Established: 1902
5196th Ave S.
Seattle WA 98104
(206)623-0100
mail to: info@napost.com |
   
Serving As Your Voice of the Nikkei Community Since 1902
Vol. 63, Issue 22 / May 21, 2008
Now Huskies, after 66-year long journey
By Shihou Sasaki
The North American Post
Former Nikkei students who attended the University of Washington in 1941-1942 stand in front of Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington this Sunday before their honorary degree ceremony.
Photo by Shihou Sasaki
(click photo to enlarge)
 |
A 66-year journey for hundreds of Nikkei (Japanese Americans) finally ended at their destination point - being Huskies.
About 450 former UW students, whose college lives were interrupted during World War II, received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, honoris causa, nunc pro tunc (now for then)" this Sunday at their home campus.
Honored by the university as well as local community organizations during the weekend, their happy-ending graduation was also a big reunion after the 66 years of passage with smiles, tears and closure of the bitter memories.
On Dec. 7, 1941, after Pearl Harbor, the lives of all 449 Nikkei, the second biggest number in the states following the University of California Berkeley, turned drastically, quitting the school for family protection, drafted by the military or attending classes under prejudice, discrimination and enmity by other schoolmates.
"Evacuation orders were posted on the telephone poles all over the city," said Chiyo Nakata Horiuchi, a professional educator as well as a UW honorary degree recipient. "I was accommodated to take exams early and packed for camp."
Sooner or later, their homes were relocated to the grounds of Puyallup Assembly Center in May surrounded by barbed wire, guard towers and armed guards.
"My immediate action was to get the heck of out of there," she said. "We were raised as an American citizens, and we did not belong there."
The University of Washington sent diplomas to the center's fairground the next month for Nikkei who earned enough credits to graduate. Nakata Horiuchi was one of them.
"It was a total let down after four years of college to receive a degree at the fairground," she said.
With the UW's support, many students fortunately continued their academic lives by transferring to other colleges. But others were relocated to the incarceration camps.
After World War II, with the Nikkei's return to Seattle, nearly 100 students came back to the UW to earn degrees, but most of them did not come back to their "home campus," according to research by the UW Nikkei Alumni Association (UWNAA) in 2006 - 2008.
Nearly 70 students served in the military during World War II.
Twelve of them were killed in action.
Chiyo Nakata Horiuchi gives a "graduation speech" in front of 800 ceremony attendees in Kane Hall.
Photo by Shihou Sasaki
 | This Sunday, the degree recipients stood in front of Suzzallo Library for a memorial photo session as they did in 1941. About 70 members out of the 449 gathered for the photo session, but many of them, all over 80 years, sometimes did not remember each face until reading their names.
It never looks the same as the year of 1941. In the research, UWNAA also found that over half of them had passed away in the 66-year period.
"I can recognize people only by their names because everybody is old," said Robert Yoshihiko Handa, a UW freshman in 1941.
Handa, a Military Intelligence Service veteran, was surprised to see Hiro Nishimura, another MIS veteran as well as an honorary degree recipient at the ceremony. Last time they saw each other was 30 years ago.
"All of us are age over 80s," MIS veteran Takashi "Tak" Matsui said in Japanese. "It's frightening to realize that the 66 years have passed so fast."
Matsui, a senior of the UW in 1941, returned to the school and earned a bachelor's degree in 1950.
"Many of us had passed away," he added.
In Kane Hall, when UW professors Gail Nomura and Stephen Sumida called the names of recipients, over 800 other attendees recognized many historic figures including; Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi, who fought the unconstitutional orders to incarceration camps; Masao Ed Tsutakawa, a longtime Spokane Nikkei community leader; Kenji Okuda, a professor as well as a son of the community leader Henry H. Okuda; Hajime Jim Akutsu, considered the model of Ichiro Yamada in the novel "No-No Boy" and Toru Sakahara, an early Nisei (second generation Japanese American) lawyer.
Sakahara, who passed away last month at age 91, was a leader of the Japanese Student Club and debate team at the UW before Pearl Harbor. In the year 1941, he was in the third year of the six-year law school program.
His memorial service was held last Friday at the Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church with hundreds of community attendees.
His wife Kiyo, also a special degree recipient, was a senior student in 1941. She left the university for the marriage preparation with Sakahara, avoiding the separation of the incarceration camp.
While Sakahara completed the University of Utah's law school program in 1944 after being supported by UW dean Lee Paul Seig, Kiyo did not return to school until 1980. Her credits before the evacuation could not be counted due to the program changes, she gave up for a degree but took classes for two years because she wanted to learn at the UW.
"I am just thrilled," Kiyo said of the honorary degree. "Especially, when I was told that it was impossible. But 'possible' is still there."
In the ceremony, she received a diploma, smilingly. And when husband Toru's name was called, she smiled again and gave a big applause.
"He is here in spirit," she said. "He is happy for me."
