Evacuation claims and the new compromise settlement program

Vol. 33, No. 10, September 15, 1951. 8 pages. View this issue

Evacuation claims were the main subject of the September 15, 1951 issue. JACL chapters in Southern and Northern California met to plan how to help claimants under the new compromise settlement law, with printed Japanese translations of the forms, public meetings and claims clinics. National director Masao Satow and Mike Masaoka described what the National JACL and local chapters could offer. Dick Hemp wrote about the 1942 evacuation and the slow claims process of 1951, using the Misumi claim as his example. The Justice Department also approved claims for stored property and for a family whose husband was confined to a sanitarium.

Elsewhere in these eight pages, an editorial looked at American views of the Japanese and at state laws against interracial marriage. Mary Oyama reviewed Kyogen plays performed in English in Los Angeles, and Elmer R. Smith wrote on group morale. Sports pages covered Nisei football, baseball and tennis. Other items reported on the film Rashomon and on veterans of the 442nd in Hilo.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Southwest District Favors Chapter Assistance to Expedite Compromise Plan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL chapters of the Pacific Southwest District Council met in Los Angeles to discuss chapter services under new evacuation claims procedures. Chapter representatives agreed to recommend printed Japanese translations of the new forms and public informational meetings with Nisei attorneys.
• Daughter of Japan Premier Visits Bedridden Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mrs. Kasuko Abe, daughter of Premier Shigeru Yoshida, visited bedridden 14-year-old Teriko Kaneko in Menlo Park. She brought Hopalong Cassidy gifts for the girl’s sons.
• New York Nisei Group Entertains GIs at Dance, by P.C. Staff, page 2. New York’s Nisei Service Organization hosted about thirty-five G.I.s at a Labor Day fundraising dance. The group also planned an all-day boat outing for the servicemen on Sept. 16.
• Confinement in Sanitarium In Exclusion Zone Ruled Equivalent to Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Justice Department ruled that a husband confined to a sanitarium in a prohibited zone was effectively excluded and that his family’s claim is eligible under the evacuation claims act. The decision rested on his inability to care for the property during evacuation.
• Milwaukee Paper Tells Story Of Nisei Widow Whose First Novel Is Published This Month, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Shelley Ota, a Nisei widow in Milwaukee, wrote her first novel, Upon Their Shoulders, while raising four children after her husband’s death. The Milwaukee Journal profile describes how the family’s routine and her perseverance made the book possible.
• Self-Employed Persons Reminded of New Social Security Law, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Salt Lake City Social Security manager J. Golden Hunsaker reminded self-employed Nisei and Issei that coverage under the new law is mandatory. Those with net earnings of $400 or more must report them on 1951 tax returns.
• Seek Legion’s Support for Issei Pension Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 8. San Diego’s Perry Post 525 asked the state American Legion convention to back legislation making resident Issei eligible for California old age pensions. A companion resolution sought Legion support for an Academy Award nomination for Go for Broke!.
• Detroit Entrants Win Major Awards in JACL Tourneys, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Detroit bowlers and golfers took top honors at the Midwest JACL district tournaments held over Labor Day weekend. Tom Fukuda won the men’s bowling singles and Joe Matsushita won the golf championship.
• Onodera Elected to Lead Hawaiian Buddhist Federation, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Kenji Onodera was unanimously elected president of the Hawaii Federation of Young Buddhists Association at its August convention on Maui. Other officers were chosen to serve with him for the 1951-52 year.

Incarceration & Redress

• Local JACL Chapters May Hold Claims Clinics to Interpret New Regulations, by P.C. Staff, page 1. National director Masao Satow defined the services the National JACL and local chapters will offer for filing compromise settlement claims. Chapters will distribute translated forms, hold clinics, and provide limited secretarial and translation help, with a waiver and attorney consultation advised.
• North California JACL Heads Discuss Evacuee Claims Law, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL leaders from Northern California and Nevada met with Mike Masaoka to discuss services for evacuation claimants under the compromise settlement law. Masaoka advised that only the official Justice Department forms would be accepted.
• Government Approves Claim For Loss of Stored Property, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Department of Justice ruled that rent paid to preserve a right of re-entry, repairs to damaged machinery, and theft losses are compensable under the evacuation claims law. The award involved a San Francisco couple whose stored property and shop were lost during evacuation.
• The Misumis and Takahashis Will Be Repaid by U.S. for Losses in 1942’s Evacuation, by Dick Hemp, page 2. The article describes the government’s program under Public Law 886 to pay evacuation property losses, using the claim of Toyo Misumi as an example. It contrasts the 1942 mass evacuation with the slow, difficult claims process in 1951.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Helps Prepare Displays on Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Tomo Ogita, a Nisei official from SCAP in Tokyo, assisted with displays on the new Japan in the San Francisco Opera House during the Peace Treaty Conference. Ogita and three staff members came from Tokyo to help prepare the exhibits.
• Island of Hawaii Veterans Conduct Cemetery Project, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Veterans of the 442nd Combat Team in Hilo volunteered their labor on weekends for Operation Cemetery to beautify the territorial veterans cemetery. The project uses a $20,000 legislative appropriation for a pavilion and other improvements.

Arts & Entertainment

• Nisei Artists Will Perform For Soldiers in Hollywood, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Japanese Day program at the Hollywood YWCA patio party on Sept. 23 will feature Nisei performers including xylophonist Yoichi Hiraoka and singer Karie Shindo. Club Service Bureau of the JACL is sponsoring the event for GIs.
• Japanese Folk Plays, by Mary Oyama, page 5. The Nisei Experimental Group presented four Kyogen plays in English in Los Angeles, a novel experience for many in the audience. The review praises the performances of Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Frank Watanuki while noting areas needing improvement.
• Nippon Film Shown on West Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Japanese film Rashomon, which won the grand prize at the Venice International Film Festival, was shown to Nisei audiences on the West Coast. The Daiei production was directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Commentary

• U. S. Public Opinion, by P.C. Staff, page 4. An American Institute of Public Opinion survey found 51 per cent of Americans now hold a favorable view of the Japanese people, up sharply from three years earlier. The editorial attributes the change partly to the record of the Nisei, especially the 442nd.
• Outmoded Marriage Laws, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that American soldiers may marry Japanese citizens abroad while fifteen states still bar marriages between Caucasians and Orientals at home. It calls for eliminating anti-miscegenation statutes as expressions of racial superiority.
• Box-Score on Race Relations: On Group Morale, by Elmer R. Smith, page 5. Smith examines group morale as a concept for maintaining solidarity in minority organizations such as the JACL and NAACP. He argues that positive goals, togetherness, and shared experience of common danger sustain morale.

Sports

• Nisei Prep Stars to Play for San Jose, by P.C. Staff, page 6. San Jose State has recruited several notable Nisei football players, including Harry Kawano, Tom Yagi, and Jim Kajioka. Kawano was a standout on the all-Southern California team.
• Hirayama Voted Most Popular at National Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Fibber Hirayama of the Atwater Packers was named the most popular player at the National Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita. His play helped Atwater reach the national semi-pro finals.
• Cleveland Beats Chicago Nisei In Net Matches, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Cleveland’s Nisei tennis teams defeated Chicago in the final intercity matches of 1951, with the men winning 14 to 3. The Chicago players were guests at a dinner and social after the matches.
• Pro Baseball Clubs in Japan Consider Talent Hunt Among Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Wally Yonamine’s success with the Yomiuri Giants and the touring Hawaii Red Sox has spurred Japanese clubs to consider recruiting Nisei players from the mainland and Hawaii. Reports also suggest Bill Veeck may seek Japanese talent.

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