Issei citizenship, Amache’s cemetery and the “Tokyo Rose” trial

Vol. 28, No. 20, May 21, 1949. 8 pages. View this issue

Citizenship for Issei ran through the 8-page issue of May 21, 1949. Mike Masaoka told a Honolulu audience that Hawaii’s statehood hopes were tied to naturalization for 40,000 resident aliens of Japanese ancestry, and he testified for federal fair employment legislation on behalf of JACL. Other stories followed the Judd bill and the Walter measure in Congress, and a Milwaukee Journal editorial backing the Judd bill. On the front page, former residents began a drive to maintain the cemetery at the Granada relocation center, known as Amache, in Colorado.

Also inside: a former Sugamo jailer’s account of Iva Toguri d’Aquino’s treatment before her San Francisco trial, and John J. McCloy’s tribute to Nisei soldiers. Togo Tanaka’s column looked at how textbooks portray minorities. Editorials covered San Francisco’s redevelopment policy and a change in Los Angeles politics. Chapter news came from Chicago and Cleveland.

What’s in this issue

National

• Masaoka Sought to Maintain Amache Cemetery Plot, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A drive has been launched to raise funds for permanent maintenance of the Amache cemetery plot at the abandoned Granada relocation center in Colorado, and to erect individual tombstones. The sponsoring group plans to solicit support from former Amache residents across the country.
• Issei Naturalization, Statehood Issues Linked, Says Masaoka, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka told a Honolulu audience that Hawaii’s desire for statehood is closely tied to pending legislation granting naturalization to 40,000 resident aliens of Japanese ancestry. He noted the Judd bill had passed the House and was under Senate Judiciary consideration.
• House Judiciary Committee Reports Favorably on Walter Measure for Issei Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The House Judiciary Committee reported favorably on Rep. Francis Walter’s resolution granting naturalization regardless of race, and Senators Kilgore and Langer introduced a modified Judd bill in the Senate. The Senate version allows spouses and minor children from all countries to enter quota-free.
• Meteorite Strikes Home of Nisei In Honolulu, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A 23-pound meteorite crashed through the roof of the Kiyoshi Yasuda home in Honolulu, narrowly missing two sleeping children. University of Hawaii geology professor Harold Palmer identified it as an acrolite, probably the first recovered in Hawaii.
• Pocatello Police Seek Two Suspects in $5,000 Bunco Game, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pocatello police launched a nationwide search for two confederates of Edwin So, who faces trial for taking $5,000 from an Idaho Nisei farmer under false pretenses. The three men allegedly sold the farmer a sealed package of candy bars as security for a fake loan.
• JACL Official Presents Case For Small Minorities in Urging Fair Employment Bill Passage, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Mike Masaoka testified before the House Judiciary Committee in support of federal FEP legislation, speaking for JACL and smaller minority groups. He argued that FEP would benefit business and that the War Relocation Authority’s wartime employment record proved government could handle minority employment wisely.
• California Legislature Amends Fishing Code to Remove Ban On Licenses for Issei Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Gov. Earl Warren signed legislation removing the ban on commercial fishing licenses for aliens ineligible for citizenship, bringing state law in line with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Takahashi decision. The wartime restriction had been held invalid because it violated resident aliens’ right to earn a livelihood.
• Milwaukee Journal Supports Aims of Judd Legislation, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Milwaukee Journal editorial urged Senate action on the Judd bill, arguing it would end the last remaining racial discrimination against legally admitted permanent residents seeking citizenship. The editorial stressed that the chief beneficiaries would be long-term residents of Japanese, Korean, and Polynesian birth.
• San Francisco Supervisors Pass Resolution Barring Racial Bias In City Redevelopment Program, by P.C. Staff, page 4. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution requiring anti-discrimination covenants in future urban redevelopment contracts, following a campaign led by the Council for Civic Unity. The Redevelopment Agency subsequently committed to abide by the recommendations.
• Housing Agency Adopts Policy Barring Prejudice, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, which had earlier opposed non-discrimination measures, agreed to follow the supervisors’ anti-discrimination resolution. The agency directs slum clearance and can buy land with public funds for resale to private housing developers.
• McCarran Bill Will Admit Spouses of GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Sen. Pat McCarran introduced a bill admitting alien spouses and minor children of WWII veterans regardless of race, with a companion measure introduced in the House by Reps. Chelf and Farrington. The bill would apply to veterans with honorable discharges who meet other immigration requirements.

Incarceration & Redress

• Mrs. d’Aquino Denied Citizen Rights, Says Ex-Sugamo Jailer, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A former Sugamo prison jailer, Pray, testified that Iva Toguri d’Aquino, the accused ‘Tokyo Rose,’ was denied civil rights and badly treated after her arrest by U.S. military authorities. Her trial is set to begin July 5 before Judge Michael Roche in San Francisco.

