MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT THE JAPANESE AMERICANS Answering Common Misconceptions Regarding Americans of Japanese Ancestry K LIBRARY ^ DEPARTMBNT OF THE INTERIOR 4^1 S. W AR RJE IQCATION AUTHORITY Washington, D. C. JUNE, 1945 «-2278-Cover-hu. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Dpal Citizenship 2. Shintolsm, Buddhism and Christianity 3. Japanese Language Schools 4. Education of Japanese Americans in Japan 5. Concentration in Strategic Areas 6. Loyalty of Japanese 7. Question No. 28 8. Nisei in the Army 9. Nisei Soldiers in the Pacific Area 10. Cooperation with Intelligence Agencies 11. Behavior During Pearl Harbor Attack 12. Evacuation Not Due to Mass Disloyalty 13. Honesty of the Japanese as a Race |it. Birth Rate Among Japanese Americans 15. Ass im I lab i 1 ity of the Japanese 16. Influence on Living Standards 17. Occupations of Issel and Nisei I8> Agricultural Competition \&. Soil Conservation Practices 20. Release of Farm Equipment by Evacuees 21. Coddl ing by WRA •22 76- Ins Ide Cover-bu- MYTHS ANi) FACTS ABOUT THE JAPANESE AMER ICANS SOURCE INFORMATION AND REFERENCES FOR USE OF WRA STAFF MEMBERS MYTH: All children born in the United States of Japanese parents are dual citizens:, and owe allegiance to Japan. FACT: Children born in the United States of alien fathers from almost every country in the world, outside of South and Central America, are dual citizens, at least until they become of age. In the great majority of cases, they remain dual citizens for life unless they re- nounce allegiance to one country or the other. The Japanese law which resulted in dual citi- zenship for some children born of Japanese par- ents in the United States before the war was not at all unique and was, in fact, more liberal than the nationality law of Germany and manj ot her nat ions . Dual citizenship arises because countries apply different tests of citizenship. Jus san- guinis holds that a child acquires the citizen- ship of his father regardless of where he is born; jus soli holds that he acquires the citi- zenship of the country of his birth. Conse- quently, every child born in the United States (which holds to the doctrine of jus soli as well as jus sanguinis in a modified form) is a dual citizen if his father is a citizen of a country that adheres to the doctrine of jus sanguinis . Every American-born child of an alien father from any country in Europe is at birth a dual citizen, and in the majority of instances he - 2 - retains the dual status until he renounces his foreign citizenship. Every American-born child of an alien Chinese father is a dua.l citizen for life, unless he renounces allegiance to China after his twentieth birthday and has legal capacity under Chinese law. (See A Comparative Study of Laws Relating to nationality at Birth and Loss of Nationality, by DurwardV. Sandifer, American Journal of International 'Law, Vol. 29, p. 248 et seq..; A Collection of Nationality Laws , by Plournoy and Hudson, 1929.' ) The nationality laws of Germany and Italy should be of particular interest — more es- pecially those of Germany. The Nazi leaders claimed the loyalty of all persons of German descent throughout the world, and constantly maintained a legal theory upon which such a claim could be based. According to the German law, every child born of a German father, re- gardless of the country of his birth, was a German citizen; and under a decree of April 19, 1937, every man of German parentage was subject to conscription into the Germany army, regard- less of where he was born or where he was liv- ing. Persons who had expatriated, or who had naturalized in a foreign country, were not ex- cepted by the decree. It was even possible, under the German law effective before 1937 for a person who had ac- quired American citizenship by naturalization to be a Gerhian citizen as well, for the law provided that "citizenship is not lost by one who before acquiring foreign citizenship has acquired on application the written consent of competent authorities in his home state to re- tain his citizenship." (A Collection of Nation- ality Laws:, by Plournoy and Hudson, p. 310. ) Under the Italian law, every child born in the United States of an Italian father is an - 3 - Italian c it izen , and he retains dual citizenship for life unless he renounces his Italian citi- zenship after coming of age. Moreover, even when he renounces his Italian citizenship, he is still subject to a call for service in the Italian army, "except as regards facilities granted by special laws." (A Collection of nationality Laws, p. 364.) The magnitude of the population of German and ^Italian dual citizens in the United States may be judged by referring to the U. S. Census for 1940 which shows that 314,105 German aliens and 690,551 Italian aliens were then living in this country. By contrast, only 47,307 alien Japanese were enumerated in the Census. The number of German and Italian aliens would have been greatly multiplied, of course, if they, like the Japanese, were denied the right to natura lize . Before 1924, all children born of Japanese aliens in the United States were claimed as citizens of Japan. This law was radically changed, however, by an Imperial Ordinance, ef- fective December 1, 1924, which decreed that no child born of Japanese parents in the United States (and certain other countries) was to be claimed as a citizen of Japan unless the child's father, or legal representative, registered the birth at a Japanese consulate within fourteen days, and unless the intention to I'etain Japa- nese citizensnip-was expressed at the same time. (Former Ambass ador . Gre w in Bearings before a Subc onmittee of the Connit tee on Milita'^y Af- fairs, United States Senate, 78th Congress , 1st Session, on S. 444, p. 116.) A comparison of nationality laws shows that Japan was almost in a class by itself be- fore the war in its policy of relinquishing the citizenship of children born of its nationals - 4 - in the United States, unless the children were registered to preserve the dual status. This liberaiizat.ion of the Japanese law resulted largely from the pressure of Japanese Americans who desired to free themselves of any legal ob- ligation to the Imperial Government. "The Japanese American Associations on the Pacific Coast and in Hawaii memorialized the Japanese government several times in 1919-21 for changes in the law, thus showing a genuine interest in the problem." (The S e c ond -Genera - tion Japanese Problem, by E, K. Strong, p. 141. ) One of these petitions is quoted in full in The Real Japanese Question, by K. K. Kawakami, p. 186-7. In part, it reads as follows': "We are all men of Japanese parentage born on the soil of the United States, and who have been educated in the schools of that coun- try. We wish to be considered citizens of the country in which we are now living, and to show- that men of Japanese ancestry can be as loyal to the country of their adoption as men of other ancestry residing therein The question of du- al citizenship and the criticisms which have been made against American-born Japanese have caused us to feel that some legislation should be passed by the country of our ancestors that will free us of any obligation to it, and allow those of us, who have located within the United States with the purpose and intention of re- maining and interesting ourselves in the af- fairs of that country, to show that we can be good and loyal citizens of the country of our adoption... We respectfully petition that at the coming session of the Japanese Parliament, a law be enacted, whereby those of Japanese descent can select their own citizenship with- out restriction of law, and, having once made such decision, can remain citizens of that - 5 - country wxtnout any questi on of dua 1 alleg iance . " (The Real Japanese Question, by K. K. Kawakami, p. 186-7.') Even after the Ordinance of 1924 became effective, many Japanese Americans were stilx unsatisfied. They continued to petition for further relaxations in the law. As late as January, 1941, 30,000 Japanese Americans in Hawaii petitioned Secretary of State Cordell Hull to seek a way in which they could more easily expatriate themselves from Japan. This action brought a letter from Lieut. General C.D.Herron, commanding the Hawaiian Department of the U. S. Army, in which he said: "In the willingness of the younger Japanese to sign this petition and in their loyal and eager com- pliance with the draft, as in the attitude of the older generation in accepting the new (Se- lective Service) order for their children, there is complete refutation of the suspicions of their loyalty." (Japanese American Review, Jan. 25, 1941, p. 6. ) The Imperial Ordinance of 1924 permitted children born in the United States