 3, and urges chapters to meet the June 30 deadline for souvenir booklet ads. He also encourages early registration for the $20 package deal.

National

• President signs amendment to Fulbright Act, page 1. President Eisenhower signed an amendment requiring foreign exchange students to return home for two years before gaining U.S. immigration eligibility. The Attorney General may waive this requirement when an agency requests it and the Secretary of State recommends it.

Military & Veterans

• Senate unanimously approves claim bill amendment, need House okay, by Helen Mineta, page 1. The Senate unanimously approved a bill expediting evacuation claims with an amendment limiting compromise settlements to $100,000. The House version has no ceiling, so House approval of the Senate amendment is needed.
• Nisei architect Yamasaki honored by AIA for St. Louis air terminal, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Minoru Yamasaki received a First Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects for his St. Louis Lambert Field passenger terminal. The design uses concrete shell vaults and was also featured in major architectural magazines.
• Brilliant Nisei prep at Detroit’s Cass Tech readied for induction, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Toshiyuki Yoshida, a Stockton-born Nisei student at Cass Technical High School, was due to report for induction at Fort Wayne. He had returned from Japan three years earlier and excelled academically.

Incarceration & Redress

• JACL urges House bypass conference on Senate action, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka urged House members to accept the Senate-approved evacuation claims bill without a conference. He argued the amendment was a technicality and that a conference could cause the measure to be lost.
• Sacramento Japanese area to be demolished soon, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Demolition of nearly all of Sacramento’s Japanese business area is predicted for early fall as part of the Capitol Mall redevelopment project. The project is expected to be completed in four years.
• Supreme Court rules on deportation, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the government may use confidential information in deciding suspension of deportation. The JACL had followed the case because confidential information has been used against Japanese American aliens.

Community

• Convention profits marked for future JACL Building, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The San Francisco JACL chapter is willing to set aside National convention profits to start a JACL building fund. The chapter is also considering proposing a regular newsletter to the national council.
• Second Nisei drowns in Oregon month, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A three-year-old Nisei girl drowned June 10 in an irrigation ditch in Ontario, Oregon, after apparently falling in from a bicycle. Her family had nearly lost another child to the same ditch three years earlier.
• Philadelphia Nisei leaves for Middle East position, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Kiyo Yoshida left New York to take up duties at the U.S. Embassy in Bagdad, Iraq, possibly becoming the first Nisei woman in the Middle East diplomatic service. She was formerly secretary to an industrial designer.
• Snake River JACL honors 18 graduates at party, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Snake River JACL held its 11th annual graduation banquet on June 3 honoring 18 local high school and college graduates. A dance followed at the Veterans Memorial Hall.
• Ex-Seattle Nisei attends first world conference on earthquake engineering, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. John K. Minami presented a shell foundation technique at the first World Conference on Earthquake Engineering in Berkeley. The method has been used on Japanese apartment houses and a courthouse in Fukui.
• Colorado Times suspends English page temporarily, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The English page of the Colorado Times was suspended June 11 after editor Tay Kondo resigned. The page continued to appear unchanged for the rest of the week with advertising filling it.
• Chinese American wife wins in school election, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Mrs. March K. Fong won a seat on the Alameda County board of education, becoming its only woman member. She polled 90,036 votes.
• Coronation dinner-dance set for Stockton JACL queen, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Stockton JACL will hold a dinner-dance on July 14 at the Clark Hotel to select its queen candidate for Miss National JACL 1956. Four candidates will be judged by local artists and crowned by Mayor Bitterman.
• Mile-Hi movie benefit nets $250 for chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Mile Hi JACL sold 1,099 tickets for the film Samurai in a benefit that netted about $250 for the chapter. Organizers thanked the many participants and businesses who helped promote it.
• Venice-Culver president addresses Legion post, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Dr. Tak Shishino, Venice-Culver JACL president, spoke at an Americanization night for the Luke Mandemaker American Legion post. He explained JACL aims, history, and read Mike Masaoka’s Japanese American Creed.
• Downtown L.A. benefit concert recital to feature Japanese soprano, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Japanese soprano Shige Yano will perform a benefit recital on July 22 at the Koyasan Buddhist Hall for the Downtown L.A. JACL. Her program will include operatic arias and songs in English and Japanese.
• Fowler JACL scholarship awarded to non-Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Manuel Tovar, a Mexican American graduate of Fowler High School, received the Fowler JACL scholarship. The award recognizes his academic achievement.
• Long Beach to honor graduates at hop, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Seventy-five Nisei graduates of the Long Beach-Harbor District will be honored at a dance at the Japanese Community Center in Seabright. The event is sponsored by the local JACL, Nikkeijin Kai and Fujinkai.
• Mid-Columbia Auxiliary fetes parents with movie, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Mid-Columbia JACL Auxiliary honored parents with a dinner at Pine Grove Community Church, followed by a Japanese movie. Various members organized the evening.
• D.C. JACL to honor June graduates at picnic supper-dance, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Washington D.C. chapter will host a picnic supper and dance on June 30 to honor area graduates. The event lists college, high school, and younger graduates by name.
• Nisei Cal Open dates set Oct. 26-27 for Pebble Beach course, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The sixth annual California State Nisei golf tournament will be held October 26-27 at Pebble Beach, sponsored by Garden City Golf Club. Entries from Hawaii are expected.
• Cal-Vita Produce Co. and vital statistics, page 7. Births, marriage licenses, and weddings are listed for several chapters during late May and early June. Names of families and couples are reported across California, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Colorado.
• Shirley Yamaguchi stars in Shangri-La musical, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Shirley Yamaguchi plays the Oriental heroine in the stage musical Shangri-La, adapted from James Hilton’s Lost Horizon and opened June 13 at the Winter Garden Theater. Critics praised the casting and costumes but found the score weak.
• Maidens’ return from Hiroshima surgery, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Nine Japanese atomic bomb survivors returned to Japan on June 17 after 13 months of plastic surgery in the United States. They were the first of 25 to return, with 15 others still in treatment in New York.
• Nisei bank teller held up; robber apprehended, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A gunman robbed Nisei bank teller George Fujimoto at the Bank of America branch in San Francisco of $1,571. The robber, a municipal bus driver, confessed and was arrested the same night.
• Senate confirms Nisei for Lihue post, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Senate confirmed a Nisei for a postal post in Lihue, Kauai. The appointment was reported in the news section.
• Four recovered in Idaho river mishap, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Searchers recovered the remaining four bodies from a Snake River fishing tragedy in which five Issei and Nisei drowned June 7. Volunteers, including many Issei and Nisei, conducted the week-long search.

