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Foreword Ha r r y K. Honda To t h ousa nds of Ja pa ne se Amer ic a ns during World War II, in Uncle Sam’s military legions or those languishing in concentration camps American-style because of their racial affinity to the enemy, the Paciἀc Citizen was their best source of what was bustling in their sphere. For example, the Paciἀc Citizen’s first issue, edited by Larry Tajiri out of Salt Lake City in June 4, 1942, was headlined “Army to Order Evacuation of Military Area 2.” The words surprised and shocked hundreds who had voluntarily moved away on their own from Military Area 1,generally within one hundred miles from the Pacific Coast. It meant moving again or being resigned to move again farther inland at their own expense to Utah, Colorado, Idaho, or to be evacuated at U.S. Army expense to an internment camp. Below this on the page was another scare. Larry instinctively knew discrimination against Japanese Americans was “front-page” material. On the right side was news that two suits had been filed in San Francisco and Alameda Counties to take away voting privileges from Japanese Americans and that the Japanese American Citizens League was going to fight the case. Less than a year later, the Paciἀc Citizen banner headline of February 25, 1943, proclaimed “Nisei Citizenship Rights Upheld by Court.” On the left side, Larry’s scale of editing was balanced by the headline “Evacuee Labor Sought by [Sugar] Beet Growers” in the Intermountain West. Governor Charles A. Sprague of Oregon sought and received White House permission to recruit evacuees in the assembly centers (Puyallup and Portland) because of the agricultural labor shortage. This news lifted the spirits of those who toiled in the camps during the war. The one-paragraph filler at the bottom of the page had this choice headline: “Warren to Prosecute Alien Land Law Violations by Japanese.” The Paciἀc Citizen often reserved a major item of the week for that page position, and Larry’s choice was often explosive or arresting. This “Warren” turned out to be the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953,twelve years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Larry’s weekly challenge to produce a heart-lifting eight pager (only eight thousand copies during WWII because of newsprint rationing) couldn’t stop him. Readers remember an issue with fifty to seventy-five items, each studded with “names [that] make news.” There were hard-hitting editorials on issues of the day. Larry’s “Nisei USA” (truly essays of wonder and light) and “Vagaries” (with names à la Walter Winchell) are great to read again after a half century. Tajiri’s editorials were always on page 4. Here are three examples: 1. “U.S. Nisei: 1942” states: “Our parents have had a part in the building and growth of America . . . Children of these latter-day pioneers have striven to carry on and extend the work of the parent generation . . . Because of ‘men [who] claim that we are racially inassimilable, besmirch the Constitution and would establish Nazi-like Nuremberg laws against us.” The editorial warns, “Should they succeed, their action menaces all Americans.” 2. “Loyalty Demonstrated” concludes, “The attitude of American citizens of Japanese ancestry during Evacuation has demonstrated that they are willing to sacrifice everything for the war.” 3. “Privilege of Self-Denial” reminds the Nisei and the White House: “The dislocation of life in wartime may not be comfortable, but they are nothing compared to the disruption of all living that would result from our failure to pursue—and to win—an all-out war.” Greg Robinson’s compendium of Larry’s and Guyo’s writings from the 1930s, the wartime columns, Larry’s contributions in mainstream and minority magazines in the ’40s, and pieces from the ’50s and ’60s shows the range of their production. Larry’s columns were addressed to the world at large. But it can be said that the White House, federal and state legislators, the embassies, librarians, and one subscriber in Moscow read the Paciἀc Citizen. In short, Larry Tajiri’s influence, past and present, prevails. No Nisei sports page in recent years has matched the snap of Tajiri’s Sportscope when he was Paciἀc Citizen editor from 1942 to 1952. Thanks to his editorial leadership, Paciἀc Citizen’s reputation as the crown jewel of Nisei journalism is now becoming visible...

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