Evacuation claims begin: the first payments, January 1950

Vol. 30, No. 2, January 14, 1950. 8 pages. View this issue

Evacuation claims led the news in January 1950. The Attorney General’s office filed its first annual report with Congress, covering 21 claims, and Mike Masaoka of the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee called it the actual beginning of payments to some 20,000 people of Japanese ancestry. A second government check was reported, Chicago residents filed 476 claims before the January 3 deadline, and a column credited to I. H. Gordon described Masaoka’s warning that the program could take more than a decade. An editorial asked for the filing deadline to be extended. Masaoka also pressed for the Walter Resolution on naturalization rights.

Elsewhere in these eight pages, Bill Hosokawa wrote three columns, including one asking where the Nisei novel about the evacuation was. Jobo Nakamura profiled two Chicago firms, and Iwao Kawakami contributed a short fictional sketch. The sports pages followed George Goto and Placer College to the California junior college title, and chapter news came from San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Idaho Falls.

What’s in this issue

National

  • Attorney General Submits First Report on Evacuation Claims Program to Congress, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Attorney General’s office filed its first annual report on evacuation claim adjudication with Congress, covering 21 claims totaling $13,023.99 with $6,141.79 awarded. Mike Masaoka of the JACL ADC called it the actual beginning of payments to some 20,000 persons of Japanese ancestry.
  • ADC Urges Navy to Resume Pensions to Veterans in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka urged Navy Secretary Francis P. Matthews to investigate why pensions for naturalized Japanese American naval veterans living in Japan were stopped in 1941 and never resumed. He argued the payments should be restored since hostilities have long ceased.
  • Masaoka Discusses Issei Wartime Status With Japan Officials, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka met with four Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry officials visiting the United States about the wartime treatment of aliens of Japanese ancestry. The officials were in the U.S. to study American State Department policies and techniques.
  • Urge Census Bureau to Use Nisei Workers, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL ADC urged the Census Bureau to employ qualified Americans of Japanese ancestry as enumerators in areas with substantial Japanese American populations. Masaoka wrote that the census should be as democratic in its operations as the nation it counts.
  • Government Pays Second Check in Claims Program, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A former Terminal Island resident received a $325 government check for a loss on a forced sale of his 1941 Plymouth during the evacuation. The payment is believed to be the second made by the Justice Department under the claims program.
  • ADC Urges Early Senate Consideration of Equality in Naturalization Proposal, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL ADC is pressing for the Walter Resolution, which would grant naturalization rights to aliens denied them by race, to be brought up for early Senate consideration. Masaoka argued that passage is essential to counter Communist influence and to maintain U.S. credibility with Asian allies.
  • National JACL to Participate In Civil Rights Mobilization To Back President’s Program, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The JACL will send a delegation led by Mike Masaoka to the National Emergency Civil Rights Mobilization conference in Washington, Jan. 15-17. The conference seeks action on the President’s civil rights program, with FEPC given first priority.
  • Little Chance Seen for Early Action to Lower Fishing Fee, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Assemblyman George Collins said there is little chance of reducing the California alien sport fishing license fee during the current session. The JACL had sought a reduction from $25 to $10 and will gather Issei letters for the 1951 session.