Commentary

• Chinese newsman visits Denver, by Bill Hosokawa, page 2. Hosokawa recounts meeting Chinese correspondent Lee Chia, who is touring America on a round-the-world assignment. Lee remarks that Japanese economic life may be more secure than American installment-based living.
• Camellia King’s return to seek vested property, by Tamotsu Murayama, page 2. Tsukasa Kiyono, a Mobile, Alabama camellia grower, is returning to the U.S. to seek return of property vested during WWII after he was stranded in Japan. Despite a Tax Court refund order, government actions left him without his property or refund.
• Let’s not forget, by Larry S. Tajiri, page 3. Tajiri recounts the five California legislators who voted against the 1913 Alien Land Act and argues their courage should be remembered. He notes the law’s continued existence and the upcoming Proposition 13 vote to repeal it.
• Congressmen visited, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. The writer and Tad Masaoka visited Congressman William S. Mailliard and other Washington offices while on JACL business. They also discussed upcoming convention policy issues with Mike Masaoka and staff.
• Perspectively yours, by Jerry Enomoto, page 5. Enomoto reports on National Director Mas Satow’s tour of JACL chapters and the June 30 souvenir booklet ad deadline. He also describes the San Francisco chapter’s queen coronation dance and the candidates for Miss National JACL.
• The Northwest picture: For prospecting CLers, by Elmer Ogawa, page 6. Ogawa recounts the legend of the Lost Sheepherder Mine, a gold deposit in Malheur County, Oregon, discovered by soldiers and a Basque sheepherder named Casimir. The ore was reportedly assayed at $60,000 a ton.
• Very truly yours: convention advertising and registration, by Harry K. Honda, page 7. Honda urges readers to reserve convention booklet ad space before the June 30 deadline and to submit $20 registration packages early. He also previews convention activities to be covered in future columns.
• Washington newsletter: Supreme Court line-up, by Mike Masaoka, page 8. Masaoka analyzes the 1955-56 Supreme Court term, dividing justices into conservative, centrist and liberal groups. He notes Chief Justice Warren’s liberal record despite his wartime role supporting Japanese American evacuation.

Sports

• 98 athletes vie for JACL Nisei Relays honors, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A total of 98 entrants will compete in the fifth annual JACL Nisei Relays at Rancho Cienega on Sunday. Tom Sano is expected to challenge the shot put record in the event’s star attraction.
• ’56 Nisei Relays queen named, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Mitzie Miya, a San Pedro High School graduate, was selected queen of the fifth annual JACL Nisei Relays. She was chosen by a panel of nine judges and will be joined by four attendants.
• Los Angeles newsletter: Relays queen candidates, by Henry Mori, page 7. Henry Mori profiles the candidates for Nisei Relays queen, including Virginia Okumoto, Mitzi Miya, June Tsukida, Helene Yabuta and Lillian Asato. The queen and court will present trophies at the Sunday event.

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