Thursday, June 23, 2005

More National Park Service Revisionism

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Got the latest NPS "General Management Plan Newsletter" today.

As expected, none or our conerns regarding 100% historical accuracy have been addressed, although there is a lot of lip service such as, "You'll find many of your ideas from the public workshops and your written comments are represented..."

Yea, sure they are....

Not one of our concerns (ideas) are represented.

The last mailer on the Bainbridge Island memorial discuused the "diversity" of the community members involved and then listed names that were all pro-reparations. It'd be a good laugh if the content wasn't so serious.

Here are but a few examples:

Under "Interpretive Themes for Minidoka Internment National Monument" it states:

"Civil and Constitutional Rights

- The internment and incarceration of American citizens and legal resident aliens of Japanese ancestory was the product of a long history of race prejudice, war hysteria, and failure of political leadership."

This is absolutely false. Approximately two-thirds of the ADULTS among those evacuated were Japanese nationals--enemy aliens.

The vast majority of evacuated Japanese-Americans (U.S. citizens) were children at the time. Their average age was only 15 years.

In addition, over 90% of Japanese-Americans over age 17 were also citizens of Japan (dual citizens)under Japanese law. Thousands had been educated in Japan. Some having returned to the U.S. holding reserve rank in the Japanese armed forces.

The accusations of "racism", "wartime hysteria" and "lack of political will" are straight out of the flawed "Personal Justice Denied" report. Ask a Japanese-American reparations activist how the commission reached those conclusions.

P.S. Hey NPS - The evacuation was the product of the United States being attacked by the Empire of Japan at Pearl Harbor. That didn't seem to make your newsletter.

The Minidoka newsletter then states:

" The loyalty questionnaire designed by the U.S. government was administered only to internees (relocatees, they mean to say) and required that every internee (relocatee) over the age of 17 declare their loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America. Minidika internees (relocatees) overwhelmingly affirmed their loyalty (97%) and helped to refute the government's assumption that the Nikkei population on the West Coast was a threat to national security."

What the NPS fails to acknowledge is in the same questionaire, over 26% of Japanese-Americans of military age at the time said they would refuse to swear an unqualified oath of allegiance to the United States. What the NPS fails to acknowledge is according to War Relocation Authority records 13,000 applications renouncing their U.S. citizenship and requesting expatriation to Japan were filed by or on behalf of Japanese-Americans during World War II and over 5,000 had been processed by the end of the war.

This, along with MAGIC and other intelligence that the NPS conveniently ignores support the government's concern for espionage in the West Coast Japanese American community.

Also, relocatees at Minidoka pledged the loyalty oath before arriving at Minidoka (at least Bainbridge Japanese). The 97% figure reflects this fact. Ethnic Japanese who refused to provide an oath of loyalty were sent elsewhere. NPS conveniently ignores this fact.

The Minidoka newsletter then states:

"Minidoka provides a forum for discussing the violation of U.S. constitutional rights and the redress movement, which resulted in an apology from the United States government."

Violation of U.S. constitutional rights?

The Executive Branch produced Executive Order 9066.

The U.S. Congress immediately passed legislation providing enforcement provisions for FDR's Executive Order 9066. Public Law 503 passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, provided under Article 1, Section 9 of the United States Constitution.

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the evacuation in three separate cases that are good law to this day.

In Korematsu v. U.S., 1944 term:

In summing up for the 6-3 majority, Justice Black wrote:

"There was evidence of disloyalty on the part of some, the military authorities considered that the need for action was great, and time was short. We cannot --by availing ourselves of the calm perspective of hindsight -- now say that at the time these actions were unjustified."

That decision has never been reversed and stands to this day.

In Hirabayashi vs United States, Chief Justice Horace Stone wrote:

"THE ALTERNATIVE WHICH APPELLANT INSISTS MUST BE ACCEPTED IS FOR THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES TO IMPOSE THE CURFEW ON ALL CITIZENS WITHIN THE MILITARY AREA, OR ON NONE. IN A CASE OF THREATENED DANGER REQUIRING PROMPT ACTION, IT IS A CHOICE BETWEEN INFLICTING OBVIOUSLY NEEDLESS HARDSHIP ON THE MANY, OR SITTING PASSIVE AND UNRESISTING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE THREAT. WE THINK THAT CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT, IN TIME OF WAR, IS NOT SO POWERLESS AND DOES NOT COMPEL SO HARD A CHOICE IF THOSE CHARGED WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE HAVE REASONABLE GROUND FOR BELIEVING THAT THE THREAT IS REAL."

The Japanese American reparations activists and the NPS can say differently until they are blue in the face. The evacuation was not unconstitutional. (Perhaps in their world an entity other than the United States Supreme Court interprets the constitution.)

I could go on and on correcting this NPS newsletter. I've read previous ones and they're all the same.....historically inaccurate and pandering to special interests.

It's a real shame and does nothing to gain lost respect for my Japanese-American neighbors who got sucked into this bogus movement.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

AJA Activists: "She crossed us so we publically slimed her and ensured she lost her job. Now we can move on...."

It seems the librarian at CSUS who lost her job for using the phrase "JapTown" had been having some previous run-ins with the Japanese-American reparations activists.

The Bainbridge Island Historical Society has been stacked with the same type of pro-reparations activists. The sudden departure of musuem Executive Director Erica Varga has islanders who know the inside story scratching their heads.

The reparations logic is fascinating and goes something like this, "We say you're a racist and if you disagree with us then you're a racist!"

Anyway, check out how Japanese-American reparations activists slimed this woman and forced her out of her job.

"History of Tension" can be translated to mean she had the guts to stand up to the historical revisonism, just as we're doing here on Bainbridge. So much for historical accuracy....

<http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2001-03-08/news2.asp>

Before the slur Library dean had history of tension with Japanese-American community

By Georgette Todd

Could one word destroy a career?

In the case of Patricia Larsen--the dean of the library at California State University, Sacramento, who was forced to resign last month after using the word “Japtown” in a speech--her career derailment may have been about more than just that one utterance.

Larsen used the word during a Feb. 8 speech at the Golden State Museum opening for the new “Time of Remembrance” exhibit, which honors Japanese-Americans who were forced to reside in internment camps during World War II.

Larsen uttered the “slur” in reference to the Placer County community of Penryn, which turned into a virtual ghost town after its predominantly Japanese-American population was interned during the war. While it appears Larsen was trying to use the word in its historical context, many in the audience took it as an inappropriate racial slur.

