Nisei casualties in Korea, and the push to repay escheat funds

Vol. 32, No. 24, June 23, 1951. 8 pages. View this issue

Five Nisei deaths in the Korean War were reported on the front page, along with a long list of men missing in action, most with Hawaii addresses. The same page followed California’s legislature, where the Senate voted to repay the escheat funds that Nisei and Issei paid in 1945 and to restore pre-war liquor licenses, while an Issei old age pension bill was tabled. Mike Masaoka told a Honolulu meeting how Japanese Americans had moved from suspicion to acceptance, and Gen. Mark Clark asked Nisei veterans to take a bow at a Sacramento luncheon, praising the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

Inside are stories on Go for Broke! premieres and a memorial statue in Stockton, Gen. Charles Willoughby’s remarks on Nisei intelligence work in the Pacific, and court rulings on citizenship for Nisei who voted in Japan. Columns by Larry Tajiri, Bill Hosokawa and Mary Oyama, and a full sports page, fill the rest of the eight pages.

What’s in this issue

National

  • JACL Official Cites Changes In Status of Nisei in America, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka, national legislative director of the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee, told a Honolulu meeting on June 13 that Japanese Americans have risen from suspicion to acceptance since Pearl Harbor. He praised the MGM film Go for Broke! and noted that discriminatory legislation still restricts persons of Japanese ancestry on the mainland.
  • Issei Pension Proposal Killed By California Legislature, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL-ADC sponsored Dillinger Bill S.B. 734, which would have provided state old age assistance for Issei, was tabled by the Senate Finance Committee on June 18. Tate Kushida said the effort laid groundwork for a more successful attempt in 1953.
  • California Legislature Votes To Return Escheat Funds, Restores Liquor Licenses, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California Senate approved repayment of escheat funds paid by Nisei and Issei in 1945 to quiet title on property, totaling $419,000. It also approved restoring pre-war liquor licenses revoked from Japanese Americans in 1942.
  • Walter Seeks Citizenship for Service Aliens, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Francis E. Walter introduced a bill permitting immediate naturalization of aliens serving in the armed forces, without limitation on race or color. The measure is patterned after similar World War II legislation sponsored by the JACL ADC.
  • Recognize U.S. Citizenship of Nisei Strandee, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Federal Judge William M. Byrne ruled on June 19 that Henry Yada had not lost his U.S. citizenship by voting in Japanese elections in 1946, since he feared consequences if he did not vote. The ruling followed a similar case involving his brother George.

Military & Veterans

  • Gen. Clark Makes Nisei Veterans Take a Bow, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Gen. Mark Clark asked Nisei veterans in the audience at a Sacramento luncheon to take a bow and praised the 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s record. The audience gave the veterans a tremendous ovation.
  • Nisei Marine Hurt In Korean Conflict, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sgt. Frank S. Takayama of the U.S. Marine Corps was reported wounded in action in Korea and is recovering in a hospital there with a shoulder wound. He had gone overseas with a Marine unit the previous November.
  • State, City Officials Honor 442nd Veterans in Sacramento, by Stirling Sakamoto, page 3. Distinguished state and city officials joined JACL chapters and Nisei VFW Post 8985 on June 6 to honor 442nd veterans at a Sacramento dinner and ceremony. Seven Gold Star mothers and one brother of men killed in action were recognized.

