Senate hearings on the evacuation claims bill, February 1948

Vol. 26, No. 7, February 14, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue

Senate hearings on H.R. 3999, the House-approved evacuation claims bill, were expected to begin in the first week of March, and the front page of this eight-page issue led with that news. Senator John Cooper set the tentative date, and the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee pressed for full Senate action. Mike Masaoka urged a House subcommittee to pass anti-lynching legislation, and Larry Tajiri told the story of Joe Suzuki, a Nisei stranded in Japan who came home disillusioned. Bill Hosokawa and Koji Ariyoshi wrote columns on British Columbia’s treatment of Japanese Canadians and on racial discrimination and American standing in Asia.

Other news included a Los Angeles suit over a stranded Nisei’s passport, a reprieve for Sannosuke Madokoro in his deportation case, and the Supreme Court’s Takahashi fishing case. Sports and local pages covered Bill Kajikawa’s coaching post at Arizona State and chapter news from Stockton, Alameda and Denver.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Senate Plans Hearings on Evacuee Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Senate hearings on the House-approved evacuation claims bill H.R. 3999 are tentatively set for early March, according to Senator John Cooper. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee is pushing for full Senate action before Congress adjourns.
• Denver Raises $1,753 in ADC Fund Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Denver ADC committee raised $1,753.91 in its recent drive, chaired by Michiko Kawai. The funds are being forwarded to Washington for the national ADC program.
• Nisei Girl Gets Teaching Post in Los Angeles School, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Barbara Takahashi became the first Nisei to teach in a Los Angeles city junior high school. She teaches art and social science at Kern junior high after earlier teaching in New York City.
• Stockton Elects New Directors for JACL Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Results of the Stockton JACL board election were announced, listing directors for the urban area and rural sections. The first directors’ meeting is set for Feb. 18 to select officers and plan the year.
• Akiyama Scholarship Awarded at Fresno, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Day Miyahara, a freshman in prepharmacy, was awarded the Florence Akiyama memorial scholarship at Fresno State. The $50 scholarship was announced by school officials.
• New JACL Group Organized in New Mexico Area, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A new West Texas-New Mexico JACL committee was formed at a meeting of Issei and Nisei in Mesilla. George Kurita of El Paso was named chairman.
• Denverite Returns From Texas Trip, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Tokuya Kako returned to Denver after a two-week JACL-ADC trip through Texas and New Mexico. He and companions gave speeches daily and contacted Issei farmers.
• Inaugural Dinner Is Planned by Alameda JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Alameda JACL will hold an inaugural dinner on Feb. 29 to install newly elected officers. A committee has been formed to prepare the program, which is open to the public.

Military & Veterans

• Work of Nisei Troops in War Told to AVC Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lt. S. Koyama described the work of Nisei intelligence troops in the Pacific at a Salt Lake AVC meeting. He noted approximately 6,000 Nisei served in the Pacific and praised the AVC for its democratic principles.
• Texas Ex-GI, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The story of Sgt. George Otsuka of the 442nd was dramatized on CBS and will be featured as an outstanding human relations story. It recounts a Nisei veteran’s fight against prejudice in a Texas community.