In the same week that Larsen’s resignation was announced, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante publicly apologized for using what many heard as the word “nigger” during a speech honoring African-Americans during Black History Month.

The furor over Bustamante’s comment died down after a few days with no calls for his resignation or lasting repercussions, whereas CSUS President Donald Gerth asked for and received Larsen’s resignation for her $121,476 per year job. Why the disparity?

Larsen’s relationship and history with the Japanese-American community may offer some explanation. In the past two years, Gerth and other university officials have received many documented complaints about Larsen’s management and behavior toward noteworthy members of the Japanese-American community.

In a letter written to CSUS Vice President Elizabeth Moulds, the president of the Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL) Sacramento chapter, Richard Ikeda, charged that Larsen had treated him in a demeaning and insulting manner during an advisory board meeting.

The letter details how Ikeda was appalled with the way Larsen was being disrespectful to the group by reconstructing the school’s Japanese American collection and dismissing any suggestions made by the advisory board.

“To come before a Japanese American group, citizens from all walks of middle class life, and to lay out what is going to be done by fiat to a collection that is there through our generosity and hard volunteer work is beyond belief,” Ikeda stated.

Larsen has refused to comment on her history of problems with the Japanese-American community and offered only a few comments about the “Japtown” comment: “My speech was very brief, but by saying that term, it never occurred to me that I would offend anyone. I am truly saddened by all this.”

Another letter criticizing Larsen and the handling of the Japanese American Archival Collection (JAAC), this time written to Gerth, came from Andy Noguchi, the president of JACL Florin chapter.

“Over recent years, people have related instances where the sensitivity and support of the JAAC have been questioned. Community volunteers have received rude treatment. Facilities for preparing exhibit materials were not made available. Remarks were made to community members that too much time was being spent on the JAAC,” Noguchi stated.

Noguchi did not make it clear in his letter if it was Larsen herself who was rude to the community volunteers, but he did express that Larsen’s staff did not provide support for community outreach JAAC exhibits.

The JAAC began in 1994 when retired schoolteacher Mary Tsukamoto donated her materials to the CSUS Archives. In 1983, Tsukamoto began to educate the public on the history of Japanese-Americans and their involvement with the internment camps. Thus began the “Time of Remembrance” exhibit that is presented every year in February and March in honor of Tsukamoto.

Tsukamoto was also the one who spearheaded the materials and information at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and has had an elementary school named after her in Elk Grove. She spent many years in the Elk Grove district before she died in 1998. Ever since Tsukamoto’s death, many people in the Japanese-American community realized that Tsukamoto left behind an invaluable collection that needed to be preserved and expanded.

One of the more prominent volunteers at the CSUS Archives and Special Collections, Reiko Nagumo, has seen first-hand the difference Larsen has made on the JAAC since she came on board.

According to Nagumo, the main negative impact Larsen has had on the JAAC is the demotion of the former head of Special Collections and University Archives, Georgiana White. Larsen made the demotion despite votes of support for White by library faculty and staff.

“Georgiana was the only one who was trained by Mary (Tsukamoto). With previous deans, Georgiana had no problems getting release time to go out and do more outreach programs to educate people about the Japanese-Americans, but she’s had a lot of problems with this one,” Nagumo said.

Nagumo, who also serves on the JAAC advisory board, recently talked to Congressman Robert Matsui about the word Larsen had used in her speech and the issue of academic freedom.

“We know that many people are talking about the academic freedom and freedom of expression, and that’s fine, but the issue is in the word itself and how it was used by someone in that position,” Nagumo said.

Larsen’s most vocal critics contend that it was her use of the slur, not their history of frustration with Larsen, that provoked such an outcry over the speech. But they are also pleased that someone else will now be in charge of the JAAC.

Noguchi and Ikeda have both thanked Gerth and Larsen for their timely apologies and her subsequent resignation. They also feel that these are appropriate steps to repair major damage to the university’s reputation as a supporter of diversity and racial sensitivity.

“Larsen did the right thing in resigning,” Ikeda said. “Now we can move on.”

Dean of the California State University, Sacramento Library gets hammered by University P.C. Politics

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

This article is a few years old, but a good read. It's off the NichiBei Times site, http://www.nichibeitimes.com/news/csus-library.html.

My community had a "JapTown", too but now it is refered to as "Yama".

Saying that "JapTown" is a racial slur is a bit of a stretch, however. The Japanese-American reparations movement is attempting to reinforce the incorrect assertion that use of the word "Jap" has always been associated with malice and that any community that ever used the word "Jap" or "JapTown" should feel a deep sense of shame for their "racism".

Of course that's untrue. I feel no shame and I'm not about to have a guilt trip laid on me by the JACL or the ethnic activists. I do not believe that "Jap" or "JapTown" was used by Caucasions prior to Pearl Harbor with hostility or malice and I believe that any word used to describe Japanese after Pearl Harbor would have been used with hostility. You don't think "Japanese" would have been used without hostility after Pearl Harbor?

The official term in Thailand (in English, at least) to refer to their people is "Thai". Yet, in some countries, "Thai" are refered as "Thailandese". If a bunch of of Thai ethnic activists banded together and demanded that "Thailandese" is "racist", and any country who has ever refered to "Thai" as "Thailandese" are racists, does that mean they're all a bunch of "racists"? Of course not.

Such is the case with "Jap" or "JapTown" before Pearl Harbor, and as stated above any term used after Pearl Harbor would have carried a degree of hostility. You see the same thing today with the banning of the term "Oriental" as if it's some type of pejorative. I'm an "Occidental", should that be insulting? My Japanese buddies use "Oriental" all the time, and they speak English as a second language! I would get called "gaijin" all the time. So what! But I digress.....

Here's the piece on CSUS the librarian who got the wrath of the Japanese-American ethnic activists for having the "audacity" to use the term "JapTown". So much for historical accuracy....

CSUS Library Dean Resigns In Aftermath of Racial Slur
( published Feb. 13, 2001 )


By KENJI G. TAGUMA
Nichi Bei Times



Nichi Bei Times SACRAMENTO — The dean of the California State University, Sacramento Library, who used a racial slur during a speech at an event and exhibit commemorating the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, has resigned from her post, the university said.

Particia Larsen, who had served as dean of the library for the past three-and-a-half years, submitted her letter of resignation last Thursday, said university spokesperson Frank Whitlach.

