Tule Lake closes and the ‘third evacuation’ begins

Vol. 22, No. 13, March 30, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

The closing of the Tule Lake relocation center led the news. Releases that arrived at the eleventh hour spared 102 people from being sent to the Crystal City, Texas, camp, and the center was empty by March 21. The same page reported that more than 500 returned evacuees at the Winona project in Burbank were told to find housing elsewhere. An editorial titled “Unfinished Business” asked the federal government to take responsibility for those still without homes. Larry Tajiri wrote about Ben Kuroki’s campaign against race prejudice, and the Intermountain JACL Council voted $10,000 more for its Issei naturalization drive.

Other pages cover Nisei veterans: a Soldier’s Medal for T/5 Masaharu Tsuida, a Salt Lake City welcome home banquet, and an Army review of cases of Nisei barred from the draft. Bill Hosokawa wrote about a Chicago delicatessen, and Jobo Nakamura asked whether Chicago’s Nisei risked forming a new Little Tokyo. Page 8 reported Canada suspending deportations of people of Japanese ancestry.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Eleventh-Hour Releases Save 102 Persons from Internment in Crystal City Camp in Texas, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Releases arrived for 102 detainees just as the Tule Lake relocation center closed on March 20, 1946. Most evacuees were transferred to Crystal City, Texas, while others were relocated or went to San Francisco under Justice Department jurisdiction.
• Third Evacuation Under Way for Winona Emergency Housing Residents, by P.C. Staff, page 1. More than 500 returned evacuees at the Winona project in Burbank were told to find individual housing or move to other emergency installations as federal housing closes. Thousands of others in Los Angeles-area emergency projects faced similar evictions.
• Utah Worker Dies in Quarry Accident, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Takeshi Tsutsui, 56, died on March 22 from injuries suffered in an accident at the Utah Rock Asphalt Company quarry. Funeral rites were held March 26 in Sunnyside, Utah.
• Two Sons Killed in Accident, Nisei Father Commits Suicide, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Sakai family car struck a freight train in San Jose, killing two young sons and injuring the others. The father later took his own life and the mother was committed to a state hospital after learning of the deaths.

Community

• Intermountain JACL Council Votes Fund for Issei Naturalization Drive, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Intermountain District Council unanimously voted an additional $10,000 for the JACL’s Issei citizenship education campaign at its March 24 meeting in Idaho Falls. Officers were also appointed to fill cabinet vacancies.
• Sacramento Deputy Attorney General to Seek Hearings on Dismissal Charges Against Nisei Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Wilmer Moore said he would request board referee hearings on dismissal charges against Japanese Americans employed by California’s State Personnel Board at the start of the war. The board indicated it was interested in disposing of the charges.
• Nisei Student Graduates at Head of Class, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Yoshikazu Morita, formerly of San Francisco, ranked first in his class at Wayne University College of Medicine and received the high distinction diploma. He will intern at Detroit Receiving Hospital.
• Eiji Tanabe to Speak in Rexburg, Idaho, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Eiji Tanabe, newly appointed JACL national staff member, will discuss Issei naturalization and citizenship at a meeting in Rexburg on April 4. The Yellowstone chapter sponsors the event.
• Two Hawaiian Girls to Enter Swimming Meet, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Two Nisei swimmers from the University of Hawaii, Mitz Higuchi and Chie Miyamoto, will compete in the 1946 National AAU women’s outdoor championships in Indiana. Both are coached by Soichi Sakamoto.
• Believe Most of Evacuees Now in Chicago Will Remain, by P.C. Staff, page 3. WRA Chicago supervisor Prudence Ross said between 12,000 and 15,000 Japanese Americans live in Chicago and most will stay by choice. Reasons cited include jobs, relatively low prejudice, and educational opportunities.
• Nisei Elected President of College Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Kaz Tada was elected president of the senior class at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He has a record of campus leadership including editing the weekly school paper and serving in the Student Senate.
• Student Relocation Council Will End Work in June, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The National Japanese American Student Relocation Council, which helped thousands of Nisei enter colleges during evacuation, will end its activities by June 30. Its newssheet published its final issue on March 1.
• Chicago Groups Plan Fete to Honor Nisei GI, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Fifteen Chicago religious and social organizations will host a Memorial Day testimonial dinner at the Stevens Hotel for Nisei World War II veterans and WRA officials. Reservations must be made with the Midwest JACL office before May 15.
• Idaho Falls Plans Appreciation Fete, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Idaho Falls residents will hold an appreciation banquet on April 3 for War Relocation Authority and city officials. Ben Kuroki and Mike Masaoka are scheduled as speakers.
• Chicago Chapter Hears Talks on Denver Conference, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Five delegates reported to the Chicago JACL chapter on the ninth biennial JACL conference held in Denver. Noboru Honda and Dr. T. T. Yatabe gave summaries of the proceedings.