1981 UW graduate Rick Mamiya, who represented his uncle Wataru Watson Asaba to receive the honorary degree, said he did not hear about "stolen life" stories when he was at the school.
"If we put things together, that's what was going to have to happen," he said. "If the event [of evacuation] happened during the war time, we realize that this [stolen life story] was something a result of it."
Mamiya's father George was also a degree recipient, represented by wife Yoshi.
"It's long time coming," Mamiya said. "But they are honoring these people. It's unfortunate most of them were not here, but there are other people who represented them."
The action for the ceremony began when UW librarian Theresa Mudrock listed the names of the UW Nikkei students of 1941 and 1942. The UW Alumni Magazine featured them in 2006, which led Ken Sato, Irene Mano, Beth Kawahara and other members of UWNAA to track their backgrounds.
The University of Board of Regents approved the awarding of the honorary degrees on Feb. 21, 2008, which was initiated by UW professors Tetsuden Kashima, Gail Nomura and Stephen Sumida and other Nikkei related groups and individuals.
It also could be Mano and Kawahara's family lives coming full circle. Their father Yoshito Fujii supported Nikkei students by building the Japanese Student Club on 14th Avenue N.E., just off the campus.
On Saturday, dozens of local community organizations organized a potluck dinner event at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church for about 350 members including honorary degree recipients.
Tama Mutotani Inaba, center, waits for the ceremony in front of Kane Hall with Mitsuye "Mitsi" Mihara, left.
Photo by Shihou Sasaki
 | In timelines, this year is the important period after the incarceration camp redress. The year of 2008 is the 30th anniversary of the first Day of Remembrance ceremony starting at Camp Harmony site in Puyallup, Wash., and the 20th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
"It's a nice gesture by people who organized the ceremony," said Cherry Tanaka Kinoshita, who represented her brother Ken Tanaka, a sophomore in 1941 - 42, this Sunday.
In early April, the University of Oregon honored 20 Nikkei, who were in the same situation as the 450 UW Nikkei, to follow the bill passed by the Oregon State Legislature. Oregon State University will also present a special degree on June 15 for Nikkei including Tanaka Kinoshita's husband Masao.
"It's never too late to do the right thing," Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said in his keynote speech. "It's never too late to rejoice that the right thing has been done. It's never too late to be grateful to people who do the right thing.
"The men and women we honor today were doing what all good Americans do; study hard, work hard, get a college degree, find a way to make a unique contribution to the life of this country."
In the front line of the graduates, Tama Murotani-Inaba could not hide her excitement. This is her first official degree after high school.
In her second-freshman year in 1942 at the UW, Murotani-Inaba transferred to Guilford College, N.C., with support of Floyd Schmoe, a UW professor as well as a war protester. After finishing a few terms in the new college, she met her husband Harry Murotani, a MIS veteran.
"Getting this degree for me is wonderful," said the 87-year-old new graduate. "It's unbelievable. It's absolutely wonderful. I've never dreamed that this could happen."
While she did not return to the UW, her family members graduated from where she wanted to study. The special degree means a lot for the family members of recipients too.
"I'm really happy and proud of my mother and the University of Washington recognizing and awarding degrees for those who were interrupted in their college life," daughter Cali Murotani said.
"She really wanted to be a Husky. And now, we're a Huskies family."
UW ceremony available on TV
The complete ceremony honoring UW Nikkei students from 1941-1942, will be re-broadcast on UWTV per the following dates and times:
Monday, June 2 at 10 pm
Tuesday, June 3 at 7 pm
Saturday, June 7 at 11:30 am
Sunday, June 8 at 5:30 pm
Online video can be also available at http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=24727&fID=5304
Photo Gallery
(click photos to enlarge
Photos by Shihou Sasaki
Photos by David K. Yamaguchi
Alice Yamamoto (Denver), sister Tomi Mano. |
Anne Iwata and husband Darren Stucker (Madison, Wisconsin) |
Bill Nishimura |
Hiro Nishimura(?), Chiyo Horiuchi (Denver), Kay Yamaguchi. |
Kenji Okuda (Vancouver, B.C.) |
Tomiko Yamamoto, Tama Tokuda, Wendy Tokuda |
Three Japanese Graves in Scenic Mukilteo Pioneer Cemetery
By Mas Odoi
In beautiful, historic Mukilteo Pioneer Cemetery are three lonely Japanese graves of immigrant sawmill workers who met tragic ends about 90 years ago, thousands of oceanic miles from their birthplace. They would have preferred to spend eternity in family plots among their honorable ancestors, where relatives can come regularly and hold services; but they evidently did not have the financial resources.
They had friendly visitors until the 1930's, when the Crown Lumber Co. closed during the Great Depression and all the Japanese moved away. But their graves were attended to with others in the cemetery. A few years ago the Mukilteo Historical Society refurbished the Pioneer Cemetery. It translated the Japanese writing into English on bronze plaques and fastened them to the backs of the tombstones. And during annual cleanups around Memorial Day, it would plant little Japanese flags by their graves.