before 1924 of alien Japanese fathers to renounce their Japanese citizenship, and in the next six years, according to a census taken in 1930, approxi- mately 40 per cent of the Nisei born before 1924 had made formal renunciations. Of the younger children, who were American citizens only unless they had been registered at Japa- nese consulates, about two-thirds were American citizens only. Of the total Nisei population, 24,263 held American citizenship only, and 22,027 (mainly in the older group) were dual citizens. (The Second Generation Japanese Prob- lem,' hy Edward K. Strong, p. 142.) This census was taken under the auspices of the Japanese government. It can hardly be C-2 27S-P5-1>U- - 6 - supposed, with any reasonable application of reason, that the persons questioned in the cen- sus would have falsified their answers to favor the United States. Those who held Japanese citizenship would have admitted it, presumably, without hesitation. Investigations by the War Relocation Au- thority indicate that the percentage of Japa- nese dual citizens has been much reduced since 1930. In the registration conducted at the centers in February, 1943, many of the citizen registrants reported that they had renounced their Japanese citizenship since 1930, and few of the number born since 1924 were reported to have been registered at Japanese consulates. 2. HyTH : The religion of the Japanese, no matter where they live, binds them to the Emperor. They all have Shinto shrines in their homes. FACT: The Japanese in the United States have two major religion^: Buddhism and Chr ist ian ity . Shintoism, among American Japanese, is a minor- ity sect. Buddhism, which is the predominant religion of the Orient, was introduced into Japan from Korea, about the Sixth Century, A.D. In Japan, it is divided into eight major sects which are, in turn^ subdivided into almost innumerable lesser groups, each with slightly different rites and beliefs. There is no evidence that Buddhism, in any of its forms, is in any way connected with Emperor worship. Shintoism, on the other hand, is the native religion of Japan. There are three major kinds of Shintoism. The most popular kind, which is relatively unorganized, centers around old na- tive beliefs in gods of the household, fields. s'Ts-pe-bu-- - 7 - and wayside. The second kind, which is well organized and divided into sects , often inc ludes a belief in faith healing. The third kind is State Shintoism, which fosters a belief in the divinity of the Emperor and the purity of the Japanese race. This State Shintoism, a com- paratively recent development in Japanese his- tory, is the creed which has given rise to the accusation that all the Japanese are Emperor worshippers . The wide difference between the older Shinto beliefs (Sectarian Shinto) and State Shintoism is emphasized in G. B. Sansoiri's au- thoritative book, entitled Japan - A Short Cul- tural History, published by the Century Company in 1931. "It is important," Sansom says (p. 53), "to distinguish from the traditional body of popular belief and observance the institutional religion which was fostered by the ruling clas- ses. The former is a simple ritualism based on an animistic creed and tinctured with magic, the latter an organized and elaborate cult closely bound up with the political system." There are no satisfactory figures on the number of Japanese Buddhists and Shintoists in the United States, owing partly to the fact that the religion of the common people of Japan is often a combination of Buddhism and Sectarian (not State) Shintoism. The common man believes in Buddhism for the sake of his soul, and in the Shinto gods to protect and guide him in his daily affairs . The charge that all Japanese in the United States, or even that any considerable number of them, have Shinto shrines in their homes is a pure fabrication which has no substance at all except in the minds of the persons who con- cocted it . * * * - 8 - 3. MYTH: Japanese language schools were main- tained it) many communities on the Wfest Coast before the war to inculcate American-born Japa- nese with the national ideals of the Japanese Imperial Government. FACT: This charge is not supported by the studies conducted by various American educators before the war to determine the purpose and ef- fect of the Japanese-lar.j^uage schools. Dr. E. K. Strong of Stanford University, who supervised the most intensive S'' v.dy ever made- of second- generation Japanese Americans, under a $40,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation in 1929, arrived at the conclusion that these schools were making a valuable contribution to American community life. The following extracts are from his book. "The Second-Generation Japa- nese Problem," published by the Stanford Uni- versity Press in 1934. "Many non-English-speaking people who have come to America have established private schools where their children may learn the parents' native language and some of the history, tradi- tions, and customs of their native land. The Japanese have been no exception to this prac- t ice . " (p. 201 ) "Some knowledge of Japanese appears desir- able for all the second generation... Such fa- cility is needed in order to insure proper morale within the family and the Japanese group. It is this relationship which is seemingly so largely responsible for the low rate of juveni le delinquency." (p. 205. NOTE: The Japanese Americans had the lowest juvenile delinquency rate of any racial or nationality group on the West Coast before the war. Ibid, p. 175 et segJ) "The work of the Japanese-language schools should be continued." (p. 205) ,C-2275-P8-bu- - 9 - Quotations from other authors : "...These schools are not intended to per- petuate the.. .moral concepts of Japan. They are supplementary schools, and at worst there is much less in them to be adversely criticised than in the parochial schools attended by so many children of South and T?ast European immi- grants . " (The Japanese Problem in the United States, by Prof. H. A. Millis, pp. 265-«6) "The strongest objection which has been raised in this country towards the language schools of the Japanese has been that they foster anti-American ideas. This accusation is without basis. Sociology and Social Research, Jan. -Feb., 1933, p. 259.) "Similar schools have been conducted by the Chinese; and also by the Germans and many other nationalities in the form of parochial schools. The Japanese schools are merely sup- plementary to the public schools and not a sub- stitute for them as are the parochial schools." (Orientals in American Life, by Albert W. Palmer, 1934, p. 51. ) A better proof of the falsity of the charge is the fact that the Army and Navy have re- cruited hundreds of graduates of the Japanese- language schools to act as interpreters and teachers of the language. The relocation cen- ters have been combed for them, and the supply has never equalled the demand. Many of the recruits are now serving in the Pacific Theatre of war, and wherever they C-2875-P9-bu- - 10 - have been assigned, they have established an outstanding record of loyalty and devotion to duty, 4. MYTH: It was a common practise among families of Japanese origin to send their children to school in Japan, where they were trained for espionage and sabotage. FACT: Prof. E. K. Strong of Stanford Univer- sity, who supervised the most thoroughgoing scientific study ever made of^ the Japanese Americans before the war, wrote in 1934: "The United States-born have received their education primarily in this country... The fact that only 13 per cent of the second generation have, received part or all of their schooling in Japan, coupled with the fact that this preference for Japanese culture is gradual- ly dying out, tends to disprove the contention that 'large numbers of Japanese children. .. re- turn Urom Japan] at a later date loyal and ideal Japanese citizens'." (The Second-Genera- tion Japanese Problem, p. 188). A WRA study of all American-born citizens of Japanese descent, who were evacuated to re- location centers, showed that 72.7 per cent of them had never been to Japan. Another 14.4 per cent, though they had visited the Orient, had received no schooling there. Only 12.2 per cent had attended school in Japan for three years, or more. (Note agreement with Prof. Strongs' percentage. ) These figures clearly show that the prac- tice of sending children to Japan for schooling had almost ceased before the outbreak of the war . -2275-PlO-bu- - 11 - Of the total number of relocation center residents who had studied in Japan for three years or more, 26.8 per cent were 40 years of age, or older. Their Japanese schooling had been received before the military clique gained power by assassinating and otherwise overpower- ing the liberal leaders who