The 1950 fight over alien land laws and naturalization

Vol. 31, No. 23, December 9, 1950. 8 pages. View this issue

Property and citizenship rights for Issei led the news. The California Supreme Court planned a January hearing on two test cases challenging the state’s Alien Land Act, one involving Mrs. Haruye Masaoka and the other publisher Sei Fujii. In Washington, the House passed the Walter bill for equality in naturalization without a dissenting vote, and I. H. Gordon reported that supporters now faced a race against time in the Senate. Larry Tajiri’s column looked at fears among San Francisco’s Chinese Americans of a mass incarceration like the one Japanese Americans faced in 1942, and Bill Hosokawa described his visit to New York City.

Other pages carried news of Nisei casualties in the Korean War, Hawaiian statehood stalled by Southern senators, and a Justice Department appointment to head the claims program for wartime losses. Tomi Kanazawa sang Mimi in La Boheme, and Ken Tanaka’s short story “Joe Gando’s Woman” appeared on page 5. Sports and chapter news fill the rest of the eight pages.

What’s in this issue

National

• California Supreme Court Plans January Hearing on Alien Land Law Test Cases, page 1. The California Supreme Court will hear two cases challenging the constitutionality of the Alien Land Act in early January, involving Mrs. Haruye Masaoka and publisher Sei Fujii. Both cases seek to overturn the law that denies property ownership rights to aliens ineligible for citizenship, mostly Japanese immigrants.
• Nisei Ex-GIs in Los Angeles Report Discrimination in Buying Homes, page 1. The Los Angeles JACL regional office informed federal housing expediter Tighe E. Woods of cases where Nisei veterans were refused FHA-financed homes advertised for GIs because of their ancestry. Regional director Tats Kushida asked affected veterans to document and report such discrimination.
• Walter Measure Passed Unanimously by House, by I. H. Gordon, page 1. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the Walter bill for equality in naturalization, sending it to the Senate, but JACL ADC faces a race against time to secure passage before Congress adjourns. Rep. John Rankin’s objection had delayed consideration, but supporters including Rep. Celler pushed the bill through the Rules Committee.
• Nisei Killed, Another Missing in Korean War, page 1. The Department of Defense announced Korean War casualties including Pfc. Richard Mitsuo Watanabe killed in action, and Pvt. Billy K. Hatano and Corp. Hayanari Mizoguchi missing in action. Chief Warrant Officer Satoru Chandler Shimoda was also reported injured.
• House Judiciary Group Asks Removal of Race Restrictions In Immigration, Naturalization, page 2. The House Judiciary Committee reiterated that all racial barriers to naturalization should be removed, calling the Walter bill an interim measure pending more comprehensive legislation like the Judd bill. The committee cited President Truman’s prior veto message and Sen. Pat McCarran’s correspondence supporting a clean bill without controversial provisions.
• Southern Opposition Dooms Hawaiian Statehood Proposal in Present Congress Session, page 3. Southern senators blocked Senate action on Hawaiian and Alaskan statehood bills despite the wartime heroism of Nisei soldiers being cited in their defense. A Hawaiian delegation including several Nisei officials traveled to Washington in a final effort to secure passage, but the bills appeared dead for the session amid filibuster threats.
• Oregon Nisei Found Victim of Leprosy, page 8. The Oregon State Board of Health applied to send a 28-year-old Japanese American man, the state’s first reported leprosy case, to the National Leprosarium at Carville, La. The patient, who spent part of his boyhood in Japan, had moved to Oregon from Los Angeles.

Military & Veterans

• 442nd Veteran Will Take Wife’s Ashes to Italy, page 1. Toshiro Suyematsu of Casper, Wyo., a 442nd Combat Team veteran, plans to revisit Italy next spring to return his late Italian war bride’s ashes to her family. Mrs. Suyematsu died from injuries sustained in an auto accident in Laramie, Wyo.
• Final Rites Held for Nisei Officer Killed in Accident, page 1. Funeral rites were held in Portland for Lieut. George Komachi, a 442nd Combat Team veteran, who died in an auto accident at Camp Roberts near San Luis Obispo. He had been called to active duty from Denver in September.
• Amvets Charter Detroit Nisei Post, page 2. Amvets chartered its first Nisei post in Detroit, Mich., commanded by Tommy T. Yasuhiro, with help from a Chinese American Amvets post in organizing. Ken Uchida of Ogden attended a national Amvets policy meeting in Washington, D.C.
• GI Killed in Korea Was Veteran of Japan Occupation, page 3. Sgt. Shigetoshi Kusuda, who served as an interpreter during the Japanese occupation before deploying to Korea, was confirmed killed in action after initially being reported missing. He is survived by a wife and young daughter in Japan.
• Son of Veteran of First War Will Be Inducted, page 7. Johnny Yamaguchi, son of World War I Nisei veteran George Yamaguchi of Sanger, will be inducted into the army next week. His brother Jimmy had served in World War II.

