At its General Membership Meeting on March 18, 2023, JACL Philadelphia voted to approve the following statement in support of the creation of a Philadelphia Reparations Task Force.

The Japanese American Citizens League is the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization, founded in 1929 by U.S. born children of Japanese immigrants. Our local chapter, JACL Philadelphia, was established in 1947 by Japanese Americans who resettled in Philadelphia after experiencing their forced West Coast eviction, forfeiture of their property, and incarceration in American mass concentration camps during WWII. 

JACL Philadelphia unequivocally supports the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America Philadelphia Chapter in their efforts to establish a Reparations Task Force in the City of Philadelphia. 

Japanese Americans are no strangers to racism in this country. Our Japanese grandparents and great grandparents who immigrated to the United States in the early 20^th century, was during a time when the KKK was actively lynching Asian immigrants in the West Coast. Beginning in 1790, Japanese immigrants along with other immigrants from Asian countries were denied the right to vote because they were barred from becoming U.S. citizens. Further, Japanese were prohibited from purchasing land after 1913, and were restricted from conventional bank loans.

In 1963, members of JACL and members of the National JACL Board accepted the invitation of the NAACP, and marched in the civil rights march on Washington, DC.  Since then, national progress toward civil rights and reparations for Black Americans has fallen ashamedly short of otherwise well intentions. It is hard to imagine Japanese American history in America written with anything as bad as the experiences of Black history in America. Now is the time for the Japanese American Citizenship League of Philadelphia to stand in alliance with Black Americans to advocate for reparations.

It was only through the friendship, solidarity, and allyship with African American civil rights leaders that Japanese Americans and other Asian American communities gained the right to become naturalized citizens (1952 McCarran-Walter Act), the right to freely migrate between US and Asia (1965 Hart-Celler Act), and countless other hard-won legal victories championed by Black activist leaders. 

Japanese Americans are one of the few communities who have received reparations from the United States government as a result of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed by President Ronald Reagan. Also known as the Redress Movement, this was a long and hard fight for more than twenty years as Japanese Americans and our allied communities fought in the halls of Congress, and across the country in city council chambers and in grassroots community spaces. Throughout this process, African Americans and elected officials were among our most vocal supporters. In particular the Congressional Black Caucus led by Representative Ron Dellums (D-CA) demonstrated their allyship on the floor of Congress. Speaking in support of Redress, Dellums a native of Oakland California, recounted a childhood memory of his Japanese American friend being led away by armed US soldiers. His powerful act of kindness and solidarity is not, and will not be forgotten. 

In support of Black Reparations, JACL Philadelphia recently joined over 75 other Japanese American progressive organizations across the country as members of the National Nikkei Reparations Coalition. We raise our voice in chorus with N’COBRA PHL demanding that the City of Philadelphia establish a Reparations Task Force. 

Speaking as a community who has deservedly attained our own redress, we do not believe that any amount of reparations is capable of erasing the harm, pain, or trauma that persists for generations as a result of the enslavement of Africans, Jim Crow and other prejudicial regulation, disproportionate policing, and the many further inequities that African Americans continue to endure. Moreover, redress in the form of reparations will open a space for meaningful conversation and healing, as has occurred in communities of Japanese Americans.

To quote James Baldwin, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” In order for our country to truly heal from the foundational sins of African slavery, Indigenous genocide, and institutional white supremacy, JACL Philadelphia believes it is necessary to face this particular issue head on by establishing a Philadelphia Reparations Task Force. 

The Philadelphia Chapter of the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) was established as a consequence of the diaspora of Nikkei (Japanese Americans) from the West Coast of the United States as a result of events triggere. In Philadelphia, the Nikkei were a small group in a large urban area of non-Asian Pacific Americans, and its members worked to nurture Nikkei heritage and family traditions and to share them with others. Despite the chapter’s small size, it has proudly contributed to the leadership and funding of the national JACL.

Pre World War II
Prior to WWII, there were about 100 Japanese living in the Philadelphia area. These were persons who came to study at the area’s elite colleges and universities and to establish themselves in Japanese art goods, the silk trade, and to fill the need for domestic workers in the estates along the Main Line.

Of those who came to Philadelphia in the latter part of the 19th century, three attained international fame: Inazo Nitobe, scholar; Hideyo Noguchi, scientist; and Ume Tsuda, educator and founder of Tsuda College for Women.

In contrast to the West Coast experience, the Issei who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in engineering, architecture, medicine, and dentistry were able to secure professional employment or establish their own practices or businesses within the community-at-large.

Two men of note were Yosuke W. Nakano from Yamaguchi who studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and Tadafumi Mikuriya from Kumamoto who earned his civil engineering degree from the Univerity of Pennsylvania. Both men worked for major firms in the Philadelphia area.