National

• National YMCA Urges Issei Naturalization, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The YMCA National Council passed a resolution on March 17 calling for broader naturalization laws for resident Japanese and other Asiatic aliens. The action followed an appeal by Ben Kuroki.
• U.S. Army Action Indicates Nisei Stranded by War in Japan, Ryukyus May Return, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Military government authorities requested repatriation to Hawaii for U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry stranded on Okinawa. Clara Kaneshiro and her brothers await transportation in a case seen as a test for thousands of others.
• National Parley to Consider Minority Veterans’ Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The American Council on Race Relations called an emergency conference in New York to examine G.I. Bill discrimination against Negro, Japanese American and other minority veterans. Survey results showing denial of benefits will be presented.
• American Bowling Group Policy Will Be Protested by JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The JACL will protest the American Bowling Congress policy barring non-white bowlers from national tournaments. The policy drew picket lines in Buffalo and condemnation from Senator James Mead.
• Canada Deportation Program Will Be Suspended Pending Ruling from Privy Council, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced that deportations of persons of Japanese ancestry in Canada will be suspended pending a Privy Council appeal. Up to 10,000 of Canada’s 23,000 residents of Japanese ancestry faced deportation.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei GI Awarded Soldier’s Medal for Heroism, by P.C. Staff, page 1. T/5 Masaharu Tsuida of Chicago received the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing a flaming gasoline burner from a mess hall in Bremen on January 20, 1946. He suffered serious burns but prevented injury to personnel and property.
• Sacramento AVC Hits Mistreatment of Nisei Wounded, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Sacramento chapter of the American Veterans Committee adopted a resolution protesting the transport of wounded Nisei soldiers in the hold of a Navy transport while civilians occupied staterooms. The resolution called for equal rights for all veterans regardless of race.
• Ben Kuroki Will Talk at Idaho Legion Affair, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nisei war hero Ben Kuroki will be guest speaker at a mass American Legion initiation of 700 former servicemen in Pocatello on April 4. Seven Nisei veterans will be among the new members.
• Nisei Attorney Will Take Part in Trials of War Criminals, by P.C. Staff, page 2. George Yamaoka of a New York law firm was ordered to Japan to serve as a liaison between defense and prosecution in the Tokyo war crimes trials. He expects to remain there until late summer.
• Los Angeles Dance Will Honor Nisei GIs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nisei soldiers who returned to the Los Angeles area will be honored at a dance on April 1 at the Evergreen gym. The event is sponsored by the Nisei Coordinating Committee.
• Nisei Veterans Honored at Salt Lake City Welcome Home Banquet, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Seventy-five Japanese American veterans from Salt Lake City were honored at a banquet and dance held by the JACL at the Hotel Utah. Ben Kuroki and Mike Masaoka were featured speakers among officials and civic leaders.
• Nisei Soldier Brings Six Others Home to New Jersey, by P.C. Staff, page 2. T/5 Henry Karikomi of Passaic, New Jersey, is returning home from Europe, and his family expects to host several Nisei servicemen from Hawaii. The homecoming will be a welcome for multiple returning soldiers.
• Loomis Nisei Gets Discharge, Stays on Italy Job as Civilian, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Technician Fifth Grade Daniel Makabe of Loomis, California, became the first 442nd soldier discharged in the Mediterranean theater and continued working for the War Department as a civilian clerk-typist in Leghorn. He had earlier handled reenlistment for over 125 men of the regiment.
• Army Will Review Cases of Nisei Barred from Draft, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The War Department changed its policy on Japanese Americans classified 4-C during the war, allowing local boards to reopen cases for review. Some 24,000 Japanese Americans had been inducted since 1940.
• Men of 442nd Will March in Parade in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A provisional battalion of selected 442nd men will represent the regiment in an Army Day parade in Italy on April 6. It will be the regiment’s first public appearance since leading the V-J Day parade.
• Body of Nisei Soldier Found in Park in Chicago, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The body of William K. Kato, a Nisei war veteran, was found in Lincoln Park on March 28 in an apparent suicide. Before the war Kato had reportedly worked as a news editor for a Los Angeles Japanese newspaper.
• Koyama Appointed Adjutant of Spokane Purple Heart Unit, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Spady A. Koyama, a wounded Pacific veteran, was appointed adjutant of the Spokane chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. The appointment was made at a dinner marking the chapter’s first anniversary.
• Nisei GI Fighters Lose in Finals of Crowder Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Three Nisei boxers lost on decisions in the championship round of the Seventh Service Command tournament at Camp Crowder on March 28. Haruo Kumamoto, Minoru Miyashiro and Teruyuki Tanonaka were all defeated.

