TAKING A STAND: Block 42

Posted By ngunji On December 16, 2009 @ 4:58 pm In Community, English | No Comments
While barbed wire was meant to cage the Issei and Nisei men and women, it could not suppress their spirit. Of the 3,254 eligible inmates who did not register for the questionnaire, 3,218 of them, including the Tanimoto brothers, came from Tule Lake. (By MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo) [1]

While barbed wire was meant to cage the Issei and Nisei men and women, it could not suppress their spirit. Of the 3,254 eligible inmates who did not register for the questionnaire, 3,218 of them, including the Tanimoto brothers, came from Tule Lake. (By MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo)

By Martha Nakagawa

===

(Note—Tule Lake is spelled with two words when referring to the WRA camp, but one word, “Tulelake” when referring to the city or the CCC camp.)

Before the draft resistance movement started in the 10 War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps during World War II, a different kind of protest occurred at Tule Lake.

The year was 1943. The War Department and the WRA had just issued two separate but similar loyalty questionnaires that were poorly worded. The War Department’s goal was to identify alleged “loyal” Nisei males in hopes of drafting them. The WRA’s goal was to release the alleged “loyals” from the camps. The War Department form was given to Nisei men and was titled, “Statement of United States Citizens of Japanese Ancestry,” DDS Form 304-A. Answering this form was voluntary. The WRA form was given to everyone and titled, “Application for Leave Clearance,” Form WRA-126. Answering this was compulsory.

Brothers Mamoru “Mori” and Jim Tanimoto lived in Block 42 in Tule Lake. They, separately, came to the conclusion that they were not going to answer the questionnaire.
The Tanimoto brothers returned to Tule Lake during the 2009 pilgrimage. They were among 35 Nisei who were sent to Klamath Falls jail after they answered no, no on the so-called loyalty questionnaire. (By MARTHA NAKAGAWA) [2]

The Tanimoto brothers returned to Tule Lake during the 2009 pilgrimage. They were among 35 Nisei who were sent to Klamath Falls jail after they answered no, no on the so-called loyalty questionnaire. (By MARTHA NAKAGAWA)

“My reason for not answering was because I didn’t do anything to be put into Tule Lake,” said younger brother Jim. “I never broke any laws. I was never tried for anything. I wasn’t guilty of anything. I told them send me home. Then I’ll sign your papers. I will be a ‘yes, yes.’ I will serve and do whatever I can to support the United States government because I’m an American citizen.”

Older brother Mori did not answer the questionnaire because he felt the camp in general was a violation of their constitutional rights.

Relations between the inmates and the administration rapidly deteriorated when the administration failed to adequately provide information to basic questions posed to them such as why the inmates had to register and what they were registering for.

Tensions continued to mount when the project director announced via the camp newspaper, the Tulean Dispatch, that those who interfered with registration would be fined up to $10,000 and/or imprisoned up to 20 years under the Espionage Act. The Tule Lake administration followed the announcement by making an example of Block 42, which had a high number of Nisei men refusing to register.

“They (WRA) came back time and time and time again, trying to make us sign, but we said, ‘No, we won’t sign,’” said Mori. “Then, for this, the Army came and arrested us.”

Younger brother Jim continued Mori’s thoughts. “After we refused to answer, then one evening a bunch of soldiers, carrying rifles and bayonets, surrounded our block,” said Jim. “It was after dinner and we were coming out of the mess hall. One soldier sorted us into groups. Once the mess hall was empty, he said, ‘Okay, you guys count off one, two, one two.’”

About 35 Nisei men from Block 42 were rounded up on the evening of Feb. 21, 1943. The Tanimoto brothers’ group was sent to the Klamath Falls jail and the second group ended up at the Alturas jail. Both groups were held in jail for about seven days with no charges, no hearing or trial.

Meanwhile, Tule Lake became a bedlam of activity. The public arrest of the Block 42 men terrified some Tuleans into registering, while it galvanized others to become more defiant. Although the inmate-organized Planning Board and Community Council urged the Tule Lake administration to release the Block 42 men and proposed new registration procedures, the administration took a hard line and refused to compromise.

After about a week later, the two groups were reunited at an old Civilian Conservation Corp camp named Camp Tulelake, located 10 miles from the Tule Lake WRA camp.

According to Angela Sutton with the National Park Service, Camp Tulelake had been built in 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt established various programs to lift the country out of the Great Depression.

“The purpose of the CCC camp was pretty much to boost the economy and to get men, ages 17-25, into jobs and some vocational training,” said Sutton.

“The projects that they worked on were on National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and state park sites. At Camp Tulelake, their main job was to work with Fish and Wildlife, and building and creating the Klamath Reclamation water project.

“The men were paid $1 a day, which wasn’t a high wage, but it also included all the room, board, medical, education and everything else, so you wanted to be in the CCC back in those days, because others might be paying $1 a day but they didn’t include all the extras.”

Once the war broke out, most of the CCC employees signed up for the military and Camp Tulelake was closed, said Sutton. However, when the government built the Tule Lake WRA/Segregation camp nearby, Camp Tulelake was utilized to house Japanese Americans. The first Japanese American group was the Block 42 men.

“One day at the jail, they tell us they’re going to move us over to the CCC camp,” said Jim. “When we came here (to Camp Tulelake), I think the other group from Alturas arrived about the same time, so the Block 42 young men were together again. Then our truck driver says, ‘Your guards aren’t here yet so don’t run away.’ He says we should clean up the mess hall and the barracks because we’re going to use them that night so we started to do that.

“Eventually, the guards showed up. We had done quite a bit of cleaning by then. But once they showed up, everything came to a halt. We couldn’t even go to the bathroom without their permission.”

The Block 42 men were held at Camp Tulelake for about a month. During that time, the Tanimoto brothers recalled one fearful incident.

“We was sleeping one night and the soldiers come charging through the barrack,” said Jim. “They says, ‘Get your ass out of bed. Get outside!’ This is the middle of the night. When we got out there, we lined up. It was pitch black. All of a sudden, they put on flood lights. We could see that there were about eight or 10 soldiers on one side of a machine gun and 10 or so soldiers on the other side. The soldiers were loading their rifles, and we’re only about 15 yards apart. It was very close between my chest and the end of the rifle barrel. My thought at that time was that this is a firing squad. This is going to be our end.”

The incident ended with no one getting hurt, but neither of the brothers knew why they had been roused out of bed. It could be speculated that the soldiers did this to scare the men into answering the questionnaire because later informal hearings were held.

“There were several Caucasians, and they handed me this piece of loyalty question paper,” Jim recalled of his hearing. “They says, ‘Will you sign this now?’

And I says, ‘No. The only time I’ll sign this is when I get home to Gridley.’ So he says to me, ‘You guys were influenced by your older brothers or older people.’”

Shortly after the informal hearings, the Block 42 men were returned to Tule Lake. When asked if they had ended up answering the questionnaire, Mori said, “Absolutely not!”

Unbeknownst to the Tuleans, the Tule Lake administration had no legal authority to arrest the Block 42 men. The administration had been informed by the War Department and FBI that refusing to answer the questionnaire was not a violation of the Selective Service Act and did not carry a $10,000 fine and/or 20 years in jail. This information was never made public to the camp inmates, and the administration continued to pressure Tuleans into answering the questionnaire.

The Tule Lake administration’s hardline approach towards the Tuleans contributed towards the administration’s dismal failure in administering the questionnaire properly. According to “The Evacuated People: A Quantitative Description” by the WRA, there were 77,842 inmates eligible to register for the questionnaire from all the 10 WRA camps. Of the 77,842 eligible, 3,254 did not register from all the 10 camps. Of the 3,254 who did not register, 3,218 were from Tule Lake.

Meanwhile, Camp Tulelake was utilized again later that year in 1943.

“When Tule Lake was converted into a segregation center, the farm workers in the camp went on strike, refusing to harvest the crops,” said Sutton.

“So internees from other camps were sent to Tule Lake to break in the harvest because they needed to send the harvest to the other camps. They brought in 243 internees from other camps. And because they were paid higher wages and because Tule Lake was on strike, they said, ‘Well, we’ll house them at Camp Tulelake for your protection.’”

After the Japanese Americans inmates from other camps harvested Tule Lake’s crops, they were returned to their respective camps.

