Seattle’s Nisei war memorial and the push for Issei citizenship

Vol. 28, No. 17, April 30, 1949. 8 pages. View this issue

A granite monument to Nisei war dead was the picture on the front page. Seattle’s Nisei War Memorial, inscribed with the names of 55 soldiers, was set up at Lake View cemetery ahead of its Memorial Day dedication, and nearly 200 veterans pledged to march in the parade. Elsewhere, Mike Masaoka asked a presidential committee to end segregation in the armed forces, citing the 442nd’s record. Chicago and Kansas City groups backed the Judd bill, H.R. 199, on naturalization for Japanese immigrants, and Tats Kushida reported on both.

Other pages cover the evacuee claims program, with an editorial and answers from Edward J. Ennis, and Larry Tajiri’s profiles of notable Issei. Bill Hosokawa wrote about the JACL 1000 Club. A San Francisco report by Joe Grant Masaoka described job discrimination, and a story tells of a Nisei priest bound for Japan.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Dedicate Memorial to Nisei GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Seattle’s Nisei War Memorial, a granite monument inscribed with the names of 55 Japanese American war dead, was set up at Lake View cemetery ahead of a Memorial Day dedication. Nearly 200 Nisei veterans pledged to march in the parade that will precede the unveiling.
• Citizen Kawakami Arrives in Japan as Foreign Trader, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Saburo Kawakami, a Waimea, Kauai merchant and one of few enemy-alien Japanese accepted into the U.S. Army in WWII, arrived in Japan as a foreign trader. He had asked to remain in service after V-E Day and later rebuilt his store after a flood.
• Spokane Services Held for Veteran of 442nd Regiment, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Reinterment services were held in Spokane for Pvt. Gordon G. Yamura, a veteran of Company K of the 442nd Combat Team. Two former buddies served as pallbearers.
• Final Rites Held for Florin Veteran, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Graveside services were held in Sacramento for Pfc. Cooper T. Tahara, a 442nd Combat Team soldier killed in southern France in 1944. The Nisei VFW post and Veterans Affiliated Council directed the services.

National

• JACL Asks for Ending Segregation in Army, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka, JACL ADC legislation director, urged the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services to end military segregation. He argued that segregation fosters antagonisms and that the 442nd’s record shows Nisei should serve on an equal basis.
• Court Grants Postponement in d’Aquino Trial, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Federal Judge Michael J. Roche postponed the treason trial of Iva Toguri d’Aquino from May 16 to July 5 at the defense’s request. The defense needed more time to obtain depositions from Far East witnesses.
• Nisei Catholic Priest to Take Post in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. James Tokuhisa will become the first American of Japanese ancestry ordained a Catholic priest at Maryknoll Seminary on June 19. He will be assigned to a post in Japan, and six other Nisei are also studying for the priesthood.

