Mike Masaoka at the White House, and General Marshall’s wartime role

Vol. 24, No. 3, January 25, 1947. 8 pages. View this issue

Civil rights for Japanese Americans filled the front page. Mike Masaoka of the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee met with White House aides David Niles and Philleo Nash to review the legal disabilities facing the Issei and the Nisei. S. L. A. Marshall described how General George C. Marshall, as Army Chief of Staff, took personal responsibility for reopening military service to Nisei, and Larry Tajiri’s editorial returned to the subject. The California State Personnel Board also restored 39 Nisei to their state jobs.

Elsewhere in these eight pages are bills in Utah and Colorado on alien land and fishing rights, a Tajiri article on organized labor and minorities, and Sachi L. Wada and Bill Hosokawa in their columns. News of Nisei sports, JACL chapters and Los Angeles returnees fills the inside pages.

What’s in this issue

National

• Mike Masaoka Reviews Nisei Problems in Conference With White-House Representative, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mike Masaoka of the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee met with White House aides David Niles and Philleo Nash to discuss civil disabilities facing Issei and Nisei. He urged fair treatment, evacuation claims liberalization, and protection from deportation for certain Japanese nationals.
• Forecast Early Closing of Hostels, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Canadian officials forecast early closing of relocation hostels for Japanese Canadian evacuees in eastern Canada. The announcement came from the commissioner of Japanese placement in Winnipeg.
• Colorado Gets Bill for Alien Fishing Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A bill introduced in the Colorado assembly would create a separate fishing license for Japanese alien residents, who are currently barred from fishing under a 1946 attorney general ruling. The measure was prepared by the Tri-State JACL office with the Denver Unity Council.
• California Personnel Board Restores 39 Nisei to Jobs, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California State Personnel Board restored 39 Japanese Americans evacuated during the war to their state jobs and agreed to pay about $4,500 in lost salary. Of the roughly 500 employed before the war, about 100 had refused to resign and were suspended on disloyalty charges.
• Wisconsin’s Wiley Will Head Senate Judiciary Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Senator Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin was named chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will handle immigration, naturalization and civil liberties matters affecting Japanese Americans in the 80th Congress. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee announced the appointment.