Community

• Honolulu Grower Names New Orchid For Combat Team, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Honolulu orchid grower Masatoshi Miyamoto developed a dendrobium hybrid named ‘the 442nd’ in honor of the Japanese American Combat Team. The orchid was exhibited at the Hawaii Orchid Show by Jane Udo and Agnes Awaya.
• Nisei Aids Chinese American Client in Chicago Zoning Case, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nisei attorney Franklin Chino won a zoning variation allowing Chinese American Jack Chow to operate a shirt-ironing business in a Chicago specialty shop zone. Opposing groups withdrew objections after a compromise on the zoning interpretation.
• Idaho Student Wins Indiana Technical Award, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Masao Konishi of Blackfoot, Idaho, received the 1949 William David Coolidge award in physics at Indiana Technical College, competing against 836 other engineering students. He is a straight-A student and a member of Iota Tau Kappa.
• Chicago JACL Group Raises Fund to Aid Nisei Victim of Fire, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Chicago JACL party raised approximately $100 for Fumi Shimizu, a Nisei beautician seriously burned in a September 1948 salon fire. The event was organized by George Taki at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Furuta.
• Pacificans Win First Prize for Float at Parlier, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Pacificans, a Japanese American organization, won top float honors at the fourth annual Veterans Roundup parade in Parlier, California. Their float was decorated as a Japanese tea garden with lanterns and Nisei girls in kimonos.
• Harold Gordon Takes 1000 Club Position, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Chicago attorney Harold R. Gordon was appointed midwest area chairman of the JACL 1000 Club, replacing Dr. Randolph Sakada who resigned to chair the 1950 national convention. Gordon is vice president of the Chicago JACL.
• Cleveland JACL Will Sponsor Nisei Workshop, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Cleveland JACL will hold a June 5 workshop probing Nisei community issues under the theme ‘Which Way Nisei?’ Keynote speaker is attorney Dick Day, with discussion groups covering east vs. west coast living, segregation, the future generation, and Nisei as transients or community members.
• California Agency Maintains Ban on Permits for Issei Group, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The California State Board of Equalization continues to refuse liquor sale permits to resident aliens of Japanese ancestry, calling them enemy aliens. San Jose Nisei businessman T. T. Taketoshi has filed suit to force reissuance of a revoked off-sale liquor permit.
• Chicago Nisei Pastor Calls for Revision of Naturalization Law, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Rev. George N. Nishimoto of the Ellis Community church criticized American naturalization laws that bar his Issei mother from citizenship despite 48 years of residence. He called for revision of the laws barring natives of Japan and certain Asian areas from naturalizing.
• JACL Queen Takes Part in Chicago Citizenship Fete, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Chicago JACL participated in ‘I Am An American Day’ observances on May 15 at Washington Park, with JACL queen Lillian Yoshioka and others in kimonos. A newly chartered all-Nisei American Legion post also marched in the Jackson Park parade.
• Chicago JACL Chapter Names Officials for 1950 Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Chicago JACL National Convention Board appointed additional staff for the 1950 national convention in Chicago. Harry Mayeda and Noboru Honda were named associate chairmen, with Togo Tanaka as program editor and Ken Yoshihara as business manager.

Commentary

• Stresses and Strains, by Togo Tanaka, page 2. A new American Council on Education study examines how textbooks portray minority groups and whether they foster understanding or prejudice. Its findings show Japanese Americans receive scant and largely one-sided coverage in U.S. school textbooks.
• Victory in San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises San Francisco for adopting a non-discriminatory policy in its urban redevelopment program, protecting minority residents of the Western Addition from exclusion. It credits the Council for Civic Unity for its persistent campaign.
• Minorities and Auto Insurance, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial examines discrimination against minorities seeking automobile insurance in California, where members of minority groups face difficulty obtaining policies and are sometimes charged higher rates. It notes that the state’s required coverage makes this discrimination especially burdensome.
• A Change in Public Opinion, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that Los Angeles mayoral candidate Lloyd Aldrich’s attack on incumbent Mayor Bowron for advocating the 1942 evacuation shows how anti-Nisei politics has fallen out of favor. It observes that California politicians who once exploited anti-Japanese sentiment now prefer to forget it.
• Debut of a Nisei Actress, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial profiles Nisei actress Michiko Okamoto, who played the lead in the New York production Wedding in Japan. It also discusses the scarcity of dramatic roles for Asian American actors and the stalled Broadway prospects of a play about a Nisei veteran’s bride.

Military & Veterans

• Recall McCloy Letter Giving Tribute to Wartime Behavior Of Japanese American Group, by P.C. Staff, page 4. John J. McCloy, newly appointed U.S. civilian high commissioner for Germany, wrote in support of the Judd bill praising the wartime loyalty of Japanese Americans. He also expressed pride in his role in forming the Nisei battalions, whose record he called among the most spectacular of U.S. military units.
• Pride…, by P.C. Staff, page 4. John J. McCloy, appointed high commissioner for Germany, takes pride in his role in forming the Japanese American Combat Team. His earlier letter supporting Japanese American naturalization was introduced at 1948 House hearings.
• AVC Action…, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The American Veterans Committee’s Yuba-Sutter chapter in California restored Nisei GIs’ names to the main county honor roll, after they had been placed on a separate list in 1946. The May 1949 AVC Bulletin reports the action.

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