According to Whitlatch, the resignation is effective immediately. “She will remain with the university as a senior librarian,” he said.

According to Larsen, while she will be placed in a library faculty position — consistent with her retreat rights — she will not be returning to the library. She said she will be working on special assignments for Provost Bernice Bass de Martinez, until she retires in the summer of 2002.

The incident occurred at a Jan. 30 “Time of Remembrance” event held at the Golden State Museum in Sacramento. According to several in attendance, Larsen — who ultimately oversaw the Japanese American Archival Collection at the institution — used the phrase “Jap Town” when referring to her husband’s experiences growing up in Placer County near Sacramento.

The incident prompted a flood of letters to the university, and led to an immediate apology by CSUS President Donald Gerth to organizations sponsoring the exhibit.

One of the approximately 200 in attendance was Georgette Imura, a private consultant and active community member.

“I think people were kind of stunned,” she said. “Given her audience...it was terribly insensitive of her to use that term. I think it was poor judgment on her part.”

“That’s kind of shocking to see that kind of ignorance and insensitivity,” said Florin Japanese American Citizens League President Andy Noguchi, “especially by someone who is in charge of overseeing the Japanese American Archival Collection.”

Noguchi, who was out of town at the time, heard about the incident from chapter members.

Dean Explains Action
In a memo to library faculty, staff and administrators, dated Feb. 12, Larsen explained the circumstances surrounding her decision to resign.

“I made a mistake — unfortunately in a very public place,” she stated. “I embarrassed the university and put President Gerth in a difficult situation. In short, I became more of a liability to the university than an asset.”

A copy of her speech, distributed with the memo, reads the following controversial line:

“My husband Paul’s first memory of the Japanese sudden departure from Placer County is of going to the hurried up sale of his Japanese neighbors’ property in Penryn — to Jap Town — where as a five-year-old he was impressed with the Japanese lanterns and the crowds...”

Larsen said she didn't expect the response to her comments at the event.

“I never imagined that my audience would not understand that I was using the term in the historical sense — as a storyteller,” she wrote in the memo. “There were some people — Japanese Americans as well as Caucasian Americans — who understood what I was saying. However, there were others who did not, or found my intent unacceptable.”

Larsen stated that she was “shocked” and “completely surprised” when Gerth called her into his office to inform her of the “serious aftermath” of her remarks.

“Had I known that I might offend anyone by using that name for the place, I most certainly would not have used it,” she added.

Community Reaction
Reaction to the use of the slur was swift. National JACL Director John Tateishi, in a Feb. 5 letter to her, blasted the dean.

“Such insensitivity from someone in your position is incomprehensible to me, and quite frankly speaks poorly of the university’s attitudes toward Japanese Americans in particular and Asian Pacific Americans in general,” Tateishi wrote. “Whether the word ‘Jap’ is used derisively with intent or uttered out of ignorance, the end result is the same.”

Tateishi also indicated that some who intended to donate their personal internment memorabilia to the CSUS collection have since chosen to donate elsewhere.

News of the resignation spread on Friday. Among those contacted by Gerth was Sacramento JACL President Richard Ikeda.

“It’s about time,” said Ikeda, who referred to Larsen as a “totally insensitive woman.”

Ikeda, who sits on the JAAC Advisory Committee, voiced his displeasure of Larsen in a four-page letter to CSUS Vice President/Chief-of-Staff Elizabeth Moulds in March of 1999.

“In our collective experience, the dean’s lack of sensitivity on Japanese American issues speaks to complete absence of racial sensitivity,” Ikeda wrote.

In one instance that he recalled, Larsen attended a JAAC Advisory Committee meeting and “abruptly” announced that changes were going to be made in the staffing and management of the archives. “She then pointedly and repeatedly underlined that we were merely advisory and had no say in her administrative decisions,” Ikeda stated in the letter to Moulds.

“She was unfriendly to the (Japanese American Archival) Collection, in my opinion,” Ikeda told Nichi Bei Times.

At their regularly scheduled meeting last Tuesday, the JAAC Advisory Committee, consisting of many active Japanese Americans, was met with a visit by CSUS President Gerth, who read his letter of apology to the group.

The collection itself was initiated by late community activist Mary Tsukamoto, and contains hundreds of items donated through community efforts.

In the presence of Gerth, longtime CSUS Ethnic Studies Instructor Wayne Maeda pointedly told the president that there are “a number of barriers and roadblocks erected” in the way of the collection.

“I said that at least at the lower levels, the university was not supporting the archives,” Maeda recalled. “I stated that because of the barriers, I didn’t think the university was fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities...and if possible I would prefer moving it to another institution...unless there’s demonstration of support.”

The resignation of Larsen did not surprise Maeda, who sits on the JAAC Advisory Committee and is the pre-eminent historian of the Sacramento Japanese American community.

And while one issue may have been resolved, Maeda said, “that really doesn’t resolve the issue of institutional support (for the JAAC).”

Sources have mentioned that under Larsen’s tenure as dean, there have been a numerous staff transfers to other university departments, retirements and actual resignations.

Larsen remains on administrative leave, sources say..

Please stop invoking the name of Ben Franklin....

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

The following quote has become quite popular as of late....

"He who would sacrifice liberty for security, deserves neither."

In every instance I have read this quote, be it Newsweek Magazine, The Seattle P.I. or all over the internet, it has been attributed to Ben Franklin.

Franklin didn't write the quote....

His agent in London Richard Jackson wrote the quote.

The book "An Historical Review of Pennsylvania" originated with Franklin, who had been sent to London by the Assembly in 1755 to represent the colony in a tax dispute with the proprietors (descendents of William Penn living in Great Britain).

It was published in 1759. Franklin denied the attribution in a Sept. 27, 1760 letter to David Hume, where he writes, "I am oblig'd to you for the favourable Sentiments you express for the pieces sent you: tho' the Volume relating to our Pennsylvania Affairs was not written by me, nor any part of it except the Remarks of the Proprietor's Estimate of his Estate, and some of the inserted Messages and Reports of the Assembly, which I wrote when at home, as a member of Committees appointed by the House for that Service: the rest was by another hand."

1. The quote cannot be attributed to Franklin.

2. The quote used by Jackson refered to a tax dispute, not the security of the Republic.

When this historical fact is pointed out (and not ignored as by the P.I. and Newsweek when I called to their attention) the typical response is, " I don't care who wrote the quote or what the circumstances of the quote were! It's still good advice!"

