Naturalization, the Takahashi fishing case and the Salt Lake convention

Vol. 26, No. 16, April 17, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue

Efforts to end racial barriers in the law filled the news in April 1948. The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors urged Congress to strike race bans from naturalization law through HR 5004, and the U.S. Attorney General filed a brief against California’s ban on commercial fishing by Japanese aliens in the Takahashi case. Larry Tajiri’s editorial “Momentous Week” looked ahead to the hearings on both. The front page also announced that Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, will speak at the 10th biennial JACL national convention in Salt Lake City.

Other pages carry a Bill Hosokawa column comparing European displaced persons with Japanese Americans, Hito Okada’s humorous “Dear Cousin Willie” advice on New York, and an editorial remembering Chester H. Rowell. Norman Thomas urged compensation for losses from the 1942 mass removal, the JACL endorsed Hawaii statehood, and the sports page follows runner Robert Watanabe toward the Olympic tryouts.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Father Flanagan Will Speak at National JACL Convention in Salt Lake City, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, will make a public appearance in Salt Lake City on Sept. 7 at Kingsbury Hall during the 10th biennial JACL national convention. The five-day convention is expected to draw some 750 Nisei delegates from across the nation.
• Mock Session of Congress Staged by Chicago JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Chicago JACL chapter presented a satirical sketch titled “Congress in Action” dramatizing the journey of H.R. 3999, the evacuation claims bill, through Congress. The skit was written and staged by the chapter’s legislative committee and was well received.
• Japanese Canadians Continue Campaign to Win Franchise Right in British Columbia, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Japanese Canadian leaders George Tanaka and Hydes Onotera are campaigning to remove the British Columbia voting ban on Canadian-born citizens of Japanese ancestry. They detailed the many occupational and civil restrictions that result from being denied the vote.
• Salt Lake Chapter Plans Benefit Social, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Salt Lake JACL will hold a benefit social for Cancer Control Week on April 23 following a chapter business meeting. Emi Tsukamoto is chairman of the social.
• Two Nisei Delegates Attend Conference of Wallace Party, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dyke Miyagawa and Chiye Mori of New York attended a national political conference in Chicago as voting delegates for the Wallace movement. Miyagawa called for support of bills granting naturalization to Issei and compensation for wartime evacuation losses.
• Half-Acre Japanese Garden Planned by Salt Lake Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Japanese American Citizens League submitted plans for a half-acre Japanese garden in Salt Lake City’s International Peace Gardens at Jordan Park. The design includes a miniature lake, garden house, rock garden, willows, and cherry trees.
• Rotary Club Sends Clothing to Bruyeres, by P.C. Staff, page 3. George Inagaki of the Culver City Rotary Club organized a clothing drive to send garments to Bruyeres, France, whose residents honored Nisei soldiers who liberated the town. The National JACL had previously sent CARE packages to the town’s mayor in gratitude.
• Los Angeles Groups Urge Nisei Register for Elections, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Several Los Angeles organizations are sponsoring a political and registration rally where Assemblyman Augustus Hawkins will speak. The event aims to encourage Nisei voter registration and support for the Judd naturalization bill HR 5004.
• Nisei Girl Among College of Pacific Queen Candidates, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Lois Kanagawa, a music major, was nominated as one of eight candidates for Mardi Gras queen at College of the Pacific. She is the first Nisei girl named as a candidate for the honor.
• Hibbard Drug Wins Winter Bowl League, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Hibbard Drug No. 1 team won the championship of the Salt Lake City JACL winter bowling league with 74 wins and 30 losses. George Kishida led individual averages with a 189 average.
• Ontario Mayor Commends Nisei at JACL Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Ontario Mayor Elmo Smith praised the local Japanese American residents for their contributions to the area’s economic and religious development at the Snake River JACL meeting. He encouraged Nisei participation in politics and voting.
• Nisei Veteran Elected to Head Bussei Group, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Tad Hirota of Berkeley, a World War II veteran, was elected president of the Western Young Buddhist League at a statewide meeting in Los Angeles. He will lead the organization with an assisting slate of officers.
• Nisei Student Heads College Women’s Group, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Hisako Kido of Nyssa was elected president of the associated women students at Eastern Oregon College of Education. The article notes she and a Negro student were elected leaders in the same term.
• Japanese Bride Asks State Department to Permit Return for Infant, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Yaeko Nakata, a Japanese war bride in Seattle, is seeking State Department permission to return to Japan for her three-month-old American citizen child left behind due to illness. Her husband, Yoneto Nakata, is a veteran who served in the Philippines.
• Oregon Editor Gives Report on Japan to JACL Audience, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Marshall N. Dana, editor of the Oregon Journal, told the Portland JACL that every country must help Japan become self-supporting. He argued the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was unnecessary because the war was already effectively over.