Community

• Two Persons Hurt in Flash Fire in Denver Watch Shop, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two men of Japanese ancestry were burned when benzine spilled on wiring and ignited in a Denver office building. The fire spread to a neighboring dentist’s office, causing about $900 in damage.
• Layton Resident Hurt in Auto Crash, by P.C. Staff, page 1. J. Nakaoka, 60, of Layton, Utah was seriously injured in a two-car collision on Highway 91 in Sunset. He was taken unconscious to Thomas Dee Memorial Hospital.
• Two Returnees Victimized in Daylight Robberies, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Masayoshi Ashizawa, proprietor of the Soko Hardware store in San Francisco, was beaten by three men posing as customers who stole $20. Dr. Keijiro Kitagawa was robbed of morphine and other drugs by two other bandits the same day.
• Install Officers in Candlelight Service, by P.C. Staff, page 2. New officers of the Twin Cities Buddhist Organization were installed at a candlelight service in Minneapolis on January 12. The newly seated cabinet members were listed by name and office.
• Rev. Kitagawa Will Speak in Program at Minneapolis Church, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Rev. Daisuke Kitagawa was selected by the Minneapolis Urban League to speak at St. Mark’s Cathedral on February 16. He will be the first person of Japanese extraction featured on the league’s Sunday program series.
• International Institute Reports on Work With Evacuee Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The San Francisco International Institute’s Japanese project handled 861 casework cases and held 57 group meetings during the past year. The report also recommended continued employment counseling for Japanese Americans.
• Los Angeles JACL Unit Reactivated, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Los Angeles JACL chapter installed a new cabinet with Frank Chuman as president, following Saburo Kido as past national president. A photo shows the officers at the installation.
• Portland Drops Wartime Ban on Issei Business, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Portland city council rescinded its wartime policy denying business licenses to Japanese aliens. Liberal groups and the local JACL chapter had campaigned for the removal of the ban.
• UC Group Asks New Coach Be Free From Racial Bias, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The University of California YMCA student cabinet asked that the new football coach be free from racial bias. The group also urged that UC avoid schedules with institutions whose racial policies could embarrass athletes.
• Spokane Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Spokane Nisei businessmen announced a March of Dimes dance to fight infantile paralysis on January 31 at Liberty Hall. A list of sponsoring businesses was provided.
• Aged Man Leaves Suicide Note; Body Sought in River, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Deputies searched the Kern River near Bakersfield for Hatsumi Yoshida, 70, who left a note saying he was tired of living. Yoshida had been working at a Boy Scout camp after returning from a relocation center.
• KALL Radio Program Discusses Labor and Minorities, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A forum on labor and minorities aired on Salt Lake City station KALL with speakers including Larry Tajiri, Elmer Smith and Abner Howell. The program was sponsored by the NAACP, JACL and Council for Civic Unity.
• Miyamoto Elected to Head Hawaiian Civic Unity Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Stanley Miyamoto was elected president of the Hawaii Association for Civic Unity. Other officers including first vice-president John Rademaker were also named.
• Two Los Angeles Girls End Trip Started in Fall of 1941, by Takeshi Shindo, page 3. Sisters Shizuye and Kikuye Hashimoto returned to Los Angeles after being stranded in Japan since 1941. They described wartime conditions, food shortages, and the Nisei soldiers they encountered there.
• Tomorrow’s Heirs: News Room, by Sachi L. Wada, page 5. Sachi Wada describes the busy Northwest Nisei staff meeting in St. Paul, where volunteers worked on the chapter’s publication. She notes the organization’s effort to integrate Caucasian members into the work.
• Basketball Tourney Set for March, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Salt Lake City’s Nisei Athletic Union plans a national Nisei basketball tournament March 26-28, tied to a bowling tournament. Teams from several regions are invited.
• Fresno Fellowship Installs Officers, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Fresno Christian Fellowship installed its first slate of officers at a candlelight service at the Congregational church on January 19. Clergy from the Congregational and Methodist churches officiated.
• Salt Lake JACL Gives Copies of Kuroki Story to Library, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Salt Lake City JACL donated copies of Ralph G. Martin’s book The Boy From Nebraska, about Nisei airman Ben Kuroki, to local libraries and schools. Presentations were made by the chapter’s past and current presidents.
• Northern California YPCC Makes Plans for Tahoe Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Northern California Young People’s Christian Conference will meet July 17-20 at Zephyr Point, Lake Tahoe under chairman Kiyosuke Nomura. Organizers aim to broaden the conference’s interracial character.
• CRDU Meeting Votes to Back JACL Campaign, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Northern California Civil Rights Defense Union voted unanimously to support the JACL-ADC fund drive for a Washington office. Five Nisei were elected or reelected directors, and contributions totaled nearly $50,000.
• Protest Threat to Oust Nisei From House, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A mass meeting of 160 neighbors in Oakland protested a threatened suit to evict the Utsumi family from their home under restrictive covenants. Speakers included labor leader C. L. Dellums and attorney Tom Richardson.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Veteran Elected Commander of Legion Post, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Saijo Hirotsu was elected commander of Hilo Post No. 3 of the American Legion in Hawaii, the first Japanese American to hold the post. Legion officials noted the post includes many Nisei veterans of the 442nd and 100th Battalion.
• Eastern Oregon GI Dies of Illness in Japan Hospital, by P.C. Staff, page 1. T/4 Paul Hashimoto of Ontario, Oregon died January 11 in Japan from acute encephalitis. He is survived by his parents and two brothers, and his body was expected to be returned to Ontario.
• Disclose Secretary of State’s Wartime Action to Restore Citizen Rights to Group, by S. L. A. Marshall, page 1. S. L. A. Marshall, a former War Department staff member, reveals that General George C. Marshall as Army Chief of Staff took personal responsibility for reopening military service to Nisei and for using the 100th Battalion as combat troops. He argues that without this step the war would have ended without restoring the rights of Japanese Americans.
• Body of Nisei GI Reported Aboard Wrecked S.P. Train, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The body of Pfc. Takeshi Inouye, a Japanese American veteran drowned in Korea, was aboard the Southern Pacific Owl when it derailed near Bakersfield. He was buried with honors at Sawtelle Soldiers Cemetery on January 21.
• Cowboy Artist Writes Book on Nisei Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 6. William S. Warren, a Colorado cowboy artist, wrote a novel about Japanese American readjustment after relocation titled The Lost Medal. He employs relocated Nisei on his peach ranch.
• Nisei Wins Field Promotion, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Lt. Katsumi Kawaguchi of Detroit received a direct field commission in the U.S. Army with a January 1, 1947 rank date. He previously served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy, France and Germany.

JACL

• Kushida Named JACL Chief in Midwest Region, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Tatsuo Kushida was appointed midwest regional director of the JACL, taking over February 1 in the Chicago office. He succeeds Masao Satow, recently named acting national secretary, and will organize a midwest district council in the spring.
• Tri-State JACL Parley Planned for Denver, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nisei leaders from Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado will meet in Denver March 22-23 at a Tri-State JACL regional conference. Topics include reactivating old chapters, forming new groups, and program organization.
• JACL Credit Union Sets January 30 for Annual Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The National JACL Credit Union will hold its annual meeting January 30 in Salt Lake City with dividend checks at 2.5 percent. Members will vote on board and committee nominations and hear a talk by Masao Satow.
• Membership Leaflet To Be Distributed, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Ten thousand copies of a new JACL membership leaflet, ‘You Bet I’m Joining JACL,’ will be distributed to chapters for the February 15 to March 15 membership drive. Salt Lake City and San Diego chapters have already started recruiting.

