The Kawakita treason trial goes to the jury

Vol. 27, No. 7, August 14, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue

The treason trial of Tomoya Kawakita in Los Angeles led this 8-page issue. The defense rested after Kawakita testified for two days, denied the thirteen alleged overt acts and said he had renounced American nationality during World War II. Final arguments were set for Monday, August 16, with the case then going to the jury. Elsewhere on the front page, the JACL ADC warned that an Immigration Office ruling could undermine the Takahashi fishing decision for Issei fishermen, and Lorraine Yamasaki reported that a contraband articles claims bill died when Congress adjourned.

Bill Hosokawa wrote two columns, one on Denver’s Japanese American community and one on a 1942 Seattle meeting before the forced removal. Ina Sugihara made her case for Norman Thomas, and Yori Wada reviewed Americans from Japan. Also inside: plans for the national JACL convention at Hotel Utah, a tribute in Hawaii for returning war dead, and sports and wedding news.

What’s in this issue

National

• Kawakita Case Goes to Jury, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The defense rested in the Los Angeles treason trial of Tomoya Kawakita after he testified he renounced American nationality during World War II and denied the thirteen alleged overt acts. Final arguments were set for Monday, August 16, with the case then going to the jury.
• Immigration Office’s Action Threatens Court Victory in Takahashi Fishing Test Case, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL ADC warned that a Los Angeles Immigration Office interpretation of departure and re-entry permit rules could undermine the Supreme Court’s Takahashi decision for Issei fishermen. The organization asked the Commissioner of Immigration to rescind the regulations as applied to California’s Issei fishermen.
• Contraband Articles Bill Dies At Special Congress Session, by Lorraine Yamasaki, page 1. The special session of the 80th Congress adjourned without acting on any measures affecting Japanese Americans. The Senate-approved contraband articles claims bill stalled in the House Judiciary Committee, which held no meetings on it or the naturalization bill.
• Ex-Envoy Tells Of Acceptance Won By Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Former Japanese ambassador Kensuke Horinouchi said on August 9 that Japanese Americans are being more favorably accepted in the United States than before the war. He noted that evacuees have returned to their homes and many Nisei now serve in government, private firms and newspapers.
• Honolulu School Board Holds Hearing In Reinecke Case, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Honolulu school board is holding hearings on its move to oust Dr. John E. Reinecke and his Nisei wife Aiko from teaching posts on charges of Communist activity. Friends of the couple formed a defense committee calling the hearings a witch hunt.
• Army Department May Reduce Relief Parcel Rate to Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 3. ECA Administrator Paul Hoffman indicated that the Army Department may issue regulations subsidizing ocean freight for relief packages sent to Japan, Korea and Okinawa. The Washington JACL ADC had requested reduced parcel rates for Japan.

Obituaries

• Prof. Asakawa, Yale Professor, Dies in New Haven, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Kanichi Asakawa, professor emeritus of history at Yale University, died of illness in New Haven on August 10. He was one of the first persons of Japanese ancestry to become an American professor and retired in 1942 after 36 years on the Yale faculty.
• Child of Nisei Leader Drowns In Idaho Lake, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Three-year-old Thomas Teruo Itami, Jr. drowned on August 11 when a speedboat overturned on Payette Lake in Idaho. His father, Thomas Itami, president of the Snake River JACL chapter, and sister were rescued.

Community

• Former Japanese Y Now Has An Interracial Function, by M.O.T., page 2. The Buchanan Street YMWCA in San Francisco has become a multiracial community center serving residents of many ancestries after its original Japanese YMCA use ended. Codirectors Fred Hoshiyama and Mrs. Eloise Hirt built a successful program including interfaith vesper services.
• Dr. Kawahara Gets Post in Illinois, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. Fred Katsumi Kawahara, who received his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin this year, has joined the Bureau of Chemistry at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Peoria, Illinois.
• Washington JACL Plans Boat Ride Down Potomac, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Washington, D.C. JACL Chapter is sponsoring a boat excursion on the SS Mount Vernon to Marshall Hall Park on Sunday, August 22. Members and friends are invited, and tickets are available from several listed chapter members.
• Chicago JACL Will Honor Julia Yoshioka, Queen Candidate, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Chicago JACL will host A Date With Julia, a summer sports dance on August 28 at International House, to honor chapter queen Julia Yoshioka, a candidate in the national Miss JACL contest. Music will be provided by Lenny Stevens’ orchestra.
• Hawaii Nisei Minister Retraces Journey of Pioneer Father, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Rev. Harry Komuro, pastor of Harris Memorial Methodist Church in Honolulu, is speaking at churches his pioneer minister father once served during the 70th anniversary of Japanese Christian work in America. He plans to study at Union Theological Seminary in September.
• Sebastopol Group Votes to Join JACL Organization, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The United Citizens League, an independent Nisei group in Sebastopol, California, voted on August 4 to seek affiliation with the JACL. Approximately 70 Nisei and 80 Issei attended the meeting.
• Nisei for Wallace Elects Miyo Uyeno Chairman, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Miyo Uyeno was elected chairman of the Chicago Nisei for Wallace committee. The committee plans a door-to-door canvass of Japanese Americans in Chicago on behalf of the Wallace campaign.
• Chicago Zen Buddhist Church to Celebrate Third Anniversary, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Zen Buddhist Church of Chicago will mark its third anniversary with a Bon Festival on August 21 at the Lawson YMCA. The program includes music, dance and martial arts performances.
• Mainland Women in Hawaii Form New Organization, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Mainland Nisei women living in Hawaii organized Hui O Malihini to promote social activities and community service. The club meets monthly to help members adjust to island life.
• JACL Chapter Plans Rally for Coming Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Mt. Olympus JACL chapter in Murray, Utah, will hold a rally on August 20 to secure full registration for the national convention. National Convention Chairman Shigeki Ushio will attend to explain details.
• Aiko Tsuda Weds Ben Yamamoto, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Aiko Tsuda and Ben Yamamoto were married at the Buddhist church in Watsonville, California, on July 31. Rev. Bunyu Fujimura of Salinas performed the ceremony.
• Seattle Nisei Nurse Will Wed Army Veteran, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Sumiko Sammie Itoi, a Nisei nurse at Marine Hospital in Seattle, will marry Shirley Brinsfield, an Italian campaign veteran, on September 6. The couple met at a dance honoring Nisei veterans.
• Occupation Romance Leads to Wedding in St. Paul, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Fujiko Shigaki of Loomis, California, married Thomas Zerick of Miami Beach in a ceremony at the Colby home in St. Paul. The couple met in Tokyo during the Occupation and plan to live in Havana, Cuba.