National

• Los Angeles Supervisors Urge Congress to Remove Race Bans from Naturalization Law, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution urging Congress to strike racial restrictions from naturalization law through HR 5004. The resolution cited the wartime service of Japanese Americans and the contributions of residents of Japanese ancestry to Los Angeles County.
• Strandee Case To Be Filed In Hawaii Court, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A strandee case for William X. Ishikawa, a Honolulu-born man conscripted into the Japanese army, is being filed in the U.S. District Court in Hawaii by attorneys Wilfred Tsukiyama and A. L. Wirin. The suit seeks a determination that his Japanese army service was involuntary and that he retained U.S. citizenship.
• JACL Endorses Immediate Statehood for Hawaii Islands, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The JACL and its Anti-Discrimination Committee endorsed immediate statehood for Hawaii in a statement submitted to a Senate hearing on HR 49. The statement argued that Hawaii citizens face discrimination by lacking presidential voting rights and full congressional representation.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Girl Wins Legion Contest in Cedar City, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Vicki Somen, a junior at Cedar City High School, won first prize in the local American Legion Auxiliary essay contest on her essay “Our American Heritage—Liberty.” Her essay will advance to the statewide competition.
• Royall Backs Proposal on Munemori Ship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Secretary of Army Kenneth Royall accepted in principle the JACL proposal to place the transport Pvt. Sadao S. Munemori in Pacific service as a goodwill gesture. He said immediate action was not possible because Atlantic shipping requirements prevent withdrawing the vessel.
• American Veterans Committee Urges Supreme Court to Void California Fishing Statute, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The American Veterans Committee filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Takahashi case urging the Supreme Court to void California’s fishing statute. The brief argues the law racially discriminates and denies lawful residents the right to earn a living.

Incarceration & Redress

• U.S. Government Challenges Validity of California Ban, by Tosuke Yamasaki, page 1. The U.S. Attorney General filed a friend-of-the-court brief challenging the California statute barring resident Japanese aliens from commercial fishing in the Takahashi test case. The brief argues the law is unconstitutional because it denies equal protection and discriminates by race.
• Norman Thomas Urges Compensation for Evacuee Losses, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas told a Los Angeles interracial group that the 1942 mass evacuation was a grave error. He urged that Japanese Americans be compensated for their property losses.

Commentary

• Momentous Week, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial previews upcoming congressional hearings on the Judd naturalization bill HR 5004 and the Supreme Court hearing in the Takahashi fishing case. It argues these matters signal a significant year for persons of Japanese ancestry seeking the end of discriminatory laws.
• Board of Supervisors, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises the unanimous action of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in memorializing Congress to remove racial restrictions from naturalization laws. It notes this marks a turnabout from wartime attitudes and shows Japanese Americans have been politically reassimilated in the area.
• The Ring Around Tenney, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The column criticizes State Senator Jack Tenney and Dr. John Lechner for forming a reactionary coalition under the guise of anti-Communism. It recounts Lechner’s wartime campaign against the return of Japanese Americans and Tenney’s record of racist legislation.
• They Look to America, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa draws parallels between displaced European refugees and Japanese Americans who experienced evacuation and resettlement. He argues America should extend the same hospitality to European displaced persons and should also address the status of long-resident Japanese nationals facing deportation.
• Dear Cousin Willie: New York City Advice, by Hito Okada, page 5. A humorous column offering a visitor advice on navigating New York City, covering pickpockets, subway crowds, high entertainment costs, and tipping customs. It closes with observations about the scarcity of Japanese establishments in Manhattan.
• Nisei Voice: Women and Girls, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Japanese American Citizens League’s Los Angeles affairs were covered in the Commentary section. The article discusses political and civic matters affecting Nisei in the community.

Obituaries

• Chester H. Rowell, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial mourns Chester H. Rowell, editor emeritus of the San Francisco Chronicle, who remained a steadfast defender of Nisei loyalty and rights during the war. It recalls his opposition to mass evacuation and his keynote address at the 1934 JACL national convention.

Sports

• Arizona State College Defies Discrimination Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Arizona State College at Tempe refused to play a southern opponent that discriminates, setting a practical example of democracy in athletics. The school has Bill Kajikawa, a Nisei veteran, as head baseball and basketball coach.
• Fastest Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 7. T/4 Robert Watanabe, winner of the Army track 100-yard dash championship, is training for the U.S. Olympic tryouts. The column also profiles Jim Marumoto and George Uyeda as strong Nisei track prospects.

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