Nakano was responsible for the design of some important buildings in Philadelphia, including Thomas Jefferson Hospital. Mikuriya established his own firm specializing in structural engineering. Both Nakano and Mikuriya became naturalized citizens after passage of the Walter-McCarron Act of 1952 and served on the board of the Philadelphia Chapter of the JACL.

The War Years
President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that removed over 115,000 aliens and American citizens of Japanese ancestry from their West Coast homes. Most were interned for years in concentration camps located around the United States. As conditions in the camps deteriorated, the War Relocation Authority (WRA) committed itself to a program of agricultural and student leave, and resettlement.

The Philadelphia WRA office opened in late 1943 when the Eastern Defense Command opened the East Coast for resettlement. This office operated under the direction of Henry Patterson, a Quaker from Swarthmore. The office helped relocate the second wave of Japanese Americans in Philadelphia and the eventual establishment of a chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League in the City of Brotherly Love and the Greater Delaware Valley.

The Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) met and held social activities at the International Institute (later renamed the Nationalities Service Center). For the recently resettled Japanese Americans, the International Institute became their second home and a place to get together, away from their cramped apartment and the isolation of a strange, new city. Without a doubt, the International Institute served an important supporting role for the newcomers trying to get their footing in starting a new life.

Grayce K. Uyehara worked at the International Institute as a community group worker and Mary D. Murakami served as its bookkeeper. Hiroshi Uyehara, who was then chairman of the Philadelphia Nisei Council, served on the Institute’s advisory committee.

Chapter Beginnings
When Nikkei were finally permitted to return to the West Coast, their numbers in Philadelphia decreased. Eventually, nearly half of the Japanese Americans who had initially resettled on the East Coast from the camps decided to return to more familiar surroundings. Those that stayed began to establish more permanent roots, prompting the pre-War Nikkei in the area to begin socializing with the newer arrivals.

It was in this climate that Tesua Iwasaki initiated the movement to transform the Philadelphia Nisei Council to become the Philadelphia Chapter of the JACL. On March 25, 1947 the chapter was chartered with the help of Mas Satow and Mike Masaoka. Iwasaki was elected to be the chapter’s first president and Hiroshi Uyehara became the chapter’s official delegate to the JACL’s national convention. Jack Ozawa would eventually succeed Iwasaki in 1948 and 1949.

At its peak, the Philadelphia Chapter had 250 members. In subsequent years, membership fell to as low as 145, but recently it has been experiencing a resurgence and now has more than 175 members.

Involvement in Local Activities

For many years, the Philadelphia Chapter JACL was a major participant in the International Institute’s Folk Fair, held at the old Philadelphia Convention Center. The chapter derived funds from the sale of food and gift items to sustain its activities. Delicious sushi, chirashi, teriyaki, and sukiyaki were typical offerings. Wonderful performances were produced for the Folk Fair by Hatsumi Harada, who taught young Sansei (third generation Japanese Americans) traditional Japanese folk dances, sewed their colorful kimonos, and created fabulous hanagasa and other dance props. In time, the International Institute reluctantly discontinued the Folk Fair as participation by immigrant groups declined.

The chapter then moved on to participate in the City’s Super Sunday event, held in October on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Super Sunday, a giant block party, was an extravaganza of ethnic foods and crafts, along with local popular personalities and performing groups. Initially, the event was meant to celebrate the museums along the Parkway. The chapter sold teriyaki, shish kebobs, nori maki, and inari sushi.

For many years, a major annual fund raising project for the chapter has been the preparation and selling of obento (box lunches) at the June summer Festival of the Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park. Preparing the obentos was a fun event that brought together many of our members, their family and friends and gave the Sansei an opportunity to learn how to prepare Japanese dishes like chirashi zushi and chicken teriyaki.

The chapter also cooperates with other Philadelphia based Asian Pacific American organizations on mutually beneficial projects. Chapter members serve on various boards and provide program support to advance Japanese culture and US-Japan relationships for organizations such as the Friends of the Japanese House and Garden (FJH&G), the Nationalities Service Center, the Balch Institute of Ethnic Studies, the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia (JASGP), the OCA of Greater Philadelphia, Ikebana International, and Asian Americans United.

The founder and first president of the FJH&G was the late Mary I. Watanabe. Mary was an active member of the chapter as were Reiko Gaspar, Hiroshi Uyehara, and Steve Yanai, all of whom also served as president of the FJH&G. Mary also served on the board of the JASGP as did Grayce Uyehara and her son, Paul. These two organizations are at the forefront of presenting the culture and appreciation of Japan to the Philadelphia community.

District and National Activities

The impact of the Philadelphia Chapter on the national organization was much greater than might be expected from its numbers. Kaz Horita, Teresa Maebori, William Marutani, Tom Tamaki, Hiroshi and Grayce Uyehara, Mary and Warren Watanabe have all chaired major programs at the district and national levels during the chapter’s over 55 year partnership with the national organization.

