In what ways did the Nisei impact the lives of future generations of Americans of Japanese

Descent living in the United States?

The Nisei Legacy [A personal account]:

Spearheading the Path to Personal Justice in America

Kristy Ishii

AP United States History

Mr. Moore

May 27, 2011

"I really think this "ethnic freedom" thing is going too far!" -Miller

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Kiyo Sato, the only woman in the Veterans of Foreign War (VFW), Nisei Post 8985,

wrote a novel called Dandelion Through the Crack, and began her story with this definitive

dedication:

To my parents and their Issei generation, who navigated the treacherous waters of the

depression, racial prejudice and internment, and delivered us, the Nisei generation, to safe

shores, for which we are eternally grateful. 1

Kiyo was one of the many Nisei who impacted the lives of the third, fourth and fifth generations

of Japanese Americans. Nisei literally means, "born in a new country," but in America, this term

refers to the generation of children of Japanese immigrants who were born as American citizens

in the United States. The Issei, parents of Nisei, were the first generation of Japanese

immigrants to start a new life in America. The courageous Nisei spearheaded the path to justice

for future minorities and helped initiate the first step towards attaining equal rights for all

citizens of the United States. The Nisei legacy taught the world to live isamashiku, valiantly and

with courage, no matter what adversity people face. 2

There had always been conflicts between the United States and Japanese governments.

Interest over the Pacific, as well as arms superiority, were ongoing issues between these two

powerful nations. In the fall 1907, American Naval hero Richmond Pearson Hobson, contributed

to the anti-Japanese sentiment by stating his opinion in the Hearst Press: "By taking over China,

Japan will soon be able to command the military sources of the whole yellow race…Japanese are

the most secretive people in the world…The Yellow Peril is here…Absolute control of the

Pacific Ocean is our only safety."3 The U.S. feared that the Japanese immigrants were going to

take over the American West Coast, and following World War 1, the tensions between the two

nations escalated.

There were other struggles that plagued Japanese life during the 1900s: the weak emperor

Taisho (1912-1926); The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923; and the depression of 1929. 4 Aside

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from political conflicts with the West, Japan had had some brewing conflicts with China since

the 1890s, because the need to be the strongest Asiatic nation was a top priority in both

countries. The Sino-Japanese war erupted on August 1, 1894, over which country should have

control in Korea, a Chinese tributary state. 5 The strong Meiji government defeated Qing China,

but the arrogance of the new leadership brought the Japanese into a economic crisis for the next

couple decades.

The Meiji government felt that it was essential to have new markets and imported goods;

however, many natives suffered because the Japanese market could not compete with foreign

goods. Foreign imports of cotton, sugar cane, wax tree and rapeseed oil, and paper products

were available at much cheaper prices and were of better quality. The farmer's situation

worsened as the price for rice declined each year. Even the booming silk industry could not

compensate for Japan's inability to flourish in the modernized agricultural markets in other

nations. Adding to the problems within the agriculture industry was the emphasis on the military

and the expenses that came with wars and keeping up the Naval forces. For example, the Sino-

Japanese War, which lasted from 1894-1895, cost Japan two hundred-thirty three million yen.6

Money from the central government was heavily allocated toward modernization of the army and

improving the navy, which greatly impacted the agricultural sector of Japan's economy and led to

many frustrated taxpayers and impoverished families who were starving to death.

These economic changes brought attention to the exemptions in Japan's national

conscription law. Many young Japanese were taking advantage of studying or working abroad

since these emigrants were exempt from being conscripted into the army. In fact, the men who

left overseas would stay there until reaching the age of thirty-three, since that was the age-limit

for being enlisted in the army.7 By the time these men returned to Japan, they could work

without being bothered by the military conscription administration. The only way to protect a

male member of the family was to send him off to study or work abroad; thus, Gotaro Ogawa,

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author of Conscription System in Japan, suspects that one possible reason for the great increase

in Japanese emigration during 1894 was due to the strict conscription laws and the Sino-Japanese

war draft. 8

Upon reaching the shores of Hawaii, and later, the Western Coast of the United States of

America, Japanese emigrants were welcomed because they were a new source of hard-working

laborers for the cane fields and ranches. These emigrants were viewed as a replacement for the

Chinese farm laborers who were banned from immigrating to America by the Chinese Exclusion

Act of 1882. Coming from poverty, Japanese immigrants took whatever jobs they could find.