prevailed in the Japanese government prior to 1930. The study further revealed that many young men returned to America to avoid service in the Japanese army, and that many were serving with the Army of the United States in all theaters from Burma and the Philippines to Italy and the Western Front. To support the charge that American-born Japanese have aided the enemy, the rumor has be en circulated that Japanese airmen, forced down in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Har- bor, were found wearing Hawaiian high school rings and carrying Honolulu. street car tokens. This rumor was checked by Robert J. Casey, of the Chicago Daily News, who arrived in Honolulu one week after the attack. He interviewed the Navy surgeon in charge of all enemy wounded, who had examined some eight corpses taken from the plane wreckage. According to Casey's re- port, the surgeon said, "I've heard that story. But 1 never saw any rings. T never saw any street car tokens. None of the pilots had nruch of anything in his pockets. None wore any jewelry. Only one had a watch." * * * 5. MYTH: The Japanese in California, deliberately concentrated in strategic areas to be near im- portant military installations. FACT: The vast majority of the Japanese who C-22 7S-Pll-b"- - 12 - lived near important military installations when the war began, had been settled in the same localities long before they became mili- tary sites. "•-.The main geographic pattern of Japanese population was fixed many years ago with refer- ence to economic, social and soil conditions. Limited occupational outlets and social pres- sures encouraged their concentration near their initial points of entry on the Pacific Coast. That these points may now be near certain stra- tegic military and industrial areas is no proof of a diabolical purpose on the part of Japanese Americans. " (U. S. Supreme Court Justice Murphy, in Korenatsu vs. the United States, p. 19. ) They concentrated around the peripheries of large cities to be near markets for their truck crops, along main highways where they could operate vegetable stands, and in the vi- cinity of vegetable-packing plants. (See Preju- dice, by Carey McWilliams, p. 84. ) The statement has often been made to sup- port the charge that they settled purposefully in strategic areas, that approximately 72 per cent of the California Japanese lived in seven counties: Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francis- co, Alameda, Fresno, San Joaquin, and Santa Clara- Those who have used the statement have usually failed, however, to add that more than two-thirds of the entire population of Califor- nia lived in those same counties. In 1940, these seven counties were in- habited by more than V5 per cent of the foreign- born Germans in the State, and 79 per cent of the German aliens. In the same counties lived 68 per cent of the foreign-born Italians, and 37 per cent of the Italian aliens. C-2878-P12-bu- - 13 - Two communities are frequently cited to support the allegation that the Japanese chose important military sites for colonizations: (1) Terminal Island, and (8) the San Francisco-Oak- land bay region. The settlement of Japanese fishermen on Terminal Island began in 1901 and increased un- til 1907 when it was rather abruptly halted by the "Gentlemen's Agreement." Thereafter, the colony grew mainly as a result of the immigra- tion of the parents, wives, and minor children of the fishermen already there. By 1917, it had arrived close to its maximum development. Roosevelt Naval Base and Reeves Field, which have given military significance to the Island, were not established until long afterward. The total population of forei gn-born Japan- ese in the San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan district in 1940 was 4,676. In the same area lived 24,S87 foreign-born Germans and 42,861 foreign-born Italians. * * * 6, MYTH: There is no way to distinguish loyal Japanese Americans from the disloyal. Even those who profess loyalty may be secretly dis- loyal . FACT: There is no way to distinguish the loyal- ty of any person, regardless of ancestry, ex- cept by his words and deeds. Unquestionably, loyal words sometimes mask disloyal hearts. Gerhard William Kunze, the notorious German Bund leader who was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for obtaining military information for Germany and Japan, stoutly proclaimed his loyalty to the United States. "We're one hun- dred per cent American," he declared, referring C-2278-P13-bu- - 14 - to the Bund. "The only purpose of the Bund is to make better Americans of those of German blood." i Under Cover, by John Roy Carlson, p. 46. ) William Dudley Pelley, equally notorious leader of the silver Shirts who was also sen- tenced to fifteen years in prison, consistently maintained that he was heart and soul for America . John S. Farnsworth, who received a four year sentence for giving aid to Japan, was a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. .(.Betrayal from the Sast,, by Alan Hynd, pp. 62, 91.) Harry Thomas Thompson, sentenced "to fifteen years, was a former yeoman in the United States Navy. (Ibid, pp. 51, 86. ) Ralph Townsend, also convicted, was a former American consular official. (Under Cover, pp.413, 414.) Joseph Hilton Smyth, sentenced to seven years, was a scion of an old Puritan family of Plymouth^ Mass. (Betrayal from the Sast, pp. 246, 255.) Mrs. Velvalee Dickinson, sentenced to ten years, had been born, raised, and educated in Califor- nia. (N. Y. Times, July 29, Aug. 15, 1944.) These persons were all convicted of giving aid to Japan. Others convicted of the same offense were Walker Grey Matheson, David Ryder, Freder- ick Vincent Williams, and Arthur Clifford Read. All had posed as good Americans before they were convicted. None of these names has a Japanese origin. There is no comparable case involving any person of Japanese descent. There have been notably few convictions of Japanese Americans for violations of any of the provisions of the wartime national security laws. In July, 1942, six months before the evacuees were questioned regarding their loyal- ties, Tsutomu Obana was sentenced to serve from two to six months for failing to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act; and in -2278-P14-bu- - 15 - August, 1944, three Japanese American girls (the Shitarn sisters) were convicted of aiding two German war prisoners to escape in Colorado. The light sentence given to Obana is evidence that the court did not consider him a serious offender. In the latter case. Federal Judge J. Poster Symes declared that, after listening to all the evidence, he "did not believe that the defendants had any intent to harm the United States or help the German government." i Denver Post, Aug. 11, 1944.) The only other convic- tions have been in cases involving the National Selective Service law, or testing the constitu- tionality of the evacuation and military curfew orders . On the other hand, thousands of Japanese American boys have proved their loyalty to the United States by serving against the enemy in every theater of war, and no unit in the Army of the United States has won higher praise than the lOOtn Infantry Battalion, composed almost entirely of Americans of Japanese descent. The 442nd Combat Regiment of Japanese Americans, with which the 100th Battalion was joined on the battle front in June, 1944, has also set a remarkable record for excellent performance and gallantry in action. It has received two Dis- tinguished Unit Citations from the President, and 64 divisional citations. Members of the unit have been awarded more than 3000 Purple Hearts, and in April, 1945, they had won 31 Distinguished Service Crosses, 183 Silver Stars, and 21B Bronze Stars. In the late spring of 1945, War Department records showed that more than 80,000 Japanese Americans had been in- ducted into the Army of the United States, and other thousands have proved their loyalty by buying War Bonds, giving blood to the Red Cross, salvaging scrap iron and paper, and helping to save vital wartime crops. * * * C-2278-P18->>"- - 16 - 7. MYTH: A large percentage of the people in the relocation centers have refused to swear al- legiance to the United States. FACT: In February and March, 1943, the War Re- location Authority and the Army conducted a joint registration at the relocation centers, which involved asking every resident, eighteen years of age or older, to answer a series of questions. Question No. 88 was phrased for the citizens as follows: "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and foreswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese Emperor or any other foreign government, power, or organization?" It was recognized that the question could not be worded in the same manner for the