Although the Tule Lake crop was harvested, the nearby City of Tulelake was also facing a farm labor shortage with so many of their people in the Army. As a result, the City of Tulelake petitioned the government for aid, and the government sent 150 Italian prisoners of war. The Italian POWs were used to bring in the harvest and to convert Camp Tulelake into a POW camp that would eventually house 800 German POWs.

“The main function of the 800 German POWs was to work for the local farmers, bringing in the crops, planting crops, anything they needed to keep the community going,” said Sutton. “There were strict rules for the farmers to follow if they were going to have POWs working for them. They had to pick them up right at 8 a.m. They were to bring them back at lunchtime if their farm was close enough. Otherwise, they were to get the mess hall to make them a bag lunch. They were to bring them back here by 5 p.m. every night.

“If they requested nine or less POWs, they didn’t have to have an armed guard with them, so there are all kinds of stories in the Basin, of kids remembering these POWs at the farm, and only being three of them and never seeing an Army, so the thinking was they must never have been a threat because there was never an Army around.

“And there were other rules like they couldn’t be treated to soda and beer and candy or anything that was a wartime kind of treat, but there are also tons of stories of the local farmers’ wives, coming down at lunchtime with a cooler full of soft drinks and beer and a fresh baked pie for them, so their treatment was much different than what it should have been for that time period.”
A scene from this year's Tule Lake pilgrimage. (By MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo) [3]

A scene from this year's Tule Lake pilgrimage. (By MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo)

Currently, there is an effort to preserve the Camp Tulelake campsite. Sutton said the Friends of the Fish and Wildlife Refuge received a grant in 2006, as part of the Preserve America program. The money is enough to rehabilitee a portion of one building.

As for the Tanimoto brothers, Mori was held at Tule Lake until the end of the war, but for reasons unknown to the brothers, Jim was released early. Jim returned home to Gridley, Calif., on Feb. 26, 1944, a year before the war ended.

Jim tried to resume his former farming life in Gridley but it wasn’t easy.

“Gridley is a small community of about 3,000 people,” said Jim. “So you either went to school with their kids or you shopped at their stores or you knew them personally. When we got back, they didn’t want no Japs. And these were your friends. But there was another group there. They were new people so we didn’t know them. They were the conscientious objectors, and they said, ‘Welcome back.’”

One particular incident stuck with Jim. Shortly after his return, Jim bumped into his former high school coach and physical education teacher whom he had had for four years and whom Mori had had as well.

“I walked up to him and extended my hand,” said Jim. “I says to him, ‘I’m home. I haven’t seen you in a long time. How have you been?’ He told me I was on the wrong side, turned his back on me and walked away.”

Years later, the teacher became a peach farmer like the Tanimotos and they met again at an agricultural meeting.

Jim recalled that the man came over to him but he didn’t have the heart to reconcile with him.

“I says to him, ‘Forget it. Get out of my face. I’m not shaking your hand. Get the hell out of here,’” recalled Jim. “Then I turned my back and walked away.

“Several other things like that happened. In Gridley, the feeling isn’t the same no more. Before the war, I could count on my friends, but it’s not like that anymore.

(The Evacuated People: A Quantitative Description by the War Relocation Authority; Years of Infamy by Michi Nishiura Weglyn; Native American Aliens: Disloyalty and the Renunciation of Citizenship by Japanese Americans During World War II by Donald Collins contributed to this article.)

Article printed from Rafu Shimpo: http://rafu.com/news

URL to article: http://rafu.com/news/?p=7717

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://www.rafu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/prison-pov.jpg

[2] Image: http://www.rafu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/tanimoto-bros1.jpg

[3] Image: http://www.rafu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/interior-building.jpg

the "lost battalion" reunited with the combat team that saved them.

WWII soldiers reunite, thank heroes A group dubbed the "lost battalion" reunited with the combat team that saved them.
David Ono
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On this Veterans Day, we take you back 65 years to a World War II battle so fierce that the U.S. Army places it among its top ten in history. Soldiers involved in that battle recently held a reunion.

It's a remarkable story of tremendous sacrifice from a group of heroes who could have turned their backs on this country but instead used their mistreatment as resolve to prove their loyalty.

We know them today as the Japanese Americans of the 442nd Infantry who bravely rescued the lost battalion.

Their story begins exactly 65 years ago. In the dense forest of the Vosges Mountains in France, the 200 soldiers of the 141st Texas regiment found themselves surrounded by the Nazis, outnumbered and outgunned.

They were trapped by 6,000 fresh German troops under direct orders from Hilter to hold their ground.

The press dubbed them as "The Lost Battalion."

They dug into the mud and fought off one German attack after another.

Bruce Estes was 19 years old at the time and says the fighting was only part of the problem.

"We went five days without food. I could stick my finger through my navel and rub my backbone," recalls Estes.

In a desperate effort to get the Texans food, Army officials ordered artillery shells to be stuffed with chocolate. They then fired them over the thick trees, landing right on top of the Americans.

"The first thing they did, they tried to shoot some chocolate bars into us and right away they got on the radio and said stop that, because we took some casualties from that hard chocolate. It sounds crazy but it happened," said Jack Wilson as he described what it was like being part of the "Lost Battalion."

Two separate fighting units were deployed to try to reach the "Lost Battalion," but were viciously fought back.

The U.S. Army had one hope left in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit made up entirely of Japanese Americans, many of whom spent the early part of the war imprisoned in internment camps.

The U.S. labeled them "enemy aliens" even though they were born and raised in the United States.

The prejudice they endured is one of the darkest chapters in American history, yet these young men were desperate to fight for their country and prove their loyalty. They got their chance with the 442nd team.

In a matter of months, they became the most decorated unit in American military history.

Now it was their job to rescue the "Lost Battalion."

"Honor, duty, and as our parents would say, don't bring shame to the family," said Lawson Sakai, a graduate of Montebello High School.

There's a famous quote that reads, "The tragedy of war is that it uses man's best to do man's worst."

Sakai lived that quote. He vividly recalls fighting his way towards the "Lost Battalion."

It was his 21st birthday and almost his last.

"Machine guns are firing at us, and all of the sudden this German popped up in front of me and shot me point blank," recalled Sakai. He described how the German soldier had missed, and they struggled in a violent fist fight. Sakai recalls that when the soldier's helmet fell off, he realized that he was just a 14- or 15-year-old boy. He died in Sakai's arms.

Days of brutal fighting followed. Each tree in the forest had to be earned, and the violence was beyond description.

"Artillery shells screaming at you coming in, exploding. It's the noisiest thing you can imagine, and it's hard to describe, and then bodies flying apart. People being killed in front of you. You can't describe it," said Sakai.

"It's hard to tell young people what it was like when the whole world was at war," explained Sakai.

It took five days, but they made it.

Jack Wilson remembers when the first member of the 442nd unit appeared. They almost shot him thinking it was a German trick.

"I raised that rifle up again and was just about ready to shoot, and all at once this guy raised up his hand and said, 'Hey you guys need any cigarettes?'" Wilson recalled.

Newsreel cameras captured the "Lost Battalion" coming out of the forest, owing their lives to the Japanese American unit who sacrificed dearly to reach them.

The 442nd suffered more than 800 casualties. The K Company, which started with 186 men, had 17 left. The I company, which started with 185 men, had eight men left.

The Texans promised to never forget the 442nd team, and they certainly kept that promise. They held a reunion in Houston, Texas, 65 years later, still saying thank you.

"I think they are the finest bunch of boys there ever was. They had something to prove and as far as I'm concerned, they more than proved it," said Wilson.

Former President Bill Clinton once said, "Rarely has a nation been so well served by a people so ill-treated."

The 442nd earned 21 medals of honor during World War II.

Link: Go For Broke National Education Center

In praise of San Jose’s Japantown — the JA Mayberry

this is from
NIKKEI VIEW: The Asian American Blog
Gil Asakawa’s Japanese American perspective on pop culture, media and politics

In praise of San Jose’s Japantown — the JA Mayberry
November 8th, 2009 · 3 Comments


Unlike the many Chinatowns that serve as ethnic cultural enclaves in many American cities from coast to coast, and the increasing numbers of districts variously called “Koreatowns” and “Little Saigons,” you won’t find many Nihonmachi, or Japantowns. There are lots of reasons for this, but the main one is probably the Japanese American community’s need to assimilate into mainstream America after the shame and humiliation of being imprisoned in internment camps during World War II. In the 1950s and ’60s, most JAs moved into suburban America and avoided clustering in ethnic Japanese areas.