They began as laborers, moved up to tenantry, and gradually made it all the way to the point of

purchasing their own land; however, this farmland was solely the poor land that no American

wanted for himself. By 1940, Japanese emigrants and Japanese Americans owned 1,575 farms

altogether, which comprised 71,000 acres of farmland throughout Washington, Oregon, and

California.9 Despite the fact that Japanese farms accounted for less than two-tenths of one

percent of all the farm lands in these three coastal states, these farms produced over $37,000,000

worth of crops in 1940.10 In California alone, the Japanese owned farms produced 95% of the

fresh snap beans, 51% of the snap beans for canning, 40% of the fresh green peas, 50% of

canning tomatoes, 67% of fresh tomatoes, 34% of the cabbage, 95% of the spring and summer

celery, and 44% of the onions.11 Also produced were large quantities of peppers, strawberries,

cucumbers, artichokes, cauliflower, melons, and spinach. Moreover, the importance of Japanese

agriculture in America was growing rapidly and the American Dream was beginning to look like

a reality for the successful Issei (first generation Japanese) farmers. Only the language barrier

and fear of the unknown American culture inhibited the Issei from flourishing without racial

discrimination.

Anti-Japanese protestors pressured the government to issue a restriction against Japanese

Americans; the Alien Land Law of 1913 (the Webb-Heney Act).12 This law prohibited future

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land purchases by foreigners ineligible for citizenship and forbade them from acquiring leases

for more than three years. In the years to come, there were several more minor restrictions

placed on the Japanese people living in America, but no law was capable of completely ending

all Japanese immigration. The anti-Japanese sentiment was rallied by four major organizations:

The Native Sons of the Golden West; The American Legion; the California State Federation of

Labor and the California State Grange.13 All of these groups wanted to increase restrictions on

the Japanese because they felt that these "Orientals" were preventing the U.S. from reaching its

highest potential as a nation.

The Japanese were accused of being "inassimilable," and were considered part of the

"Yellow Peril" along with the Chinese immigrants; however, these assumptions were

unjustifiable. The United States feared that an "Oriental" power, either Japan or China, was on

the verge of invading America, and this fear was transformed into the catch phrase, the "yellow

peril." 14 These fears of powerful Asiatic nations began to emerge after Henry George, an

American writer and economic politician, voiced his opinion about California's struggle against

Chinese immigration just after the American Civil War. In order to gain support from the Eastern

states, he warned the public that:

The 60,000 or 100,000 Mongolians on our Western Coast are the thin edge of the wedge

which has for its base the 500,000,000 of Eastern Asia…The Chinamen can live where

stronger than he would starve. This quality enables him to drive out the stronger

races…[unless Chinese immigration is checked]…here plain to the eye of him who

chooses to see are dragon's teeth [which will] spring up armed men marshaled for civil

war.15

The United States' main fear was that Japan was going to become one of the most

powerful nations the world. The spark that caused a permanent shift to America's completely

negative sentiment towards Japan was initiated by the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War of

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1904-1905.16 Before this war, many Americans had believed that Japan was a harmless nation,

because the United States had acquired Hawaii "without a hint of trouble," according to

government officials.17 However, the shots fired at Mukden and in Tsushima Strait were shots

heard around the world, because this Russo-Japanese War marked the first time in the modern

era that a colored nation had defeated a white nation. From 1905 on, the Europeans belief in the

"yellow peril" increased dramatically. With the help of William Randolph Hearst, fears of the

Japanese people were spread throughout the United States via the San Francisco Examiner

Newspaper and Hearst Press. On December 20, 1906, the front page of the Examiner stated,

"JAPAN SOUNDS OUR COASTS: Brown Men Have Maps and Could Land Easily."18 A

couple days later, an article came out saying that the Japanese immigrants were actually Japanese

soldiers in disguise:

Japanese in companies of forty are having infantry drill after dark [in Hawaii] two or

three nights a week [and are] armed with rifles…the Japanese of Hawaii have secreted

enough rice to feed the entire population for seven months. There have been recent

arrivals of Japanese troops in the guise of coolies who are secretly preparing for

hostilities. 19

During the early 1900s, Japanese Americans could only turn towards their "Little

Tokyos," Japanese communities, because they were not accepted anywhere else in America. The

Japanese did not choose to live in "Little Tokyos," they were forced to live in their own

communities by strict land laws. The white man's fear of the "Yellow Peril," a phrase that

suggests that Asians are colored yellow and disrupt the peaceful, American lifestyle, led many

Caucasians to believe that Asian immigrants took away job opportunities from the white

population, and threatened their wages and standards of living.20 The White population on the

West Coast blamed the Japanese for all the economic problems in California. Anti-Japanese

sentiment led to the formation of one of the most well-known organizations that now fights

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against all forms of racial discrimination , the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). The

JACL became the leading Nisei organization in the 1930s; however, during this time, the league

could not change any government laws because the majority of the generation were young

nineteen and twenty-year olds, and the Issei (their parents) were not legal citizens.21 For years,

the Japanese Americans struggled to attain their equal civil rights in America, but they could do

little to end the prejudice.

