Tule Lake renunciants regain citizenship; Judd bill hearings

Vol. 26, No. 18, May 1, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue

A federal court ruling led the news. Judge Louis E. Goodman reinstated U.S. citizenship to about 2,300 Americans of Japanese ancestry who renounced it while held at Tule Lake in 1945, finding the renunciations were obtained under duress. The editorial “Tule Lake’s Renunciants” backed his decision. Naturalization equality was the other major subject: Tosuke Yamasaki reported on the House Judiciary subcommittee’s May 3 meeting on H.R. 5004, the Judd bill, and Bill Hosokawa credited the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee for the public support behind it.

Also in this eight-page issue: Senate hearings on the evacuation claims bill, the Takahashi fishing case before the Supreme Court, and Hosokawa’s column on Canadian restrictions. Larry Tajiri wrote about painter Sueo Serisawa’s Los Angeles show, and chapter news came from San Francisco, Chicago and the Twin Cities.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Federal Court Reinstates 2,300 Nisei Renunciants, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Federal Judge Louis E. Goodman reinstated U.S. citizenship to about 2,300 Americans of Japanese ancestry who renounced it while interned at Tule Lake in 1945. He found the renunciations were obtained under duress and criticized the government for accepting them.
• Nisei Strandee Dies Following Reunion With U.S. Family, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Aiko Dendo, 20, died of illness five days after returning to the United States from Japan, where she had been stranded during the war. She was reunited with her sister Mariko, who also returned on the Meigs.

National

• Denver Nisei Girl Places Third in Colorado Spelldown, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Joyce Honda, an eighth-grader at Skinner junior high, took third place in the Colorado and Wyoming spelldown on April 24. Clark Weston of Westwood junior high won the grand championship.
• San Francisco Mayor Affirms Board’s Action, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mayor Elmer Robinson of San Francisco signed the resolution urging Congress to pass HR 5004 on naturalization equality. The signing quieted rumors that he would return it unsigned under pressure from the Native Sons of the Golden West.
• House Judiciary Subcommittee Meets May 3 to Consider Amendments to Judd Proposal, by Tosuke Yamasaki, page 1. The House Judiciary subcommittee will meet in executive session to consider amendments to H.R. 5004, the Judd naturalization bill. Testimony at two days of hearings impressed several congressmen with the bill’s merits.
• Senate Group Approves Bill To Permit Suspension of Deporting of Japanese Aliens, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Senate Judiciary subcommittee scheduled hearings on H.R. 3999, the evacuation claims measure, for early May. The JACL-ADC also reported Senate interest in prompt action on the bill to compensate evacuees.
• Expect Supreme Court Ruling On Takahashi Fishing Case Before Adjournment in June, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Oral arguments in the Takahashi case challenging California’s ban on fishing licenses for aliens ineligible for citizenship were completed April 22. Counsel for Torao Takahashi argued the law was racist rather than a conservation measure, and a ruling is expected by June.
• Third Party Group Favors Issei Measure, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Progressive Party of Illinois passed a resolution calling for naturalization rights for Japanese and other aliens ineligible for citizenship. Three Nisei delegates presented the problems faced by Japanese Americans at the convention.
• Senate Committee Schedules Hearings on Bill to Repay Evacuation Property Losses, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Senate Judiciary Committee reported favorably on H.R. 3566, which would give the Attorney General discretionary power to suspend deportation of Japanese aliens on a case-by-case basis. The bill passed the House unanimously in 1947.
• State Liquor Board Denies Issei Permits, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The California State Board of Equalization declined to relax its ban on liquor licenses for enemy aliens. The board rejected applications from two Issei identified as Japanese aliens.
• Noted National Organizations Urge Passage of Judd Proposal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The American Friends Service Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union both submitted statements supporting H.R. 5004 to the House Judiciary subcommittee. Both argued the Exclusion Act was unjust and harmful to U.S. foreign relations.