Denver has Sakura Square, a one-block development built in the 1970s I like to call “Tiny Tokyo” because it’s ridiculously small compared to Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. And New York City has a couple-blocks of Japanese businesses that have sprouted in recent years in the East Village that might be called a “mini-Japantown” in Manhattan. Seattle’s Japantown evolved after the war into the International District, though I think it’s still anchored by the awesome, generations-old Uwajimaya supermarket.

But not surprisingly, the three Japantowns that are officially recognized as national historic districts are all in California, where the vast majority of Japanese immigrants settled in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Along with the well-known and tourist-filled Little Tokyo in LA and San Francisco’s Japantown is the Japantown area of San Jose that’s more a neighborhood than a business district.

Erin and I have traveled to and stayed at both Little Tokyo and San Francisco’s Japantown, but only visited San Jose’s J-town a couple of times. We spent a few hours there last week and we love it. Here’s why:
First, it’s not a tourist trap, with shops selling cheap trinkets and souvenirs for travelers from the US and Japan. Not that that’s so bad, but the lack of such shops is striking when you wander in San Jose compared to San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Second, unlike the other two J-towns, it’s an area where Japanese still live — and have for generations. The more citified J-towns have suffered from the outflow of the Japanese families to the suburbs, and the districts themselves have been remade by recent urban renewal projects and development. The sense of history is more palpable everywhere in San Jose, while you have to rely on preservation efforts and monuments to carry on the values of the past in LA and SF.

Third, San Jose as a city is simply more laid-back and smaller-scale. Few buildings in San Jose’s J-town rise up more than two or three stories. Many of the storefronts and restaurants probably haven’t changed much since they were originally built. Or if they have, they still feel quaintly small-town.

In fact, Erin captured the feel of San Jose’s J-town perfectly while walking down the sidewalk past older guys sitting on a bench, people waiting for their favorite restaurants to open for lunch, and shoppers ambling into the local tofu shop for the morning’s fresh, homemade tofu. “It’s like Mayberry, only for Japanese Americans,” she chuckled. “You expect to hear people say ‘Hey Shig!’ and ‘Hi Tak!’ instead of ‘Hey Andy!’ and ‘Hi Opie!’”

It’s true. This J-town feels like a time capsule of small-town America — with a Japanese cast.

The area isn’t that much bigger than Denver’s Tiny Tokyo, stretching only a few blocks in all directions. It sits north of downtown San Jose, and goes from First Street to the west to 8th street to the east, and Jackson Street to the south and Taylor Street to the north. The streets are wide and quiet, and there’s a slower pace to life than its counterparts in LA and San Francisco. Its outskirts are lined with the typical older bungalows that make up San Jose’s traditional residential architecture. You can tell some of the ones where JAs live by the manicured bonsai bushes out front.

People acknowledge and talk to each other on the street. When we were trying to decide on a lunch spot, we began talking to an older couple waiting for Gombei, an excellent restaurant Erin and I had dined at on a previous visit, to open. But a woman walking by overheard us and suggested we try a new shabu-shabu restaurant down the block that she’d eaten at and liked, called Shaburi. So we did, and had a fabulous meal with thin slices of beef and lots of vegetables cooked in personal hot pots, for under $9.

One of our favorite shops in J-town is Nikkei Traditions, which sells arts, crafts, clothing, gifts, books, CDs and DVDs made by and about Japanese Americans and Hawai’i. Half a block down the street, the grandkids of Roy Murotsune, who ran a Mobil gas station on a J-town corner for decades, recently fixed up the property and re-opened Roy’s Station as a hip coffee shop. It’s that kind of family-oriented, historically anchored place.

History is important in all of the Japantowns, but in LA and SF it’s because the community is always struggling to preserve bits and pieces of history against the march of time and money and development. They also are undergoing business and cultural evolutions as businesses are increasingly owned not by Japanese or JAs but by Koreans and others. In San Jose’s J-town, though, the respect for history is part of preservation efforts but you get the feeling that the spirit of the place is always going to be preserved and people aren’t sweating or struggling against the forces of modern economics. There are volunteer service organizations that care for elders and that promote the J-town businesses. The past, present and future seem well-cared-for here.

I’m sure that’s just a naive outsider’s view, but one reflection of that spirit is that the community is slowly but doggedly building a new Japanese American Museum that is beautifully designed to look modern and traditionally Japanese at the same time, and also fit into the residential block on which it sits. The building is right next door to the home where former Transportation Secretary (and namesake of the San Jose International Airport) Norm Mineta was born and grew up in. It’s not a jarring transition at all from the house to the new museum building.

A few buildings down and across the street is a somewhat cluttered enclave of a home converted to an art gallery, with a series of open sheds covered with partial roofing, that looks like a machine shop or mechanic’s garage of some sort. Jeanne Katsuro, who’s operated The Classic Rock jewelry store for two decades plus in J-town had just met us a half-hour before and was happily walking us around and introducing us to everyone she knew — which is apparently everyone, period.

When we walked by the ArtObject Gallery, she insisted that we visit the artist who owns the space, Ken Matsumoto.

As we approached the fenced-off backyard, Jeanne yelled for Ken, and we saw a face peek out from behind the fance. He came around to the side door of the gallery, which he has someone else run. The gallery doesn’t display his art in the current show. But he walked us into a back area behind the gallery where he has his sculptures on display. They’re brilliant, mostly using stone and carving them into gorgeous curvaceous cones or bowl shapes with flat tops, into which he bores out perfect smooth holes.

The pieces are intriguing for their use of found material (stone is about as elemental as you get) transformed by technology and industry into glossy, irresistible objects that look as if they hold messages from ancient gods.

He showed us a lot of his work, including a mockup for a residential commission for which he’s creating a sculpture, an accompanying wall that changes with the movement of the sun, and another piece at the end of a lap pool.

The piece that really moved me was one of his signature cones, created from bricks from the doctor’s house across the street that used to be where the museum is now being built. Matsumoto took many of the original bricks to recycle them in his art, and to keep the spirit of the JA community that founded San Jose’s lovely Japantown alive in new and marvelous incarnations.

For me, that’s a perfect statement on why San Jose’s Japantown is a great place: The spirit of its community lives on, effortlessly.

We’d like to visit more often… and who knows? Maybe some day we’ll be lucky enough to live there and become part of the fabric of this magical little area, this Mayberry for Japanese Americans.

Tags: Food & Dining · asian american · japan · places

3 responses so far ↓
1 Kathy Sakamoto // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:15 am

Thank you for visiting our Japantown. It sounds like you’ve hit on some of the high points of our small district. Akiyama Wellness Center will be opening soon (an extension of Yu-Ai Kai Senior Services). You’ll find a list of updated annual events on our website (usually!) – Nikkei Matsuri (501c4 npo) in the spring, SJ Buddhist Church Betsuin Obon in July, Aki Matsuri (Wesley United Methodist Church) and the Spirit of Japantown Festival (501c3-npo Japantown Community Congress of San Jose – through SB307) in the Fall. Mochitsuki fundraisers (Yu-ai Kai and Wesley United Methodist Church) both have these) in December.

The Japantown Business Association (JBA) runs the Certified Farmers Market every Sunday year round which will celebrate its 20th Anniversary in 2010. Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS) and San Jose Taiko (35th Anniversary year in 2009) both call SJ Japantown their home. A new halau occupies what used to be Soko Hardware on Sixth, Ikebana Arts (Sogetsu School) is on Sixth also next to Jeanne’s store. Ukulele Jams (ukulele instruction on Sixth), Ukulele Source (ukulele sales – high end ukuleles on 5th).

These are separate but they talk-as does everyone in Japantown. For a little place we have a lot of interest because the City of San Jose and the SJ Redevelopment Agency have been involved here with Jtown community leaders highly engaged in bringing attention to the area.

There’s more in the works, but of course, everyone has to work with the economy right now and we’re slowly making good on the work that needs to be done to further solidify the place that Japantown San Jose has in the world.

BTW-the beautiful poster that you’ve placed at the beginning of your article was designed by Tamiko Rast, who is one of Roy and Ester Murotsune’s grandchildren. She and her brother are Rasteroids Design (web design and graphic design) while sister Jasmine owns the Coffee Shop and mom, Carole owns the property. Their whole extended family is involved here in Japantown SJ.

The posters are available through Nikkei Traditions and Nichi Bei Bussan for $5 (unframed, 18″ x 24″ standard). Questions or follow up, please call! – JBA office (408) 298-4303 although email is best!