As members of the Nisei generation came of age, not only did they take over the

businesses of their parents, but they also wanted to become more involved in the world outside

of Little Tokyo communities. Since the land laws could not restrict the American-born Japanese

Nisei generation from owning their own farmland, the shift from farm labor, to farm

management, to tenantry and ownership skyrocketed, as seen in the table below:

1930 1940

Managers 1,816 249

Tenants 1,580 3,596

Owners 560 1,290

*Approximate figures for California 22

As a result, Caucasian farmers began to feel threatened by the idea that Japanese

Americans were competing with their businesses rather than working under their authority. This

single fear was why the root of the idea for Japanese evacuation as a "military necessity" was

born.

The first American immigration laws started with the Naturalization Act of 1790, which

prohibited any Chinese immigrant for becoming an American citizen; however, the extent of

discrimination increased drastically in the following years. Throughout San Francisco, anti-

Japanese protests emerged during the 1890's and grew fiercer in the 1900s. On May 7, 1900, at a

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protest in San Francisco, Mayor James Duval Phelan expressed his feelings about Japanese

immigration and further implemented a fear of Japanese immigrants in the public:

The Japanese are starting the same tide of immigration which we thought we had

checked twenty years ago...The Chinese and Japanese are not the stuff of which

American citizens can be made...Personally we have nothing against Japanese, but as

they will not assimilate with us and their social life is so different from outs, let them

keep at a respectful distance. 23

These beliefs spread like wildfire among the Americans residing in California, and influenced a

growing hostility towards Japanese Americans.

Another objective for the anti-Japanese organizations (ie., Japanese Exclusion League

1905) was to segregate children of Japanese ancestry from all schools. On December 11, 1906,

Asian children were barred from white primary schools, even though there were only 93

Japanese students total in San Francisco schools.24 President Roosevelt was embarrassed by this

incident and went on the make negotiations with Japan to restrict immigration in a respectable

way, so as not to insult their country. Furthermore, Roosevelt made an agreement with the San

Francisco School Board telling them that he would restrict immigration if they rescinded all of

their discriminatory laws and refrained from passing new restrictions in the future. After

negotiations were made, an Executive Order was issued barring any further Japanese

immigration from Hawaii, Mexico and Canada on March 14, 1907.25

Later in the year of 1907, the Gentleman's Agreement was made with Japan. Under this

agreement, Japan stopped all valid passports from being issued to workers heading for the United

States, and restricted the number of Japanese who went overseas to live with a family member

they already had living in the States. 26 This agreement slowed Japanese immigration greatly;

however, a large number of men who resided in the U.S. began bringing brides for arranged

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marriages in America. Native Californians thought that Japan was trying to circumvent the U.S.

government policies and anti-Japanese sentiment began to boil once more.

Discrimination became more noticeable when the Nisei wanted to train to become

doctors, lawyers, and dentists or find jobs outside of the family farm. In 1922, the Supreme

Court extended the Naturalization Act of 1790 to prohibit the naturalization of any Oriental

(meaning the inclusion of Japanese).27 College graduates, like Kinya Noguchi, who graduated

from Cal State University of Sacramento with a degree in business, felt cheated out of their hard

work and education by being stuck on the family-run farms.28 The Nisei constantly battled

against the discrimination towards the Japanese Americans and other Orientals, and felt so

desperate and frustrated with life because the American society would not allow them to advance

in any occupation, no matter how qualified and able they were for the job. Despite the fact that

this new Nisei generation could speak and understand English, the Japanese American was

always, "the last to be hired, the first to be fired." 29

During the Great Depression, unemployment had reached unprecedented heights, and

anti-Japanese sentiment was rising because the employees being laid off were mostly Caucasians

Americans, not the "yellow" Japanese Americans. As it became apparent to the U.S. government

officials, that the Japanese were forming stronger organizations within their Oriental

communities and were establishing a place for themselves in the farming industry in America,

the Americans began to become suspicious of the Japanese and their motives to succeed in the

States. Many Caucasian citizens accused Japanese of being spies, and investigations began in

1931. According to Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, a professor at San Francisco State University, here

are some very significant events that led up to the evacuation of all Americans of Japanese

descent:

July, 1941 Presidential Executive Order freezes all Japanese assets in U.S. and causes run on

Japanese banks. U.S. places an oil embargo on Japan.

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Aug. 1941 On the 18th, in a letter to President Roosevelt, Representative John Dingell of

Michigan suggests incarcerating 10,000 Hawaiian Japanese Americans as

hostages to ensure "good behavior" on the part of Japan.

Nov. 1941 On the 12th, fifteen Japanese American businessmen and community leaders in

Los Angeles Little Tokyo are picked up in an F.B.I. raid.

Dec. 1941 The attack on Pearl Harbor. Local authorities and the F.B.I. begin to round up the

leadership of the Japanese American communities. Within 48 hours, 1,291 Issei

are in custody.

Feb.1942 On the 19th, President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 which allows military

authorities to exclude anyone from anywhere without trial or hearings. Though

the subject of only limited interest at the time, this order set the stage for the

entire forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans.

