The Great Unknown: Japanese American Sketches / by Greg Robinson
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THE Great Unknown THE Great Unknown Japanese American Sketches GREG ROBINSON UNIVERSITY PRESS OF COLORADO Boulder © 2016 by Greg Robinson Published by University Press of Colorado 5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C Boulder, Colorado 80303 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of Association of American University Presses. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, Utah State University, and Western State Colorado University. ∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (Permanence of Paper). ISBN: 978-1-60732-428-7 (cloth) ISBN: 978-1-60732-429-4 (ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Robinson, Greg, 1966– author. Title: The great unknown: Japanese American sketches / by Greg Robinson. Description: Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2016. | An anthology of articles that originally appeared in the column, “The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great,” in the Nichi Bei Times and the Nichi Bei Weekly, and several articles that appeared in other periodicals, as well as some previously unpublished material. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2015043305 | ISBN 9781607324287 (cloth) | ISBN 9781607324294 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Japanese Americans—United States—Biography. | Japanese Americans—United States—History. Classification: LCC E184.J3 R6352 2016 | DDC 973/.04956—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2015043305 Credits Nichi Bei Times: Arthur Matsu, Masuji Miyakawa, Hugh MacBeth, Queer Heritage 2007 (Kiyoshi Kuromiya, etc.), Robert Kuwahara, Kathleen Tamagawa, Guyo Tajiri, Eddie Shimano, Isamu Noguchi, Kajiro/Fred Oyama, Ina Sugihara, John Maki, Basketball (Wat Misaka/Dr. Yanagisawa), S. I. Hayakawa (2 parts), Paul Robeson, Baseball (Jose Nakamura, Bill Nishita, Yosh Kawano), Women lawyers (Tel Sono, etc.), Milton Ozaki, Conrad Yama (Hamanaka), Queer History 2008 (Noguchi, etc), Kay Karl Endow, Ralph Carr/Earl Warren, Jun Fujita, Alan Cranston, Prewar Chicago, Chino/Ohi Family, Koji Ariyoshi, Miné Okubo, Hood River Japanese, Queer 2009 Nichi Bei Weekly: Reiko Sato, Jenichiro Oyabe, Ayako Ishigaki, Lincoln Seiichi Kanai, Queer 2010, Norman Thomas, Anne Reeploeg Fisher/Morton Grodzins, Issei women overview, Fuki Endow Kawaguchi, Shio Sakanishi, Sam Hohri, Hisaye Yamamoto, Gordon Hirabayashi, Yoné Stafford, Queer 2011–, Naomi Nakano, Louisiana, Robert Chino, Research methods, Queer 2012—Same-sex JACL, Mervyn Dymally, Gyo Fujikawa, Shinkichi Tajiri, Stanley Hayami, Yasuo Sasaki, Footnotes, Clifford Uyeda/Ben Kuroki, Bowling, Setsuko Nishi, John Franklin Carter, Regan v. King, Afterword Discovernikkei: Buddy Uno/Bill Hosokawa Nikkei Heritage: Death penalty Feminist Press at CUNY: Ayako Ishigaki History News Network: McCloy Memo, Michelle Malkin Densho Encyclopedia: Eleanor Roosevelt To Thanapat Porjit, with deepest affection Contents Foreword by Kenji G. Taguma xi By Way of Introduction xv 1 A New Look at Issei Women 3 Issei Women: An Overview 3 Shio Sakanishi: Library of Congress Official and Scholar 6 Fuki Endow Kawaguchi’s Diary 9 Tel Sono: Issei Woman Lawyer and Missionary 13 Ayako Ishigaki: Feminist and Peace Activist 17 2 Mixed-Race Japanese Americans 21 Isamu Noguchi’s Struggle against Executive Order 9066 21 Kathleen Tamagawa: First Nisei Author 24 The Chino and Ohi Families 28 Milton Ozaki: Mystery Writer (coauthored with Steven G. Doi) 39 Yoné Stafford: Pacifist Militant 43 viii CONTENTS 3 Literature and Journalism 49 Jenichiro Oyabe: Japanese Yankee at Howard University 49 Eddie Shimano: Crusading Journalist and Poet 53 Kay Karl Endow: Novelist, Aviator, and Con Man 56 John M. Maki: Writer and Educator 60 Buddy Uno and Bill Hosokawa: Two Nisei Journalists in Occupied China 67 The Hidden Contributions of Guyo Tajiri 77 The Tragic and Engaging Career of Sam Hohri 83 Hisaye Yamamoto and the African American Press 86 4 Wartime Confinement and Japanese Americans: Nisei Stories 93 Mitsuye Endo: Plus grand dans son obscurité? 93 Lincoln Seiichi Kanai’s Act of Conscience 95 The Exclusion of Naomi Nakano 98 Koji Ariyoshi: A Hawaiian Nisei in Mao’s China 109 Sanji Abe and Martial Law in Wartime Hawai‘i 113 5 Wartime Confinement and Japanese Americans: Friends and Foes 119 The Case against Michelle Malkin 119 The McCloy Memo: New Insight into the Causes of Removal 123 Norman Thomas and the Defense of Japanese Americans 125 Eleanor Roosevelt and Japanese Americans: A First Look 129 Paul Robeson: “Your Fight Is My Fight” 133 Alan Cranston and Japanese Americans 136 Two Wartime Governors and Mass Removal of Japanese Americans 139 Hugh Macbeth: African American Defender of Issei and Nisei 143 John Franklin Carter: The Real-Life Lanny Budd 148 6 Political Activism and Civil Rights 153 Masuji Miyakawa: First Issei Attorney 153 Contents ix The Family behind Oyama v. California 157 Regan