Thanks again for your interest in Japantown San Jose. (I did watch Mayberry – I liked Aunt Bee) Hope you’ll write more and come visit again soon!
2 Gil Asakawa // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:24 am

Thanks for all the helpful information about San Jose’s Japantown, Kathy! You can be sure we’ll be visiting again….
3 Arlene Tatsuno Damron // Nov 16, 2009 at 2:12 am

“Hands-on”,”handmade’, and unique are descriptives for much of what is and happens in San Jose’s Jtown, whether it be the “artisan” handmade, no-preservatives-added tofu at San Jose Tofu, Ken Matsumoto’s unique stonework, the venerated manju at Shuei-do, the handcrafts at Nikkei Traditions, the aikido, karate, kendo, and judo dojo workouts, the lattes and teas at Roy’s Station, the newspaper rolling and handcraft classes at Yu-Ai Kai, the Sak ‘n Sak banner totes and bags, the intricate tattoo art of State of Grace, the drumming of San Jose Taiko, and at Nichi Bei Bussan, our one- of-a-kind aloha shirts, “bi-bu’s”, “hang-ups”, kapogi aprons, kimono tops, tsuzumi pillows, zabuton, noren, and futons. Japantown…”the Heart of the Valley”
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Where do you come from?”

Martha Stewart needs etiquette lessons for asking an Asian American, “Where do you come from?”
This is from the NIKKEI VIEW: The Asian American Blog

November 18th, 2009 · 13 Comments
A reader named Robin, who is Japanese American and born in Iowa and bakes apple pies, sent me this email:

“I was wincing yesterday when Martha Stewart asked an asian american woman in the audience (Sumi somethingorother, who baked an apple pie for Martha’s contest) “Where are you from?” and the woman said with no accent “Oh I’m from here…New York City.”. Martha continued with the (stereo)typical line of questioning something like ‘where are you really from because if you are from Asia it’s unusual to make an apple pie’. I don’t have it verbatim but it was painful. Just another “What ARE you?” type of conversation. I really don’t think Martha is a bigot but as she is the standard bearer of suburban white women I think it was totally disappointing for her to go down that path as if it were totally fine to question someone with Asian features about where they really come from.”

She sent a link to Martha Stewart’s page for the pie show, but there isn’t a video of the entire program, at least not yet. It looks like they only upload excerpts instead of entire shows, but I’ll keep an eye out for YouTube postings of this segment.

UPDATED: Today, Robin commented below on this blog post with a clarification:

“The video is up, check at the 2:00 minute mark:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/meet-the-pie-bakers

“Verbatim it’s :
‘Where do you come from?’ (answer Here NYC)
‘Oh you do, oh, okay, because if you came from Asia this would not a typical pie, right?’ (answer ‘right…right…’ you can kind of hear the ‘what the heck!?’ in her tone)

“So it’s not as blatant as it struck me the first time but still the question and that type of follow up would be seen as really bizarre if she asked it of someone with a German name.”

It may not be as obnoxious as it could have been (I agree with Robin that Martha’s probably not a racist), but it still betrayed Stewart’s expectation that the audience member with an Asian face was a foreigner. She even sounded disappointed when the woman said she’s from New York, because Stewart wanted so badly to make her point about Asians not baking pies.
I can understand why Robin was dismayed when she first saw the exchange, and I agree that Stewart wouldn’t ask the other pie contestants where they came from — just being Asian was enough to prompt the question from Stewart.

This happens more often than you might think.

Most non-Asians I know laugh and can’t believe that this happens at all, or worse, think that it’s just a sign of Martha — or anyone — being sensitive to one’s culture to ask where they’re from. But remember, they never ask a white person with no accent where they’re from.

And yet, almost every Asian I know — old, young, all ethnicities — have had this conversation or some variation of it, with someone. It’s a sad reality of life in these United States that no matter how many generations we’ve been here, or how “American” we think we are, we’re simply not accepted as American by some … well, Americans.

Here’s how the first chapter of my book, “Being Japanese American,” which was published in 2004, starts:

“You speak such good English!”

Most Japanese Americans have probably heard this backhanded compliment, and then suffered through a variation of this conversation.

“Really, your English is so good, what nationality are you?”

“American.”

“No, really where are you from?”

“California.”

“Oh, you know what I mean. Where’s your family from?”

“California.”

Then the other person walks away thinking you’re a jerk who’s being difficult. But what’s difficult is the inescapable feeling that you were not being taken seriously as an American, not just as an American citizen but as a person who is American.

Believe me, this conversation happens all the time, even today.

And as Robin points out, when someone as prominent as Martha Stewart makes such a blind, white-privileged blunder, it sends a message to every suburban housewife of all colors (though let’s face it, I suspect the demographics of her audience skew extremely Euro-centric, and yes, I’m making a stereotypical generalization here) that people with Asian faces are all foreigners, and are not American.

And that’s NOT a good thing….

Hiroshima Back in the Holiday Spirit Saturday, Dec. 5 at the Japan America Theatre

Posted By mculross On November 17, 2009 @ 5:26 pm In English, Arts & Entertainment | No Comments

[1]
Hiroshima will present their annual holiday concert, Spirit of the Season 8, Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo. (Photo by Jaimee Itagaki)
Hiroshima returns for their 8th Annual “Spirit of the Season” holiday concert on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 pm at the Aratani Japan America Theatre, in the heart of Little Tokyo.

“We are pleased to welcome world renowned percussionist, Richie Gajate-Garcia as special guest artist this year,” said Hiroshima co-founder Dan Kuramoto. “Richie is recognized as one of the top Latin percussionists by his peers in the Modern Drummer Reader’s poll and one of the top Rock percussionists in DRUM! Magazine.

“This year our friend Roy Firestone will debut his first vocal CD (produced by us) and special guest star Terry Steele (former Hiroshima vocalist), who has just completed his 3-year “Remembering Luther (Vandross)” will join us for our 8th Spirit of the Season,” added Kuramoto.

Firestone will open the concert and Hiroshima will perform cuts from their latest CD, “Legacy.” Hiroshima’s 17th album was recently released in celebration of the band’s 30th anniversary in the industry and features remakes of Hiroshima favorite works from their first 10 years. The CD has met with rave reviews.

When Hiroshima cut their self-titled debut album in 1979, record executives at their own label placed bets that the band’s unprecedented amalgam of traditional Japanese melodies, American jazz structure and Latin percussion – an intriguing but ultimately refreshing anomaly in the waning days of the disco era – wouldn’t make much of an impact in terms of sales or critical acclaim.

Thirty years later, that label no longer exists. Hiroshima, however, has remained very much in the game. And they’ve done so by sticking to that original philosophy of blending genres to map out and promote unlikely artistic and cultural connections. After three decades, in a time when the globe grows smaller and more connected by the day, and sounds from all over that globe can be found in almost any piece of contemporary music, it appears that the world may finally be catching up with Hiroshima.

A video about the new album can be seen at http://www.headsup.com/media/HUAV3153/VideoPlayer/Video.html [2]

Holiday favorites from the “Spirit of the Season” CD plus other special holiday surprises will be performed after intermission.

“Please take the time to get your holidays off to a great start at our 8th annual Spirit of the Season Concert at the JACCC, stated Kuramoto. “Each year the event has grown–and we like to think of it as a family, community event with a vibe! And the hang. How can you beat “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” on koto?” Kuramoto concluded.
All artists’ CD’s will be on sale, including the brand new ‘Legacy’ –all at big savings for the holidays. The artists will be available to autograph CDs after the concert.

Tickets are $36.50 orchestra and $31 balcony, discounts available for JACCC members, groups of 10 or more, students and senior citizens. For concert information or to buy tickets on line (service fee) visit www.jaccc.org

Check the Hiroshima website at: http://hiroshimamusic.com [3]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article printed from Rafu Shimpo: http://rafu.com/news

URL to article: http://rafu.com/news/?p=6808

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://www.rafu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Hiroshima-web.jpg

[2] http://www.headsup.com/media/HUAV3153/VideoPlayer/Video.html: http://www.headsup.com/media/HUAV3153/VideoPlayer/Video.html

[3] http://hiroshimamusic.com: http://hiroshimamusic.com

Stature Is Not A Matter Of Height: Short Visit, Lifelong Impression

VOX POPULI: Stature Is Not A Matter Of Height: Short Visit, Lifelong Impression

Posted By ngunji On November 5, 2009 @ 3:18 pm In Columnists | 2 Comments



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PFC Larry "Shorty" Takeshi Kazumura (possibly the shortest soldier to serve in the U.S. Army) and Lt. Joseph Lawrence Byrne. (Courtesy of U.S. Army Signal Corp)
By Robert Horsting

===

The Sunday before Memorial Day Iwas listening to the comments of NPR commentator (Cowboy Poet) Baxter Black. He recounted an afternoon sitting with his son and dad (asleep in his chair), having just watched a documentary about the USSEnterprise, in which men stayed with wounded comrades rather than swim to safety. The film reminded him of his dad, “Grandpa” Tommy, who served in the navy. Whenever asked about his service “Grandpa” Tommy would jokingly reply, “Isaved the world.” With Memorial Day approaching, Mr. Black said he would say, “Thanks Grandpa Tommy, for saving the world,” as soon as he awoke from his nap.