March 1942 On the 2nd, Gen. John L. DeWitt issues Public Proclamation No. 1 which creates

Military Areas Nos. 1 and 2. Military Area No. 1 includes the western portion of

California, Oregon and Washington, and part of Arizona while Military Area No.

2 includes the rest of these states. The proclamation also hints that people might

be excluded from Military Area No. 1.

*Timeline from Ben Kobashigawa's reader and Internment Camps Site 30

There had been countless rumors spread from families in Hawaii to the mainland telling

government officials that the Japanese-American population was aiding the native Japanese

attackers by being spies for the homeland and causing distractions for the U.S. military. By the

end of December in 1941, a report by the Roberts Commission on Pearl Harbor was sent to the

War Department stating, "...that careful investigation has disclosed that there had been no

sabotage during or after the Pearl Harbor attack." 31 Thus, the Joint Chiefs of Staff concluded

that "a major invasion of the U.S. mainland by the Japanese was unlikely," and this information

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was passed along to the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson. 32 Even DeWitt himself did not

believe an invasion was likely to occur; however, after a few conferences with Major Karl

Bendetsen and Provost Marshall General, DeWitt fell under pressure from these military men

and went on to propose a plan that established zones of exclusion and restriction for the

Japanese. Then on January 25, 1942, the tables turned and another report from Pearl Harbor's

Roberts Commission claimed that there was newfound evidence of Japanese subversion and

espionage on the Islands. 33 It was later revealed that there truly was no espionage in the Islands,

but nevertheless, Executive Order No. 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt on February 19,

1942, incarcerating over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. 34

Kinya Noguchi was one of the thousands of American citizens who were placed into the

internment camps, and was one of many Nisei who spearheaded the path for future generations

of Japanese Americans. Mr. Noguchi faced discrimination throughout his entire life, despite his

accomplishments as a deputy and sergeant of the Sacramento Sheriff's Department. Kinya had

been the very first minority deputy officer hired in Sacramento, California, and after years of

hard work, he received the Peace Officer Award; however, even this accomplishment did not

dissipate the discrimination surrounding him. With a persistent mind, Kinya ignored all of the

bigotry entrenched in the officers, and made it all the way up the ranks to Lieutenant. Only then,

with the title of Lieutenant, did people begin to respect and acknowledge his presence in the

office. His role in the history of Japanese Americans is very significant because he held the

gateway open for the younger generations of minorities, with his perseverance, poise, and

courage. Kinya made a lasting impression in the law enforcement for the next generation of

Japanese Americans, which gradually propelled the inclusion of all minorities.

Kinya's long journey to justice began when he was born in Kent, Washington, on

November 16, 1927. 35 His parents were born in Japan, and they had moved to the United States

during the early 1920s to get away from the pressures of finding a decent job during the

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economic hardships. Kinya was only 14 years old, a freshman in high school, when his family

was given the order of evacuation. He found it difficult to understand the purpose behind

evacuating. Before being sent to the permanent Tule Lake Segregation Camp in northern

California, Kinya was sent to Pinedale Center in California (a temporary camp).

In the Pinedale Center, the Japanese families were given questionnaires to fill out, to test

their loyalty or disloyalty to the United States. The two infamous questions that were directed

towards the young Japanese males were Questions 27 & 28:

Question 27. Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat

duty, wherever ordered?

Question 28. Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and

faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces,

and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other

foreign government, power or organization? 36

All of the men who answered "no" to these two questions were labeled the "NO-NO boys." 37

These NO-NO boys, which included Kinya, were sent to Tule Lake because of their disloyalty to

the United States. Tule Lake was a total of 7,400 acres, and held 16,000 "rebellious" evacuees,

but there was one person who influenced Kinya's "No-No" answer the most. 38 This was his

second oldest brother, Itsuki, who was a communications commissioner in the Japanese Navy

and was killed in the Battle of Midway. Since his brother was enlisted in the Navy, Kinya felt a

slight allegiance to Japan, but he said that aside from that one connection, his heart was strictly

behind the United States of America. 39

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Figure 1. Itsuki Noguchi of Japanese Navy. Story of An American Video40

The discrimination within the camps was not as harsh as it was outside in the American

cities, where racial slurs and forms of segregation for the Japanese immigrants and Japanese

American citizens were pervasive. Racism was at its highest point during the years after 1945,

when Japanese Americans were released from the internment camps. Here are a few examples:

Figures 2. Racist Poster.41 Figure 3. Newspaper.42 Figure 4. Bulletin Post.43

The most difficult thing for any person coming from camp was to find a job that would

accept a Japanese American. When Kinya graduated from Sacramento State with a degree in

business, no one would hire him. Sears, Arrowjet, and many other businesses, declined his

employment applications, and the best job he was ever offered was being a clerk for Sears.