The inscription reads as follows: Goro Wadatani, born: Wakayama Prefecture, died Nov. 24, 1908, age 36. Tokumatsu Shirai, born: Wakayama Prefecture, died April 10, 1908, age 30. Rikimatsu Okamura, born: Kumamoto Prefecture, died June 19, 1913.
This year on Saturday, May 31 from 1 to 3 pm, the Historical Society will hold a reenactment program at the Mukilteo Pioneer Cemetery on 6th St. and Webster. Actors and readers will greet visitors and bring the past century and a half to life. The best way to reach the cemetery is to drive towards the ferry on Mukilteo Speedway and turn left just past 8th St.
These Japanese graves are near those of co-founders of Mukilteo, Jacob D. Fowler and Morris H. Frost, and unusual aspect during the anti-Orientalism of those early years. JA visitors may enjoy viewing the monument on 5th St., commemorating the good relationship between families of Japanese sawmill workers and the Mukilteo residents during the early 1900's.
The Noh Plays of Komparu Zenchiku
By Kristin Okinaka
A reception was held at the UW in honor of Paul Atkins' book "Revealed Identity: The Noh Plays of Komparu Zenchiku. Atkins is an associate professor in the department of Asian languages and literature at the UW and is a well-published individual.
Robert Pekkanen, the chair of the Japan studies program first introduced Atkins to the guests made up of other instructors, students, and individuals of the community. When Atkins began his talk on his book, he started off with, "I don't intend to go on and on, if you're interested, you can read it." The book was first published in 2006.
Atkins first described what a Noh play is and how his definition of it has changed since writing the book. In order for the guests to grasp what a Noh play was, he told a short story about how a monk runs into a specific person in the first act but by the second act this individual reappears as a spirit. The main character in a Noh play may receive enlightenment or may lose it. In the end because of the usual ambiguity, it is the audience member that determines the fate of the actor. Atkins explained that the play could be regarded as a dream or something more real.
Paul Atkins
 | Zenchiku was a skilled Noh actor and playwright of the 15th century. "Revealed Identity" is the first comprehensive study on his plays. Atkins stated, "To understand Zenchiku's plays, you must understand his world." Zen Buddhism typically influenced his plays.
The title, "Revealed Identity" is the idea that someone is hiding his identity, explained Atkins. That hidden identity is usually revealed in the second act of the play. The viewer can then take two identities that seem different and put them together. Atkins also made a strong point that in Noh plays nothing happens; things however get revealed. He gave an example that plants and trees are able to attain enlightenment just as humans are able to and if a plant is already enlightened, all that has changed is that the audience now recognizes this.
In studying Noh plays, Atkins said he tried to see as many live plays as possible and then even viewed many on video that he could not see performed live. He discussed how the need to figure out how Noh plays were performed in the past is important because today many factors are reduced in the performance on stage. Often times in a modern performance of Noh plays, specific props are left out and this can lead to some misconceptions on the story.
After his discussion on his book and showing a video of a play, Atkins took questions from the guests. He ended the entire discussion with, "It's hard to say Noh is 'x' because someone will pull something else out and say it isn't."
White House Honors Japanese American veterans
From Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA)
President Bush returns salute of Japanese American veterans at Asia Pacific American Heritage Day Program in East Room, White House.
Photo by Mike Yaguchi
 |
President George W. Bush told 300 Asian Pacific Americans who packed the East Room of the White House on May 1, 2008, for the Asia Pacific Heritage Month Program, "We thank you for helping make America a better placecfor loving our country the way you do. Thank you for being great contributors to the life of our fellow citizens."
Following his presentation of a broad view of US relations with Asian Pacific nations, extolling them for the cordial and productive relations America enjoys, the President singled out Asian Pacific Americans who served in the Armed Forces. Six Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA) World War II veterans were selected by the White House to represent the 360,000 Asian Pacific American veterans and 29,000 active duty personnel for special recognition
Seated at the front row were Joe Ichiuji (442nd Regimental Combat Team), Yeiichi Kelly Kuwayama (442nd Regimental Combat Team), Grant Ichikawa (Military Intelligence Service), Grant Hirabayashi (Military Intelligence Service -Merrill's Marauders), Ben Kuroki (US Army Air Corps gunner), and Terry Shima (442nd Regimental Combat Team). The President addressed them saying, "With us today are veterans from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This was a segregated Army unit composed mostly of volunteers recruited from internment camps in the United States. Isn't that interesting? People whose love of the country was such that they were able to overcome the bitterness of being interned by a country they called home, and they were willing to put on the uniform; and not only put on the uniform -- they served America with distinction in eight battle campaigns in Europe. In 1945, members of the 442nd helped liberate the concentration camp at Dachau. They went from an internment camp to wear the uniform of the United States Army, to liberate camps in Europe.
Back to Community News
|
|