Community

• Couple Commits Suicide After Questioning Over Traffic Death, page 1. Mr. and Mrs. Sadamitsu Shimizu of Shelton, Wash., were found dead in their car after apparently committing suicide following questioning about a hit-and-run traffic death in Seattle. A suicide note written in Japanese indicated the couple took their lives together, though state patrol said the driver was likely not at fault in the accident.
• Problems Confronting Nisei Given Consideration at Meet of California Civic Unity Group, page 2. The California Federation for Civic Unity’s fifth annual convention in Santa Barbara addressed issues facing Japanese Americans including Issei naturalization and the Alien Land law. JACL delegates Saburo Kido and Tats Kushida participated in workshops and a radio broadcast on minority rights.
• Eden Township Plans Xmas Fete, page 2. The Eden Township JACL will host its annual Christmas party for community children, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 16. All children are invited regardless of their parents’ JACL membership status.
• Los Angeles JACL Seeks Restoration of Auto Parking, page 2. The Downtown Los Angeles JACL Chapter will urge city officials to restore auto parking on First Street pending demolition for Civic Center expansion. The chapter also set a 1951 membership goal of 300 and voted to remove ‘business and professional’ from its chapter name.
• Induct Seven More for Army Training, page 2. Seven Nisei from San Joaquin county and one from Yolo county were among 120 Northern Californians inducted into the army and sent to Fort Ord for training. Names of the inductees were listed.
• Southern Alameda Plans Santa Party, page 2. The Southern Alameda County JACL will hold a Santa Claus party for children on Dec. 16 at Hansen Hall in Centerville, expecting more than 50 children to attend. A children’s choir and various committee members will provide entertainment and refreshments.
• Salt Lake Nisei Aid Drive for FEPC in Utah, page 2. The Salt Lake JACL chapter is cooperating with the Utah Fair Employment Practices Committee campaign for FEP legislation in 1951, contributing $300 to the drive. JACL leaders attended a dinner for state legislators where speakers discussed the benefits of FEP laws in other states.
• Ten Nisei Enter Fort Ord Training, page 2. Ten Nisei were among 108 Northern Californians inducted into the army and sent to Fort Ord for training, representing Sacramento, Solano, and Placer counties. Names of all inductees were listed.
• Attends Conference, page 2. William Y. Mimbu of the Japanese American Citizens Committee was a delegate to the Midcentury Conference on Children and Youth held in Washington, D.C.
• Three Fresno Nisei Inducted into Army, page 3. Three Fresno Nisei—Art Yamaguchi, Richard Kurushima and George Nagata—were sworn into the U.S. Navy and are completing physical examinations.
• Reno JACL Fetes Community’s Issei, page 3. The Reno JACL held its annual ‘Issei Appreciation’ night featuring skits, dances, and musical performances by Nisei and Issei participants. Fishing awards were also presented by the chapter’s athletic committee.
• Nisei Driver Aids Eight in Stalled Cars During Flood, page 3. Roy Kasuyama, a 27-year-old tow-truck driver, rescued eight people stranded in flooded cars on Chicago’s Outer Drive during a blizzard. He waded through floodwater to help them to safety after his own truck became stalled.
• Church Prepares Christmas Program, page 7. The Pine Street Methodist Church in San Francisco will hold its annual Christmas program on Dec. 17, featuring a one-act play performed by the Nisei fellowship group. Numerous committee chairs were named for the event, including stage management, costumes, and decorations.
• Coincidence?, page 7. A Black clerk at the Cabrillo housing project in Long Beach was dismissed for allegedly sharing confidential information with her husband, a former Tenants Council president who campaigned against racial segregation at the project. The piece questions whether the dismissal was retaliatory.
• ‘Miss Nisei Coed’ Contest Planned, page 7. A ‘Miss Nisei Coed’ contest will be held alongside the California Intercollegiate Nisei conference in Los Angeles on Dec. 29, chaired by Lillie Nagata of Fresno State.
• Radio Discussion, page 7. Mrs. Ruth Hashimoto, president of the Santa Clara County United Citizens League, participated in a radio discussion of minority group problems with Council for Civic Unity members over station KEEN.
• Illinois Nisei Collegians Plan Cage Tourney, page 8. Nisei basketball teams from eight Chicago-area colleges will compete in the Chicago Nisei Intercollegiate Club basketball tournament on Dec. 22 at the Olivet Institute, with an accompanying dance featuring a ‘Miss Collegian’ contest. Notable area Nisei players from various amateur teams will participate.
• Annual Christmas Fete Planned in Reno, page 8. The Reno JACL is planning its annual Christmas party for children on Dec. 17 at the Washoe county library building, followed by a chapter New Year party organized by a separate committee.
• JACL Group Joins in Folk Festival, page 8. The Milwaukee JACL sponsored a sales booth for Japanese art and goods, plus an exhibit of dolls and flower arrangements, at the seventh annual holiday fair by the International Institute of Milwaukee county. Julius Fujihira was one of three co-chairmen for the exhibit.
• Santa Clara County Group Plans Dance, page 8. The United Citizens League of Santa Clara County will sponsor its fifth consecutive New Year’s eve dance at Peter Burnett junior high school, featuring Bob Kent’s orchestra and a stage show.
• Makes Phi Beta Kappa, page 8. Terry Katayama of Seattle was named one of thirteen undergraduate students elected to the University of Washington chapter of Phi Beta Kappa national honorary society.
• Fire Razes Hall, page 8. A fire caused approximately $1,000 in damages to part of the Japanese hall in Lindsay, Calif., on Nov. 25, with burning walls hampering firefighters’ efforts.

