Returning home in late 1945: housing, hostility and Nisei veterans

Vol. 21, No. 22, December 1, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

The return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast ran through this eight-page issue. Trailers and barracks were readied for families coming back to Southern California, and the Manzanar and Poston camps closed. Some returnees met trouble: a fire destroyed the Puente home of George Y. Tokushige, and three California county boards refused aid before one reversed course. Nisei veterans announced Cherry Vistas, a cooperative housing project. General Joseph Stillwell was to present Staff Sgt. Kazuo Masuda’s Distinguished Service Cross to his sister Mary Masuda.

Elsewhere, a JACL committee prepared to defend land against Alien Land Law seizures, and Tule Lake renunciants faced deportation or petitioned to regain citizenship. Bill Hosokawa wrote about Nisei who served outside segregated units, and Hisaye Yamamoto recounted the life and death of a Nisei soldier in Italy. Editorials took up Issei naturalization and the Pearl Harbor sabotage rumors.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Gen. Stillwell Will Present Distinguished Service Cross to Sister of Nisei GI Hero, by P.C. Staff, page 1. General Joseph Stillwell will present the posthumous Distinguished Service Cross to the sister of Staff Sgt. Kazuo Masuda at the Masuda ranch in Santa Ana. Masuda was cited for heroic actions with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy where he lost his life.
• Nisei Soldiers Lead Armistice Parade in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Troops of the 442nd Combat Team led the formal Armistice Day parade honoring the dead of both World Wars at Yankee Stadium. Nisei troops also led a V-J Day parade at Leghorn.
• Six Nisei GIs Killed, 16 Hurt in Plane Crash, by P.C. Staff, page 1. An Army C-47 carrying Hawaiian Nisei veterans of the 442nd crashed into a hillside near Auburn in a rainstorm, killing several and injuring sixteen. The men were en route to Camp Beale for discharge before returning to Hawaii.
• Four Nisei Veterans Declare Atomic Bombing Was Justified, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Four Sacramento Nisei veterans told the Sacramento Bee they believed the United States was justified in using the atomic bomb on Japan. They also described the difficulties they faced returning to civilian life, especially finding housing.
• Nisei Veterans Initiated into VFW, by P.C. Staff, page 2. George Hiromatsu, a World War II veteran, was among nine new members initiated into the Jewell Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Ely, Nevada. The ceremony also welcomed other new members.
• GI Newspaper Has Nisei Co-Ed for Cover Girl, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Betty Kagawa, a Drake University student from Des Moines, appeared on the cover of the Stars and Stripes magazine in Paris. The accompanying article by Richard Wilbur discussed the record of Japanese American soldiers in the 442nd, 100th Battalion and MIS.
• George Matsuura Returns from Japan Duty, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sgt. George K. Matsuura, a former pitcher for the Nippons, returned to Los Angeles after Army occupation duty in Japan and expects discharge soon. He was reportedly the first Nisei stationed at Sendai.
• Nisei Veterans Plan New Housing Project: Cherry Vistas Sites Optioned, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Kayoharu Anzai, Harry Tanouye and George Katow are financing the Cherry Vistas project through cooperative plans, with three sites already optioned near Van Nuys, Roscoe and between Pomona and Chino. The buildings will be modern and American in style with cherry tree landscaping.
• Nisei Radioman to Resume Trade on Pacific Vessel, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Richard Suyenaga of Pocatello, Idaho, received coast guard clearance to resume his work as a radio operator on trans-Pacific vessels. He is believed to be the first Nisei to ship out following the lifting of restrictions barring Nisei seamen from Pacific and Indian Ocean vessels.
• Life and Death of a Nisei GI: After Johnny Died, by Hisaye Yamamoto, page 5. Yamamoto recounts the life of Tsuyoshi John, a Nisei who grew up moving across southern California farms and was relocated to Arizona during the war. He volunteered for the Army and was killed by an 88mm shell in Italy near Livorno.