That's fine, just please stop atrributing the quote to Ben Franklin and understand the historical context in which the quote was written.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

A young American I want my son to emulate.

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

First off, thanks to all of you who took the time to send a message to the National Park Service. I had received feedback that some of your messages were returned and cannot give a specific explanation for this. Perhaps NPS will provide a response. I would like to think that so many emails were sent in favor of "Option A" that the NPS email server crashed! I'll ask and try to provide an explanation.

The following piece I found on Dr. Masugi's blog. Hopefully my posting it here will not ruffle any feathers. Granted I cannot be sure the writer is who he says he is, but for me that doesn't matter because it is a wonderfully written piece. Much of the commentary from young Japanese Americans is regurgitated reparations-speak, I shudder at the thought of my own kids taking on the same tone as they grow older. God forbid they should grow up with chips on their shoulders regarding this history. The writer who calls himself Sato gives me hope. Thank you Sato. I hope you find yourself in a position to teach other American young people the same.

History


It is a fact that Japanese Americans were supporting the Japanese Armies for many years with collections of money from their Japan Business Associations, Clubs, and especially the pool halls and baths all up and down the west coast even 4-5 years before America was bombed at Pearl. Heck, all the Japanese Consulates were involved as well as secret organizations that came from Japan to collect money and recruit Americans of Japanese Ancestry and Hakujin (white people) to help fight for the emperor. And they did!


Today, some Japanese Americans (JA) who are more American these days, whose fathers (Issei and Nisei) contributed to the Japanese war effort and received thank you letters from Japanese Army Generals are often confused on what to do with these letters of thanks. You surely won't see Densho like organizations in Seattle ever exhibit these because they are on a mission to distort the facts and continue to draw attention as victims. Densho only gives you a biased or one sided story. Please note that it's only about 25% of the Japanese American population that support these kind of VICTIM organizations as Densho and they do NOT represent the whole JA community in Seattle and most like 50% of the Seattle JA community wants nothing to do with Okada and this raciest Densho Project in Seattle. Many would just like to forget the incidents like many Americans and live together in peace and mutual respect.


I think Densho organizations ought to take a hard look at themselves and really ask if you are doing anything to help the better good of the community, of Seattle, of America or are you just trying to aline history your way for yourself. I think they are doing more harm than good for our JA community, themselves and America. They are distorting the truth about our fathers (mine also) of Japanese ancestry. Remember, not all the JA’s were involved with supporting Japan but it did happen and the JA’s or at least some knew about it and that’s why the JACL helped the FBI. Let’s get real. Where’s the honor?


I am really concerned with the teaching of these JA stories in the Seattle communities and colleges that are going on by Nisei’s and Sansei who tell their story of unfairness and their country’s blatant disregard for their American rights. Most of these Nisei and Sansei victims were quite young or not even born yet and even though the conditions were appalling for some, for many it was the best time of their lives. I can only think they are the showboating type of Japanese American. Every culture has them but these lie about the hardships when they didn’t recall experience them as they say.


When America was at war, these JA’s who were paid a monthly stipend while in camp didn’t have to worry about food or rationing when everything was given to them. My father’s camp had stores, churches, boy scout’s, and lots of dances when hundreds of thousands of Americans were defending the world. Why do we just have to remember the 442nd. Also, remember that the west coast JA’s didn’t join the 442nd until the heroics were told of the 100th battalion. They wouldn’t have fought for America on there own! Many had to be pressured into fighting and to prove there loyalty as Americans. And wasn’t it only 8% of the JA population they were eligible to fight for America enlisted. 8%!!! Are you kidding?!? This is embarrassing.


Also, remember Tule Lake, over 250 Japanese and Japanese Americans disavowed their citizenship to return to Japan and support the murdering Japanese Emperor and his armies via Brussels I think by ship. How many of these could have been spies and how many were spies? My father also told he was afraid for my grandfather, if the authorities found out about the support that he gave to the Japanese Consulates for the Emperor.



Poor Kim, dated August 20, 2004 doesn't really know her JA history, must be a Densho supporter. And I bet she doesn’t want to know. I am a 18 year old Yonsei (forth generation) Japanese American living in Seattle but would rather be just a called an American.


My name is Sato.


I haven’t read Malkins book but can’t wait. Maybe when I’m done I’ll send Densho Project the copy as a donation to the cause.


Sato August 21, 2004 09:39 AM

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Last Day to Contact the National Park Service and request "Option A"

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

If you have not already done so, today is the last day to provide input to the National Park Service regarding the "Internment" Memorial on Bainbridge Island.

Please contact the following NPS officials and ask for a 100% accurate history at the site. Option A will ensure the least burden on Bainbridge taxpayers and local neighbors.

Contacts are: carol_shull@nps.gov ; Anna_Tamura@nps.gov ; jon_jarvis@nps.gov ; neil_king@nps.gov ; Fran_Mainella@nps.gov

Here's what I wrote. Yes, it sounds strident, but being civil with these people equals getting ignored. I didn't even get a "thank you for your comments" response...

To whom it may concern:

Please put me in the public record for option A.

The following is a piece I wrote regarding this history back in November, 2002. This was around the time I attended a Minidoka meeting here on Bainbridge Island at the Senior Center and spoke directly with Anna Tamura about my concerns regarding the 100% accuracy of this history as portrayed by the NPS. At the time I provided a pile of primary documents five inches thick with information that needs to be incorporated into any memorial's "interpretive center". Tamura's response to me was, "People are entitled to believe what they want." My jaw dropped at her arrogance and it became quite clear she was indeed educated in Landscape Architecture and not History. I'll agree people are entitled to their own opinion. They are not entitled to their own historical facts. A good historian must seek out and document the 100% truth to the point of callousness. That means Japanese Americans need to acknowledge some of the darker chapters of their own history, too, rather than cherry picking certain events that provide an inaccurate and one-side conclusion. Is not white-washing an entire ethnic group equally as racist as tarring an entire ethnic group?

Why not include that 15 ethnic Japanese on Bainbridge including Frank Kitamoto's dad were arrested in early 1942 for violating the Enemy Alien Contraband Law? Why not include that by Frank's own admission his dad was visiting the Japanese Consulate Annex down on Rich Passage daily, the manager of the greenhouses there who up and disappeared immediately prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor? Why not mention that kids were coming out of the Japanese "Language School" telling the Caucasian kids, "...you'll be working for us someday..." Don't hear much talk about the "language school", except that everyone in the Japanese-American community has disassociated themselves from it, in my lifetime at least.