aliens, who are compelled to remain aliens by our natu- ralization laws, without asking them to become men without a country. Therefore, for them it was worded as follows : "Will you swear to abide by the laws of the United States and to take no action which would in any way interfere with the war effort of the United States?" Of the 74,466 persons who replied to the question in one form or the other, 87 per cent answered it with an unqualified "yes." The experiences of evacuation, loss of property, and several months in relocation cen- ters had embittered many of the people and made them highly suspicious of the motives of the Government. Many of them suspected that the registration was some sort of a trick to put them to further distress. This senti- ment was especially evident in the qualified answers to Question No. 28 — answers such as "Yes, if my civil rights are restored", "No, not until the Government recognizes my rights under the Constitution." C-2278-Pl*-'"'" - 17 - As the purpose of the procedure became better understood, many people who had answered "no" to Question No. 28 or who had qualified their answers, expressed a desire to change them. These changes were permitted, and on April 25, 1944 (when the last tabulation was made), more than 90 per cent of all regis- trants had answered "yes" to Question No. 28, without qualification. * * * MYTH: Less than 2 per cent of the Japanese American population of the United States mainland and Hawaii has been inducted into military service, while more than 10 per cent of the total population has been inducted. FACT: This myth, given currency by the Hood River (Oregon) Post of The American Legion, is discredited by the following figures: POPULATION .5. MA IN-LAND t HAWA I I Census of 1940 INDUCTED INTO ARMV U.S. MA IN LAND I HAWA I I War Department Records Through Feb. 28, 1945 PERCENTAGE Japanese Americans 284,852 19, 276 6.7 All ancestries 132, 092,605 9,600,000 (Approx. ) 7.2 Actually the difference is only about one half of one per cent, in spite of the fact that the Nisei were almost wholly ex- cluded from induction under Selective Serv- ice procedures for a period of more than two years following Pearl Harbor. * * * MYTH: Nisei soldiers are not used in the Pacific theater because the Army does not - 18 - trust them tp fight against the Japanese. FACT: Japanese Americans are serving with the United States Army in every battle area of the Pacific and in Burma. The news items, listed below, have been selected from many newspaper accounts of Nisei service in the Pacific, to indicate how widely they are scattered. I WQ J t M A "WITH THE MARINES ON IWO, Feb. 28... Two groups of Nisei landed with the Marines on Iwo Island — one each with the 4th and 5th Division." (Chicago Sun, March 3, 1945.) LEYTE, KWAJ4LEIN, ENIWETOK "UNITED STATES ARMY PACIFIC HEADQUARTERS, Feb- 16 (AP). Frank T. Hachiya, one of the 16 Japanese whose names have been stricken from the county memorial roll by the Hood River (Oreg. ) American Legion Post, died while performing^ a dangerous volunteer mission, the Army reported yesterday: "Hachiya, attached to the 7th Division, was wounded fatally on Leyte . Dec. 30. He died January 3 after most of the men in this regiment volunteered to give him blood trans- fusions. . . "He had served through the Kwajalein and Eniwetok invasions." (Washington Star, Feb. 16, 1945. ) * NEW GUINEA, ADMIRALTY ISLANDS, LEYTE, MANILA "MANILA. ... Ernie is a Japanese, a Nisei born in Los Ange les . . . One of the first 26 Nisei to be sent to this theater, Ernie has 'Editor' s Note: Hachiya' a name was not among those stricken from the roll, although he is a native of Hood River and a t tended High School there. 278-P18-bu- - 19 - been overseas for 26 months. ..He has been through the New Guinea, Admiralty Islands and Leyte campaigns." (Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1945. ) S A I PAN "WITH THE UNITED STATES 3rd FLEET IN THE PAC IP IC . . . . I ' m reminded of one [Japanese American] named Kubo, a sergeant in the Army of the United States who served on Saipan, . . There came a time in those cruel, heart- breaking and incredible days, while the Ameri- cans were trying to round up Jap civilians, when Kubo proved his Americanism." (Milwaukee Journal, Jan. 28, 1945. ) BURMA "Ten thousand American-born children of Japanese immigrants fight now in the United States Army and some in this Theater. Their presence in CBI was for a long tim'e a mili- tary secret. For their own protection they were not publicized ...there always was and still always will be the possibility of capture by the enemy, which for the Nisei would mean no picnic. "Under the veil of protective secrecy, however, stubborn, sturdy fighting Niseis grew to the stature of heroes." (C.B.I. Roundup, a weekly^newspaper of the United States Army Forces, pub- lished by and for the men in China, Burma and India, Sept. 14, 1944. ) BOUGAINVILLE, SOLOMON ISLANDS "The Soldier's Medal is awarded to Master Sgt. Susumu Toyoda for heroism and bravery near Torokina, Bougainville, British Solomon Islands, on June 29, 1944." (Extract from War Department citation. ) C-2276-P19- - 20 - SOUTH PACIFIC "These Japanese are Americans — American- born Nisei and soldiers in the U.S. Army, who have been serving with Marine detachments in the Pacific islands... "They have the respect of the Marines because they are good American soldiers and we realized the risks they are exposed to, in event they are captured by the enemy, ' said Lt. Newell..." (Chicago Daily News, April 19, 1944; inter- view with Marine Lieutenant Robert J. Newell. ) MTU, ALEUT I AN I SLANOS "Japanese soldiers of American birth, in addition to fighting Nazis in Italy, have fought against Nipponese soldiers in the Pacific theater of war, it was disclosed Wednesday. "Sgt. Kunihiro Nakao, a Japanese American formerly of Sacramento, Ca li f. .. arrived at the war relocation center at Heart Mountain as a veteran of hand— to-hand combat at Attu. " (Denver Post, Oct. 13, 1943.) NEW GUINEA "T/3 Ken Omura, Seattle-born Japanese, was drowned in New Guinea, March 19, while on active duty in the Army. " (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 15, 1944. ) * * * 10. MYTH: After the war began, not a single Japanese American gave information against any member of his race to the United States Intelligence agencies. FACTS: This charge has been refuted many C-a27B-P26-bu- - 21 - times by authorities in furll possession of the facts. The Fourth Interim Report of the Tolan Committee (p. 152 et seq.. ) contains various references to the assistance given by Japanese Americans to the FBI, Naval In- telligence, and Military Intelligence. The truth about the charge is well presented in a statement by Dr. Galen Fisher in the Christian Century of August 18, 1943, P. 937. "It has been loosely charged that the Nisei have not aided the authorities in dis- covering dangerous Japanese residents. The falsity of these allegations have been proved by intelligence officers both in Hawaii and on the mainland, as well as by informed ci- vilians. It is true that the great majority of the Nisei did not give such aid, and the same could presumably be said of German- Americans. The chief reason is that most of them had no information to give, any more than most white cit izens . . . . Let some of the intelligence officers speak for themselves. On August 10, 1942, one wrote me: "'I personally know at least fifteen intelligence officers who have received con- tinual aid from the group of loyal and pa- triotic Nisei attached to each, and have in consequence been of great service to the United States in obtaining information re- garding disloyal and suspicious Japanese. There are innumerable cases that I could give you. ' " "Many of the Nisei voluntarily con- tributed valuable anti-subversive informa- tion to this (intelligence agency ) and other governmental agencies. The Japanese consu- lar staff, the Central Japanese Association, C-2a7B-P21-l>u- - 22 - and others known to be sympathetic to the Japanese did not themselves trust the NiseL" (An anonymous intelligence officer in Harper's Magazine, Oct. 1942.) "Common gossip out here was that not one Japanese had informed on another. On the highest authority I wa.s assured that the contrary was true, and that many pa- triotic Japanese have turned in suspects of their own race and even of their own f amil ies. " (Joseph Driscoll in the N.Y. Herald- Tribune, Jan. 31, 1943. ) * * * 11. MYTH: During the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian Japanese blocked the roads, signaled the attackers, and engaged in nu- merous other activities to assist the enemy and hamper the defenders. FACT: "There were no acts of sabotage in the city and county of Honolulu December 7, nor have there been any reported to the police department since that date. Police department had charge of traffic on Pearl Harbor road from Pearl Harbor to Honolulu shortly after bombing started with several officers on duty there. There was no de- liberate blocking of traffic during December 7 or following that date by unauthorized persons. " (Cablegram from Honolulu Chief of Police Gabrialson to Tolan Com- mittee, March 14, 1942. ) "There have been no known acts of sabo- C-2a78-P2a-bu- - 23 - tage, espionage or fifth column activity committed by the Japanese in Hawaii either on or subsequent to December 7, 1941." (Col. Kendall J, Fielder, Chief of Military Intelligence, Hawaiian Department; the Christian Century, Aug. 18, 1943, p. 937) "Mr. John Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has informed me that there was no sabotage com- mitted there (in Hawaii) prior to December 7, on December 7, or subsequent to that time. " (Assistant Attorney-General Rowe, April 20, 1942; Tolan Committee, Fourth Interim Report, p. 49) "The War Department has received no in- formation of sabotage committed by Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbor. " (Hon. Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, March 30, 1942; Tolan Com- mittee, Fourth Interim Report, p. 48). "Where were the Japanese on that Sun- day (December 7), if they were not sabo- taging? Hundreds of them were actively helping defend the territory, as members of the Oahu Citizens Defense Committee. Volunteer truck drivers, they rushed to their assembly points, stripped their delivery trucks of their contents, inserted frames prepared to hold four stretchers, and went tearing out to Pearl Harbor to take the wounded to hospitals. Some of these Japa- C-22 76-P2a_h - 24 - nese got there so promptly that their trucks were hit by flying shrapnel or machine gun bullets from the road-strafing Jap planes. The presence of the Japanese driver's and their scarred and pock— marked trucks un- doubtedly gave rise to the rumor that guns had been employed to clear the highway of Japs who were blocking the road to Pearl Harbor. " (Nelson Pringle, CBS broadcaster, Oct- 5, 1942. ) "All the indications are that there was no sabotage at Pearl Harbor, according to all the evidence. . . " (Hon. John M. Costello, former Congressman from California and member of the Dies Committee; Bulletin of America's Town Meeting of the Air, July 15, 1943, p. 19. ) * * * 12. MYTH: The Army evacuated all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast because they were considered, as a group, to be dis- loyal and dangerous to the National security. FACT: This charge is most effectively answered by the action of the War Department in lifting the West Coast exclusion orders, on January 2, 1945, and clearing the great majority of the evacuees to return to their homes without fur- ther investigation or hindrance of any kind. Regardless of the reasons which made mass evacuation appear to be a military necessity in early 1942, the rescinding of the exclusion orders is indisputable evidence that the War Department, after careful study, arrived at the conclusion that only a small number of the C-2276-P24-bu- - 25 - evacuees were eiuestionable from the standpoint of the national security, * * * 13. MYTH: The Japanese race is fundamentally dis- honest, secretive and generally untrustworthy. FACT: In 1933, Stanford University Press pub- lished the results of an extensive study, supervised by Dr. E. K. Strong, Jr. , Professor of Psychology, to ascertain the "educational and occupational opportunities offered to American citizens of Oriental races." This study was financed by a $40,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and it in- cluded the only thorough, scientific investi- gation ever made into the honesty of the Japanese in California. The conclusion drawn from the study reads as follows: "As far as these results go..., they give no warrant for claiming that the Japanese as a class are more dishonest than Americans. There are undoubtedly rascals in both groups. The most extreme conclusion which could be based on these data would be to claim two or three per cent more dishonest Japanese than Americans, on the ground that poor credit ratings mean dis- honesty. The more conservative conclusion is that the differences in credit ratings repre- sent inexperience far more than dishonesty, and that, all in all, the differences between Japanese and whites are too slight to be con- sidered significant." (Tocational Aptitudes of Second-Oeneration Japanese in the United States, p. 154. J "Adaptability is an important trait, pos- sibly the most important, in earning a living. The two rough measures of it, in terms of de- C-2278-Pa8-bu- - 26 _ linquency-crime and honesty, indicate that the Japanese are superior in this respect to many immigrant groups who have come to this country." (Ibid, p. 177). The experience of WRA officials who have interviewed Japanese Americans on matters re- lating to loyalty, and who have studied the re- sults of the interviews, has indicated that, instead of being dishonest and secretive, they are surprisingly frank and naive. Information obtained from them regarding visits to Japan, dual citizenship, and former employment, tallied almost in every instance with information col- lected by the P.B.I, and Army and Navy intelli- gence agencies. * * * 14. MYTH: The birth rate of the Japanese in America is much higher than that of other Americans. They multiply at an alarming rate. FACT: The U.S. Census, 1940 shows that the birth rate among Japanese Americans in every state on the West Coast was lower than the birth rate of the general population, including people of all ancestries. Cal i f orn i a Oregon .... Wash i ngton Bl RTH RATE AMONG JAPANESE AMERICANS 15.8 per thousand 15.5 per thousand 11.7 per thousand Bl RTH RATE OF TOTAL POPULATION, ALL ANCESTRI ES . . 16. 1 per thousand , . 16.4 per thousand , . 16. 2 per thousand Census figures show, further, that the- number of Japanese American births has been decreasing steadily since 1920. C-2278-P26-bu- - 27 - NUMBER OF NUMBER OF NUMBER OF BIRTHS IN BIRTHS IN BIRTHS IN 1920 1930 1940 California 5,032 2, 224 1,480 Oregon 219 75 63 Washington 1,160 375 171 "Their birth rate during the past decade has been insufficient to balance mortality and emigration." (Tolan Fourth Interim Report, p. 91. ) * * * 15, MYTH: The Japanese cannot be Americanized or assimilated into American life. They congregate in "Little Tokyos" to preserve their Japanese culture. FACT: "To the extent that assimilation is a problem, it is largely the result of certain social conditions and laws of the American general public. Studies demonstrate that the persons of Japanese descent are readily suscep- tible to integration in our society if given the opportunity." (U.S. Supreme Court Justice Murphy, in Korenatsu vs. the United States, p. 18. ) "The word 'assimilation' has two meanings," as David Starr Jordan, President of Stanford University, pointed out at the hearings of the U.S. immigration Committee in 1924 — "interbreed- ing and the comprehension of political and social conditions. " There has been very little intermarriage between the Japanese and Cauca- sians in the western states; as a matter of fact, in three of the states where they were C-2278-P27-bu- -. 28 - mainly concentrated (Arizona, California, and Washington), it has been prohibited by law. In the "comprehension of political and social con- ditions," however, Dr. Jordan stated that "tha young Japanese are n or e readily assimilated, than people of several European races." (Hear- ings before the Inni g rati on Counittee, U.S. Senate, 68th Congress. First Session, p. 60). This point of view had been strongly sup- ported, some years earlier, by the Immigration Commission appointed in 1907 to "make full in- quiry, examination, and inves t i g at i on. . . into the subject of immigration." Composed of three senators, three representatives, and three lay- men appointed by the President, the Commission published its findings in 42 volumes. Volume 25, published in 1911, is entitled, Japanese and Other Immigrant Races in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain States. "...When compared with other races em- ployed in similar kinds of labor in the same industry," the report stated (p. 149), "the Japanese show relatively rapid progress in ac- quiring a speaking knowledge of English. Their advance has been much more rapid than that of the Chinese and Mexicans, who show little interest in 'American' institutions. During their first five years of residence a greater proportion have learned to speak English than most of the South and East European races... The progress of the Japanese is due to their great eagerness