Community

• Fire Destroys Home of Nisei in California, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Police investigated possible incendiarism after a fire destroyed the Puente home of George Y. Tokushige, who had recently returned from an Arizona relocation center. The family was dining next door when the blaze started in a shed and spread to the house.
• Outrigger Club Officials Will Continue Anti-Oriental Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Directors of the Waikiki Outrigger Club apologized for excluding swimmer Keo Nakama but reaffirmed the club’s policy barring persons of Oriental parentage. The club refused to let Bill Smith entertain Nakama as a guest.
• VFW Questions Arson Angle in Sakamoto Fire, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Donner Post of the VFW questioned reports that the burning of Cosmo Sakamoto’s residence was arson, stating investigators could not determine any human cause. The fire occurred the day before the family’s return from the Granada relocation center.
• Self in Draft Violation Trial Routine; Guilty Verdict Brought in by Jury in Sugihara Case, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Kiyoshi Sugihara, a Japanese American, was found guilty by a Utah federal jury for refusing induction at Topaz after he sought conscientious objector status. He testified he was faced with a fundamental conflict and that the jury was told the draft law applied to all citizens regardless of wartime relocation.
• Returned Nisei Veterans Plan New Housing Project, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Nisei veterans in Los Angeles announced plans for Cherry Vistas, a cooperative housing project of small ten-family bungalow courts combining gardening with small businesses. The sponsors hope to avoid creating another Little Tokyo and intend to build in areas welcoming agricultural labor.
• Evacuee Leaves Money in Pillow at Tourist Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A returning Japanese American evacuee left $927 in a pillowcase at a Rock Springs tourist camp and later realized the mistake after reaching Salt Lake City. The camp operator found the money and sheriff Maher arranged to forward it to the evacuee.
• Forty Returnees Fete WRA Staff, by P.C. Staff, page 3. About forty returnees honored the staff of the San Jose War Relocation Authority office with an Italian dinner. Speakers reviewed the progress of resettling evacuees in the area since the office opened.
• Nisei Elected Class President at Ohio Wesleyan University, by P.C. Staff, page 3. George Umeda, a native of Salt Lake City, was elected president of the senior class at Ohio Wesleyan University. The Nisei student is majoring in business administration.
• Stockton Group to Aid Legal Rights Fight, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Fifty Japanese American landowners in Stockton formed a local group to join the JACL Northern California Legal Rights Defense Committee. Joe Grant Masaoka argued the Alien Land Law is unconstitutional and urged test cases to the Supreme Court.
• Vagaries, by P.C. Staff, page 5. This column collects brief news on Nisei in Canada, Army Nisei linguists intercepting enemy messages, Nisei discharged veterans, and assorted service notes. It includes items on Japanese Canadian restrictions and the Tokyo Rose broadcast.
• Relocation Digest, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Relocation Digest compiles brief news from Nisei communities across the country, including Cleveland, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Items cover social events, new resettlers, job placements and housing.

National

• Carusi Denies Bias on Nisei Travel Between U.S., Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Immigration Commissioner Ugo Carusi rejected JACL and ACLU claims that a certificate-of-citizenship requirement discriminates against Hawaiian Nisei traveling to the mainland. JACL president Saburo Kido countered that the practice in pre-war years effectively barred Oriental Americans without such certificates.
• Two Counties Bar Aid to Evacuee Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. State social welfare director Charles Wollenberg reported that three California county boards refused aid to returning evacuees, but one has reversed its stand after being notified the resolution violated law. He expects the main problems, especially housing, to be resolved within months.
• Pauley Indicates Reparations Commission Has No Interest in Properties of Loyal Aliens, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Edwin Pauley wrote that his earlier remark on seizing Japanese property was misunderstood and that the Allied reparations commission does not intend to take properties of law-abiding resident aliens. The reply followed a letter from Daniel Marshall of the Catholic Interracial Council protesting the reported statement.
• Gen. MacArthur Will Accept Repatriates from U.S., Says Justice Department Official, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Immigration Commissioner Ugo Carusi told a House committee that at least 8,794 persons of Japanese ancestry will be deported to Japan by June 1946, including Tule Lake renunciants. He said General MacArthur had agreed to receive them provided it did not interfere with troop movements.