This history as it is currently being portrayed on Bainbridge Island is a white-wash. Go down to Moriwaki and Kitamoto's gate at the post office here on Bainbridge and read for yourself. Moriwaki and Kitamoto have done more to damage decades old friendships and acquaintances between ethnic Japanese and Caucasians on Bainbridge Island than Pearl Harbor ever did. Shame on them and shame on you for providing nothing more than lip service to our concerns.

My piece is below, Please include it in the public record.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

BIJAC folks getting the inside dope from National Park Service

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

From the beginning the NPS as been in bed with BIJAC. We have been nothing more than a thorn in their sides, especially NPS who at least superficially must provide a semblance of fairness to our concerns. We know it's been a lot of lip service. Here is another example:

Local BIJAC official sends a mass email to his potential supporters in the hopes they will provide positive feedback to NPS. This after his mole at NPS explains.....well read for yourself....


"Sorry for the impersonal mass email, but would you please do me - and the greater community as a whole - a big favor?

The time for public comments end the day after tomorrow, Wednesday June 15, to the National Parks Service on the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial.

The internment apologists have organized a nation-wide email campaign against us, and the National Parks Service has informed me that they are "bombarded" with emails saying "no tax dollars" with the typical messages, sometimes racist, of justifying the mass exclusion and other vile nonsense.
It is critical to show that our project has widespread support.

All that's needed is a simple email message to mailto:anna_tamura@nps.gov before June 15.

1. Please state that you support the Bainbridge Island JapaneseAmerican Memorial (Nidoto Nai Yoni - Let it not happen again) and site at least one reason, such as first JA in American history under Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1 to be sent to internment camps; internment was wrong; etc.

2. Urge support for Alternative "C" which would make the memorial a satellite unit of the Minidoka Internment National Monument. After being the first group to arrive at Manzanar, the Bainbridge Island JA community transferred to Minidoka where they remained until the end of the war. By being part of the National Parks Service, the Bainbridge story would tell both the fore and after stories of the internment chapter.

3. List your name and address.

That's it. Also, would you please forward this as far and wide to whomever you see fit to hopefully get as many responses as possible?

Thanks in advance..."

You know the historical facts are on your side when the opposition is left only to play the race card. What I find vile is the behavior of the NPS for allowing the BIJAC activist access to information that they would never provide to the general public. That's unethical favoritism.....

P.S. Better mention the reason Bainbridge Japanese moved to Minidoka from Manzanar was because the Southern California Japanese and Puget Sound Japanese disliked each other immensely, the Bainbridge Japanese who didn't leave for east of the Military Zones. The 100% truth, that's all we ask...






Monday, June 13, 2005

NHK Panel remembers the Tojos

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Anybody out there watch AZN TV? Sunday is Japanese programming day so it's on at our house. NHK has a pretty good news program similar to NBC's "Meet the Press". Yesterday, Hideki Tojo's granddaughter was on defending the Tojo family name. It was the usual stuff you'd expect to hear from a Tojo. (You'd probably have heard it from a Hitler, too if Hitler had kids.) Japan was in a war of survival. America forced Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor. The Tokyo War Crimes trials were a sham orchestrated by the racist victors who convicted and executed men who had not broken any laws nor committed crimes. (No mention of the Hague Convention that Japan did ratify.)

It's not surprising to hear a Tojo saying this. Yaskuni Jinja says the same thing at their big new beautiful and wealthy Yushukan Imperial War Musuem right next door to the shrine. (I had no idea the Japanese Imperial Army liberated Nanking from Chinese terrorists until I visted the Yushukan.) What was surprising was the plethora of Japanese scholars around the table who agreed with her! Only one man had the guts to speak plainly against what Tojo was saying, a member of Japan's Diet.

Japan has a long way to go in coming to terms with the war. From the NHK show, the only regret seems to be that they lost it. Comparisons between Japanese and Japanese Americans are naturally fewer than they were before Pearl Harbor, but in this case both groups need to stand up and acknowledge the darker chapters of their history early last century.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Piece from a Bainbridge Islander

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Nice piece from Bainbridge Island, Washington expresses the sentiments of many old timers....

Whenever the kids and I visit Battle Point Park, I try to sneak away from the soccer fields and stroll down near the entrance of the old base. There you will find a rose garden surrounding the flag, and a plaque provided by the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association that reads:

"Ear to the Pacific

Bainbridge Island was the site of one of the navy’s “listening posts” to Japanese radio communications during WW2. Sailors at Fort Ward were trained in Japanese communications, the exploits of these communications provided U.S. military commanders with vital military intelligence.

This plaque is dedicated to members of the NCVA in remembrance of the friendship of the residents of Bainbridge Island.

1986"

As a very young child, I remember my dad taking us to Battle Point, and of being awed by the enormity of the complex. The four 300’ towers and the 800’ foot tower were special, and I was sure we’d driven a hundred miles to visit such an important place.

It was in that rose garden recently that I reflected on the war, the role of Battle Point and Fort Ward, and especially on the evacuation of ethnic Japanese from the West Coast. A few old timers supported by local media and a chorus of newcomers have been portraying events that are historically not true. This is disturbing to fellow islanders, many who lived here during the war. It’s an emotional issue, but it’s time to speak up. As a community we need to clear the air.

To clarify terms from the era is a good place to start.

The term “enemy alien” has a specific legal meaning derived from the Alien Law enacted in 1798: “Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government….all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of age fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed as alien enemies.” The Supreme Court in Johnson vs. Eisentrager said, “Executive power over enemy aliens, undelayed and unhampered by litigation, has been deemed, throughout our history, essential to war-time security…The resident enemy alien is constitutionally subject to summary arrest, internment and deportation whenever a declared war exists.”

It has become fashionable to substitute the term “permanent resident alien’ with “enemy alien”. This is misleading and historically inaccurate. The United States Constitution does not protect enemy aliens.

“Relocation” and “Internment” are different terms.

“Relocation” refers to voluntary or enforced movement from the West Coast exclusion area to locations in non-affected states from which movement to jobs and schools in other states was arranged. The West Coast exclusion area consisted of the western halves of Washington and Oregon, California and the southern third of Arizona. Approximately 9,000 ethnic Japanese relocated voluntarily between the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 and the first forced removal from Bainbridge Island on March 25, 1942. Further, more than 30,000 relocated from centers to other states and 4,300 left centers to attend college.

