Claims, the peace treaty and a scholarship winner, September 1951

Vol. 33, No. 9, September 8, 1951. 8 pages. View this issue

Evacuation claims ran through the front page of this eight-page issue. Mike Masaoka explained the Justice Department’s new compromise plan to Issei leaders from the Pacific Northwest and California, and emergency JACL meetings in Los Angeles and San Francisco were called to decide how far chapters would go in helping with filings. The Japanese Peace Treaty also shaped the news: Premier Shigeru Yoshida credited Nisei soldiers for a change in American attitudes, and Larry Tajiri and Bill Hosokawa wrote about the moment from their own angles. Cherry Tsutsumida of Glendale, Arizona, was named winner of the 1951 Pvt. Ben Frank Masaoka Memorial Scholarship.

Inside are reports from the Midwest District Council convention in Detroit, where Michigan Governor Mennen Williams made a surprise visit, and from the Pacific Northwest convention in Seattle. Editorials and news items took up cemeteries that refused burial to non-Caucasians. Elmer R. Smith surveyed theories of race relations cycles, and a JACL protest went to the Guatemalan Embassy over a visa denied to a Nisei woman.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Cherry Tsutsumida Plans to Continue Political Science Study, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Cherry Tsutsumida of Glendale, Arizona, was named winner of the 1951 Pvt. Ben Frank Masaoka Memorial Scholarship. She plans to attend Phoenix College and Stanford University to study international law and political science.
• Visalia Woman Regains Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mrs. Chiyeno Shima of Visalia, a Hawaii native, regained her United States citizenship under the Cable Act amendment in Tulare County Superior Court. She had forfeited it by marrying an alien before the amendment’s passage.
• YPCC Concludes Week-long Meet at Asilomar, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The 22nd annual Northern California Young People’s Christian Conference concluded at Asilomar with about 125 attendees from California, Denver, Chicago, and Detroit. David Unoura received the Rev. S. Kato Memorial Scholarship.
• Cleveland Chapter Plans Paper Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Cleveland JACL chapter planned a second paper drive as part of its JACL ADC fund drive. Several hundred dollars were expected from the sale of collected newspapers and magazines during September.
• Southwest L.A. Raises ADC Quota, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Southwest Los Angeles JACL chapter reported nearly completing its 1951 ADC fund drive with $1,800 sent to national headquarters. Members assigned to geographical zones conducted door-to-door campaigns under chairman Matsunosuke Oi.
• North California Area Will Have Regional Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Northern California-Western Nevada JACL district council met in Stockton and planned its November convention in Berkeley. Delegates also discussed evacuation claims and chapter organization.
• Join Protest Against Nippon Fishermen, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Japanese Canadian fishermen in the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union joined a protest against a Japanese peace treaty lacking guarantees protecting Pacific fishing waters. The union argued the omission threatened every fisherman’s livelihood.
• Denver Burial Ban Recalled by Newspaper, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Denver Post recalled that Denver-area cemeteries have excluded Japanese Americans and other non-Caucasians, including the 1949 Crown Hill refusal of Sgt. Kenneth Shibata. Cemetery officials said such policies reflected buyers’ wishes.

National

• Premier Yoshida Hails Nisei Role in Last War; Cites Change in Attitude, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Japanese Premier Shigeru Yoshida credited the Nisei soldiers who fought for the United States as a major reason for improved American attitudes toward Japan and persons of Japanese ancestry. He spoke at a banquet in San Francisco honoring the Japanese Peace Treaty delegation.
• Sakuragi Indicted for Claims Fraud in San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Yujiro Sakuragi, a 61-year-old San Francisco evacuee, was indicted by a federal grand jury for an alleged fraudulent $760 claim under the Evacuation Claims Act. He faces a possible 15-year prison term if convicted.
• Nisei Newsman Will Study Under Nieman Grant, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lawrence Nakatsuka, assistant city editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, left for Cambridge, Massachusetts, to study for a year at Harvard University under the Nieman Fellowship. The Nieman award is given annually to twelve outstanding American newspapermen.
• Senate Favors Deportation Stay for 22 Persons, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Senate approved the Attorney General’s recommendations to suspend deportation proceedings against 22 alien Japanese. If the House concurs, their status will change to permanent residents under the 1948 JACL ADC-sponsored law.
• Senate Passes Six Private Bills for Individual Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Senate passed six private relief bills for persons of Japanese ancestry, including measures to admit a Japanese wife of a Gardena man and fiancées of American servicemen. The bills have been sent to the House or the White House depending on their sponsorship.
• House Passes Bills to Aid Four Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The House passed four private bills for persons of Japanese ancestry before recessing until September 12. Three were introduced by Delegate Joseph Farrington to admit residents of Hawaii, and one declared a half-Japanese orphan the natural-born child of an American soldier.
• JACL Sends Formal Protest to Guatemala Ambassador Over Ban Against Visas for Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The JACL ADC sent a formal protest to the Guatemalan Embassy after the Los Angeles consulate refused a travel visa to a Nisei woman under a law barring Oriental and Negro persons. The letter cited the United Nations Charter’s guarantee of human rights and freedoms.
• Sen. McCarran Amends Omnibus Immigration, Naturalization Law, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Senator Pat McCarran said his omnibus immigration bill incorporates two major recommendations of the Senate Crime Committee. The bill broadens grounds for excluding and deporting criminal aliens and tightens naturalization requirements.