National

• Interior Department Initiates Move to Correct Restriction Against Japanese Alien Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Interior Department has begun steps to amend the 1907 Executive Order so Japanese aliens admitted to Hawaii under limited passports may enter the mainland. Officials argued the restriction causes hardship and no longer serves its original labor-market purpose.
• Certify American Rights of 3,506 Nisei in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. American consular authorities in Japan have processed and certified the citizenship of 3,500 stranded Nisei since January 1946. Of these, 1,500 have returned to the United States while 2,000 remained in Japan working for the occupation.
• Placer County Will Abandon Escheat Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pending Alien Land law cases against persons of Japanese ancestry in Placer County will be dismissed following the Supreme Court’s Oyama ruling. The district attorney confirmed the decision was a direct result of that case.
• Madokoro Gets Reprieve in Deportation Case, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sannosuke Madokoro was granted another reprieve from deportation pending Congressional action on a bill giving the attorney general discretionary power to stay deportations. His attorneys Wirin and Okrand have also sued to recover lost baggage.
• British Columbia Enforces Ban on Japanese in Mines, by P.C. Staff, page 1. British Columbia will continue its 50-year ban on underground mine employment of persons of Japanese ancestry by writing it into lease contracts. Officials said anti-Oriental laws can no longer be legislated but can be imposed through contracts.
• Issei Backers of JACL Meet on Future Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A statewide meeting of Issei supporters of the JACL in San Francisco discussed ADC legislative priorities including the evacuation claims and citizenship bills. The group passed a resolution expressing confidence in Mike Masaoka’s work as ADC director.
• Home-Made Jiu Jitsu Saves Issei from Armed Intruder, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Harry Asaka used self-taught jiu jitsu to subdue an armed robber at his Washington grocery store. The attack was part of a series of holdups on Nisei-operated grocery stores.
• Nisei Who Was Tojo’s Jailer Returns With Tokyo-Born Bride, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Second Lieut. Lyle Kurisaki Jr., who served as jailer for Tojo and other war crimes defendants, returned to Utah with his Tokyo-born bride. He is the first Utah serviceman to bring a bride home from the occupation.
• Dean Acheson Will Participate in Oral Argument in High Court in Takahashi Fishing Case, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dean Acheson will participate in oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Takahashi case challenging California’s fish and game code. Attorney Wirin expressed hope the writ will be granted given the divided California Supreme Court ruling.
• New Social, Economic Patterns Follow Dispersal of Evacuees Under Resettlement Program, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Summarizing a New York Times report by Lawrence Davies, the article describes how returning Japanese Americans have scattered, changed occupations, and gained social acceptance. It also notes emerging challenges such as juvenile delinquency and racial friction.

Incarceration & Redress

• Los Angeles Suit Challenges State Department Policy on Stranded Nisei in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Attorney A. L. Wirin filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Etsuko Arikawa, a Gardena native stranded in Japan, challenging a passport denial based on her 1946 Japanese vote. The JACL is cooperating but says it will only aid individuals in meritorious cases.
• Families of Nisei War Dead Sought by Red Cross, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The San Francisco Red Cross is seeking seven families of Japanese American servicemen who died overseas to deliver messages from the Army Quartermaster General. Names and last known locations of the sought families are listed.
• Congressional Hearing on Anti-Lynching Legislation, by Mike Masaoka, page 3. Masaoka urged a House subcommittee to pass anti-lynching legislation with enforcement power, citing violence against Japanese Americans returning to the West Coast. He listed specific attacks that he argued a federal statute might have prevented.

Sports

• Bill Kajikawa Appointed as Head Cage Coach at Arizona State, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Bill Kajikawa was named head varsity basketball coach at Arizona State College effective next season, succeeding R. H. Lavik. He becomes the first Japanese American to head a college sports program on the mainland.

Commentary

• Schooldays for Teachers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. New York City is preparing teachers to handle the needs of Puerto Rican children through a summer workshop in Puerto Rico and new college courses. The piece frames the initiative as a response to the social difficulties caused by migration.
• Hawaii’s Language Schools, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial supports Hawaii’s foreign language schools being ruled unconstitutional but acknowledges their psychological harms to children. It argues that foreign language instruction is best integrated into the public school system.
• Home Is the Expatriate, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri tells the story of Joe Suzuki, a Nisei who went to Japan in the 1930s seeking opportunity and was stranded there during the war. Suzuki returns home disillusioned, having lost his family and the best years of his life.
• Rights and Politics: Equal Treatment of Racial Minorities Injures American Prestige Among Asia’s People, by Koji Ariyoshi, page 5. Ariyoshi argues that American racial discrimination undermines U.S. credibility with Asian peoples, who view the American way of life skeptically. He cites civil rights developments and Southern opposition to the President’s program.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa criticizes British Columbia for ordering Japanese Canadians out of the timber industry after forcing them into wartime labor. He also reflects on the nostalgia of eating pickled rakkyo and comments on fashion and Denver haircuts.
• Looking at the New Look, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The writer objects to the new longer hemline fashion on economic grounds, since it forces women to discard wearable clothing. The piece responds to a Chicago columnist’s praise of the look.

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