The civilian War Relocation Authority ran relocation centers. Originally the centers were to be temporary points that evacuees could relocate from, not points that they were to relocate to. This was an admitted failure from the beginning as some uprooted ethnic Japanese didn’t speak fluent English, had few relatives or friends east of the exclusion area and were greeted with hostility from many locals. The alternative was to wait out the war in the centers.

Internment camps were run by the Department of Justice and held only enemy aliens who had been deemed security risks and their U.S. citizen family members who were allowed at their choice to stay with them. Internees included 10,995 Germans, 16, 849 Japanese (5,589 who voluntarily renounced U.S. citizenship and became enemy aliens), 3,278 Italians, 52 Hungarians, 25 Romanians, 5 Bulgarians, and 161 classified as “other”. Only a small fraction of enemy aliens were interned. Japanese citizens with families were sent to Crystal City, Texas and lived side-by-side with German and Italian families. Single men were sent to internment camps in other states. Not all enemy aliens were placed in internment camps, and no American citizen was forcefully placed in an internment camp. If you were interned it was determined that you, a spouse or parent was an enemy alien and a security risk.

It should be noted that all 16,849 Japanese enemy-aliens including the 5,589 that renounced American citizenship were eligible for an apology from the United States and a $20,000 reparations payment while the Germans, Italians, Hungarians, Romanians and Bulgarians received nothing.

SIS, PURPLE and MAGIC

Battle Point and Fort Ward comprised one of sixteen major listening posts located on the East and West coasts of the United States, Panama Canal Zone, Guam, Hawaii, and the Philippines. For reasons not completely known to this day, Fort Ward provided an ideal location in which to intercept radio transmissions. Signals broadcast via high frequency Morse code could be intercepted at these listening posts and sent back to Washington D.C. for decryption and analysis. To ensure against a security breach when transmitting enciphered traffic back to D.C., secure teletype was installed. As of December 7, 1941 only two of these machines existed, one in San Francisco and the other on Bainbridge Island.

Unfortunately for the Americans, this didn’t mean a whole lot back in late 1940. It was at that time the Imperial Japanese Navy began using a new, difficult code that American intelligence named JN-25. As cryptanalysts attempted to decode JN-25, the Japanese changed code again just before December 7, 1941. In the year leading up to Pearl Harbor, American ability to read all major Japanese naval code was basically zero. JN-25 would not be broken until March 13, 1942, only to have a new code appear again on May 27th, a week before Midway.

Back in Washington D.C. nine people using nothing but their intellects and common electronic components were working on a program that is arguably one of the most important achievements in American history.

They were the SIS, (Signal Intelligence Service), located within the Army Signal Corps. In March 1939, a new code emerged providing Japanese diplomatic communications between its embassies and consulates throughout the world. Led by William Friedman and Frank Rowlett, it was the responsibility of the SIS to break the code and develop an analog machine that could decipher the diplomatic messages. It took eighteen months to crack the code, and they named it PURPLE. At the cost of $684.65 in taxpayer money, they built the first machine to decipher Japanese diplomatic messages. It was named PURPLE analog. PURPLE analog performed the exact function of the Japanese code machine – in reverse. Certainly the most bang for the buck in the history of the United States taxpayer.

All high level Japanese diplomatic traffic intercepted and decrypted by the Americans came to be known as MAGIC. It was said only magicians could produce such an accomplishment! Navy cryptanalytic unit OP-20-G (which focused on Japanese naval code starting June, 1942), and SIS produced all MAGIC intelligence that in its raw form was available to just ten men. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral Theodore Wilkinson, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold Stark, Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, Army Director of Military Intelligence General Sherman Miles, Chief of Army War Plans General Leonard T. Gerow, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt – they were the only men in a position to make a knowledgeable decision.

MAGIC was “sanitized” to ensure the secrecy of the source and disseminated to the FBI, lower levels at the Office of Naval Intelligence and Army Military Intelligence, to use in conjunction with their own information. The order was use phrases such as “highly reliable sources,” “various sources,” and “highly confidential sources” when preparing their confidential reports.

The MAGIC program was second in secrecy only to the Manhattan Project. Great pains were taken to ensure the Japanese never discovered their diplomatic code (or any code) had been cracked. After the war the Japanese developers of PURPLE refused to accept the Americans had cracked their code. They went to their deaths believing they had been betrayed.

MAGIC and the Relocation

The months following Pearl Harbor were miserable. Suspicion of ethnic Japanese intensified. Innocent people became suspect. An ethnic Japanese off to a lodge meeting in his uniform was thought to be an Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Another guy trying to fix his window shade was thought to be signaling submarines off the coast. An air raid over Los Angeles turned out to be a false alarm, but the cover of the Los Angeles Times screamed the headline “L.A. RAIDED”.

That’s not to say all instances of paranoia were unjustified.

In early 1942, the Seattle Field Division of the FBI searched residences of 28 Japanese and German enemy-aliens on Vashon Island. Two Japanese and one German were in possession of prohibited contraband, (under Presidential Proclamation 2525), including one revolver, two cameras, one short-wave radio set, approximately twenty feet of fuse, one hundred dynamite blasting caps and half a box of dynamite. Just enough firepower to take down a radio tower on an island to the immediate north.

The Portland Field Division arrested four enemy-aliens in vicinity of the Bonneville Dam, illegally possessing twenty-one sticks of dynamite and one hundred forty feet of fuse.

The Los Angeles Field Division arrested 17 enemy-aliens in the Palos Verdes Hills. Seized contraband included: seven radio sets capable of receiving short-wave, one radio oscillator, four boxes of assorted radio equipment, two cameras, twenty-three flashlights, four large searchlights, three telegraphers’ keys, one small radio transmitting set, one microphone, one .38 caliber revolver, fifty cartridges, one .22 caliber rifle, four blasting caps, three pounds of black powder, three feet of fuse, and two reels of 8 millimeter film containing photographs of battleships and fortifications.