to learn, which has overcome more obstacles than have been encountered by most of the other races, obstacles of race prejudice, of segregation, and of wide differ- ences in language. " - 29 - More recent confirmation of the same view- point is contained in Dr, Edward K- Strong's book, entitled "The Second-Generation Japanese Problem", based on an extensive study of the subject under a $40,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation. This book was published in 1934. Dr. Strong states that authorities agree, almost without exception, that second- and certainly third-generation Japanese have the mental qualities necessary for cultural ansimi- lation. He, too, "agrees with most authorities that the Japanese have the necessary capacity." On the other hand, he states that "cultured as- similation is never accomplished by any first generation." (p. 27.) Many other immigrant people, limited in ability to speak the English lanf^uae^e, have congregated in separate communities. New York Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and other cities have had — and still have, to some extent — colonies of Italians, Poles, Russians, and other nationalities. The midwest has had its rural settlements of Scandinavians and Germans. They gathered together to have neighbors whose language and customs they understood, and for economic reasons. These reasons, also in- fluenced the colonization of the Japanese, who were frequently not welcomed in other communi- ties. "Segregation of immigrants is certainly not peculiar to the Japanese, but is a rule of immigrant settlement. ... Where colour is added to culture as a distinguishing characteristic of the newcomer, it provides a further incen- tive for the members of the group to segregate C-3275-i'29- - 30 - and to act as a unit." (The Japanese Canadians, by Young and Raid, p. 24) At the time of the evacuation, in 1942, the "Little Tokyos" on the West Coast were al- ready on the wane. According to Carey Mc- Wllliams (Prejudice, p. 88), "As the Nisei reached maturity, there was a significant trend away from Little Tokyo. In 1928 one observer reported that, in Los Angeles, there were 203 Japanese-operated fruit stands, 292 grocery stores, 74 florist shops, 69 nurseries, 108 restaurants, and 68 dry-cleaning establish- ments which had most of their dealings with non-Japanese customers. Over a period of years there was unquestionably a slow but steady ex- pansion out of Little Tokyo. " A similar trend was noted by Young and Reid (The Japanese Canadians, p. 72) in a care- ful study conducted in British Columbia. In Vancouver, the authors state, "the Japanese are found in commercial enterprises in significant numbers not only in their own areas of settle- ment where, incidentally, they cater to Whites as well as Japanese, but also to a remarkable extent all over the city where their only customers are Whites. " ^Another statement in the same book (p. 145), which was published in 1938 "under the auspices of The Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene and The Canadian Institute of International Affairs", is unquestionably as true of the conditions that prevailed on the West Coast of the United States as it was of the conditions in British Columbia: "The second generation of the Japanese Canadians, in spite of what their critics may say to the con- trary and in spite of what their parents may do C-2278-P30-l>u- - 31 - to have it otherwise, are no more Japanese than their parents are Canadian. They live in our houses, wear our clothes, eat our food, attend our schools., speak our language, read our books, join our churches, go to our movies,- play our sports, sing our songs, and salute our flags. Since they do these things, and since they are human and therefore are affected by the ex- perience, it is a denial of the obvious to ig- nore the fact that they are in the process of becoming Canadian. " Competent observers on the reception of Nisei in Japan have remarked on their lack of welcome there, and on their failure to adjust themselves to Oriental life. (See The Rising Sun of Japan, by Randau and Zugsmith, p. 99-100 The Japanese Canadians, p. 146. ) The Americanization of the Nisei is especially evident in their school achieve- ments. They are eager for education. "Although they come from an economic level appreciably lower than that of the white American students, a much higher percentage of them attend the universities and colleges." (Christendom, Vol. Vll , No. 2, p. 201.) "The Japanese immi g rants ... take advantage of the opportunities presented by educational institutions to an extent probably unsurpassed by any other immigrant group..." (The Japanese Canadians, p. 132.) Many of them have won good citizenship awards, scholarships, and other scholastic honors; they have been elected to class offices and important positions in the student bodies; they have starred in American sports. (See C-2278-P81-bu- - 32 - » Brief of Japane se American Citizens League, Korematsu Case, pp. 161, 16S, 163, 164.) Many have achieved high recognition in the arts and sciences. The final and most conclusive proof, how- ever, is th e -rem a rk ab 1 e record of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which rescued the "Lost Battalion" in France, and has set a record of gallantry unsurpassed by any other unit in the Army of the United States. (See Hisei in uni- form,. ) * * * 16. MYTH: The presence of Japanese workers in any community lowers the standard of living since they work for lower wages and are content to live in hovels. FACT: The living standard o f any people regard- less of race or ancestry, is determined, in a large measure, by their opportunities to make a decent living. The Fourth Interim Report ofthe Tolan Committee (pp. 62 to 72) clearly shows that the Jap ai»ese in California were constantly striving to overcome the many handicaps that forced them, when they first arrived as immigrants, to accept low wages oc starve. "Very few Japanese were employed as skilled workers in factories or workshops; there was a plentiful supply of other immigrants to fill such positions; their in- ability to understand English required their working in groups under an interpreter; they were opposed by labor unions. .. Mo st of the Japanese who did not become domestics worked in the rail- roads, in canneries, lumber mills, mines, farms, and various city trades. " After 1909, however, the number of Japanese in nomadic, low-paying employment began to decrease, owing to their inclination, the Tolan Report states, "to shift to occupations which offered a less nomadic C-2278-P32-l>u- - 33 - existence, greater profit,' or independent status." (p. 63.) "Many of the Japanese grad- ually left the industries into which they had originally been dispersed. In search of higher earnings, more satisfactory living conditions , and occupations to which they were better adapted by natural bent and experience, they tended to seek the level which they had enjoyed in their native land. (p. 64. ) Many authoritative references may be cited to shov that the West Coast Japanese were con- stantly striving to raise the wage scale in the industries that employed them: "...The Japanese club secretaries, camp managers, and bosses became successiul bar- gainers, authorized to speak for the whole body of men they represented, familiar with prevail- ing wage rates in the region and for the partic- ular crop. Under their direction, through strikes and boycotts, parti cularly at harvest time, the Japanese were able to secure wage in- creases until their rates equaled and surpassed those of white workers." flolan Report, p. 67.) "They (the Japanese) have reduced the wo rk- day from 12 to ii hours and by means of strikes have raised the wages of all races." (Preju- dice, p. 93) As they obtained better incomes which en- abled them to acquire a few dollars more than necessary to finance a bare existence, they sought better homes and better opportunities for their children. "Most of the Japanese families are of course living in homes built lor them as tenants or laborers and these are usually no better than those erected elsewhere to serve the same purpose. With land ovmership, better homes are C-2a78-P33-bu- - 34 - built..." (IThe Japanese Problem in the United States (19.15), by H. A. Millis, p. 164.) "...As the Japanese got ahead and could afford to do so, he also moderated his habits of excessive toil. If he ownea land, he built a little bungalov, gave his children music lessons and planned to send them to college. "The writer has in his possession two very interesting and contrasting snap-shots which he took in the summer of 1933. Ooi e is a rough shack inhabited by a Japanese family at one end and used as a barn at the other, with a vege- table and packing room between. The second picture shows an attractive modern bungalow, which had a well-kept garden and a gold-fish pond, and, behind it, a large well-painted fruit-packing house- The two pictures represent two stages of Japanese development. The first is where they began and the second is where they wish to go." (Orientals in American Life, by Albert W. Palmer, pp. 55-5§. ) "That the standard of living of the Japanese will at least, equal that of the White groups in a comparatively short tim.e is indi- cated by the rapid progress already made by. the Japanese. .. The remarkable advances of the standard o f living of the group since the begin- ning of the century.. .is evi denced by the stand- ard of living of the Japanese at the present time... There is conclusive evidence of econo- mic and social progress on the part of the Japanese. (The Japanese Canadians, pp. 79, 80, 61. ) .