Kinya felt that that was a job not nearly good enough for him, especially after all of his hard

work in college. He took the Civil Service test, in the county of Sacramento, as a deputy sheriff;

however, the office only hired the top ten applicants. In an interview with Mr. Noguchi, he told

me, "Fortunately I was one of the top ten, and that's when all the trouble started." 44 Because he

was one of the top ten applicants, the Sheriff's Department could not refuse him. The only place

that they allowed him to work, because of his ethnicity, was in the prison. During his working

hours, he faced discrimination left and right, through newspaper cartoons, articles, and isolation

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at work from all but one other deputy in the office. This Asian cartoon character (Fig. 5)

represents Kinya was from a department flyer, and it said, "I really think this "ethnic freedom"

thing is going too far."

Figure 5. Cartoon.

Noguchi Home Video45

Kinya went to the captain about this cartoon and asked for retraction; however, nothing was done

about the insulting publication. Kinya did not take any legal actions against Miller, the man

whom Kinya learned was responsible for drawing the cartoon, because being a typical Nisei, he

was taught "not to make any waves" that could harm the perception of Japanese Americans. 46

Kinya told me something that perfectly described the motivation behind the Nisei:

You always had that feeling inside, that because of what happened to me, you should put

more effort and determination into bettering yourself. Saying, "I'm gonna out do these

people," was the mindset of the Nisei. My parents always said, "You might've been put

in camp, and been called a "Jap," but you're still a better person than they are. And you

show it to them by doing better and by excelling, and by getting an education. That was

what the older Issei did to me. They said, "Go out there and try to be somebody. And if

you try to fix legal problems go through with it by the law." The Nisei were able to

control their emotions, which helped the us come out ahead, despite having taken in all of

the criticism.47

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Not only did the other officers ignore Kinya's existence as a deputy, but the inmates at the

prison also threw racial slurs at him when they were brought in: "Are you a chink or Jap? Who

gave you the authority to wear this uniform?"48 There was only one Chief that paid any respect to

Kinya, and his name was Roy Coy. When Roy was given the control of the prison, he gave

Kinya the responsibility for 400 inmates.49 This single assignment was the first real one given to

Kinya, and he was proud to accept it.

Being in charge of a prison was the only choice he had because of his skin color and

Japanese ancestry. During his time as deputy, he asked the Chief he could have one of the caps,

shields, and uniforms that all of the other officers were given. The response he received from

Personnel Captain McVaye, was condescending towards Kinya: "You don’t need one, because

you don't need one in the jail. You just mind your business."50 Only after persistent begging was

Kinya given all of the required uniform accessories that the Caucasians wore during their days at

the Sheriff's Department. When Kinya went into work on day one, to get his I.D. card, the man

registering the officers said, "What the hell you doing here? We don't need your kind of guys,

people like you."51 That was the way Kinya was greeted at his job in the Sheriff's Department.

Kinya laughed after telling me about the incident and finally said, "Then I became his boss."52

During the early years of his occupation, Kinya lived in an environment where he was not

wanted, and it was difficult for him to survive with so much hatred surrounding him. Even after

being named the recipient of the Peace Officers Award in 1967, out of the 400 other deputies,

Kinya still did not earn any of the officers' respect.53 It took three years and eight months until

Kinya was promoted to lieutenant.54 This single event caused a significant shift of attitudes

between him and all of the other deputies. For the first time in all his years at the department,

Kinya was acknowledged as a human being.

In 1960, an affirmative action program was enacted, and the county of Sacramento had to

accept more minority applicants.55 During that time, the Sherriff's department hired three

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Hispanic officers and two African American officers. The significance of Kinya Noguchi's

success is not only that he was a leading Nisei for the Japanese Americans, but he was the first

minority to ever become a deputy or lieutenant in California law enforcement. According to

Kinya, the strict height requirement of five feet, nine inches was established for the protection of

the officers; However, after the Affirmative Action policy was issued, the height requirement

was dismissed, which opened the door for other minorities who might have not met that

requirement in previous years.56

As Sergeant, Kinya was commander of six Caucasians, two Hispanics, and one African-

American deputy.57 Later one, he was given the responsibility for his own sector of the prison

management, the Women's Detention facility.

Figure 6. This facility was later named

The Noguchi Wing after Kinya Noguchi Nisei Home Video.58

This was the first separate women's jail in Sacramento, and seventeen women deputies needed to

be hired and trained. None of the other officers wanted this responsibility, dealing with women,

so this job was left for Kinya. Kinya said:

You know, after I became commander of the Women's Detention Facility, it became

quite interesting because people changed their attitude towards me. They said, 'If he has

enough courage to be commander of a women's facility he must be alright.' Because

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nobody would take it. Why you ask? If you knew women officers back then, you'd know

why…they complain about work shifts and whether or not I liked one more…etc."59

Prior to the affirmative action program, no women were employed at the Sherriff's Department.