Incarceration & Redress

• Masaoka Interprets New Claims Rulings to Coast Leaders, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka, JACL ADC national legislative director, explained the Justice Department’s new compromise plan for evacuation claims to Issei leaders from the Pacific Northwest and California. He also discussed the legislative prospects of the Issei naturalization bill and stay of deportation procedures.
• Japanese American Group Asks Return of Building, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Los Angeles Board of Education filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment and injunction against owners of the Hollywood Japanese Language School, which the board leased during the war. The owners contend the national emergency referenced in the lease has ended.

Military & Veterans

• Three Soldiers Reported Hurt in Korean Zone, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Department of Defense reported three Nisei soldiers wounded in Korea during the past week. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Washington office announced the names of the casualties.

JACL

• Call Meetings to Determine JACL Policy on Claims Aid, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Emergency JACL meetings in Los Angeles and San Francisco were called to decide how far chapters would go in helping evacuees file claims under the compromise settlement law. District councils had already voted to provide stenographic, translation, and limited advisory services.
• Future Course of Midwest JACL Charted at Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Delegates to the second biennial Midwest District Council convention in Detroit elected Shigeo Wakamatsu of Chicago as chairman and charted plans for the coming biennium. They voted to continue the Chicago regional office and to provide claims-filing assistance through local chapters.
• Michigan Governor in Surprise Visit to MDC Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Michigan Governor Mennen Williams made a surprise appearance at the JACL Midwest District Council convention ball in Detroit. He praised Japanese American contributions to the Midwest and the war record of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
• JACL’s 21st Birthday Feted at First Postwar Regional Convention in Northwest City, by P.C. Staff, page 3. More than one hundred delegates from the Pacific Northwest gathered in Seattle for their first postwar district convention and to celebrate JACL’s founding 21 years earlier. Major decisions included treating Nisei renunciants individually and establishing a temporary regional office.

Arts & Entertainment

• Nisei Painter Honored by San Francisco Art Gallery, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nisei painter Miss Ochi was named artist of the month at a Paris gallery and will leave for Paris to continue her studies. Eight of her works were scheduled for exhibition during September.

Commentary

• The Work of the JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Local JACL chapters may again be called on to help residents file evacuation claims under the new compromise settlement law. The editorial notes that Japanese translations of the forms may be needed for Issei applicants.
• Dishonor for the Dead, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns cemeteries that deny burial to non-Caucasians, citing the Sioux City refusal of Sgt. John Rice and similar cases involving Japanese Americans. It calls for ending racially restrictive burial covenants.
• Minority Week: Comment and Contrast, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This roundup of quoted commentary covers Southern school segregation, a Pennsylvania-area burial controversy, and a Portland labor union ruling. It highlights how civic institutions often fail to challenge racial prejudice.
• Nisei No Pawn for Power Politics, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Larry Tajiri reflects on Premier Yoshida’s request that Nisei help Japan find the road to democracy, recalling Louis Adamic’s Two-Way Passage proposal. He argues Nisei should remain loyal Americans and not become pawns of international power politics.
• Japanese Dollar Bonds, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Issei holders of prewar Japanese corporate dollar bonds are hoping for recovery of their investments as the Peace Treaty nears. The column traces the bonds’ history, their wartime collapse, and recent price rises.
• San Francisco, Ten Years After, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa describes San Francisco’s transformation into a poised host city during the Japanese peace treaty conference. He observes the mood of cheer and goodwill and the press coverage of the event.
• Box-Score on Race Relations: Survey of Race Contacts Gives Rise to Theory of Cycles, by Elmer R. Smith, page 5. Elmer R. Smith surveys sociological theories of race relations cycles proposed by Park, Pitt-Rivers, Bogardus, and Brown. He concludes that while no single cycle fully applies, aspects of each can aid the study of race relations.

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