Community

  • Nisei War Veteran Named New Principal of High School Near Capital City of Arkansas, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Paul Makabe, a former Loomis, California resident and Army veteran, was named principal of South Side High School in Arkansas, probably the first Nisei principal of a high school in the continental United States. He is pursuing graduate work at the University of Arkansas.
  • Six-Year Japanese Girl Starts New Life in America, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Tokiko Matsudaira, 6, daughter of a Japanese Foreign Office official, began living with New York attorney Murray Sprung and his family to receive an American upbringing. Her father hopes she will become an apostle of international friendship.
  • Denver JACL Sets Meeting to Hear Chaplain Yamada, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Rev. Masao Yamada, former 442nd chaplain and first Nisei chaplain in the U.S. Army, will speak to Issei and Nisei in Denver on June 27 and 28 under National JACL sponsorship. Separate meetings and a dinner are being arranged.
  • Japanese Girl Rises Eyes Citizenship Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Senate Judiciary Committee reported favorably two private bills restoring citizenship to Shizue Sakurada and Dorothy Fumie Maeda, who voted in 1946 and 1947 Japanese elections. Passage would be the first time Congress granted Nisei expatriates citizenship restoration through naturalization.
  • Isao Fujimoto Wins $250 Scholarship To California School, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Isao Fujimoto, a Live Oak Union High School senior, was awarded a $250 scholarship to the University of California. He won third place in the statewide VFW essay contest and plans to study pre-medicine.
  • San Franciscan Becomes Dad on Father’s Day, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Minoru Michida became a father when his wife Molly gave birth to a boy at Mt. Zion hospital on Father’s Day, June 17. The hospital’s first Father’s Day baby earned Michida a $50 State of Israel Bond.
  • Honolulu Girl Returns from Visits to South Sea Islands, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Honolulu nutritionist Mary Murai returned from a nutrition survey of Marshallese diets conducted for the U.S. Navy and the National Research Council. She collected food samples for chemical analysis at the University of Hawaii.
  • Betty Fukuda Wins Major Honors at Delano High, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Betty Fukuda took major honors in the graduating class of 159 at Delano High School, receiving the Business and Professional Women’s Club scholarship. She will enter UCLA as a premedical student.
  • Assign Nisei Minister To Wisconsin Church, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Rev. Fred Saito was appointed to a Methodist church in Beloit, Wisconsin. He previously served as minister at the Armitage Methodist Church in Chicago.
  • Queen Visits JACL Booth at Japan Trade Fair, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Trade Fair Queen May Tsutsumoto and her court visited the Seattle JACL booth at the Japan Trade Fair in Edmundson Pavilion. The JACL booth sold souvenirs including sembei and fans.
  • Nisei Girls Act as Hostesses to Japanese Trade Fair Exhibition Opens in Seattle, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Four Nisei girls served as official hostesses at the Japanese Trade Fair opened June 18 at the University of Washington’s Edmundson Pavilion. The first such fair since World War II drew buyers from across the United States and Canada and runs through July 4.
  • Report 101 Arrive, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The President Cleveland docked in San Francisco on June 19 with 101 persons of Japanese ancestry aboard. The brief notes their arrival.
  • PH.D. History Degree Awarded Nisei at USC, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Frank Tadao Inouye received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Southern California on June 16. His doctoral thesis on Sir William Johnson and Northern Indian Administration is scheduled for publication.
  • Fresno Chapter Plans Blood Bank, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Fresno JACL established a blood bank reserve at the Valley Blood Bank so persons of Japanese ancestry can receive blood without cost, pending 50 pledges. The chapter will also support Red Cross blood supply for soldiers in Korea.
  • Two Nisei Elected To ILWU Posts, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Yukio Abe and Yasuki Arakaki, both of Honolulu, were elected to the executive board of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. The election followed a recent referendum.
  • Turnabout, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Several Nisei actors are noted in Hollywood productions, including Harry Hamada in Go for Broke!, George Yoshinaga in The Frogmen, and May Takasugi in East Is East. The brief reports on these film appearances.
  • Nisei Newsman Given Famed Nieman Award, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Lawrence Nakatsuka, assistant city editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, was awarded a Nieman Fellowship for a year of study at Harvard University. He was one of twelve American newsmen selected.
  • Chicago PC Group Calls Meeting With Girls’ Clubs, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Chicago Pacific Citizen committee will meet with local girls’ club representatives to promote news coverage and subscription drives. The meeting is set for July at the Resettlers building.
  • Given Scholarship, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Itsuo Sakaguchi received the Alice Eastward award for literature at City College of San Francisco’s commencement on June 15. The brief reports this honor.
  • Nisei Medic Wins Mitchell Prize in New York State, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Augustus Masashi Tanaka, son of Dr. and Mrs. B. M. Tanaka of Ontario, Oregon, received the Mitchell Prize, one of the highest honors at the State University of New York’s college of medicine. He will serve his surgical residency at Kings County hospital.
  • JACL Backs AVC Credo for Public Servants, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The JACL ADC added its name to national organizations endorsing the American Veterans Committee’s Credo of a Public Servant. The code has endorsements from senators and most state governors.
  • Rule All Legislators From Taking Post, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A technicality in the Hawaii organic act disqualifies territorial legislators, including Rep. Kido, from appointment as territorial secretary. Governor Oren Long’s vacancy will be filled by a presidential appointment.

Incarceration & Redress

  • Restoration of U.S. Citizenship To Strandees Who Voted in ’46 in Japan Asked in New Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The JACL ADC asked the Joint Senate-House Committee studying immigration legislation to include a bill restoring citizenship to Nisei who voted in post-war Japanese elections. An estimated 1,500-2,000 Nisei in Japan would be affected.
  • Unveil Statue Honoring Nisei War Heroes, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A memorial statue honoring nine Nisei war dead from San Joaquin County was dedicated on June 17 in Stockton by Gold Star mothers. The ceremony coincided with the opening of the film Go for Broke! and a reunion of 250 veterans of the 442nd.
  • Ninth Circuit Court Reverses Ruling Restoring Citizenship To Nisei Who Voted in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision recognizing the citizenship of Mariko Kuniyuki, a Nisei who voted in Japanese elections, which may lead to her deportation. Her attorneys may petition the Supreme Court for a hearing.
  • Parents of Gold Star Dead Honored In Fresno Rites, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Fifteen Gold Star parents of Nisei war dead were honored at the Fresno premiere of Go for Broke! on June 18 with corsages presented in a stage ceremony. Mayor Gordon G. Dunn and Major George C. Hartwell spoke about the 442nd’s combat record.
  • Gen. MacArthur Thought Evacuation Silly, Says Aide, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Gen. Charles Willoughby said Gen. MacArthur considered the 1942 West Coast evacuation of Japanese Americans silly. Willoughby also said he requested Nisei GI interpreters in 1942 and Washington was shocked by the request.

