The end of coast exclusion and Nisei soldiers in Japan, 1945

Vol. 21, No. 10, September 8, 1945. 8 pages. View this issue

The Army’s revocation of all wartime exclusion orders against Japanese Americans on the West Coast, announced Sept. 4, 1945, led the news. The Pacific Citizen reported that relatively few people were affected, and that Justice Department orders on Issei stayed in effect. Nisei soldiers of the Eleventh Airborne Division were among the first American troops to land at Atsugi airfield near Tokyo, and Cpl. Fumio Kido of Hawaii helped in the rescue of Gen. Jonathan Wainwright. Editorials and a column by Larry Tajiri looked at the Nisei role in occupied Japan, and an editorial backed Eugene Rostow’s Harper’s article calling the forced removal our worst wartime mistake.

Inside are medals for 442nd soldiers, including Sgt. Mike Masaoka, the release of five Tule Lake youths from camp jail, and an announcement that JACL will hold its first post-war national convention in March 1946. Kiyoshi Hamanaka’s two-part column proposed cooperative camps as an alternative to forced camp closures.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Army Revokes All Coast Exclusion Orders, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Army revoked all wartime exclusion orders against persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast on Sept. 4, 1945. The WRA reported relatively few people were affected, while Justice Department orders on Issei remained in effect.
• Japanese American Soldiers Among First U.S. Troops to Land on Japan’s Home Islands, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nisei soldiers of the Eleventh Airborne Division were among the first American troops to land at Atsugi airfield near Tokyo on Aug. 31. Reports also indicated deaths of ten Nisei soldiers in a plane crash near Okinawa.
• Nisei Soldier Aids Rescue of Gen. Wainwright, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Cpl. Fumio Kido of Hawaii was a member of the American rescue team that parachuted into Manchuria and helped liberate Gen. Jonathan Wainwright. Other Japanese Americans also reportedly took part in liberating Allied POW camps on the Asian mainland.
• Posthumously Decorated for Extraordinary Heroism in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Pvt. Joe Hayashi of Pasadena was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in Italy with the 442nd Combat Team. He remained behind under fire to help a wounded comrade and was later fatally wounded.
• Wyoming Soldier Wins Silver Star for Repelling Nazi Patrol, by P.C. Staff, page 2. PFC Shuie Nishi of Kemmerer, Wyoming, received the Silver Star for singlehandedly repelling a German patrol in Italy. He fired from close range, wounding two Nazis and forcing the enemy to retreat.
• Nisei Sergeant Reported Killed on Day Before V-J, by P.C. Staff, page 2. T/4 Shunichi ‘Bill’ Imoto, a military intelligence language school graduate, was reported killed on Okinawa on Aug. 18, the day before Japan accepted Allied surrender terms. He had left Manila for Okinawa about Aug. 10.
• Chaplain of 442nd Cited for Outstanding Services in Unit, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Captain Hiro Higuchi of Pearl City, Hawaii, received the Legion of Merit for chaplain services in Italy and France. He repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to aid and evacuate wounded soldiers.
• Fellow GIs Back Up Nisei Soldiers, Says Capt. Kometani, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Capt. Katsumi Kometani of Honolulu, a special service officer with the 100th and 442nd, said fellow American GIs who fought alongside Nisei are their staunchest supporters. He noted discrimination increased the farther soldiers were from the front.
• Set. Mike Masaoka Awarded Legion of Merit by 5th Army, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sgt. Mike Masaoka, JACL national secretary on Army leave, received the Legion of Merit for frontline public relations work with the 442nd in Italy and France. He often went to the front himself to gather firsthand reports and processed over 2,700 news stories.
• Wounded GIs Protest Ban Against Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Fifty-six overseas combat veterans at Camp Upton Hospital signed a petition protesting the rejection of Pfc. Richard Naito’s membership by a Spokane VFW post. They argued prejudice against Japanese American troops contradicts the democratic ideals being fought for.
• Pocatello Soldier Posthumously Given Silver Star Medal, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Pfc. Kenichi Tsumaki of Pocatello, Idaho, was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for carrying radio equipment and ammunition under fire in France in 1944. He was fatally wounded after delivering the ammunition.
• Nisei GI Attends Army School at Famed Sorbonne, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Cpl. Warren W. Tanaka of Seattle, a Purple Heart recipient with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, is studying French at the Sorbonne while awaiting shipment home. He is participating in the Army’s new educational program.

JACL

• JACL to Hold National Meet in March, 1946, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The first post-war JACL national convention will be held in March 1946, according to National President Saburo Kido. Kido noted the JACL had 22 active chapters in nine states and was the only national Nisei organization to survive the evacuation.