That account brought to my mind one of those men of World War II. Putting thoughts of personal safety aside as he dove into the heated fuel-filled water of Pearl Harbor to retrieve bodies and remnants of sailor’s floating in the midst of the wreckage of the battleship, Arizona. The attempts had the ring of futility to my ears as he expressed that those he pulled to docks were beyond needing help, but it was a job that needed to be done. This action evoked the image of a statuesque sailor of Hollywood movies (circa 1940s) or the strong swimmer’s physique of Johnny Weissmuller (Olympic swim champion/Tarzan), so you might be surprised to read that Larry “Shorty” Takeshi Kazumura stood a towering 4’-9”.

As the Japanese attack unfurled with the sound of machine fire and the explosions of torpedoes hitting the moored ships, Mr. Kazumura (a member of a civilian work-crew) was busy loading lumber onto a ship, bound for another island. This cargo stayed at Pearl Harbor, quickly fashioned into coffins for the overwhelming body count, which was buried in long trenches by the harbor. Mr. Kazumura was the only man of Japanese heritage left on the base (to his knowledge and for unknown reasons), the others having been escorted off with their arms raised in the air as he watched them march away. Working a 36-hour shift, his prolonged exposure to the fuel and other chemicals in the water resulted in a six month long illness.

I had the honor of meeting Mr. Kazumura in 2007, when he agreed to participate in an interview with the Go For Broke National Education Center’s, Hanashi Oral History Program. Originally born and raised in Hawaii, he later settled in Seattle, Wash. where he joined the Nisei Veterans Committee (NVC). The NVC arranged our introduction and participated in the interview.

Shocked by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and angered by the death of his two friends, Mr. Kazumura felt compelled to volunteer his service at the first opportunity. The 100th Battalion (a segregated Japanese American unit) was formed mainly from members of the Hawaiian Territorial Guard and Hawaii based Nisei (second generation) soldiers already in the service when war was declared. The US Military decided to expand the recruitment of these hard training soldiers to include servicemen and volunteers from the mainland, and then returned to Hawaii to fill the additional 1,500 men needed to form the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Mr. Kazumura seized the opportunity to join the ranks. He was initially turned away with the phrase, “Son, you’re too short.” Overwhelmed by the crush of 10,000 volunteers to fill the 1,500 spots, the initial onsite physicals were dispensed with. He made it past the first station when standing erect, he declared to an officer that his height was 5’ or 5’-2”, he didn’t quite remember. The skeptical officer sent him to the next station and the stature of his determination got him into the unit…that and a later discovered clerical error that lists his height at 5’-8”.

“Shorty” spoke of how the issued uniform—designed with the average non-Asian in mind—hung off his body, the sleeves reaching the floor. It evoked the image of a boy wearing his father’s uniform on-for-size. As many of his fellow soldiers, he would have to have the uniform altered. Boots proved to be another challenge, as he was issued a pair of size 8 boots to fit his 2-1/2 EEEfeet. His account conveyed both the difficulty of training, as the length of the newspaper-filled boots gave him little traction on a field march, and the comical appearance of oversized clown shoes. Our crew found many opportunities for laughter, because he spoke in a light easy manner, with the ability to see a situation as others might and having the gift of being able to laugh at himself.
Despite his height, “Shorty” had a very strong physique, which was strengthened by a year-plus of training at Camp Shelby, Miss., before the 442nd received orders to ship out and deploy to Europe in May 1944. He also possessed a keen sense of direction, which he proudly proclaimed, won him the first Private First Class rank within his unit, during their first week of training. This ability assured the men of his group that they would find their way back to camp during night-maneuvers training.

[2]
Larry "Shorty" Kazumura
“Shorty” was assigned scout and runner (messenger) duties and served as a bodyguard for 1st Lt. (and later, Capt.) Joseph Lawrence Byrne. Shorty’s height provided a stark visual contrast to that of Byrne’s 6’-3” frame. The two soldiers got along very well due to the mutual respect for each other’s abilities, which resulted in their teaming up to survey the landscape whenever ICompany would relocate to a new area. Shorty expressed concern that Lt. Byrne’ height would make him an easy target for the Germans to zero-in-on. He quickly came to the conclusion that your height really doesn’t matter; recounting an incident where he received nicks and bruises from shrapnel, kicked-up rocks and debris, while Byrne standing next to him was unscathed.

We heard a story that illustrates the fact that the enemy is not always in uniform and easy to recognize, when he spoke of being given a drink by a kid at a hospital in Rome. Despite warnings never to accept a drink from an opened bottle, he was so thirsty that he immediately drank it, only to find it contained fuel. This resulted in the life-long sensation of heartburn whenever he drank liquids.

On July 6, 1944, Shorty was sent to deliver a message to Battalion Head Quarters. Coming through the grape vines, he was struck by debris when a nearby farmhouse was hit. While it did not cause in any open wounds, he sustained a concussion, which left him stunned and numb. The concussion caused him to forget the message he was to deliver. The next day they moved out, though Shorty he later heard that according to the forgotten message, they were not supposed to.

On July 7, at Hill 140, Lt. Mike Kreskosky was hit in the forearm by shrapnel, leaving only an inch of skin to prevent it from falling to the ground. Acting quickly, Shorty pulled him to safety and applied a tourniquet, saving the Lt’s life. Moments after applying the tourniquet he too was struck in the head resulting in a fractured jaw and causing him to spend over a month recuperating in the hospital. Lt. Byrne, having witnessed this action, wrote the recommendation that resulted in Shorty’s Bronze Star.

Shorty credits Capt. Byrne for saving his life. After his return to the unit following his recuperation, the Capt. had him transferred to the Supply Depot. He remained at this duty through the end of the war. Soon afterwards the 442nd was redeployed to the Vosges Mountains of eastern France. Remembering the difficulty Shorty had marching in the pine-forested terrain around Camp Shelby, Capt. Byrne sent him to Naples, Italy to buy proper fitting boots. He came away with twelve pairs of size 3EEEs. The famed journalist, Lyn Crost later contacted Shorty in an attempt to get a pair of these boots, but he had worn-out all of them on the lava of Hawaii. He sent her a tracing of his foot, which was used make a duplicate pair, now on display at the Smithsonian Museum.
After the fierce battles to liberate the towns of Bruyeres and Biffontaine the 442nd was pulled off the frontline to regroup after sustaining heavy casualties. This rest would be cut short (about 36 hours) as they were summoned to what would historically become their most famous battle, to rescue members of the 141st Regiment’s 1st Battalion, who had been cut-off by the Germans, in the Battle of the Lost Battalion. Capt. Byrne was killed by a “Bouncing Betty” (an antipersonnel mine), the day before the Lost Battalion battle. Noting the closeness of these two soldiers, Maj. O’Connor called Shorty from HQ to tell him about the loss of his officer and friend. Years later, at his wife’s suggestion, Shorty would honor the memory of Capt. Lawrence Byrne by adopting the name Larry as his own.

Upon his return to the United States in 1946, Larry went to visit his friend, Terumi “Terry” Kato at Walter Reed Hospital. Terry attempted to set him up with a woman from the USO, but since she was already dating someone, she suggested he correspond with her sister June. Though they wrote extensively, they actually never met until he sent her a one-way ticket to Hawaii. After their marriage they lived in Hawaii until June convinced him to move to Seattle, where she had been raised. Initially he voiced the concern that he didn’t want to give up the warmth of Hawaii for the winters in Washington, but she put his fear to rest by assuring him that it does not snow in Seattle. They arrived on April 1, 1949 to find 4” of snow on the ground… April fools!