The Philadelphia Chapter was tops in raising funds to support the Redress Campaign, and exemplary leadership was provided by William Marutani as the only Nikkei member appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve on the Commission of Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). In the mid-1980’s, Grayce Uyehara served as Executive Director of the JACL Legislative Education Committee (JACL-LEC).

Additionally, the Philadelphia Chapter took on the larger quota of the Legacy Fund campaign to help out the JACL Eastern District Council and then raised the highest amount per member among JACL’s 112 chapters.

A Chapter in Transition

The JACL has much to celebrate in remembering the triumphs of the Nikkei community as reflected in the words of General Joseph Stilwell about JA GI’s, “You’re damn right those Nisei boys have a place in our hearts, now and forever. We cannot allow a single injustice to be done to the Nisei without defeating the purposes for which we stand.”

The JACL looks forward. Now, in the 21st century, we face a new world in which our civil and human rights are under attack in ways that few of us have experienced. The Founding Fathers of this nation sought to establish a “more perfect union” and the JACL, in order to grow and develop, will need to continue to meet that challenge head on. The JACL was created and exists to tackle the continual problems of racial prejudice and injustice in this country.

In the wake of the recent rise in physical attacks and verbal assaults on Muslim Americans, JACL National released the following statement.

JACL Condemns Dangerous Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
December 9, 2015
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, pouchida@jacl.org
Jeff Moy, Vice President for Public Affairs, jmoy@jacl.org

“The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) condemns the dangerous and irresponsible Islamophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric being used to vilify and demonize Muslim and Arab communities. Several public figures have stoked simmering fears around national security as justification for blatantly racist statements and anti-Muslim policy proposals. Just this week, recent statements recommended that the U.S. halt all Muslim immigration in a proposal akin to the anti-Asian exclusion acts of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Although it may be tempting to dismiss these statements as extremist political posturing, our country’s own history has proven that hateful racist rhetoric can lead to destructive and sometimes fatal consequences for the scapegoated communities. The WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans was a culmination of decades of anti-Asian and anti-Japanese sentiment that festered along the west coast.

“We expect the nation’s leader to uphold our nation’s values and ideals. These statements are guilty of the same mistakes that led to one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history, one that destroyed livelihoods, entire communities, and an ethnic culture,” said JACL’s Executive Director Priscilla Ouchida. “Leaders should not emulate the lowest points of our history, but strive to provide direction that reflects the best of our democracy.”

Escalated fears around national security after Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor and the U.S.’s entry into WWII led to President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066, which gave the U.S. Army the authority to remove civilians from military zones established in the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. Soon thereafter, the U.S. government forcibly removed and imprisoned some 120,000 Japanese Americans without due process. No Japanese American was ever charged, much less convicted, of espionage or sabotage against the United States. Yet they were targeted, rounded up, and imprisoned for years, simply for “looking like the enemy.”

In 1983, the federal Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians fully investigated the facts and circumstances surrounding the issuance of Roosevelt’s executive order and determined the incarceration was caused by race prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. Their findings led to a government apology for this unconscionable and unjustified act.

JACL reiterates the need to defend the country’s values and ideals during times of crisis, even when the nation is threatened. The organization continues to support the President’s policy to admit Syrian refugees, and to administer the nation’s policies without discrimination based on race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or physical characteristics.”

JACL Philadelphia echoes National’s sentiments and calls for greater support from our members and other non-Muslims to stand with our Muslim neighbors throughout this increasingly difficult time.

On the morning of Monday, December 7th an unidentified person in a red pickup truck threw a severed pig’s head at the door of Al-Aqsa Mosque in North Philadelphia. With hate crimes like these taking place in the city of Philadelphia, it is more important than ever to make our voices heard and stand in solidarity with our Muslim neighbors.

The Philadelphia Chapter is proud to once again be a community sponsor of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, which runs from November 12-22. We encourage our members and friends to attend screenings that will be held in several venues. To get more information on screenings and times, please visit the PAAFF website at: PAAFF 2015

(Delivered on February 23, 2013 at the Philadelphia JACL Day of Remembrance Event, Main Line Unitarian Church, Devon, PA)

I am very happy to be with you today in Philadelphia, a city that I think was the epicenter of Japanese American redress.  Why?  Because Grayce Uyehara once lived here and Grayce Uyehara was the heart and soul of redress (note: Grayce currently resides in a suburb of Philadelphia).

As we know, the success of Japanese American redress is a tribute to the thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of people who worked on the effort.  But today I want to talk about just eight of them, beginning with Grayce.  And then I want to talk about Mike Masaoka, Spark Matsunaga, Dan Inouye, Bob Matsui, Cherry Kinoshita, Denny Yasuhara, and Tom Kometani.

For them, redress was isshou kenmei –  Japanese for all in, full throttle and non-stop. Continue reading “Scenes Behind the Scenes” by Grant Ujifusa →