Community

• Hawaii Nisei To Represent School At UNESCO Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Richard Kosaki and Warren Higa of the University of Hawaii will attend the Pacific Regional UNESCO conference in San Francisco May 13-15. Other Hawaii delegates will also attend.
• California Nisei Urge to Act To Insure Titles, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Civil Rights Defense Union recommended that Nisei property owners file declaratory judgment suits to secure clear titles. The union also reported that 18 escheat cases it sponsored had been dismissed following the Oyama decision.
• Note Los Angeles Board Action Contrasts Wartime Attitude, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Dr. Tom Watanabe, president of the Los Angeles JACL, praised the county board of supervisors for urging passage of H.R. 5004. He contrasted this with the board’s wartime dismissal of Japanese American hospital employees.
• 28 Issei Sail for Japan on Meigs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Twenty-eight persons of Japanese ancestry, all Japanese nationals, sailed for Japan on the General Meigs on April 24. They were permitted to go to Japan to take up permanent residence.
• California Nisei Heads Student Government at Park College, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Paul Kamitsuka of Fresno was elected student body president at Park College in Parkville, Missouri. He also organized a clothing and bedding drive for overseas relief that was adopted by Kansas City churches.
• Jon Matsuo Elected To Head JACL in Minnesota Cities, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Jon Matsuo was elected president of the Twin Cities UCL, a JACL chapter, at its April 10 meeting. He succeeds Sam Shijo in the post.
• San Francisco JACL Reelects Yukio Wada, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Yukio Wada was reelected president of the San Francisco JACL after the mail ballots were counted. Other officers and board members were also named.
• Dr. S. I. Hayakawa Will Speak to Chicago JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. S. I. Hayakawa, semantics authority and president of the Chicago Consumers Cooperative, will be guest speaker at the Chicago JACL meeting on May 6. He is a noted expert on language and English literature.
• Turlock VFW Urges Passage of Judd Naturalization Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Turlock VFW Post 5059 wrote to Representative Walter Judd in support of H.R. 5004. The letter praised the loyalty and service of Nisei veterans who are members of the post.
• Japanese American Population Drops in Seattle Urban Area, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A University of Washington and Civic Unity Committee survey found that Seattle’s Japanese ancestry population has dropped since evacuation in 1942. All other minority groups in the urban area showed gains.

Arts & Entertainment

• Nisei Pianist Sets Debut Concert in San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Maria Miyamoto, a Nisei pianist, will present a debut concert in San Francisco. She has a long record of early musical honors and studied with Rudolph Ganz at the Chicago Musical College.
• The Serisawas Come Home, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Painter Sueo Serisawa held a one-man show of works produced during war and evacuation at the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries in Los Angeles. Critics praised his new paintings as ranking with the best contemporary American art.

Military & Veterans

• Northern California JACL Will Fresno Covenant Case, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Northern California JACL district council voted to support the Jack Tkawa family in a Fresno covenant case. The council also set up plans for reburial of Nisei war dead and named new officers.
• Pacific Northwest Art Exhibit Awards Honors Nisei Artist, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Ed Tsutakawa, a Seattle artist who studied at the University of Washington, won first place at the Pacific Northwest Art Exhibit. He is a partner in Associated Artists of Spokane.

Obituaries

• Final Rites Held for Nisei Fisherman, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Final rites were held in San Diego for Isao Machigashira, 25, who died in a U.S. naval hospital in Panama after being stricken while working as a cook on a fishing boat. He had been flown there from southern Pacific waters.

Commentary

• Tule Lake’s Renunciants, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that the Tule Lake renunciations resulted from mass evacuation, detention, and pro-Japan intimidation rather than free choice. It endorses Judge Goodman’s ruling restoring citizenship to about 2,300 former residents.
• Public Support for Judd Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes growing newspaper endorsements of the Judd bill, including the San Francisco Chronicle. It argues that the broad support across California and the West Coast shows the bill’s time has come.
• The Spadework of the JACL ADC, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa credits the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Committee for Equality in Naturalization for the strong public support behind H.R. 5004. He also notes that Canada still maintains wartime restrictions on Japanese Canadians.
• Stalemate North of the Border, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa reports that Canada extended restrictions on Japanese Canadians’ movement into the coastal defense zone until March 1949. He attributes the delay to political pressure in British Columbia.

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