Community

• Prejudice in San Francisco Against Nisei Group Told in Report to Mayor’s Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Joe Grant Masaoka told San Francisco’s Mayor’s Committee on Human Relations about discrimination against Japanese Americans in employment, housing, business, insurance and recreation. He called equal employment opportunity a basic human right.
• Mike Masaoka to Visit Hawaii to Report on JACL Problem, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mike Masaoka and other JACL and Kika Kisei Domei officials will visit Hawaii in May to lead a fund drive for naturalization rights for Issei. The delegation will thank Hawaiian donors who gave $40,000 to the 1947 campaign.
• Area Employers Discriminate Against Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A JACL report by Joe Grant Masaoka found that three-fourths of San Francisco area employers using the state employment service discriminate against Japanese Americans. Several local unions also bar membership to racial minorities.
• Newswriting Award, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Joy Kawamura of Sanger Union High School won first place in the news writing division of a student journalism conference at Fresno State College. The annual spring conference drew high school and junior college students.
• Salt Laker Called for Jury Duty With Federal Court, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mrs. May F. Watanabe of Salt Lake City was among 49 northern Utah residents summoned to the federal grand jury panel. The panel was set to convene in Ogden on May 2.
• Two Nisei Die as Fire Razes Hawaiian Home, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Two teenage Nisei girls, Jane and Nancy Nakamoto, died in a midnight fire that destroyed their home in Waipahu, Oahu on April 26. Their grandmother was rescued from the burning building.
• Nisei Center Acquired in Cities, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota acquired a house in Minneapolis to serve as a parsonage and community center for Japanese Americans in the Twin Cities, available June 1. Father Daisuke Kitagawa will live there with his family and the center will be supported by the community.
• Harvey Aki Reelected President of New England JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Harvey Aki was reelected president of the New England JACL chapter in its second annual election. Other officers were named to serve with him on the new cabinet.
• Yoshito Fujii Cited for Annual Community Award in Seattle, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Yoshito Fujii, a local hotel operator, received the community service award from the Jackson Street Community Council for contributions to health, welfare and civic improvement. He is only the second recipient, after Lew G. Kay the year before.
• Mrs. Kingman Deplores Nisei Tendency to Self-Segregation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Mrs. Harry Kingman urged Japanese Americans at the San Francisco JACL inaugural banquet to abandon self-segregation and work with other minorities. She said community attitudes toward Nisei had changed since the war.
• Chicago Baptists to Observe 116th Annual Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The First Baptist Church of Chicago will hold its 116th annual dinner on May 11 with Dr. Alfred Diman as principal speaker. Dr. Jitsuo Morikawa is the church’s pastor.
• PTA Nisei Leader Says Race Prejudice Is on Decline, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Mrs. Celia Takemoto, president of the Nora Sterry Parent-Teachers Association, said race prejudice is declining in California. She was the first Nisei to win a presidential post in the organization.
• 80 Issei Pioneers Are Feted by JACL Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The United Citizens League of Santa Clara County honored 80 Issei pioneers aged 70 and above at a pioneer night program. The oldest attendee was Mrs. Naka Chikasuke, 84.
• Chicago Paper Pays Tribute to Nisei Girl Hurt in Fire, by Helen Hand, page 6. Chicago businesses are collecting donations in piggy banks for Fumiko Shimizu, a beauty shop employee who suffered severe burns in a September fire. She remains hospitalized and is not covered by workmen’s compensation.
• Nisei Will Aid Drive for Funds, by Stiles Hall, page 8. Nisei graduates of the University of California plan to raise $2,000 for a memorial library alcove in the new Stiles Hall honoring Nisei war dead. The planning committee will expand to at least 50 members to contact past students.
• Winifred Ishimoto Heads Co-ed Group at Hawaii University, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Winifred Ishimoto was elected president of the Associated Women of the University of Hawaii. Other officers include Dori Obata, Grace Kumashiro and Helen Matsui.
• Bostonians Hear Folk Arts Talk, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Professor Priscilla L. Rabethge spoke to the New England JACL on how fine arts and community recreation can build civic unity. She urged young people of immigrant parentage to contribute their cultural heritage to American life.
• Discuss Plan for Challenge on Land Law, by P.C. Staff, page 8. After the Oregon Supreme Court invalidated Oregon’s alien land law, Northern California Civil Rights Defense Union officials considered litigation against California’s similar law. They also planned to discuss the Hawkins proposal calling for a referendum on that law.
• JACL Members to Take Part in Observance, by Mike Masaoka, page 8. JACL chapters nationwide will observe I Am an American Day on May 15 to celebrate Nisei citizenship. The observances will also note that their immigrant parents cannot share that citizenship.
• Senate Extends Time Limit on Property Suits, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Senate passed S. 729, extending from April 1949 to April 1950 the deadline for claims to recover property vested by the Office of Alien Property. The bill is now before a House committee.