Incarceration & Redress

• Revocation Will Not Affect WRA Program, by P.C. Staff, page 1. WRA assistant director R. B. Cozzens said revocation of exclusion orders would not change the WRA relocation program. Detention of evacuees now rests solely with the Justice Department, with roughly 47,000 to 52,000 still in camps.
• Harper’s Article Says Coast Evacuation of Nisei Citizens ‘Our Worst Wartime Mistake’, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Yale law professor Eugene Rostow, in Harper’s Magazine, called the exile and imprisonment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast a grave wartime error. He urged Supreme Court reconsideration of the wartime cases and generous financial indemnity for victims.
• Five Tule Lake Youths Freed From Camp Jail, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Five teenage evacuees sentenced to camp jail at Tule Lake were released Aug. 28 after ACLU attorney Wayne Collins challenged the proceedings. Collins argued the camp manager acted as both accuser and judge without due process.
• U.S. Coast Guard Revokes All Special Wartime Restrictions Against Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Coast Guard revoked special wartime restrictions on employment of Japanese American citizens on waterfronts and vessels, reopening West Coast fishing and port jobs. Japanese Americans will now face only the same locally determined requirements as other citizens.
• ACLU Official Protests WRA Coast Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The ACLU of Northern California protested to Under Secretary Abe Fortas that the WRA was returning evacuees to the Pacific Coast without adequate housing. The union warned this could stir racial difficulties and additional hardships.
• Interim Housing Centers Urged for Evacuees on West Coast, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Council for Civic Unity urged government-established interim housing centers for returning evacuees, criticizing the planned closure of relocation centers before adequate housing existed. Speakers also called for maintenance centers and old-age assistance for elderly evacuees.

National

• Harper’s Article Says Coast Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Duplicate of the Harper’s article already listed; omitted.
• Protest Canadian Program for Repatriation of Evacuee Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Cooperative Committee on Japanese Canadians filed a brief protesting Canada’s plans to repatriate Japanese Canadians. It asked that those who signed repatriation applications be allowed to reverse them and that losses from evacuation be indemnified.
• Tokyo Rose Reported Nisei Girl Detained by Army, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Iva Toguri, a Los Angeles-born Nisei who was one of the Radio Tokyo announcers known as ‘Tokyo Rose,’ was detained by American military police in Yokohama. She maintained she was trapped in Japan during the war and only played records on the program.
• CIO Demands Anti-Nisei Duo Must Be Fired, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A CIO union official announced that two men expelled for racial discrimination against a Japanese American worker must be removed from warehouse jobs in Stockton. The ILWU trial committee had found them guilty of inciting discrimination against a returned evacuee.

Community

• Two Evacuees Reported Killed in Train Crash, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Two persons of Japanese ancestry, including Nobuo Itano of La Habra, were among five killed when a Santa Fe train derailed near Arcadia, Calif., on Sept. 4. The other victim of Japanese descent was not immediately identified.
• No Evidence Found of Incendiarism in San Jose Fire, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Sheriff William Emig found no basis for suspicion of arson in a fire that destroyed the home of R. Santo, an evacuee returning from Heart Mountain. The fire was deemed accidental and occupants had been ordered to vacate.
• Report Two Nisei Battalions Get Unit Citations, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lt. Gen. Lucian Truscott presented Presidential and Distinguished Unit citations to two Japanese American battalions at Leghorn on Sept. 4. He said the 442nd Combat Team’s record was one any regiment in history would be proud of.
• Issei Committee Promises to Support Midwest JACL Office, by P.C. Staff, page 3. An Issei committee in Chicago announced a financial drive to support the Midwest JACL office under Dr. T. T. Yatabe. The Chicago JACL chapter pledged cooperation to raise funds to maintain the office.

Commentary

• Language Bridge to Japan, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Thousands of trained Nisei soldiers will serve in Japan’s occupation as a language bridge for American forces, a role that may affect occupation success. The author notes Nisei have fought in every major Pacific campaign and their presence will counter Japanese racist propaganda.
• Refuting Gen. De Witt, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that Gen. Pratt’s proclamations and the end of the war effectively close the Army’s mass exclusion program, though the legality of DeWitt’s orders will be debated. It points to the record of Japanese Americans during the war as a refutation of DeWitt’s racist reasoning.
• Citizenship for Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial urges legislation granting naturalization rights to Issei who aided the American war effort and to parents of Nisei servicemen. It notes many Issei worked in OSS, OWI, and language schools while remaining ineligible for citizenship.
• Worst Wartime Mistake, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises Eugene Rostow’s Harper’s article condemning the wartime evacuation and Supreme Court endorsement of it. It supports Rostow’s call for reconsideration of the Korematsu, Endo and Hirabayashi cases.
• Nisei Opinion: Cooperative Projects May Be Alternative, by Kiyoshi Hamanaka, page 5. Hamanaka criticizes WRA camp closures as coercive and poorly planned, and proposes cooperative group farming and small industries under evacuee control as alternatives. He argues cooperatives would build self-reliance and avoid creating another Indian-affairs-style problem.
• Nisei Opinion: Alternative Plan (continued), by Kiyoshi Hamanaka, page 6. Hamanaka concludes that self-governing cooperative camps would be preferable to forced removal and could serve as a model in future depressions. He argues treating evacuees justly is necessary for lasting world peace.

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.