Arts & Entertainment

• Tomi Kanazawa Makes Operatic History in Role of ‘Mimi’, page 2. California-born soprano Tomi Kanazawa broke West Coast operatic tradition by appearing as Mimi in the Pacific Opera Company’s ‘La Boheme,’ a role outside the typical ‘Madame Butterfly’ casting for Japanese American singers. San Francisco critics praised her performance, and she is scheduled for further appearances including a television production.
• June Sakai Wins Prize in Chicago Fashion Show, page 3. June Sakai, a 22-year-old Fresno dress designer, won a $50 cash prize in the Chicago Tribune American Fashions Competition out of 6,000 entries. She is a June graduate of Parson School of Arts and Fashion in New York City.
• Joe Gando’s Woman, by Ken Tanaka, page 5. A short story about Joe Gando, the mysterious proprietor of a pool hall, who marries Mabel, a down-on-her-luck woman who had come looking for work. Their marriage deteriorates amid Mabel’s loneliness and a violent confrontation when Joe catches her flirting with another man, revealing deep tensions over Joe’s ambiguous ethnic identity.
• Serisawa Painting Goes on Exhibition at Metropolitan, page 5. Los Angeles painter Sueo Serisawa is among 24 Californians featured in the Metropolitan Museum’s competitive exhibition American Painting—1950. The 307 selected paintings were chosen from 6,248 submissions nationwide.
• Serisawa’s Painting Wins Purchase Award, page 8. Sueo Serisawa’s casein painting ‘Puppet and Child’ won the $250 Bullock’s Pasadena purchase award at the 30th annual California Water Color Society exhibition. Sadamitsu Fujita’s ‘Harbor Living’ also won a purchase award at the same show.

JACL

• Three Chapters Elect New Officers, page 2. The Cincinnati, Mount Olympus, and Albuquerque JACL chapters elected new cabinets for 1951, with Masaji Toki, Mits Hoki, and George Matsubara respectively named as new presidents. Full slates of officers were announced for each chapter.
• Kenji Tashiro Heads Tulare JACL Group, page 2. Kenji Tashiro of Orosi was elected 1951 president of the Tulare County JACL at a meeting in Visalia, with several vice presidents representing different districts. The meeting also featured a discussion of 1950 social security amendments affecting farm workers by Toru Ikeda.
• Arizona Initiates Campaign for ADC, page 2. The Arizona JACL began its 1950 ADC campaign, with chapter president Masao Tsunoda reporting members have raised $200 forwarded to JACL Headquarters.
• Kushida Will Talk on JACL Over FM Broadcast, page 3. Regional Director Tats Kushida will discuss ‘JACL and the Japanese Community in America’ on a Los Angeles FM radio broadcast, with a re-broadcast scheduled on a Burbank AM station.

In-Depth

• Hawaii’s Chinese Americans Engage in Controversy Over Preparedness for Statehood, by Lawrence Nakatsuka, page 3. A Chinese American banker in Honolulu sparked controversy by declaring Hawaii unready for statehood due to lack of ‘ancestral heritage of democracy,’ drawing sharp rebukes from fellow Chinese Americans. Japanese Americans, who have long faced similar accusations, stayed out of this particular debate and watched from the sidelines.
• New Book Debunks 23 Rumors About Pearl Harbor Sabotage, page 3. A new University of Hawaii book, ‘Hawaii’s War Years’ by Gwenfread Allen, debunks 23 wartime rumors about sabotage by Japanese Americans at the time of Pearl Harbor. The book documents that Japanese Americans in Hawaii were not involved in any pre-war or wartime espionage, based on official records.