All of the other men did not want any part of teaching women the ropes of becoming a deputy;

thus, Kinya had seventeen women to train. He said, "It was very emotional trying to manage

people, especially because many of the women were part of the Bircher Society."60 Kinya

explained what the Bircher Society was: "Birchers were very conscious of minorities, they didn't

like minorities"61 This Women's Detention Facility was the very first separate female facility

established in northern California, and a wing of the facility was named after Kinya Noguchi in

his honor.

Despite his accomplishments, the Sheriff's department still restricted Kinya from being a

patrol officer, investigator, detective, or a commander, which limited the experience he needed to

lead him to being a captain, his ultimate goal. When asked about how he reacted to the racism he

faced, Kinya said that the Civil Service protected him from being fired strictly because of his

Asian ancestry. He felt as though he needed to be careful with his words, and the way he reacted

to the discrimination. He adopted the nickname, "stone face," because he never expressed

emotion or smiled when at work. The picture below show the typical expression of Kinya during

his hours at work:

Figure 7. Kinya Noguchi.

Home Video Ishii.62

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He retired from the Sheriff's department after eight years, and he came away with the belief that

there was a great need to stop the racism in America.

Figure 8. Kinya's Lieutenant Plate.63 Fig. 9. Entry and Retirement Plaque.64

In 1965, Kinya joined the Japanese American Citizens League, and in 1968 he became

the president of the Sacramento JACL chapter.65 He traveled around to different schools with a

group of Veterans of Foreign War, Nisei Post 8985, to Saint Mary's College and other campuses

around the state. This Nisei VFW group gave presentations together for thirteen years in order to

tell the legacy of the persistent Japanese Americans who defeated discrimination and racial

injustice; the group began with fourteen veterans, and now there are only four left to tell the

story. Kinya believes that racism is, and always, will be here in America, but it's up to the

younger generations to understand it better. 66 His goal in speaking to the younger generations

was to make sure that the future citizens of America do not forget what happened to the Japanese

Americans, and to instill in them the idea that something like the internment camps should never,

ever happen again to any minority or majority.

Figure 10. VFW Group. Home Video.67

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In addition to Kinya's breakthrough in law enforcement, the Nisei in the 442nd Regiment

proved to the United States and the world that they were just as good as the other Americans at

fighting for their country. Kinya gave me insight about the day that President Truman

acknowledged the Japanese regiment during WWII, which is something that he has not forgotten

since the day it played across the nation on television. Truman invited veterans to the East Lawn

at the White House, and told the Nisei, "You've overcome prejudice, and you fought the battle.

And you won both. Keep up the good work," which was his final statement to the 442nd

Regiment. 68 The 442nd Regimental Combat Team proved Japanese Americans' loyalty to

America, and helped spearhead the path towards racial justice for the Japanese Americans.

As the Nisei reached adulthood, their parents often mentioned, "Hajii," a word that means

it's a disgrace to marry outside of the Japanese ethnic group (Kinya believed this was a form of

racism that the Issei held within them). 69 The Nisei generation helped create a path for the

younger generations because they had developed a better understanding of the American life

than their parents. The Issei generally refused to do things that were against the law, even if it

proved that peoples' civil liberties were being restricted. On the contrary, the Nisei adjusted to

the American culture, and realized that there was more to life than conforming to the life of a

farm laborer. Jeanne Sakata, a playwright-actress, produced a play called, "HOLD THESE

TRUTHS: Then Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi," that defined one Nisei's courageous

character.70 This one person play was performed at the Salinas Assembly Center on February 27,

2011 by Ryun You.71 Ryun accurately portrayed Gordon's modesty in challenging those who

failed to uphold the Constitution and Bill of Rights:

[This play] is inspired by the true story of Gordon Hirabayashi, then a 24-year-old Nisei,

Quaker, and University of/ Washington senior, who during World War II, openly defied

and legally challenged government orders to forcibly remove and imprison all of

Japanese ancestry on the West Coast, without trial or hearing. His trial went all the way

Ishii 20

to the U.S. Supreme Court, raising profound questions about the spiritual principles in the

Constitution and our country's struggle to live up to them. 72

Another bold Nisei named Fred Korematsu, who was ordered to evacuate his home once

said, "I really hope that this will never happen to anybody else because of the way they look,

even if they look like the enemy of our country." 73 Korematsu has become a national civil rights

hero, because he refused to go to the U.S. government's incarceration camps for Japanese

Americans at the age of twenty-three. On December 18, 1944, after he appealed his case all the

way up to the Supreme Court, the final decision ruled against Korematsu, arguing that the

incarceration was justified due to military necessity.74 Korematsu was indeed "guilty" of

remaining in the military area contrary to the exclusion order. Without the persistence of this

young Nisei, the unconstitutionality of the incarceration of Japanese Americans would never

have been questioned. The length of time of took for the United States government to realize

that the Japanese Americans were being treated unjustly was embarrassing, but thankfully justice

prevailed (40 years later):

In 1983, Prof. Peter Irons, a legal historian, together with researcher Aiko Herzig-

Yoshinaga, discovered key documents that government intelligence agencies had hidden

from the Supreme Court in 1944. The documents consistently showed that Japanese

Americans had committed no acts of treason to justify mass incarceration. With this new

evidence, a legal team of mostly Japanese American attorneys re-opened Korematsu’s 40

year-old case on the basis of government misconduct. On November 10, 1983,

Korematsu’s conviction was overturned in a federal court in San Francisco.75

These Nisei were viewed as outcasts and criminals in society, yet they were only trying to prove

that the incarceration of 120,000 innocent evacuees was unjust. Cases such as Korematsu v.

