Volume XIII, Number 4 • Fall 2001
Allies

A More Perfect Union: Interethnic Labor Alliances
by Chiori Santiago

Update: Japanese Peruvian Redress
by Chiori Santiago

Alcatraz Island Allies
by Ken Kaji
photographs by Isao Tanaka

To Extend Helping Hands Once Offered to Us
by Kenji Murase

Service, Shelter, Support: a Profile of Beckie Masaki
by Amy Iwasaki Mass

Like a Small Town Picnic: Mary Otani and the Richmond Farmers' Market
by Chizu Iiyama

Member News

In Their Own Words: Memories of the I-Hotel

Donors List

Program Calendar

Most Nikkei would recognize the name of the Manzanar Committee in connection with the historic preservation of California’s Manzanar relocation center. But the Nikkei organization also made history in 1973 with its public support of a protest that occurred on a stretch of South Dakota plain. When members of the American Indian Movement staged a 71-day occupation of buildings at Wounded Knee, Japanese Americans recognized the parallel between their own displacement during wartime and the Indians’ removal from their native lands. Federal policies toward both groups were nearly the same—and some Bureau of Indian Affairs administrators were the same men who had carried out the evacuation and internment of Nikkei citizens. This shared history forged a political alliance that, in addition to the tangible actions of letter-writing campaigns and demonstrations, reflected the quality of on, a spirit of selfless giving in recognition of mutual empathy.

This issue of Nikkei Heritage explores intersections and alliances inspired by on, built upon Japanese Americans’ experience with immigration and internment as well as success and triumph. On p. 18, Ken Kaji remembers a Nikkei-Native American alliance predating Wounded Knee during the occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Collaborations between Nikkei and other field workers helped push forward the labor movement; two books in the NJAHS library document those unions (see page 4).

Our main feature by Kenji Murase explores a contemporary example of ongaeshi, “ repayment of a moral debt” by Nisei who attended college during World War II thanks to dedicated benefactors. Their legacy lives today in the accomplishments of some remarkable Southeast Asian students.

Other Nikkei, such as the women profiled on pages 12 and 14, express ongaeshi through their dedication to community. Mary Otani and Beckie Masaki are two of many who, fueled by their own experiences, work tirelessly to ensure the rights of others. Yet there remains much more opportunity for empathy. As Grace Shimizu notes, the spirit of on must continue to prompt our concern and involvement in the struggle for reparations for Japanese Latin Americans. Finally, a new “Enemy Aliens” exhibit illustrates how, not very long ago, Americans of Italian, German and Japanese descent were unwillingly united beneath an umbrella of anti-immigrant suspicion—a sobering reminder of alliances shaped by history and fate. Be sure to stop by the NJAHS office to see it.

- Chiori Santiago, Editor, Nikkei Heritage