JACL

• Masao Satow, Eiji Tanabe, Yurino Takayoshi Will Take JACL Posts, by P.C. Staff, page 2. JACL president Hito Okada announced the appointments of three national staff members. Satow becomes eastern representative, Takayoshi assists in New York, and Tanabe joins headquarters in Salt Lake City.
• Chicago JACL Slates Dance, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Chicago JACL will open its 1946 social calendar with a pre-Easter dance at International House on April 13. Art Hayashi and his Harmonaires will provide the music.

Commentary

• Unfinished Business, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The closing of the Tule Lake center and other relocation centers did not end the evacuation, as evacuees still faced housing shortages and eviction notices. The editorial calls on the federal government to assume responsibility for the remaining evacuees.
• Evacuation’s Legacy, by P.C. Staff, page 4. An editorial quotes the American Friends Service Committee on the unfinished business of the evacuation, including family strain, financial costs, and lost civil rights. It argues that friendliness cannot substitute for fundamental justice.
• Ben Kuroki’s 59th Mission, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. This article profiles Ben Kuroki’s wartime service and his postwar campaign against race prejudice, which Tajiri calls his ’59th mission.’ It recounts his speeches and the controversy over his radio appearances.
• Mike Masaoka Upholds Nisei Rights in Work for JACL, by John Kitasako, page 5. Mike Masaoka returned to Washington to push legislation on Issei naturalization and a claims commission for wartime losses. The column praises his tireless work while noting that the JACL has been a target of criticism.
• Sam Terao Runs a Kosher Delicatessen, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa tells how Chicago deli operator Sam Terao won over his Jewish neighbors by closing for Yom Kippur. The column presents it as an example of Nisei adapting to their environment.
• We Place Our Hopes in Tots Like Sumi, by Jobo Nakamura, page 5. Nakamura reflects on the Japanese American population in Chicago and the risk of forming a new Little Tokyo. He argues that Nisei should pursue integration rather than self-segregation.

Sports

• Marusho Miks Win JACL Intermountain Basketball Tournament, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Marusho Miks won the annual Intermountain JACL basketball tournament on March 23 by defeating the Idaho Falls team 51 to 23. The Salt Lake City Buffaloes took third place.

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