[3]
Kazumura (Courtesy of GFBNEC/video)
After a 32 year career at Boeing, raising a family of five children, and spending a lifetime with his wife June (until her passing in 1981), Larry retired to a life of enjoying his friendships with fellow veterans at the Nisei Veterans Committee Hall, gardening and fishing, a hobby he was so good at he received complaints from friends that couldn’t eat them fast enough to match his ability to provide a fresh catch.

Larry passed away on March 24 at the age of 88. Though I only met him on this one day, over the course of a 3-hour interview, he made an impression on me that will last my lifetime. His love of life and the joy of sharing were immediately apparent. His is a wonderful example of dealing with adversity and emerging with a positive attitude, a lesson Iwill hold close.

I’m grateful to Mr. Larry “Shorty” Takeshi Kazumura for taking the time to share his story. Iwant to express my condolences to his family and friends, those whose lives he touched and for whom his passing left a void that Ihope will be filled by the memory of a life lived to the fullest.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Betty (Kazumura) Carr and Paul Murakami for their assistance in verifying the timeline of Larry’s life. I also wish to thank the Go For Broke National Education Center (Torrance, Calif.) and Densho (Seattle, Wash.) for access to their archive interviews.

During the course of writing this article, I was informed of the passing of Munetatsu “Moon” Saito, of Company K. I met him during his interview prior to the 60th, 442nd Reunion and over the years we’ve enjoyed sharing some meals, maybe a wine or two and many telephone conversations together. I will miss you my friend. Farewell.
===
Robert Horsting is the producer, director and writer of the documentary, “Citizen Tanouye.” The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo

Texas vets reunite with Japanese-American rescuers.

Texas vets reunite with Japanese-American rescuers
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Yahoo! Bookmarks Print AP – Ret. Pfc Al Tortolano, 88, of Santa Clara, left, and Ret. Pfc George Sakato, 88, of Denver, Colo. chat … By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer Juan A. Lozano, Associated Press Writer – Sun Nov 1, 11:15 pm ET
HOUSTON – Even though it was 65 years ago, Al Tortolano clearly recalls the one thought, the only thought, that ran through his mind as his military unit was surrounded by German soldiers during World War II.

"About the only thing you could think of was family. Will I ever see my family again?" remembered the 88-year-old Tortolano, part of what was dubbed the "Lost Battalion."

It was October 1944 and Tortolano was part of the 1st Battalion, 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division — a Texas military unit that was surrounded by German soldiers in northern France's Vosges Mountains.

The prayers of Tortolano and the other members of the 1st Battalion were answered by the Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit made up almost entirely of Japanese-Americans. The 442nd broke through the German ranks and was able to free the 1st Battalion.

The epic and bloody rescue, which lasted several days, became one of World War II's most famed battles. The 442nd suffered 814 casualties as it rescued 217 men.

"I still can't thank my fellow veterans enough for what they did," said Tortolano, who stood next to his wife Alice, who also expressed her gratitude to the 442nd.

Tortolano was among 40 members from both units who gathered in Houston on Sunday, marking the 65th anniversary of the rescue at a fundraising gala hosted by the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation. Although the units had reunited once before, this was the largest meeting of surviving members of the two groups.

Jimmie Kanaya, a veteran of the 442nd — whose members after WWII were proclaimed "Honorary Texans" by Gov. John Connolly — said there is permanent a bond of brotherhood between the men of both units.

"We feel like we are part of each other. We became one," said the 89-year-old, who lives in Gig Harbor, Wash.

The bond was apparent as the more able-bodied veterans helped those in wheelchairs or using canes stand up on stage at Sunday's event. During the reunion, the men hugged one another and exchanged stories of the war and of their lives since then.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the veterans of the 442nd are "men of the noblest heart and the greatest courage."

The 442nd became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history, he said.

"Their courage, valor, dedication are values we hold dear as a country — and to do this in what clearly was one of our darkest hours," Mullen said, referencing that many of the 442nd's members had families who were held in internment camps by the U.S. government while they served in the military.

Kanaya said he found it ironic that men who wore the same uniform he did were guarding his parents and sister at an internment camp in Idaho.

"We had to prove we were loyal Americans," Kanaya said. "We were caught between a rock and a hard place. We just had to give it our all."

Tortolano, who lives in Santa Clara, Calif., said he is even more grateful for what the 442nd did considering the discrimination they faced.

"They were sent into some battles other (units) wouldn't go to," he said. "In some ways they were treated as second-class citizens. But they proved they were true Americans."

This story I found on the angryasianman blog



11.02.2009

reunion commemorates rescue of "the lost battalion"
This is a really interesting Associated Press story on members of two American military units that fought during World War II who reunited in Houston over the weekend, marking the 65th anniversary of rescue of the "Lost Battalion": Texas vets reunite with Japanese-American rescuers.

In October 1944, the 1st Battalion, 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division from Texas found themselves surrounded by German soldiers in northern France's Vosges Mountains.

When it seemed like all hope was lost, they were rescued by the Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit made up almost entirely of Japanese Americans. The 442nd broke through the German ranks and was able to free the 1st Battalion.

The epic and bloody rescue, which lasted several days, became one of World War II's most famed battles. The 442nd suffered 814 casualties as it rescued 217 men.

Forty members from both units gathered on Sunday at a fundraising gala hosted by the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation in Texas. Although the units had reunited once before, this was the largest meeting of surviving members of the two groups.

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president obama signs executive order on aapi initiative

This is from the Angry Asian Man blog
I like the fact at the bottom that Wat Misaka was there.

president obama signs executive order on aapi initiative
Today, President Obama signed an executive order reestablishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: Obama restores federal panel on Asian-Americans.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Initiative, which was created by President Clinton to improve the quality of life in underserved AAPI communities through increased participation in federal programs.

Here's video from today's signing. And here's the transcript of remarks by the President at the executive order signing and Diwali event, made today in the East Room of the White House:
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT AAPI INITIATIVE EXECUTIVE ORDER SIGNING AND DIWALI EVENT

East Room

3:46 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Well, good afternoon, everybody. Please be seated. Welcome to the White House. I'm glad you could join us today as I proudly sign this executive order reestablishing the President's Advisory Commission and White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Now, when we talk about America's AAPI communities, we're talking about the industry and entrepreneurship of people who've helped build this nation for centuries: from the early days, as laborers on our railroads and farmers tilling our land, to today, as leaders in every sector of American life, from business to science to academia, law and more.

We're talking about the creative energies of musicians like the singers Penn Masala -- we appreciate them -- who performed today. And we're talking about the competitive spirit of athletes like Wat Misaka, who played for the New York Knicks back in 1947 -- the first non-white player in the NBA -- and who served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Mr. Misaka is here as well today and -- where's Mr. Misaka? There he is. Thank you so much. (Applause.)

We're talking about the public service of leaders like Secretaries Gary Locke and Steven Chu and Eric Shinseki and the folks on stage with me today. And we're talking about the courage and the patriotism and sacrifice of heroes like the members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team who served in World War II, including Terry Shima. Please give him a big round of applause. (Applause.) Mr. Shima is the Executive Director of the Japanese American Veterans Association, and we are grateful that he took the time to be here today.

Some of their families had been interned. Some had been interned themselves. But they still insisted on fighting for America, and went on to become the most highly decorated unit of their size in history.

And one member of the regiment, Private Jake Kirihara, whose parents were held in a camp here in America while he fought overseas, later said: "... even though this wrong was done to us, there was never any question whether America was my country. If America needed me to help, I'll do it."

So this proud tradition of service continues today in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world, carried on by folks like Tammy Duckworth, my dear friend who's here today. (Applause.) Tammy is a decorated member of our National Guard, a passionate advocate for our wounded warriors, who is now serving as our Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Veterans Affairs Department. I'm proud to have her on board and pleased that she could join us today.

And on a personal note, when I talk about America's AAPI communities, I'm talking about my own family: my sister, Maya; my brother-in-law, Konrad; my beautiful nieces, Suhaila and Savita; and the folks I grew up with in Indonesia, and in Honolulu, as part of the Hawai'ian Ohana, or family.

Our AAPI communities have roots that span the globe, but they embody a rich diversity, and a story of striving and success that are uniquely American.

But focusing on all of these achievements doesn't tell the whole story, and that's part of why we're here. It's tempting, given the strengths of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, for us to buy into the myth of the "model minority," and to overlook the very real challenges that certain Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are facing: from health disparities like higher rates of diabetes and Hepatitis B; to educational disparities that still exist in some communities -- high dropout rates, low college enrollment rates; to economic disparities -- higher rates of poverty in some communities, and barriers to employment and workplace advancement in others.