Incarceration & Redress

• Name Baldridge as Chief of Claims Group, page 3. The Justice Department named Holmes Baldridge to head the claims division overseeing the $130 million Japanese American evacuation claims program. Mike Masaoka of JACL ADC expressed hope the appointment would speed up processing, which has been slowed by bureaucratic red tape.
• Wartime Internment Issue Raised in Hawaiian Court, page 3. A $575,000 damage suit filed by Dr. Hans Zimmerman, a German-ancestry naturopath wrongfully interned under martial law, is being heard in federal court in Honolulu against several wartime officials. The case touches on the broader internment of hundreds of Hawaiians of Japanese ancestry during World War II, including 1,118 persons evacuated to an Arkansas relocation center.

Commentary

• The Race Against Time, page 4. An editorial expresses hope that the Walter naturalization bill can pass the Senate before Congress adjourns, noting the measure has already received approval in principle earlier in the session. The piece argues citizenship should not be contingent on race.
• Opposition to Statehood, page 4. An editorial criticizes the Senate’s failure to pass Hawaiian statehood despite overwhelming local support shown in a 3-to-1 constitutional vote, attributing the defeat to Southern senators’ fears about civil rights voting blocs. The piece argues Hawaii has earned statehood through wartime sacrifice and effective governance.
• Nisei USA: Fear Along Grant Avenue, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Columnist Larry Tajiri examines fears among San Francisco’s Chinese American community about potential mass internment similar to the 1942 Japanese American evacuation, amid tensions from Chinese Communist intervention in Korea. He argues conditions enabling the 1942 evacuation—prejudice, economic rivalry, and specific military leadership—do not exist today for Chinese Americans.
• Minority Week: Democracy, The Little Ones, Point of View, Harry’s Record, page 4. A roundup column covers various minority rights items including a Georgia Black student’s award-winning speech, small-scale antisemitic incidents in Denver, a Latin American leader’s views on ethnic terminology, and President Truman’s record of appointing minorities to government positions. The column also notes Detroit’s ‘grand prize baby’ being of mixed Black and white parentage.
• ‘Do You Know?’: Eastern Tour of Ruby Yoshino, Dr. Yatabe Highlighted JACL Public Relations Campaign, by Elmer R. Smith, page 5. This history column describes a 1944 lecture and concert tour by Dr. T.T. Yatabe and Ruby Yoshino sponsored by JACL and funded by the Carnegie Endowment to build understanding for Nisei re-entering American society. It also covers the 1946 JACL convention in Denver, which grappled with decentralizing organizational power and rebuilding chapter membership after the wartime evacuation.
• Vagaries: Hiroshima, FBI, and Arts Notes, page 5. A column of brief items notes Bill Hosokawa’s article on the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Hiroshima, various Nisei artists’ work in New York publishing, and a New Republic review noting FBI director J. Edgar Hoover opposed the 1942 mass evacuation of Japanese Americans. It also mentions writer Alan Barth’s forthcoming book on civil liberties.
• From the Frying Pan: Visit to the Big Town, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa recounts his impressions of New York City, from gawking at Times Square signage to observing how New Yorkers raise children and pets in small apartments. He also describes a nostalgic reunion with old friends including Joe Oyama, Kathleen Asano, and others at a bull session.

Sports

• PC Sports Roundup, page 6. A roundup of Nisei sports achievements nationwide, including bowling feats by the Nishiguchi brothers in Reno, football standout Rex Kuwasaki at Hobart College, basketball performances by Bill Kajikawa’s Arizona State Sun Devils, and various high school athletes. Also covered are Jimmy Asato’s performance for University of Hawaii football and multiple all-star team selections.
• San Francisco Chinese Saints Win Nisei-Sponsored Tourney, page 6. The San Francisco Chinese Saints, two-time national Oriental basketball tournament champions, won the 4th annual San Francisco Drakes tournament by defeating the Sacramento Stags 44-20. Willie ‘Woo Woo’ Wong was named the tournament’s outstanding player.
• Nakamoto Named on Santa Clara Valley All-Stars, page 6. Dick Nakamoto, a 16-year-old sophomore guard from Mountain View, was named to the San Jose Mercury’s All-Santa Clara Valley Athletic League football team, making him the youngest and one of two junior players selected.
• Three Nisei Teams Place in Salt Lake ABC Tournament, page 6. Three Nisei bowling teams placed among the top five in the Salt Lake City ABC team championship, with Okada Insurance taking second place with a 3057 score. Star Cafe and Dawn Noodle also placed in the top five.
• Goto Tallies Eight, page 6. George Goto contributed eight points as Stanford University defeated Santa Clara 60-43, serving as one of the defensive stars for the Indians after transferring from Placer College.
• Taketa Named on All-Star Team, page 7. San Jose high school guard Hash Taketa was named to the all-Santa Clara County football team by the San Jose 20-30 club and received a gold football from Glenn ‘Pop’ Warner at a Hawaiian Gardens dinner.

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