In-Depth

• Pearl Harbor Canards: Reporter Unable to Discover Evidence of Any Nisei Part in Japanese Raid on Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Honolulu Star-Bulletin correspondent in Tokyo found no evidence that Japanese Americans took part in the Pearl Harbor attack, despite persistent rumors. The paper noted that Army, Navy and FBI investigations had long ago debunked the sabotage and fliers stories.

Incarceration & Redress

• First Tule Lake Group Deported on Transport, by P.C. Staff, page 2. More than 1,000 persons, including 423 voluntary repatriates from Tule Lake, sailed from Seattle on the U.S.S. G. M. Randall for Japan. The group was led by Japanese diplomats and internees from Justice Department camps, and included women and family members.
• Manzanar Center Closed by WRA Before Deadline, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Manzanar relocation center in Inyo County closed on November 21 when its last occupant departed, the sixth WRA center to close since October 15. The camp had reached a peak population of 8,065.
• Last Fifty Evacuee Families Leave Arizona Camp for Former Homes in California, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The last fifty families left the Poston relocation center in Arizona for California, six days before its scheduled closing. The article reviews Poston’s history, including its agricultural development, population, school enrollment and Nisei military service.
• Hailey Trial on Terrorism Charges Set, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Robert Franklin Hailey, charged with firing shotgun blasts into the homes of two Japanese American families near Centerville, will go to trial January 7. He pleaded not guilty to assault and attempted murder charges and is free on bail.
• Report West Coast Reaction Mixed on Citizenship Plea, by P.C. Staff, page 3. West Coast reaction to the nearly 1,000 Tule Lake petitioners seeking to regain citizenship was mixed, according to a New York Times dispatch. Observers debated whether their renunciation was deliberate or made under duress from pro-Japan groups.

JACL

• JACL Committee to Combat Seizures of Nisei-Owned Land, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Northern California JACL Legal Rights Defense Committee set a December 6 General Board conference in Stockton to coordinate district groups in more than 30 localities. The meeting will address defense of property rights against state escheat proceedings under the Alien Land Law.

Commentary

• They Dream of Home, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises the Nisei veterans’ Cherry Vistas housing plan as a response to postwar housing shortages and racial discrimination. It argues the government has done too little to help returning servicemen, especially minorities.
• Gung Ho!, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial highlights Col. Evans Carlson’s postwar call for cooperative economics and peace, and notes the ILWU and industry endorsement of nondiscriminatory employment. It argues these proposals reflect the liberal ideals the war was fought for.
• Issei Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that Issei, who cooperated loyally during the war and whose sons served in the armed forces, should be granted eligibility for naturalization. It notes they are the only large group still ineligible for citizenship.
• Local Authorities, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes county boards of supervisors that refused welfare aid to returning evacuees, noting that Charles Wollenberg informed them this violated law. It welcomes the decision of one county to comply.
• Not on the Committee Agenda, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues the congressional Pearl Harbor investigation should examine the sabotage rumors about Hawaii’s Japanese Americans, which helped justify the West Coast evacuation. It details how these canards spread and were not refuted until after evacuation began.
• Chance to Correct Mass Injustice, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Des Moines Register editorial, reprinted in the Digest, argues the Tule Lake renunciations were coerced and that the federal court petitions offer a chance to correct injustice. The Milwaukee Journal editorial reprinted alongside it cautions against saving those who renounced citizenship to avoid deportation.
• Nisei Citizenship Suits, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Milwaukee Journal editorial supports reexamining the Tule Lake citizenship cases to correct possible injustice but opposes saving those who gambled on Japan. It predicts the federal court faces a difficult task.
• Many Nisei Served in Unsegregated Units, by Hosokawa, Bill, page 5. Bill Hosokawa observes that some Nisei slipped through the Army’s dragnet into ordinary units rather than the segregated 442nd or intelligence school. He cites Ben Kuroki and a Nisei doctor who served in the China-Burma-India theater as examples.
• Tired Ben Kuroki Carries On His Fight for Fair Play, by John Kitasako, page 6. Kitasako profiles Ben Kuroki, who has been in heavy demand for radio and press interviews after his combat service. He argues Kuroki’s fight against intolerance requires all Nisei to speak up rather than leave advocacy to others.

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