JACL

• Separate Sessions Planned During National Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Chairmen were named for national JACL committees that will meet in separate sessions during the 10th Biennial National Convention at Hotel Utah, September 4-8. Work has been carried on largely by correspondence across the country.
• Canada Nisei Interested in JACL Parley, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Convention Chairman Suki Ushio reported interest from George Tanaka of Toronto, executive secretary of the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association, in the 10th Biennial JACL National Convention. Tanaka will confer with his association’s executive committee in mid-August.

Incarceration & Redress

• JACL Official Surveys Wide Range of Losses Sustained By West Coast Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Joe Grant Masaoka, regional JACL ADC director, reported on a two-week California tour discussing evacuee property losses under the claims act. Issues raised included crop losses, cancelled fire insurance, broken farm contracts and income tax on forced sales.

Military & Veterans

• Combat Team Veterans Give Play in Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The 442nd Veterans Club completed thirteen performances of its first stage play, A Sound of Hunting, which was financially successful. Further performances are planned on Kauai and Hawaii to benefit next of kin and a war memorial fund.
• Army Department Tribute Planned as War Dead to Be Returned, by Lawrence Nakatsuka, page 3. Seventy-nine World War II dead, mostly Nisei soldiers, are to arrive in Hawaii on September 1 aboard the Dalton Victory for a territorywide observance. Plans include a funeral procession, public viewing at Iolani Palace grounds, and interment at the Schofield Barracks mausoleum.
• Selective Service Director Assures JACL of No Bias Against Nisei in Draft, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Selective Service Director General Lewis B. Hershey and the War Department General Staff assured the Washington JACL ADC that no discrimination or segregation will be enforced against Nisei under the 1948 Selective Service Act. The Army said Japanese Americans meeting standards may enlist without regard to ancestry.
• Combat Team Helps Hawaii Statehood Resolution, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Honolulu Democratic leader Chuck Mau, after returning from the Democratic convention, secured an immediate statehood plank for Hawaii by citing the war record of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Sen. Mansfield of Montana moved for the immediate statehood provision.

Commentary

• Maintaining Restrictive Covenants, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Los Angeles Realty Board announced it will seek a constitutional amendment to permit racially restricted residential areas after the Supreme Court held such covenants unenforceable. The editorial condemns this effort as an attempt to preserve white supremacist housing standards.
• In the Land of Jim Crow, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises Pittsburgh reporter Ray Sprigle’s series on living as a Negro in the Deep South for exposing Jim Crow conditions. It argues that Southern discrimination is enforced by law and bloodstained, unlike discrimination in the North.
• Nisei and the Elections: My Vote for Norman Thomas, by Ina Sugihara, page 4. New York JACL member Ina Sugihara explains her support for Socialist Party candidate Norman Thomas, citing public ownership of basic industries and democratic economic planning. She also criticizes the Progressive Party as a vehicle for Communist influence.
• Americans from Japan, by Yori Wada, page 5. Yori Wada reviews Bradford Smith’s book Americans from Japan, praising its history of Issei and Nisei in Hawaii and on the mainland. She also notes shortcomings in its treatment of Buddhist Nisei and of renunciations at Tule Lake.
• Bill Hosokawa: Denver’s Evacuee Community, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Bill Hosokawa describes how Denver’s wartime Japanese American community boomed and then declined as businesses moved to newer population centers. The surviving businesses now serve a broader trading area.
• Behind the Evacuation: Bill Hosokawa, From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa recounts a 1942 Seattle meeting where Army officers relied on inaccurate police census data of Japanese residents, which JACL representatives corrected. He argues that misconceptions drove the decision to evacuate and incarcerate the community.
• Ina Sugihara: On Norman Thomas, by Ina Sugihara, page 6. Ina Sugihara continues her case for Norman Thomas and the Socialist Party, arguing for democratic socialization and civil rights. She contrasts the Socialists with the Progressive Party, which she says is controlled by Communists.

Sports

• Injury Keeps Yonamine Off Pro Grid Team, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Nisei halfback Wally Yonamine was released by the San Francisco 49ers after a broken left hand failed to heal in time for practice. He planned to sign with the Honolulu Warriors of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League.
• Championship Game To Be Played by Zebras, Richmond, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The San Jose Zebras face Richmond AC’s in a game that decides the coast division title of the northern California Nisei baseball league. A Richmond win would force a three-game playoff.
• Carl Arakaki Wins Second Mainland Bout, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Carl Arakaki, a hard-hitting Nisei lightweight from Hawaii, knocked out Matt Kennedy in the first round of a preliminary bout at Fort Lewis in Seattle. The win was his second mainland fight.
• Ishikawa, Sakata Win Points In Olympic Games Events, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Emerick Ishikawa of Honolulu tied for fifth in the featherweight weightlifting final at the London Olympics. Harold Sakata took second in the light-heavyweight division with a total lift of 837.5 pounds.

Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.