* * * C-227B-P34-b»- - 35 - 17. MYTH: Japanese Americans are mainly stoop laborers and domestic workers. FACT: The 1940 Census reported 43,691 paid workers of Japanese descent fourteen years of age or older, in California, Oregon, and Wash- ington. There were 8,307 paid farm laborers, who were probably employed for the most part, in stoop labor jobs in the vegetable and smell fruit industries. The farm operators and managers, viio may have been engaged in some stoop labor but who were primarily in the same classification with farmers of other races, numbered 7,001. There were 3,541 domestic workers in the three states. On the other hand, 5,512 persons were em- ployed in clerical, sales and kindred occupa- tions. There were 5,491 proprietors, managers, and officials of business enterprises; 3,517 operatives and kindred workers in various types of industries; and 1,157 professional workers. They were engaged in the manufacture of lumber, furniture, paper, chemicals, petroleum and coal products, leather goods, iron and steel, ma- chinery, and many other articles of commerce. Nearly 5,000 vere employed in food and dairy products stores; 1,478 worked at laundering, cleaning, and dyeing; 1,335 worked in hotels and lodging houses. In other words, census figures show that nearly three-quarters of the paid workers, in- cluding both Jssei and Nisei, were employed in a wide range of occupations not classified as either farm labor or domestic work. Immigrants from Japan, before they became adjusted to life in America, were employed almost exclusively as low-grade laborers and menials. As they became acquainted with Ameri- C-8275-P38-bu- - 36 - can vays, however, they sought to improve their economic position. Probably no other group of immigrants confronted with so many obstacles at outset, has equaled the progress of the Japanese in adapting themselves to the wide scope of American industry and commerce. * * * 1.8. MYTH: American farmers of European descent can not compete with farmers of Japanese descent. Wherever the Japanese congregate, the Caucasian farmers are forced out. FACT: The Report of the U.S. Immigration Commis- sion, theTolan Report, and many other authorita- tive references state that the Japanese Americans engaged mainly in growing crops that were not ex- tensively grown by Caucasian farmers. No real competition could exist imder these conditions. There is also plentiful proof that, in those areas where the Japanese Americans were chiefly congre- gated, they were pioneers in farming virgin land, or land that was not wanted by Caucasian farmers. "Nearly all of the Japanese farming is of the intensive type, requi ring much care and hand- work. It is of the kind the market places a premium upon, but which the ordinary American farmer is slow to engage in." (The Japanese Problem in the United States, by Prof. H. A. Millis, pp. 89-90. ) "There can be no doubt that the extensive leasing by them (the Japanese) about Newcastle and in a few other localities has caused pros- pective settlers to locate elsewhere, and the white population in some neighborhoods has ac- tually diminished... But it should be noted in this connection that in some communities much of the land leased was reclaimed and reduced to C-8278-P36-bu- - 37 - cultivatio-fi by Japanese, or was first devoted to intensive farming by them... The instances where the prices realized for crops have been adversely affected as a result of Japanese com- petition are comparatively few. As a matter of fact, where their acreage has been added to that •productively used in the cOMMunity, it has gen- erally been devoted to growing crops not exten- sively grown by white farners . " (Report of U.S. Inn ig rati on Co**is si on , Part 25, Vol. 1, pp. 86 -87. ) "They (the Japanese) were engaged chiefly in raising sugar beets in Utah, Colorado, and Idaho, berries and vegetables in Washington and Oregon, and in Cali fomi a varied intensive crops — vegetables, berries, deciduous fruits, grapes, melons, andhops. The specialization of Japanese farmers was extreme." (Tolan Comm i ttee , Fourth Interim Report, p. 69) "The concentration (in the production o f vegetables, berries, and small fruits) resulted from a t ri al -and- erro r experimentation with other types of agriculture By 1930, they (the Japanese) had abandoned almost every other type of agriculture. Experience had shown that they could not compete successfully in other types of farming." (Prejudice, by Carey McWilliams, p. 86) In the March 1, 1924 Issue of the Country Gentlemen, the leading article, by Robert Welles Ritchie, discussed the Japanese problem, in Cali- fornia, "scrupulously avoiding any cont rover si al bias" according to the author's declaration. This paragraph appears in it: "The three areas of greatest Japanese con- C-227B-P37-bu- - 38 - centration then (in 1920), as now, were in the cantaloupe and winter -1 ettuce fields of the Imperial Valley, in the extreme southeastern part of the state; in the mountain fruit center of placer County; and in the strawberry fields, and the potato, celery, onion, and asparagus districts roughly embraced in the term, the Delta, which lies in the exact center of the state. Let us be very blunt in this context and say that in the Imperial Valley and the Delta country the Japanese never displaced white nen, for white n en would not work there; and in the mountain fruit district the Chinese, and after them the Japanese, came in -- after nearly every white man had quit -- and made a go of a crippled industry." "No small part of the acreage now control- led by the Japanese in Oregon has been 'taken wild' and reduced to cultivation. This is es- pecially true in the vicinity of Hood River.,.." (The Japanese Problem in the United States, By H. A. Millis, p. 98. ) "Much of the land (farmed by the Japanese in Washington) has been taken as left by the timbermen, the stumps removed, and reduced to cultivation by the Japanese tenants. They have done much to develop the agricultural possibili- ties of these communities — more undoubtedly than any other race has shown an inclination to do. " ( Ibid pp. 91-2. ) * * * 19. MYTH: The farming methods of the Japanese ruin the soil and cause the land to depreciate in value. 2276-P38-bu- - 39 - FACT: This charge is denied by Prof. H. A. Mil lis, whose book, "The Japanese Problem in the United States", is frequently cited as an authoritative study in the Report of the Tolan Committee. Millis states: "The complaint that the Japanese 'skin' the land and ruin the orchards is frequently heard. Most of the Japanese are tenants, and tenant farming is likely to have such results. No case can be made against the Japanese as against other tenants, however; On the contrary, while one finds rather numerous instances in which the landowners have been dissatisfied with the Japanese tenants they have had, the general opinion is that the Japanese are good farmers and give rather more than less interest than is us.ual among tenants to the care and conservation of the properties leased by them. At Sacramento. .. the president of one large fruit-shipping firm and the treasurer of an- other said that the Japanese were among the most careful and painstaking orchardists. At Fresno, a prominent American told me that he would rather lease his vineyards to Japanese than to farmers of his own race because they took better care of them, 'i'he criarge that the Japanese ruin the farms is a charge, which, like many others, one hears less of the closer he geti to the place whefe the damage is pre- sumed to have taken place. On the whole the Japanese are regarded as good farmers and good tenants. " ( p. 148. ) MYTH: Japanese farmers evacuated from the West Coast have stubbornly refused to release trucks and farm machinery for the use of other farmers who desperately needed such equipment. FACT: Very little of the farm equipment owned C-2276-P39- - 