JACL

  • Masaoka Will Report on ADC Work at Los Angeles Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mike Masaoka will speak at a public meeting in Los Angeles on June 28 to report on legislative progress on evacuation claims, Issei citizenship, and deportation threats. Tats Kushida will also report on state legislation affecting Japanese Americans.

Commentary

  • Editorials: California’s Escheat Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises the California Senate for voting to repay escheat funds that Nisei paid in 1945 to keep their property under the alien land law. It recounts how the state’s wartime campaign against Nisei landholders amounted to legalized blackmail.
  • Belated Recognition, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial welcomes Gen. Charles Willoughby’s pledge to reveal the story of the 5,000 Nisei who served as interpreters and intelligence specialists in the Pacific. It credits their work with giving MacArthur crucial intelligence for his campaigns.
  • Here Comes Mr. Moto, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Larry Tajiri observes that network radio has a Nisei hero in a new Mr. Moto detective series, which differs from the earlier Japanese villain portrayals. He sees the show as additional proof that Hollywood taboos about Nisei are breaking down.
  • Box-Score on Race Relations: Japanese American Group Discussed in New Berry Book, by Elmer R. Smith, page 5. Elmer Smith reviews Brewton Berry’s book Race Relations, which discusses persons of Japanese ancestry under conflict, assimilation, and group reaction to domination. He calls the book worth reading for anyone wanting to understand intergroup living.
  • A Note to Nisei Farmers, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa encourages Nisei farmers with capital to consider settling in Seward County, Kansas, where a chain store will buy vegetables and local funds are available. He notes that Nisei professionals are now working across the country.
  • Nisei GIs Played Integral Role In Pacific War, Says General, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby praised the Nisei GIs under his command in military intelligence as indispensable and loyal during World War II. He said he owed them an obligation and wanted to repay it by telling their story.

In-Depth

  • Nippon Lecturer Sees Future In South American Countries, by Lawrence Nakatsuka, page 5. Kaju Nakamura, a former Japanese diet member and world traveler, urged Japanese in North America to emigrate to South America, especially Brazil. He argued that farming opportunities there are strong and that Japanese immigrants are prospering.

Arts & Entertainment

  • Nisei Little Theater, by Mary Oyama, page 5. Mary Oyama reviews the Nisei Experimental Group’s production of The Plums Can Wait, a one-act play about two Nisei brothers on a California farm. She describes the inter-racial cast and the contrasting Nisei and Caucasian directed versions.

Sports

  • Nisei Sprinter Wins Phi Beta Kappa Key, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Bob Watanabe, a UCLA sprinter, earned Phi Beta Kappa honors while competing in athletics. The sports column also covers other Nisei athletes including Nancy Ito, Fresno State outfielders, and the Honolulu Braves’ Nisei players.
  • Japanese Americans Add Drawing Power, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Nisei players are being added to the Honolulu Braves roster for their National Baseball Congress trip, partly to draw fans during exhibition games in California. The team will face strong Nisei squads including the Fresno Nisei All-Stars.
  • Placer Stars Named to All-Star Team, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Three Placer County JACL players were named to the Placer-Nevada League all-star team. The column also notes the success of Jimmy Miyasato with the Honolulu Asahis.
  • New Faces Uncovered in Nakama Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Keo Nakama invitational swimming meet in Honolulu revealed talented Nisei swimmers, including Fred Konno. Konno set a new American 200-meter freestyle record in a trial heat.
  • Late Rally Gives Placer Team Victory Over Nevada City, by Homer Y. Takahashi, page 6. Placer JACL rallied in the eighth inning to defeat Nevada City 12 to 8 after a close pitching duel. Jim Yokota will likely miss two weeks with a leg injury.
  • Yoshioka Wins National Title In Weightlifting Tournament, by P.C. Staff, page 6. George Yoshioka of Hawaii won the national AAU weightlifting title at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, tying Dick Greenawalt but winning on lighter bodyweight. Three mainland Nisei also placed in the competition.
  • Yonamine Signs Contract With Tokyo Giants, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Wally Yonamine, a Hawaiian Nisei former professional football and baseball player, signed with the Tokyo Giants, becoming the first Japanese American to sign a Japanese pro baseball contract since Pearl Harbor. He will play outfield for the team.

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