Word was leaking into newspapers of American defeats in the Pacific and brutality inflicted upon Allied POWs. The behavior of Japanese residents in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines was not encouraging. The 30,000 Japanese residents of Mindanao welcomed the Imperial Japanese Army with open arms. The Japanese-Filipino community’s knowledge of geography and language in the area was invaluable. One commander of the notorious Cabanatuan POW camp owned a bicycle shop in Manila in civilian life. Asians were shocked to find many of their resident Japanese neighbors dressed in military uniform after the arrival of the Imperial Japanese Army. A Japanese pilot involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor crashed on the island of Niihau, taking over the community with a seemingly loyal Japanese-American. With the aid of the Japanese-American and another Japanese (neither with a known predisposition of disloyalty to the United States), the pilot held the people on Niihau hostage for six days. A Hawaiian couple finally succeeded in killing the pilot, the Japanese-American committed suicide and the Japanese national was taken into custody.

The public was frightened and rumors were flying. “The Japanese will poison our water! The Japanese are hoarding goods! They’re radioing ships and submarines off the coast!” Folks who in calmer times were not predisposed to bigotry found themselves making unnatural accusations against their neighbors. “Something has to be done! Can’t trust ‘em!” Animosity was at a fever pitch.

As it turns out, many of the rumors were unsubstantiated, the product of a hysterical public.

It takes more than rumor to force a decision in the Federal Government, however.

The government required evidence, and MAGIC provided it. The Americans had been listening in on Japanese diplomatic traffic since early 1941. In January, MAGIC revealed the Japanese embassy and its consulates were moving to wartime footing in regard to their information-collecting procedures. Part of the change included recruiting first and second generation Japanese (among others) in espionage activities for the Empire of Japan. Intercepted transmissions disclosed that the Empire of Japan was successful in recruiting local ethnic Japanese-Americans working in airplane factories and the U.S. armed forces to provide intelligence. Other ethnic Japanese locals were hired to gather information on military posts, bases, shipyards, airfields and ports.

The revelation that intelligence agents had infiltrated the Japanese-American community put the Federal Government in a predicament. American citizens protected by the Constitution were actively recruited in espionage against the United States. The citizens were of an ethnic group with close ties to an enemy wielding future potential to invade the West Coast. The ethnic Japanese population had grown to over 100,000 in its 60 year history in continental America and was not entirely assimilated. Of the ten men with access to raw MAGIC intelligence not one opposed the evacuation of ethnic Japanese from the West Coast exclusion zone. J. Edgar Hoover waffled on the issue, but his San Diego and Seattle offices were fully in support of the evacuation. The Portland and Los Angeles FBI field offices leaned heavily in support. One of the brightest in the Office of Naval Intelligence questioned if an entire evacuation would be too severe. Unofficial ONI intelligence suggested a 25% disloyalty rate among Japanese-Americans but the figure was sure to decrease through time and assimilation. An official ONI report released a month later painted another dim picture.

Should the government arrest only known suspects? Should the government just keep a close eye on the ethnic Japanese community? Should a panel be formed to decide on individual cases? Should the Department of Justice utilize the Sedition Laws? It was decided that these options could jeopardize intelligence, sap resources better used elsewhere, and fail to solve the immediate problem. The relocation of 112,000 ethnic Japanese inland would begin.

Japan discovering its diplomatic code broken would be a disaster for the Americans. It would mean that Japan’s military codes could also be suspect, leading to new and possibly more difficult code systems. This would mean no intelligence of Japanese naval positions at Coral Sea or Midway, and no intelligence regarding the merchant fleet for American submarines. The Japanese are fastidious information collectors. German intelligence volunteered (or otherwise) was meticulously documented by the Japanese embassy in Berlin and intercepted when transmitted back to Tokyo. It’s not an overstatement to say the loss of this intelligence could have changed the course of the war.

Justifying the relocation to the general public without compromising the reason for the decision was given to Commander of the West Defense Command and Fourth Army, General John L. DeWitt. His response was a document titled, Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942. It was a terribly written document in its portrayal of ethnic Japanese. In fact it was just terribly written, but it was just what a shaken, panic-stricken public wanted to hear. Their fears had been justified. Better yet, the document drew no suspicion from the Empire of Japan – only outrage. As far as the government of Japan was concerned, most ethnic Japanese living abroad would stay loyal. As was taught in a Japanese “language school” in Hawaii, the location of ethnic Japanese was but a trick of fate, but when Japan called it was Japanese blood that flowed in their veins. Until 1924 regardless of the country born, if the father was Japanese the child was a Japanese citizen. By 1942, 50%-60% of ethnic Japanese born in the United States still held dual-citizenship for no other reason than it required only a visit to the consulate and made life easier. MAGIC transmissions constantly refer to all ethnic Japanese as “our people”, an unfortunate circumstance for Japanese-Americans. Japanese propaganda exploited the relocation to justify the “savagery” of the Americans.

In reality the relocation and internment may have improved conditions for civilian Americans stranded in Japanese internment camps, due to Japanese fear the Americans might treat interned or relocated ethnic Japanese in the United States cruelly. The U.K and Australia also interned Japanese nationals but the numbers were insignificant compared to the United States. Neither country had experienced the mass immigration of ethnic Japanese such as the United States, Brazil or the Philippines. Conditions for ethnic Japanese internees were as humane as possible and lacking malice, unlike Japanese civilian internment camps that promoted a policy of persistent and irritating humiliation intended to strip away the humanity of the civilian allied internees.

Atrocities committed by Japanese against American civilians were less heinous in number compared to atrocities committed against Dutch, Australian and British civilians. At Port Blair in the Andaman Islands in August 1945 civilian internees including women and children were put on board a ship, taken out to sea and forced into the shark-infested water in a mass drowning. Similar atrocities (the details too horrific to mention here) by Japanese against civilian women and children occurred July 1945 at Loa Kulu on Borneo and Cheribon on northern Java. These are just a few of many accounts.

American military personnel were in less fortunate circumstances than civilians. A particularly cruel and premeditated massacre of American prisoners occurred on December 14, 1944 on the island of Palawan in the Philippines where 145 American POWs were burned alive or shot to death trying to escape the flames. In the European theatres of war, 4 percent of British and American POWs died in captivity. In the Pacific theatres, the percentage was 27.

The decision of our wartime leaders in relocating West Coast ethnic Japanese-Americans was decided via hard intelligence derived from intercepted Japanese diplomatic traffic. It stated Japan had recruited intelligence agents within the Japanese-American community to provide sensitive information. Based on intelligence available up to February 1942; based on events as they were occurring at the time, the removal of all ethnic Japanese from the exclusion area inland for reasons of security and efficiency was in the best interest of the security of the United States

There, I said it!

Saying some in my family are adamantly against my writing this piece is an understatement. “Forget it!” they said. “Why open a can of worms? What’s the point?” The point is I didn’t open the can of worms.