Incarceration & Redress

• Slayer of Nisei War Veteran Changes Plea to Guilty; Gets Sentence of Life Imprisonment, by P.C. Staff, page 2. LeRoy Bob, convicted in the robbery-murder of wounded 442nd veteran George Yoshioka, changed his plea to guilty and received life imprisonment after the State Supreme Court reversed his earlier death sentence. Yoshioka was bludgeoned in 1945 and his belongings were found on the suspects at arrest.
• State of California Accepts Settlement to Quiet Titles in Five Fresno Escheat Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 2. California accepted $68,415 in settlements of five alien land escheat cases in Fresno, quieting farm titles in the names of citizen children. The largest settlement involved 100 acres held by the Iwamura family.
• Plan Campaign to Raise JACL Fund in Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Three West Coast leaders plan to fly to Hawaii February 5 to raise $50,000 for the JACL and Anti-Discrimination Committee’s citizenship and civil rights campaign. The delegation includes Keisaburo Koda, K. Ikeda, and Sim Togasaki.

Commentary

• Los Angeles Housing Meeting Calls for Protection of Nisei Right in Land Law, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Los Angeles housing conference of over a thousand delegates unanimously asked that the alien land act be amended to protect property held by citizen children, veterans and citizen wives. The resolution also backed anti-racial restrictive covenants and nondiscriminatory housing.
• Repeal of Alien Land Statutes Asked in Utah Legislature, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Utah veterans group asked the legislature to repeal the 1948 alien land law as a tribute to Japanese American soldiers. The bill, Senate Bill 73, argues the law was an unenforced wartime measure that was unjust to innocent parents of Nisei soldiers.
• Marshall and Nisei, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. The editorial praises General George C. Marshall for his role in restoring Nisei military service and civil rights during the war. It also credits civilians such as John McCloy and Eleanor Roosevelt for their part in the policy change.
• Action for Legislators, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial urges repeal of wartime anti-Japanese measures in Utah and Colorado, including Utah’s alien land law and Colorado’s fishing license restriction. It argues these laws rest on racial assumptions.
• Predicament in Canada, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial examines the Canadian government’s policy of dispersing Japanese Canadians under pressure from British Columbia politicians. It notes growing public concern in the Canadian press.
• Labor and the Minorities, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. This article traces how organized labor shifted from anti-Oriental racism to supporting minority workers, citing the CIO and ILWU in Hawaii. It contrasts progressive unions with holdouts such as Dave Beck’s Teamsters.
• Tomorrow’s Heirs: George Grim, by Sachi L. Wada, page 5. Sachi Wada recounts journalist George Grim’s talk at the installation of the United Citizens League in Minneapolis. Grim spoke about Nisei soldier Jito Chinen and the importance of everyday understanding.
• Los Angeles Relocation Report Notes Marked Changes in Economics of Returnee Group, by John Kitasako, page 5. Tom Sasaki’s study reports that Los Angeles Japanese population has reached 25,000 and that returnees have regained little ground in wholesale produce but have turned to gardening, hotels and garment work. Housing shortages and high rents remain serious problems.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa reflects on a Denver stock show and the specialization of livestock breeding, then comments on the Martha Kaihatsu abacus venture and other small items. The column is light and anecdotal.

Arts & Entertainment

• English-Japanese Dictionary, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Blind educator Tokinobu Mihara completed an English-Japanese dictionary written in Roman letters, the first of its kind. The work was compiled over several years and is scheduled for publication in February.
• Bradford Smith Tells Story of Nisei in Magazine Article, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Bradford Smith’s article in This Month, titled What’s Happened to the Nisei, follows a typical Nisei named John Tanida who rebuilt his life in Philadelphia after evacuation. Smith argues the relocation has ultimately brought many Nisei into the mainstream of American life.

Sports

• Misaka Cited for Fine Play in Game, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Wat Misaka, starting forward for the University of Utah, was praised by Salt Lake papers as the spark of the Ute team in a 50-49 loss to Utah State. He scored nine points.
• Bowlers Win Idaho Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Maki Kaizumi of Salt Lake City took the all-events title at the Pocatello bowling tournament, while the Oriental-Inland team from Ontario, Oregon won the team division. Teams from several Western cities competed.
• San Jose Zebras Return to League, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The San Jose Zebras returned to Winter League play and defeated South Side Market 7-0 behind Johnny Horio’s seven-hit pitching. Frank Horio and Babe Nomura led the offense.

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.