Community

  • Elect Victor Abe President of JACL in San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Local attorney Victor Abe was elected president of the San Francisco JACL by the board of governors, succeeding Takehiko Yoshihashi. A new cabinet was named and will be installed at a dinner on Feb. 11.
  • U.S. Firm Will Publish Book By Nisei on Japanese Army, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Hanama Tasaki, a Hawaiian Nisei who served in the Japanese army in China, wrote a book about his experiences that Houghton Mifflin will publish in the United States. The book, Long the Imperial Way, was first issued in a limited Tokyo edition.
  • Nisei Youth in Japan Files Claim To United States Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 2. An 18-year-old man in Japan claims he was born in San Francisco to an American father and was taken to Japan as an infant by his nurse. He has applied for U.S. citizenship with the American consul in Yokohama, supported only by his father’s name and a shock of red hair.
  • Chicago Residents File $3,332,437 in Claims for Losses from Mass Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. 476 persons of Japanese ancestry in northern Illinois filed evacuation claims before the January 3, 1950 deadline, according to U.S. Attorney Otto Kerner Jr. The article describes typical claims ranging from fertilizer plants and barber chairs to rabbit businesses and chop suey restaurants.
  • Los Angeles JACLs To Co-Sponsor Grand Inaugural Ball, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The four Los Angeles JACL chapters will hold a joint inaugural ball on Feb. 3 at the Forum Starlight ballroom to install their 1950 cabinets. Attorney Saburo Kido, past National JACL president, will swear in the officers.
  • California Group Will Form New JACL Council, by P.C. Staff, page 2. National President Hito Okada will attend the constitutional convention of the new Central California JACL district council in Fresno on Feb. 5. The five charter chapters were formerly part of the Northern California district council.
  • Ellis Community Center in Chicago Fetes Anniversary, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Chicago’s Ellis Community Center will mark its second anniversary with an open house and choir concert on Feb. 12. Organizations across Chicago are being invited to participate.
  • Idaho Falls Chapter Will Buy Equipment With Carnival Funds, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Idaho Falls JACL will use proceeds from a winter carnival attended by about 300 persons to buy equipment for its headquarters. Prize winners and merchant donors were thanked.
  • Ellis Choir Joins In Southside Event, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Ellis Community Center church choir will join eight other choirs in a Southside choir festival at the Grace E&R church on Jan. 15. Dr. Harmon Bro will lead the choir in selected works.
  • Idaho Falls Prexy Joe Nishioka Installed, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Joe Nishioka was installed as president of the Idaho Falls JACL at ceremonies on Jan. 1 at the chapter building. A photo accompanies the brief notice.
  • Eighty-Nine Return from Japan Aboard Two President Liners, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Eighty-nine persons of Japanese ancestry were scheduled to arrive in San Francisco on Jan. 3 and Jan. 9 aboard the SS President Wilson and SS General Gordon. The article lists the arriving passengers by ship.
  • Study Group, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Los Angeles Buddhist Study Group was scheduled to meet at Dr. Ryo Munekata’s home for a discussion led by the Rev. Kenryo Kumata. The brief notice gives the meeting details.
  • L. A. Attorneys Discuss Claims Law Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Los Angeles-area attorneys met on Jan. 18 to discuss problems with the Justice Department’s evacuation claims program and to prepare memoranda for the JACL. A list of cooperating attorneys is included.
  • Wyoming JACL Holds New Year Dance, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Northern Wyoming JACL held a New Year’s Eve dance at Masonic hall in Worland with about sixty members and guests attending. Chapter president Dr. Minol Ota served as master of ceremonies.
  • Nisei Leads Move To Ban Hiring Bias At L. A. School, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Ike Sanbonmatsu of the LACC Young Progressives led a campaign that persuaded the student council at Los Angeles City College to call for an end to racially discriminatory hiring questions in the employment office. Speakers said questions about race and parents’ ancestry indicated discrimination.
  • San Mateans Plan Installation Dance, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The San Mateo County JACL will hold its annual installation dinner and dance at the Hotel Benjamin Franklin on Jan. 14 with Elmer Vincent’s orchestra. Civic leaders from San Mateo and Redwood City have been invited.
  • Denver JACL Officials Plan Membership Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Brief community notes from several chapters cover births, events, and cabinet elections. Coverage is limited to short items.

JACL

  • Baldwin Will Speak at New York JACL Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Roger Baldwin, retired executive director of the ACLU, will be the principal speaker at the New York JACL installation dinner on Jan. 18. Akira Hayashi was reelected president and other officers will be installed.
  • Masaoka Will Join Sponsors At Fetes for Thomas, Baldwin, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mike Masaoka will serve as a sponsor of testimonial dinners honoring Norman Thomas and Roger Baldwin for their support of Japanese Americans. Masaoka noted both men were among the first prominent Americans to protest the evacuation.
  • Chicago JACL Challenges L.A. in Membership Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Dr. Frank Sakamoto, chairman of the Chicago JACL membership drive, challenged the four Los Angeles chapters to a 1950 contest after they won the 1949 drive. Chicago set a goal of 1,500 members for the year.
  • Member Goal Of 20 Thousand Set By JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 2. National JACL director Masao Satow set a 1950 membership goal of 20,000 and launched a drive running through March. President Hito Okada urged eligible persons to join and local chapters to push membership.
  • Mountain Plains Area Official Plans Visits To Twenty Communities, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Regional director Roy Takeno will tour twenty communities from Montana to the Gulf of Mexico over seven weeks to report on the JACL’s 1950 legislative program. The itinerary is listed by city and date.
  • Salt Lake JACL to Restore Desecrated Utah Memorial To Pioneer Issei Airman, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Salt Lake JACL will restore the Wolf Creek Pass memorial to Issei aviator Masashi Goto, which was toppled and damaged by vandals. Chapter president George Mochizuki said Mount Olympus and Ogden chapters will be invited to help.