Some Asian American and Pacific Islanders, particularly new Americans and refugees, still face language barriers. Others have been victims of unthinkable hate crimes, particularly in the months after September 11th -- crimes driven by ignorance and prejudice that are an affront to everything that this nation stands for.

And then there are the disparities that we don't even know about because our data collection methods still aren't up to par. Too often, Asian American and Pacific Islanders are all lumped into one category, so we don't have accurate numbers reflecting the challenges of each individual community. Smaller communities in particular can get lost, their needs and concerns buried in a spreadsheet.

And that's why I'm signing this executive order today, reestablishing the advisory commission and White House initiative created by President Clinton 10 years ago. Because when any of our citizens -- (applause) -- when any of our citizens are unable to fulfill their potential due to factors that have nothing to do with their talent, character, or work ethic, then I believe there's a role for our government to play. Not to guarantee anybody's success or to solve everybody's problems, but to ensure that we're living up to our nation's ideals; to ensure that we can each pursue our own version of happiness, and that we continue to be a nation where all things are still possible for all people. That's the impact that our government can have.

It's the impact of a Small Business Administration that offers loans to Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs whose small businesses sustain so many communities around the country. It's the impact of a Department of Health and Human Services that funds research on the diseases that disproportionately affect Asian American and Pacific Islander families. It's the impact of a Justice Department that upholds the Voting Rights Act and its promise of language assistance and equal access to the polls. And it's the impact of evidence-based research and data collection and analysis on AAPI communities -- so that no one is invisible to their government.

All of that is the mission of this initiative and commission -- to work with 23 agencies and departments across our government to improve the health, education, and economic status of AAPI communities. The initiative and commission will be housed in the Department of Education, and they'll be co-chaired by Secretaries Arne Duncan and Secretary Gary Locke, both of whom have devoted their lives to promoting opportunity for all our citizens.

And I think it's fitting that we begin this work in the week leading up to the holiday of Diwali -- the festival of lights -- when members of some of the world's greatest faiths celebrate the triumph of good over evil.

This coming Saturday, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, here in America and around the world, will celebrate this holiday by lighting Diyas, or lamps, which symbolize the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. And while this is a time of rejoicing, it's also a time for reflection, when we remember those who are less fortunate and renew our commitment to reach out to those in need.

While the significance of the holiday for each faith varies, all of them mark it by gathering with family members to pray and decorate the house and enjoy delicious food and sweet treats. And in that spirit of celebration and contemplation, I am happy to light the White House Diya, and wish you all a Happy Diwali, and a Saal Mubarak. (Applause.)

(The White House Diya is lit.) (Applause.)

Now I'm going to sign this bill -- sign this order.

(The executive order is signed.)

All right. There we go. (Applause.)
It looks like Wat Misaka, the first non-white player in the NBA, was in attendance, as well as Tammy Duckworth and several Japanese American veterans of World War II.

The mission of this initiative and commission is to work with 23 agencies and departments across the government to improve the health, education, and economic status of AAPI communities. The initiative and commission will be housed in the Department of Education, and they'll be co-chaired by Secretaries Arne Duncan and Secretary Gary Locke. The executive order is available for download here.

Fight on Muni bus might be the 30 stockton or 9 san bruno

Actually saw this on Angry Asian man blog
This crazy-ass video just landed in my in box, and I honestly don't really know what to say, so I'll just post it. This is an altercation that happened on the San Francisco Muni in Chinatown, apparently over a bus seat. It had been going on for a little while before this guy started recording, expecting something to go down. It did.

As you can see things get extremely heated, profane... then violent. One lady throws the first punch, then it's on. This version of the video appears to have some of the translation of what everybody's saying.

Props to the younger Asian American woman who tried to get in to the middle of the two women to break it up. Probably just trying to get to work, and hell breaks loose. Anyone who regularly rides on Muni has seen their share of crazy stuff. Just another bus ride, I guess. (Thanks, Leanne.)

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bicyclist has racist encounter with motorists in san francisco

This is from the angry asian man's blog
bicyclist has racist encounter with motorists in san francisco
I recently heard from Danika, who was riding her bicycle in San Francisco and had an alarming, racist encounter with a car full of harassing idiots earlier this week, and sends us this message as a warning:
On Monday, September 14, 2009 around 6pm I was on my way home from work on my bike as I do every work day. Except on this day, I not only got verbally harassed, but racially harassed by two men in a BMW. Seriously! As I was riding down Embarcadero, I heard a car honking and some guys yelling. I ignored it not giving it much thought. A few seconds later the car pulled up next to me and the men in it started yelling at me (every other word was fucking or bitch or both) and telling me to stop at red lights. I crossed an intersection (Embarcadero and Battery) on a red light seconds before it turned green (I know but I made sure no cars and pedestrians were inconvenienced in any way and as soon as I started peddling the light turned green). The verbal assaults didn't stop there. They continued to follow me down Embarcadero driving erratically and yelling at me calling me a "fucking Asian bitch" and that "behind a bad driver is an Asian driver" and that they "wished that I died" over and over again. They swerved into the bike lane from time to time trying to scare me or cause me to fall off my bike. I yelled back but at this point I'm really upset and frightened. Eventually, fearing for my safety, I got off my bike and walked up to them in the middle of the street. I was very close to punching them but realized that if I did, nothing would happen to them and I would end up in court. At one point the car passed by me so I got the car's license plate in case the car did hit me. Here's what I'm asking of you, please note this car and warn as many bicyclists/people as possible. The car is a dark silver BMW m3, two doors, and looked very new. The CA license plate is: BYE GIRL (I'm serious that was their license plate).

I've been harassed many times as a bicyclist in San Francisco. I've been harassed for my race/ethnicity and gender many times. Most of the times for no reason at all. However, this time they went way too far. Yelling at me once is fine. Following me in their car, driving into the bike lane, yelling racial epithets, and wishing death upon me is not fine.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Danika
More here: A San Francisco Bicyclist's Terrifying Commute Home. This is for bicyclists and Asians alike in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. There are a couple of racist assholes driving around in a dark silver BMW with the California license plate BYE GIRL.

Bicyclists get a hard time from motorists all the time, but this time, these guys went too far -- following Danika, driving into the bike lane, yelling racial epithets and wishing death on her. Not cool. Watch your back out there.

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Nichi Bei Times Decides to Close; Nonprofit Hopes to Continue Legacy

Nichi Bei Times Decides to Close; Nonprofit Hopes to Continue Legacy
Published in the Nichi Bei Times Weekly Aug. 20-26, 2009.

By JUSTINE KOO DRENNAN
New American Media

The Nichi Bei Times’ board of directors has decided to close Northern California’s oldest Japanese American newspaper on Sept. 30 of this year after 63 years of business. In its place, a group of Nichi Bei Times staff and community members plan to start the Nichi Bei Foundation, a separate nonprofit reincarnation of the paper.

Kenji G. Taguma, the Nichi Bei Times’ vice president and English edition editor, has pioneered plans for the new Foundation because he believes the paper is an essential voice for Japanese Americans.

“Today, I see the paper as the glue that holds the community together,” Taguma said.

Decline in circulation and advertisements were chief reasons for the decision to close the Nichi Bei Times, said Ken Abiko, board chair of the paper, whose circulation base of around 8,000 includes primarily Northern California readers.

As the growth of online news, changing audiences and the economic downturn force media to close or consider new business models, Japanese media have been hit harder than many other ethnic media.

“Japanese American press are not seeing the same pickup that other ethnic presses are seeing, because immigration from Japan is limited, and the advertisers know that,” Abiko said. However, the ethnic media’s financial troubles do not signal a diminished need for their services.

“Media in general is going through a great crisis and reorganization, but within that we need to keep remembering that the ethnic media is the voice of our community,” said journalist, writer and activist Helen Zia. “As members of those communities, we have to support them or we’re going to lose those voices.”

Abiko said the Nichi Bei Times’ financial decline began long before last year’s economic downturn. In 2006, Taguma led a major overhaul of the paper that cut subscription prices in an effort to increase circulation and divided the bilingual daily into a Japanese edition on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and an English weekly on Thursdays. However, revenues continued to decline, and now after three years of the new model, as the business’ lease is about to expire, the board has decided it is time to close.

“I’m glad we did what we did in these last few years. Kenji did a tremendous job,” Abiko said. “Hopefully it’s a model for what it could be.”