When a local author wrote a book of fiction portraying Caucasian islanders as bigots, I was mortified. As segments of the community lovingly embraced it, I was repelled. When my neighbors showed up on local cable referring to the relocation centers as concentration camps, I was deeply offended. When a recent program utilized local high school kids to perpetuate a myth, I was outraged! Time to speak up!

I fully expect to be denounced, discredited and attacked as a racist. Maybe in a softer tone I’ll just be considered an unwitting dupe. Those of you whose opinion I value know me better than that. Read the documents for yourself. Over 160,000 have been declassified and are available through the Freedom of Information Act.

To use these documents as a weapon to embarrass is not my intention. The relocation was a miserable experience as a result of the war. Everyone made sacrifices. Nobody is saying ethnic Japanese didn’t feel demeaned and humiliated. No one is saying Japanese-Americans should remain silent about their experiences. No person is denying another the right to shed tears or vent anger. But to distort the history of the era, to make unsubstantiated and politically motivated accusations of malice, to produce outright fabrication, serves the interest of no one. The war was a long time ago. The role of the majority of innocent Americans of Japanese ancestry, the cooperation they provided (no matter how demeaning) to ensure the security and future of our country will not be forgotten. In a March 24, 1942 Seattle Times article, Mr. Jitsuzo Nakata said, “ It’s for the good of the country – so we’ll move.” Having returned to Japan from the Pacific Northwest to fight in two separate wars, he must have been aware of the necessities and sacrifices such an endeavor entails. The exact same picture of Mr. Nakata in that Seattle Times article hangs in the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum today, minus his words. In the same article, Mr. Hayashida said, “They tell you one thing then they tell you another, and a fellow doesn’t know what he’s going to do. But if the country thinks it is best for us to move, why, that’s all right.”

Unfortunately, one section of the Japanese-American community has elected itself spokesman for the entire community, and it’s the (unspoken publicly) opinion of many that they are doing a poor job. They are sowing resentment in the community. If the goal of this movement is to demonize our wartime leaders, to teach our children to hang their heads in shame at the mention of those who saved the United States from Totalitarianism – their plan is going to backfire in a big way. I will not believe that all Japanese-Americans support what these people are doing in their name. They have taken your history and distorted it! This is a dishonor to all Americans.

Japanese-Americans who disagree with these folks need to speak up!

Senator S.I. Hayakawa said, “…my flesh crawls with shame and embarrassment” to see this unconscionable raid on the U.S. treasury by “a wolf-pack of dissident young Japanese-Americans who weren’t even born during World War II”. Arguably one of the greatest American statesmen and educators of Japanese ancestry, Hayakawa was immediately branded a “banana” by the movement. Yellow on the outside, white on the inside! That’s it! His whole life defined in one slur. Just a “banana”! The issue of money is past. The next goal is to rewrite the history books and you can’t put a price on that. These folks are part of an organized movement and they’re on a mission. I don’t want to be called a “white racist” anymore than you want to be called a “banana”. Courage is required. If you truly believe the behavior of the movement is wrong, you have to say something.

So next time you’re down at Battle Point Park, I hope you’ll walk down to the rose garden. Read the plaque. Notice the war era buildings, admire the roses and look up at the flag. None of us have reason to hold down our heads in shame.


Ethnic Japanese Militants at Tule Lake Segregation Center in California demand to be immediately expatriated to Japan to fight for their Emperor, whom they worshiped as a living God. Posted by Hello

Welcome! Irasshaimase!

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Welcome to this blog. I am a born and bred West Coaster, having lived all my life in a community that was greatly affected by the 1942 evacuation of ethnic Japanese from the military zones of the United States. Contrary to popular belief in other parts of the United States, as children we knew all about the evacuation, the reasons for the evacuation and what was happening in the ethnic Japanese community prior to the evacuation. Being also university educated in history, I learned early that the role of a good historian is to seek out and document the 100% historical truth to the point of callousness.

I have posted comments at a variety of other blogs, all pro-reparations. Eric Muller's blog is a good example. I found when I was winning the debate (as I usually do) I would wind up banned from these sites and labled a "racist". Well now I'll respond to the posts of folks like Muller here. Beats having my thoughtful comments deleted for one reason or another.

I will say here at the outset that I am very much opposed to how this history has been portrayed since the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians published its report in the early 1980s. Rather than provide a one-liner as to why I oppose the commission's findings, stick around, read the evidence and decide for yourself.

Although the ethnic Japanese and ethnic Europeans had resolved this history in my community back in the 1950s, a new breed of activist types have jumped on the bandwagon regarding the evacuation. They have determined that apparently there is power in victimization, not to mention money. After all, the reparations movement has become big business, at least $1,000,000 in taxpayer dollars per year is provided to the State of California to "re-educate" the public. Tens of thousands is provided to the State of Washington for the same purpose.

Government approved history based on a flawed commission report being funded with taxpayer dollars to "re-educate" the public? Sounds like Mao's China but it's not. It's the United States. When did America's politicians switch from legislating to re-educating? It's a terrible precedent. Scholars taking money from the "Civil Liberties Public Education Fund" to finance their work is akin to the booze industry financing studies that conclude binge drinking is healthy.

Admittedly, when I knew much less about this history than I do now, it was easy to regurgitate what I had read in the newspapers or heard in the classroom. Only after I had lived a number of years in Japan did I realize I had been fed a series of half-truths. You see, in Japan the attitude is more like "...of course we had ethnic Japanese in overseas colonies who supported us! They're Japanese after all!" There is no shame. I distinctly remember the day my interest in this history was renewed. I was on the Tozai Line reading an article about a Japanese woman at a relocation center who was stealing food from the mess hall and hoarding it under her bed because, "...when the glorious Imperial Japanese Army arrives, the Americans will run away and leave us to starve in this place." Wow! Never heard that story in the states!

My desire to really understand the history of the evacuation is an extension of my desire to understand the growth of Japan from the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the rise of the modern nation state. For me, this includes a thorough understanding of the rise of militarism in Japan and the effect of this militaristic and racial thought on Japanese colonies dotted throughout the world. I'm open minded! Are you?

Many subjects regarding this history I know for sure. The latest is this: In my community the half-truths of the Japanese American reparations movement has done more to damage decades old friendships and acquaintances between ethnic Japanese and Europeans than Pearl Harbor ever did. If ethnic Japanese Americans carry any shame, it should be for that.