Commentary

  • Extension May Be Sensible Move, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that the evacuation claims deadline should be extended to allow late filings and amendments to the claims act. It notes that Terminal Island evacuees faced unresolved eligibility questions.
  • Claims Program May Take Decade Unless Procedures Expedited, Says Masaoka, by I. H. Gordon, page 4. Masaoka, after studying Canada’s evacuation claims program, warned the U.S. program could take more than a decade unless adjudication is expedited. He recommended statistical methods, acceptance of affidavits, and a government burden of proof.
  • Newspaper Polls Readers on Subject Of Intermarriage, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A letter writer reports on a Hokubei Mainichi poll in which most respondents, mostly Issei community leaders, favored intermarriage. The writer praises the newspaper and hopes a similar poll will be conducted among Nisei.
  • Two Examples of Nisei Enterprise, by Jobo Nakamura, page 4. Nakamura profiles two Chicago firms, Murakami and Son and George Kawaguchi’s Everite, which together do about $200,000 yearly. Both were founded by Nisei craftsmen who built their businesses through persistence and skill.
  • Sawada Takes a Drink, by Iwao Kawakami, page 4. A fictional vignette in which a young Nisei visits the library of Issei wine king Goro Sawada and hears the story of his late wife’s past. The piece is a short literary sketch.
  • A Nod to Plastics and Progress, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa reflects on replacing an old bathroom accessory with a plastic one and contrasts modern central heating with cold childhood bathrooms. The column is a light family-life essay from The Frying Pan series.
  • Yike Looks to His Looks, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa humorously describes his fourth-grade son’s new interest in his appearance and the schoolyard gang fights he runs with. The column reflects on his son’s lack of ambition to be the leader.
  • Where’s That Nisei Novel?, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa notes that a new novel about Owens Valley water wars was published, but no major novel yet exists about the evacuation. He suggests the Nisei may still be too close to the experience to write it.

Arts & Entertainment

  • Nisei Designer Furniture and Dancers in New York, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Brief notes report that Ray Komai is establishing a reputation as a New York furniture designer and that Nisei dancer Yuriko will perform with the Martha Graham company. Other Nisei entertainment items are also mentioned.

Sports

  • Placer’s Goto Is Also Baseball Star, by P.C. Staff, page 6. George Goto, Nisei star of the Placer College basketball team, is also an accomplished baseball pitcher who may receive a major league tryout. The article notes other Nisei players in Placer County.
  • Kajikawa’s Sun Devils Scare Duquesne, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Coach Bill Kajikawa led the Arizona State basketball team on its first eastern trip, losing most games but pushing Duquesne to a close finish. Pittsburgh press praised his coaching.
  • George Goto Leads Underdog Placer Team to California Title, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Nisei Army veteran George Goto led the unseeded Placer College team to the California state junior college title, winning five straight upset games. He was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
  • Hawaiian Nisei Cagers Plan Japan Tour in March, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A 12-man all-star team from the Hawaii AJA Senior basketball league will tour Japan in March for eight games against Japan Amateur Basketball Association teams. The team will include five league all-stars and one player from each league team.
  • Parma, Idaho Team Captures Bowling Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The J.C. Watson Company team from Parma, Idaho won the team event at the first Boise Valley JACL Nisei bowling tournament. Harry Imamura of Salt Lake City won the men’s singles and sweepstakes.
  • Hyde Park, Nisei Vues Gain Ground in Chicago Bowling, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Hyde Park Restaurant and Nisei Vues swept their matches in the Chicago Nisei bowling league, while Plaisance Cleaners was held to a split. Individual high series are reported.
  • Oakland Bowler Holds Lead in Stockton Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Gen Chun of Oakland leads the first Stockton Oriental handicap singles bowling classic, which draws bowlers of several Asian ancestries. The tournament concludes Jan. 14 and 15.

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