United States and Hirabayashi v. United States magnified the corruption in the United States

government. Jeanne Sakata once said, on behalf of the play, "HOLD THESE TRUTHS..." that

Ishii 21

"I feel it is an important story for all Americans, as it underscores how vitality important it is to

take the words of our constitution to heart."76 Without this newfound spirit of defiance against

unjust laws, which was found only in the Nisei and not the Issei, the future generations of

Japanese Americans would have never attained full American citizen rights.

The most important contribution of the Nisei was that they overcame the racial barriers

that were instilled in them by their ancestors, and that they were able to accept and integrate with

the American culture and diverse races. As each generation passes, the cultures and ethnicities

blend together, and the need for understanding each other's differences will become essential to

living peacefully. Following in the path of the Nisei generation are two Sansei (third generation

Japanese Americans), General Shinseki, my third cousin, and Robert Matsui (Kinya's neighbor at

Tule Lake), who both have made great political strides in America. "The survival of the second

generation depended on taking advantage of its racial position and cultural uniqueness to

circumvent racism," but the following generations are becoming greater influences in the United

States government, which was always just a fantasy for the Issei.77 The Sansei General Eric

Shinseki is now the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and has won numerous awards

for his leadership in the military. In addition, one of the neighbors that Kinya Noguchi babysat

during the years he spent at Tule Lake, Robert "Bobby" Matsui, began a political career and

became Congressman for the Sacramento district. During his political career, which began in

1971, Matsui succeeded in passing one of the most memorable laws of all time, at least in the

mind of Kina Noguchi. The Civil Liberties Act was passed in 1988, and produced an official

apology signed by President Bill Clinton, for the unconstitutional incarceration of Japanese

Americans during World War II.78 Along with this apology came a token of "compensation" for

all of the land stripped away from the Japanese and all of the misery that the Issei had to struggle

through. The sad truth is that only 65, 000 internees were still living when the apology letter

was sent out with the $20,000 dollar check.79

Ishii 22

During the summer of 2009, I traveled to Japan as a student ambassador of the City of

Salinas, and was taught the four "P's" of the Japanese culture: precision; patience; punctuality;

politeness. The single most important word that I thought had been left out of this description of

the Japanese culture was "perseverance." In 1991, Priscilla Blinco conducted a study that

measured Japanese (elementary school) students' persistence. She found a very significant

outcome after giving Japanese and American first graders a very difficult puzzle to sort out and

measuring how long they worked at it before giving up:

The American children lasted, on average, 9.47 minutes. The Japanese children lasted

13.93 minutes, roughly forty percent longer.80

The Nisei acquired these four "P's" from their Japanese ancestors, which helped them persevere

through all of the racial hardships that so many Japanese Americans encountered before, during,

and after being forced into the internment camps. Kiyo Sato's inspiring novel, left a message to

her mother that I will never forget:

We know that a child born with a darker skin faces challenges that a white-skinned child

may never experience…You gave us the tools of patience and love and you helped us to

understand the art of shikataga nai, to accept what cannot be changed.81

"Rejection, no matter how small, pierces people's souls forever."82 The Nisei legacy of

determination and persistence, to become accepted in America, has inspired and encouraged the

younger generations of Japanese Americans to strive to be what they are destined to become, and

accomplish their goals as proud, American citizens.

Ishii 23

Citations

1. Kiyo Sato. Kiyo's Story: Originally Called Dandelion Through the Crack. (New York:

Soho Press, Inc., 2007), dedication page.

2. Ibid., 335.

3. Ben Kobashigawa, “Japanese Americans in the United States Reader- AAS 331 (Fall

1987)” (PhD diss., Sacramento State University, 1987), 50

4. Timeline of History of Japan, http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2129.html

5. The Sino-Japanese War, http://sinojapanesewar.com/

6. Ben Kobashigawa, "...Reader", 19.

7. Ibid., 21.

8. Ibid., 23.

9. Ibid., 36.

10. Ibid., 37.

11. Ibid., 37.

12. Ben Kobashigawa, "...Reader" 34.

13. Ibid., 44.

14. Ibid., 49.

15. Ibid., 49.

16. Ibid., 50.

17. Ibid., 50.

18. Ibid., 50.

19. Ibid., 50.

Ishii 24

20. Ryun Yu, Hold These Truths: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi, directed and

written by Jeanne Sakata, Salinas Assembly Center: the Santa Lucia Room, Salinas, CA,

February 27, 2011.

