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What was the problem you had with the JACL ?
The JACL was very conservative. They didn't want to touch anything; they thought they had to put up a fight on. They didn't stand up for the civil rights of the blacks. They didn't fight against the blacks being refused to have voting rights in the south. Some of us felt that we should fight, and because of that we got into the Nisei Young Democrats. We had quite a few students from the University of California come and join our group too, because there were more progressive Nisei up there at Cal. They wanted to get involved in something that was meaningful. Because of that, they came down to the Nisei Young Democrats.
Did you allow Blacks to join the Nisei Young Democrats?
Well, in Nisei Young Democrats we didn't discriminate against anyone. Anybody could join, so we had a couple Caucasian kids who felt the same way join our group. We didn't have any blacks come in because we weren't in a black neighborhood. As I said, a couple of white people came in and joined our group.
Did you help start the Nisei Young Democrats?
Yeah, I got together with a couple of others and so we contacted some of the leaders in the Young Democrats. We talked to them, and they said they would help us and we organized the Nisei Young Democrats. In the meantime, we also found a Nisei who was at University of California, who came from Los Angeles. He said he had organized it down there, too. We got together with them and talked to them. We organized one club ourselves and we called our club Nisei Young Democrats of the East Bay. Not just Oakland and Berkeley, but the whole East Bay. Then we found some people interested in the Nisei Young Democrats in San Francisco. One of the leaders there contacted us too, we got together. In those days, it wasn't very easy to travel; even San Francisco was pretty far for us, going across on the ferry. Los Angeles was like a forbidden country. We never got down to Los Angeles. I got down there once while I was in the Nisei Young Democrats to get together with the people down there.
When did all of this happen?
It was around 1944, 1945 [actual dates are 1934, 1935]. In 1944 [actual date is 1934], I helped organize the Oakland chapter of the Japanese American Citizens' League. They hadn't had a chapter before, then they organized one and they asked me to help because I was what they call a kibei, a person who was educated in Japan. Since I knew the Japanese language, we had to talk to the parents because the Nisei were still very young. We had to talk to the parents and we had to convince them that it was a good thing for their children to join the JACL. That is why they asked me to come in—because I speak Japanese. I talked with the parents and convinced them to organize a chapter and that was how I got them to organize the Oakland chapter of the JACL. As I said, their policy was democratic, so some of us felt the organization was inadequate. That was how we organized the Nisei Young Democrats.
Were there any memorable events that you recall where you were in the JACL ?
When I was organizing the JACL , I bore out the importance that we had to have an organization. We had to fight discrimination against the Japanese-Americans. That was the main point that we bore out to the parents, and that convinced them that we should have an organization. That is why they supported the idea of having an organization in Oakland. As a result of that, when the chapter was organized they also branched out and organized one in Berkeley, too. Eventually, there was also one out towards Hayward, so the JACLgrew that way.
What was the Nisei Young Democrats' philosophy or mission statement?
Its main purpose was to educate ourselves, because we didn't know very much about discrimination, how to fight it, and things of the sort. We had discussions at every meeting and I became the education chairman. I would get the speakers to come in. Of course, I would look around for progressive speakers who would bring out progressive stands on various discriminatory practices. Because of that, we grew and we had about forty or fifty members in our organization.
Who were some of the most memorable speakers you had?
I can't remember the names. I started with the leaders in the Young Democrats of California and they were, of course, very progressive. At that time the Young Democrats of California were a very progressive group. In fact later on, they were the ones that were the spearhead to organize the elections. We finally elected a democratic governor for the first time in California. I think it was mainly because of the Young Democrats of California.
What did you find to be the most effective way of fighting discrimination?
There were various things. Being a young organization, the CIO was a youth group, too. We participated in that; in fact, we went and picketed at the plant that is on East 12th street in Oakland. They used to have an assembly center there.
When?
This is in 1936 or 1937 [1946 or 1947]. Of course, in that time it was kind of scary when you went on a picket line. The cops weren't with you; they were in fact on the other side. When I was picketing down there, the police came around so we took off. Because of that, we learned a lot about how to fight for your own rights.
What inspired you to get so involved in the civil rights movement?
As I learned about civil rights, I believed in the principle that everyone should have the same rights. Because of that, I got involved in various civil rights activities. The CIO was apart of it, and we also participated in a youth congress. I went as a delegate to Washington, D.C. This was an experience to.
What year was this?
This was in 1938 [1948]—I think it was—American Youth Congress had a meeting in Washington, D.C. There were four of us that went. One of the young people was from Stanford, and he was a professor's son. He borrowed his father's auto and he took us all back. This was the first time I had firsthand experience, and learned about the way negroes were discriminated against. When I went through Hoover Dam—this was a federal dam being built– they had separate restrooms for whites and blacks. The kids would tease me and say, "Hey which one are you going to go into?" They thought I should go in the white part, but that was one of the things I learned, too, the discrimination. When we went in to eat we didn't have any black students with us, so we didn't feel it. However, there were some groups that couldn't eat at certain restaurants because they had blacks in them. That had to go to a restaurant where they would be accepted by all. So, that was a firsthand experience for me.
How old were you during this time?
At that time I was about twenty-two or twenty-three.
What made you decide to do this work?
The main thing concerning Japanese-Americans was that we couldn't get jobs. We got out of school, and that was the key thing that moved us. We felt that we had to do something, and that is why we got involved in that. At that time there wasn't much we could do because we did not have much support to fight anything. That is why it was only after the camps were over that we got involved in the civil rights movement. Then our young kids who graduated became lawyers, and they're the ones that started all this movement. That's how we got involved in fighting for our civil rights and the civil rights movement after the war.
How did you feel about the war between Japan and China?
Before the war broke out, we studied civil rights. Because of that, we came to the conclusion that the Japanese militarists fighting and going into China was wrong. We had resolutions passed against the Japanese Militarists going into China. The Nisei Young Democrats took this position, and of course the Japanese leaders of the JACLdidn't like it because they said we were being anti-Japanese.in I said we were not being “anti-Japanese”; we were “anti-Japanese Militarists." There is a difference– we were not against the Japanese people. We pointed out this difference and we had resolutions passed in the Nisei Young Democrats against sending oil, which was being sent from San Diego. American ships were sending oil over to Japan. They were sending scrap iron to Japan. We put out resolutions against it and sent letters to our congress urging that they stop sending the war materials to Japan. This was a position that we took before Pearl Harbor. People don't realize this; they think that all Japanese think alike. That was one of the reasons General DeWitt gave: "You can't tell what the Japanese are thinking because they all think alike." The Nisei Young Democrats took a position against the Japanese Militarists, and of course we were against Hitler, too. We were against sending war materials to any place.
Did you manage to get any support from Congress and other progressive unions?
The reaction from the Congress were the same as with any other group. Any other progressive group that took a position were not treated as friends by our Congress. However, the progressives began to see the difference and that was how we got support from the so-called progressive unions, like the Steel Workers' Union, the United Electrical Union, and others. We got support from them. When Pearl Harbor happened and the Executive Order 9066 came out, I went around to the unions and asked for their support to fight against this. They wouldn't do it; they said that if we did that then it would be against our war effort. They didn't want to get involved in fighting the Japanese evacuation. That is the reason why we couldn't get any support, because the progressives wouldn't take a position on it. No one came out against this thing and, of course, Nisei Young Democrats didn't come out against it openly either.
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