Incarceration & Redress

• Japan’s Press Watches U.S. Move to Repeal Exclusion Law, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Esther L’Ecluse, an editor with the Allied Translator and Interpreter Service in Japan, reported that Japanese newspapers closely follow congressional action on immigration and naturalization. Even introduction of such legislation made front-page news in Japan.
• Chicago City Council Backs Judd Proposal, by Tats Kushida, page 2. The Chicago City Council passed a resolution urging Congress to enact H.R. 199, which would grant citizenship rights to Japanese immigrants who arrived before 1924. The resolution cited the loyalty of Nisei who served in the armed forces.
• Chicago City Club Realizes Passage of Judd Proposal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The non-partisan Chicago City Club urged the Senate to give immediate favorable consideration to H.R. 199, the Judd bill on naturalization and immigration equality. Letters were sent to Illinois senators and Senate subcommittee members.
• Nisei Strandees May Initiate Mass Suit in Japan for U.S. Citizenship, by Tamotsu Murayama, page 4. American-born Japanese stranded in Japan who lost citizenship through Japanese military service are planning a mass court suit. The move follows a federal ruling that the renunciation of citizenship by Tule Lake segregees was invalid.

Arts & Entertainment

• Harold Russell Raps Anti-Nisei Bias in Talk to School Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Harold Russell, the amputee veteran featured in Best Years of Our Lives, spoke to a Kansas City high school audience against discrimination toward Japanese Americans. He praised Nisei troops in Italy and said Nisei had been treated as second-class citizens.
• Story on a Stray Note: I Look Up Izzy, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The narrator recalls his Los Angeles high school friend Izzy Steiner, whose business acumen and hard work made him a millionaire. Learning of Izzy’s death from overwork, the narrator reflects on the lessons he learned from him.
• Nisei Actress Featured in New York Plays, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Michi Okamoto, an honor student at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School, is starring in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the new play Wedding in Japan. The article traces her background from Sacramento through Topaz to her New York training.

Commentary

• Kansas City Leaders Express Approval of Issei Citizenship, by Tats Kushida, page 4. Kansas City leaders, including Herman Langworthy and former mayor Bryce B. Smith, supported the Judd bill for naturalization and immigration equality. Kushida reported their requests for hearings sent to Senator Forrest C. Donnell.
• The Evacuee Claims Program, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that only about 2,000 evacuation claims had been filed six months into the indemnification program. It criticizes the Justice Department’s requested appropriation as inadequate given estimated losses of $100 to $200 million.
• The Dispersed Japanese Canadians, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Despite Canada lifting wartime restrictions on April 1, few evacuees have returned to the coast because of fear and economic losses. The editorial criticizes the government for inadequate compensation and for failing to prepare the coast for their return.
• A Gallery of Issei Celebrities, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Larry Tajiri profiles notable Issei, including Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, who died fighting sleeping sickness in Africa, and Jokichi Takamine, discoverer of adrenalin. He urges Nisei writers to document the largely untold stories of the Issei.
• Letter: On Vital Statistics, by Henri Honda, page 5. Henri Honda of San Diego writes that birth certificates for Nisei children are sometimes wrongly registered as white. He calls for an end to racial discrimination on birth certificates.
• Letter: Alaskan Evacuees, by Charles Tatsuda, page 5. Attorney Charles Tatsuda argues that an April 16 article wrongly implied Alaskan evacuees and internees cannot file claims under Public Law 886. He says the law permits claims for losses resulting from evacuation, including internment.
• Thousand Club Has Laudable Goals, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Bill Hosokawa praises the JACL’s 1000 Club, whose $25 annual memberships finance national headquarters. He notes common misconceptions about the club and endorses it as a sensible way for members to support the organization.
• Questions on Evacuee Claims, by Edward J. Ennis, page 6. Special counsel Edward J. Ennis answers reader questions on filing evacuation claims, including whether one partner, a minor, a spouse, or a son may file for others. His answers generally permit filing by a representative when the proper parties are identified.

Sports

• High Jumper, by P.C. Staff, page 7. USC’s Henry Aihara leaped 6 feet 2 inches in the high jump, probably the highest mark for any Nisei in competition, taking second place against California. He also placed second in the broad jump.

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