21. Ben Kobashigawa, "...Reader" 89.

22. Ibid., 42.

23. Ibid., 42.

24. Ibid., 43.

25. Mas Hatano, Sojourners, Japanese, directed by Mas Hatano, Sacramento Betsuin

Buddhist Temple: Room 1, Sacramento, CA, April 24, 2011.

26. Ben Kobashigawa, "...Reader" 40.

27. Ibid., 40.

28. Nisei: Story of An American, DVD, directed by Dean Noguchi (1987; Sacramento,

CA: Dean Noguchi Production Home Video, 2011).

29. Ben Kobashigawa, "...Reader" 34.

30. Ibid., 39.

31. Ibid., 139.

32. Ibid., 140.

33. Ibid., 142.

34. Ibid., 142.

35. AP U.S. History Research Paper Interview: Kinya Noguchi, DVD, directed by Kristy

Ishii (2011; Sacramento

36. Ben Kobashigawa, "...Reader" 192.

37. Nisei: Story of An American, DVD, directed by Dean Noguchi.

38. AP U.S. History Research Paper Interview: Kinya Noguchi.

39. Ibid.

Ishii 25

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.

42. Ibid.

43. Ibid.

44. Ibid.

45. Ibid.

46. Ibid.

47. Ibid.

48. Ibid.

49. Ibid.

50. Ibid.

51. Ibid.

52. Ibid.

53. Nisei: Story of An American, DVD, directed by Dean Noguchi.

54. AP U.S. History Research Paper Interview: Kinya Noguchi.

55. Ibid.

56. Ibid.

57. Ibid.

58. Nisei: Story of An American, DVD, directed by Dean Noguchi.

59. AP U.S. History Research Paper Interview: Kinya Noguchi.

60. Ibid.

61. Ibid.

62. Ibid.

63. Ibid.

64. Ibid.

Ishii 26

65. Ibid.

66. Ibid.

67. Ibid.

68. Ibid.

69. Ibid.

70. Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL Newsletter, “Liberty Lost...Lessons in Loyalty,”

Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL, 1-3.

71. Ryun Yu, Hold These Truths: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi, directed and

written by Jeanne Sakata, Salinas Assembly Center: the Santa Lucia Room, Salinas, CA,

February 27, 2011.

72. Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL Newsletter, 1-3.

73. Ibid.

74. Ibid.

75. Korematsu Institute. http://korematsuinstitute.org/aboutfred/, 2011.

76. Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL Newsletter, 1-3.

77. Ben Kobashigawa, "...Reader" 117.

78. AP U.S. History Research Paper Interview: Kinya Noguchi.

79. Kiyo Sato. Kiyo's Story, 334.

80. Malcom Gladwell. Outliers. (Little, Brown Company, 2008), 196.

81. Kiyo Sato. Kiyo's Story, 334.

82. Ibid., 335.

Ishii 27

Bibliography

AP U.S. History Research Paper Interview: Kinya Noguchi. DVD. Directed by Kristy Ishii. 2011; Sacramento, CA: Kristy Ishii Home Video, 2011.

Burton, Jeffery F., and Mary M. Farrell. Tule Lake Segregation Center . Arizona: United States

Department of the Interior, National Park Service handout, 2005. Gladwell, Malcom. Outliers. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Kashima, Tetsuden. Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation

and Internment of Civilians. Washington: University of Washington Press, 1997. Kobashigawa, Ben. “Japanese Americans in the United States Reader- AAS 331 (Fall 1987).”

PhD diss., Sacramento State University, 1987. Korematsu Institute. http://korematsuinstitute.org/aboutfred/, 2011. Kumamoto, Bob. "The Search for Spies: American Counterintelligence and the Japanese

American Community." Amerasia Journal, 1931-1942. Quoted in Ben Kobashigawa, “Japanese Americans in the United States Reader- AAS 331 (Fall 1987).” PhD diss., Sacramento State University, 1987.

Mas Hatano. Sojourners, Japanese. Directed by Mas Hatano. Betsuin Buddhist Temple: Room 1,

Sacramento, CA, April 24, 2011. Murray, Alice Yang. What did the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean?. Bedford: St.

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Noguchi Production Home Video, 2011. Ryun Yu. Hold These Truths. Directed by Jeanne Sakata. Salinas Assembly Center: the Santa

Lucia Room, Salinas, CA, February 27, 2007. Sato, Kiyo. Kiyo's Story: Originally Called Dandelion Through the Crack. New York: Soho

Press, Inc., 2007. The Sino-Japanese War. http://sinojapanesewar.com/

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Timeline of History of Japan. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2129.html Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL Newsletter. “Liberty Lost...Lessons in Loyalty.” Watsonville-

Santa Cruz JACL, March 2011, 1-3.

extra photos? hahhha not in report though…