The Nichi Bei Times is the first for-profit ethnic news business that will be replaced by a nonprofit organization with the same aims, Taguma said. The new Foundation will attempt to avoid the Nichi Bei Times’ financial problems by drawing on foundation funding and community fundraisers as well as traditional advertising for revenue, said Kerwin Berk, a Foundation board member.

Berk, who used to work for the San Francisco Chronicle, long ago became dissatisfied with the mainstream media’s lack of ethnic coverage. “The joke was I was working for the white ethnic press,” he said. “The way the mainstream media approaches news, there’s an obligation to make money, so they tend to appeal to a demographic that can afford them: white America.” With the Nichi Bei Times closing, Berk said, there will be “a huge gap to fill.”

Helen Zia agreed. “Demographic trends show that we will have more and more different communities and cultural backgrounds, which points to the greater need for media that reflects those communities,” she said. Zia noted the essential role of Spanish-language media in calling for immigration reform during the Bush administration and Chinese-language media in lobbying for a City College campus in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Ethnic media is “capable of tremendous organizing potential,” Zia said.

It was organizing potential that motivated the Nichi Bei Times founders to start the paper in 1946 as a re-embodiment of the Nichi Bei Shimbun, which was founded in 1899 by Kyutaro Abiko, grandfather of Ken Abiko. The Shimbun had to shut down in 1942 when the U.S. government imprisoned Japanese Americans, including Shimbun staff, in concentration camps following Pearl Harbor. After the war, starting the Nichi Bei Times was “a way to get the community reconnected,” Taguma said.

The young newspaper immediately began organizing donations to help rebuild postwar Japan. Since then, the paper has consistently covered hate crimes and other news important to Japanese Americans that the mainstream media has neglected. In 1998, the paper published a story by Taguma that helped win redress for families of railroad workers and miners fired after Pearl Harbor but left off the government’s 1988 redress act.

“The Nichi Bei Times has been a vital communication link in the community for many years,” said Andy Noguchi, contributor to the Nichi Bei Times and civil rights co-chair of the Florin chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. “Their role in promoting Japanese rights, Japanese culture and political empowerment has been very important for the community.”

The paper has promoted the rights of not only Japanese Americans, but also other groups who struggle with issues familiar to the Japanese American community. As many American Muslims faced post-Sept. 11 backlash, the Nichi Bei Times staff, remembering the wartime Japanese American incarceration, reported on their struggles.

“Coverage of the same-sex marriage issue has been very strong,” Noguchi said, explaining that the Nichi Bei Times saw parallels with former anti-miscegenation laws that until 1967 forbade interracial couples marry in 16 states.

“One of the most awesome things about the newspaper is that it is a document of history,” Taguma said. “People look back at old newspapers to see what the community was like.”

While the Nichi Bei Foundation hopes to continue the Nichi Bei Times’ activist role, it will be an entirely different entity on a business level. Regulations for 501(c)3 nonprofits prohibit a for-profit business like the Nichi Bei Times from simply converting to a nonprofit without making major changes in its governance and operations.

“Nonprofits aren’t supposed to be operated in furtherance of private interest,” said Gene Takagi, the Nichi Bei Foundation’s nonprofit attorney. “There are limits on compensation, and they can’t move their assets back to for-profit.”

While these restrictions deter many businesses from going nonprofit, Takagi said, they have not stopped Taguma, Berk and the other Foundation board members.

“This group of board members is not really driven by making money,” Takagi said. “They’re interested in keeping this paper alive for the Japanese American community.”

The Nichi Bei Times’ board of directors has not yet announced whether it will agree to transfer assets such as the business’ name, Website and archives to the Foundation.

As they await this decision, Taguma and others involved in the Foundation can give few specifics about the new paper, and the Foundation’s need for start-up funds exacerbates the uncertainty. The new paper will not enter 501(c)3 nonprofit status for a few months, making it until then ineligible for foundation funding.

“It will depend really on support of the public through donations,” Takagi said.

Despite these doubts, Taguma hopes that after the last Nichi Bei Times issue runs on Sept. 10, the Nichi Bei Foundation will not miss a beat in publishing its first issue on Sept. 17.

Given dwindling immigration from Japan, the Foundation’s board is uncertain whether it will continue the Japanese-language side of the paper.

To appeal to the younger generation, Taguma hopes the Foundation will continue the Nichi Bei Times’ modernization efforts, which have included expanded coverage of food, anime, manga and video games, introduction of online content, a mixed-race issue and a green issue, the first of its kind among Asian American publications.

Taguma also wants to continue the paper’s Tofu Dessert Competition, where this year the winner was a strawberry tofu tiramisu.

Berk hopes that as a nonprofit, the Foundation can offer scholarships and increase community involvement. “Community columns and stories will be even more pivotal,” Berk said.

Jon Funabiki, journalism professor at San Francisco State University, said he hoped the Foundation’s nonprofit model “might offer lessons to other ethnic news media serving other Asian, Latino, African American, Middle Eastern and other communities.”

For more information about the Nichi Bei Foundation, visit http://nichibeifoundation.org.

image by Rodger Takeuchi/Nichi Bei Times

Pictures of JA memorial in Washington DC

this is from Jeffrey K's relative

from Seouldiva blog a truly inspiring speech by Jennifer Hayashida

While I was there, I heard a truly inspiring speech by Jennifer Hayashida on the state of Asian American Studies in higher education. I was so moved, I asked her to send me a copy of the speech so I could share it with everyone:

2009 APA Heritage Month Celebration

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

City Council Chambers, City Hall, New York City

Jennifer Hayashida

I am here as an educator at Hunter College, where I have been the Program Coordinator and Acting Director of Asian American Studies for the past two years. So, here’s the good news: about 30% of Hunter’s student body self-identifies as Asian or Asian American. And, the entire CUNY system serves more than 40,000 Asian American students – taken together, that’s as many students as there are enrolled at most large state schools, like one of the larger Penn State campuses, or UCLA.

But, it’s not just about the numbers: Asian American Studies is about more than just serving percentages of Asian American students – it is about how Asian American history is American history, Asian American experience is American experience.

To list just a fraction of what we do in Asian American Studies classes at Hunter, we study the relationships between first generation parents and their second-generation daughters and sons – in other words, we study the lives of you many of you in this room. We look at novels and poetry by Asian American writers; we look at how what happens in Pakistan impacts Asian American communities right here in New York City.

To sum it up, we look at events and experiences from U.S. history that are frequently overlooked or given just one page in the high school history textbook. These big gaps in what students learn lead to gaps in how they experience themselves as Asian Americans – just that term, “Asian American,” means that we insist that we can be both Asian AND American, that we do not have to choose between being foreign and being the invisible model minority. We began this struggle 40 years ago at San Francisco State College, and we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

Right now, I frequently have students who enter my classes with no idea about the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, WWII Internment of Japanese Americans, or hate crimes against Filipino men who wanted to marry white women in the 30s. Students don’t know that Chinese Exclusion is a precedent for the Patriot Act, that Japanese Internment predates post-9/11 detention and deportation of South Asians. Students don’t know that Depression-era anti-miscegenation legislation against Asian Americans is currently being examined as part of the legal debate around gay marriage.

Asian American history and experience – our “heritage” – is a cornerstone of American history and identity, but right now it is buried and inaccessible to most of the students, Asian American or not, of our city.

This knowledge is especially vital to our young people who are arriving as first- or 1.5- generation immigrants, who find themselves between cultures and identities, and who are struggling to find a place where they don’t have to pick between being foreigners or being invisible. Learning about their ancestors’ experiences gives them a foothold in America. And, just as importantly, learning about Asian American history can build bridges between Asian Americans and other communities of color.

It is our responsibility to advocate for the rights of our daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, cousins, and, for that matter, fathers and grandmothers, to be able to attend schools in this city and expect to learn about APA heritage, the heritage we are here today to celebrate. That way, we can celebrate the triumphs of people like Fred Korematsu, who ultimately received justice from the Supreme Court, fifty years after he was jailed for refusing to be interned. Or we can celebrate the 1965 Immigration Act, which eliminated the restrictions on immigration from Asia and made it possible for many of us to be here today. Most importantly, we can then truly celebrate the everyday accomplishments of the communities we live in today, because we will have a better understanding of where we come from, the obstacles we have triumphed over, and the work that is left before us.

~ by seouldiva on Wednesday, May 20, 2009.