v. King: When Birthright Citizenship Was Last Tested 160 Yasuo Sasaki: Poet, Physician, and Abortion Rights Pioneer 166 Ina Sugihara: Interracial Activist 173 Mervyn M. Dymally: Unsung Hero of Redress 177 Setsuko M. Nishi: A Life of Service 180 7 Sports 193 Arthur Matsu: First Japanese American in the National Football League 193 Nisei in Pro Basketball: Wat Misaka and Dr. Yanagi 196 Early Japanese Americans in Organized Baseball 199 The JACL and the Integration of the American Bowling Congress 202 8 Arts 207 Jun Fujita: Poet and Photographer 207 Robert Kuwahara: Cartoonist and Animator 210 The “Double Life” of Conrad Yama 213 Reiko Sato: Actress and Dancer 217 The Unknown Life and Art of Miné Okubo 220 Gyo Fujikawa: Artist and Author 229 Shinkichi Tajiri: Sculptor 232 9 The Queer Heritage of Japanese Americans 241 Kiyoshi Kuromiya: A Queer Activist for Civil Rights (2007) 241 Sexuality from Issei to Nisei (2008) 244 The Rise of Homophobia in Japanese American Communities (2009) 248 The Rise of Homophobia: Part 2 (2010) 251 Hawai‘i 1986: The Shift to Equal Rights (2011) 257 The JACL’s Historic Vote for Equal Marriage Rights (2012) 261 x CONTENTS 10 A New Look at the Unknown Great 267 The Astonishing History of Japanese Americans in Louisiana 267 Japanese Americans in Prewar Chicago: An Overview 275 Japanese Americans and the Death Penalty 279 The Other Side of the Hood River Story 284 S. I. Hayakawa: Jazz Specialist and Civil Rights Supporter 288 Anne Reeploeg Fisher and Morton Grodzins: The Censorship of Confinement 296 Gordon Hirabayashi’s Surprising Postwar Career 300 Afterword 309 Selected Bibliography 313 Index 321 Foreword One community leader once told me that the role of the community press, and the Nichi Bei in particular, was to “validate our experience.” I initially scoffed at that concept, momentarily tossing it aside as an overreach of self-importance. However, given the closure of Northern California’s two historic Japanese American publications in 2009, I’ve found that notion to not only be true but essentially serve as a mantra for our nonprofit rebirth after the inevitable dissolution of the Nichi Bei Times. This tome in your hands epitomizes the importance of the community press in preserving history. On behalf of the Nichi Bei Foundation, its nonprofit publication the Nichi Bei Weekly, its predecessor the Nichi Bei Times (1946–2009), and, before that, the Nichi Bei Shimbun (1899–1942)—what the author of this book refers to as our current publication’s “grandfather”—I’m proud to introduce Greg Robinson’s new volume of groundbreaking work based on his column “The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great” in the Nichi Bei Times and Nichi Bei Weekly. xii FOREWORD “The Great Unknown and the Unknown Great” has been one of our most popular columns, and I’m grateful that fellow Nichi Bei columnist Chizu Omori had introduced Greg to me back in 2007, when Greg and I first dis- cussed the idea for his column. His work truly reinforces our newfound edu- cational mission as part of our nonprofit rebirth, and he writes in an acces- sible manner as well. A quick survey of his work clearly shows that he has written on a diverse array of topics (women, arts, literature and journalism, sports, activism, non–Japanese Americans who helped Japanese Americans, civil rights, etc.). Over the years, some of his pioneering work has uncovered some hardly known figures in Japanese American history, such as the first professional football player of Japanese descent (Arthur Matsu), those who helped to defend the rights of the Japanese American community (such as African American attorney Hugh Macbeth), and comic artist Robert Kuwahara, who was featured in our “The Many Faces of Manga” exhibit at the Napa Valley Museum, National Japanese American Historical Society, and other locations. His pieces on Louisiana’s Japanese American community and the Japanese American community in prewar Chicago were especially eye-opening, as are his pieces on Japanese Americans who played roles in landmark events shaping American history such as the Oyama family—the family behind the historic case that overturned California’s Alien Land Act—and pioneer multiracial Japanese Americans. In addition, he has brought attention to the important intersections of Japanese Americans and African Americans, such as Mervyn Dymally, an unsung hero of the Japanese American Redress Movement. Greg’s work not only pulled these historical figures out of the margins or footnotes but also helped us to realize that the deeper richness of the great Japanese American mosaic goes well beyond stories found within the model minority stereotype. But perhaps I’m most proud of creating a space for his annual LGBT his- tory column, which for several years we have intentionally placed in our most widely (geographically) distributed issue of the year, our Obon and Summer Festivals Guide. Greg’s column adds so much depth to our publication and helps us fulfill our goal of giving a voice to the voiceless.