40 - by the Japanese Americans was left idle when they were evacuated. By far the greater part of it was either sold or leased to the tenants who took over the operation of the farms after the owners departed. On May 8, 1942, the Farm Security Administration, which had charge of the disposal of evacuee-owned farm property, reported that satisfactory disposals had been made of the machinery on all but thirteen farms in Exclusion Area No. 1. It was the policy of the PSA to hold the machinery on the land to the extent that it was needed to keep the land in operation. Typical of the grossly exaggerated stories that have been spread on the West Qoast is one reported to the WRA by an implement dealer in Sacramento, who stated that more than 200 farm tractors, owned by Japanese Americans, were standing idle in storage in the Sacramento Valley area, and that he, himself, knew of ap- proximately 50 idle tractors in the city of Sacramento. A representative of the WRA im- mediately called upon the dealer, and asked him where the tractors were stored and who was cus- todian of them. As a result the dealer admitted that he knew of only four tractors; the rest of his report had been based on hearsay. On another occasion. Senator Sheridan Downey sent to the WRA office a copy of a tele- gram from the Salinas, California, Chamber of Commerce, which stated that some 500 articles of farm equipment, owned by evacuees , was stored in that vicinity. The telegram declared that the use of the equipment was essential if the farmers of that community were to meet their food production goals. Again, a WRA representative went immediate- ly to the source of the report and sought the -P40-bu- - 41 - assistance of une Chamber of Commerce in check- ing the accuracy of the information. Implement dealers and many others who were presumed to have knowledge of- the equipment were inter- viewed. This survey revealed one tractor, two listers, a ten-foot ring roller, and a land chisel which were in storage — a total of five (not 500) pieces of farm equipment. The Salinas Chomber of Commerce corrected the erroneous in- formation given to Senator Downey, in a second telegram to him, which received only a fraction of the publicity given to the first. The report was published in West Coast newspapers that some 33,000 Japanese-owned automobiles were in storage and, consequently, that more than 100,000 tires were kept away from persons needing them. An inspection of the records in the motor vehicle departments in Was'hington, Oregon, California, and Arizona re- vealed that only 32,977 motor vehicles were registered to Japanese owners before the evacu- ation; 18,522 of them had been sold to non- Japanese owners; 3,379 were registered to own- ers whose names were not included in the evacu- ation lists (probably voluntary evacuees wh'o took the cars with them); 879 were owned by Japanese outside of the exclusion areas; and 174 were owned by evacuees released from reloca- tion centers. Therefore, only 8,923 (not 33,000) vehicles were recorded as owned by people living in the relocation centers. Of this number, many had been left with dealers to be sold, or returned to dealers by purchasers ! ^ who owned only a small equity in them; others had been sold and the sales had not been re- corded. These incidents reveal the mythical char- acter of the evidence used as a basis for- charges that the evacuees stubbornly refused to sell great quantities of idle equipment. It C-2276-P41-bu- - 42 - should also be noted that any reluctance on the part of the evacuees to part with such property would have had considerable justification. Many of them expected to return to their West Coast homes, and when they returned they wanted ma- chinery to cultivate their land, and trucks and cars to be used in their work. * * * • MYTH: The evacuees in the relocation centers have been pampered and coddled, while Americans imprisoned by Japan have received inhuman treatment . FACT: This charge, which provided the basis for an especially vicious campaign against the v^RA in the early part of 1943, was carefully investigated by Governor Maw of Utah. His com- ment, after a personal tour of the Central Utah Relocation Center, was reported in the Salt Lake City Tribune of January 16, 1945, as fol- lows : "These Japanese are pioneering a project. , . They're not living the life of Riley and they're not being pampered. It's not luxury when six persons of a family live in a single room. I found that these thousands are not getting more than their share of coffee, sugar, meat, or any other comr-.odity. The ration regulations are rigidly adhered to by the project director's staff. " Every statement made to support the charge that the evacuees have been pampered has been proved to be untrue. In April, 1943, the War Relocation Authority issued a memorandum refut- ing a series of accusations published by the Denver Post which was spearheading the attack. Typical of the accusations was a statement that WRA had stored at Heart Mountain "enough food - 43 - to supply the 10,300 Japs there for three years, seven months and two weeks. " An actual inventory at the center, made two days after the Post statement was published on April 24, revealed that the food supply was sufficient to last only sixty days, which was the minimum period for safety. On July 17,. 1943, the ifar Depar tnent and the War Relocation Authority issued a joint statement through the Director of Var Mobiliza- tion which read, in part, as follows: "A por- tion of the food (used in the relocation centers) is produced by the evacuees themselves on government-owned or government-leased land within the project area; some perishable com- modities are purchased locally; and practically all other food is brought through the Quarter- master Depots of the Army. All rationing %e~ strtctions applicable to the civilian popula- tion are strictly folloitied and tiuo meatless days are observed each week. ..Beef served at the centers is third grade and no fancy meats of any kind are furnished. The cost of feeding at the centers over the past several months has ranged from 34 to 42 cents per person per day." The following description of a relocation center was written by a well-known author who investigated the pampering charges in the sum- mer of 1943: "You may think you have gotten into an Army camp by mistake, for the barracks are built according to regular Army design and construc- tion. True, they were built hastily of green lumber which split apart. The floor boards are not close together. .. The land is silt, so when the dust storms come, the dust seeps through the crevices into the barracks... C-2275-P43-bu- - 44 - "The barracks are in blocks. The build- ings have been divided into 'apartments', and about 260 men, women, and children live in an average block. The 'apartments' are rooms twenty and twent y— five feet in size, and families of from two to five or more occupy each of them. In each block there are two latrines, one for the men, one for the women; one laundry room, one ironing room. In each block there is a mess hall — for food is sup- plied by the government through the Army Quartermaster Corps and eating is communal... "It is not quite so grim as it was in the beginning. The evacuees, young and old, hearty and frail, had come from the moderate West Coast climate to this desert when the tempera- ture was 120 degrees. The government had of- fered them their rooms, cots, straw with which to make mattresses, and Army blankets. They had no furniture. They needed soap, brooms, pails, everything. Most of them had to make furniture out of scraps of lumber left when the barracks were finished. After a while those who had furniture at home got some of it moved here. Some got plyboard from a mail-order house and partitioned their apartments. In some blocks the men secured air conditioners for the mess halls. The inevitable Japanese gardens began to bloom in window boxes and around the blocks and between them. Most of the comfort you see has been created by the Japanese themselves; it is not donated by the go vernment . . . . A t best, this is not the lavish luxury in which many of us have heard that the if ar Relocation Authority has pillowed the Jap anes e . . , "There is a swimming pool which is merely a wide place in the ditch. Prom the uproar..., I had expected a marble pool with umbrella- shaded tables beside it and liveried waiters C-2 2 78-P44-l>u- - 45 - serving champagne. But it's only a ditch and there is no alcoholic beverages of any sort.... Indeed, there isn't even any soft drink or candy to be haa, as a rule... And recreation is whatever the people made for themselves..." (The Truth About Jap Camps, by Maxine Davis, Liberty Magazine, Aug. 7, 1943. ) * * * C-2g7B-P4S-nobu-Flnal