The Gateway to the Pacific: Japanese Americans and the Remaking of San Francisco

293 Pages·2018·2.105 MB·English

by  Meredith Oda

The Gateway to the Pacifi c
historical studies of urban america
Edited by Lilia Fernández, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Becky M. Nicolaides, and
Amanda I. Seligman
James R. Grossman, Editor Emeritus
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The Gateway to the Pacifi c:
Japanese Americans
and the Remaking of
San Francisco
M E R E D I T H O D A
The University of Chicago Press
chicago and london
publication of this book has been aided
by a grant from the bevington fund.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2019 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the
University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2019
Printed in the United States of America
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 59260- 2 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 59274- 9 (paper)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 59288- 6 (e- book)
doi: https:// doi .org/ 10 .7208/ chicago/ 9780226592886 .001 .0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oda, Meredith, author.
Title: The gateway to the Pacifi c: Japanese Americans and the remaking of San
Francisco / Meredith Oda.
Other titles: Historical studies of urban America.
Description: Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2019. | Series: Historical
studies of urban America
Identifi ers: lccn 2018019707 | isbn 9780226592602 (cloth: alk. paper) |
isbn 9780226592749 (pbk: alk. paper) | isbn 9780226592886 (e-book)
Subjects: lcsh: Japanese Americans—California—San Francisco—History—
20th century. | Urban renewal—California—San Francisco—History—
20th century. | Ethnic neighborhoods—California—San Francisco—History—
20th century. | San Francisco (Calif.)—History—20th century.
Classifi cation: lcc f869.s39 j3586 2019 | ddc 979.4/6104956—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018019707
This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1 992
(Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Acknowledgments • vii
1
Introduction •
chapter one 1
• 5
Japan and Japanese Americans in the Pacifi c Metropolis
through World War II
chapter two 1
• 4
Orienting the Gateway to the Pacifi c:
Reconsidering Japan and Reshaping Civic Identity
chapter three
• 73
Redeveloping Citizens: Planning a New Japanesetown
chapter four 1
• 06
Pacifi c Crossings: Japan, Hawai‘i, and
the Redefi nition of Japanesetown
chapter five 1
• 38
Intermediaries with Japan:
The Work of Professional Japanese Americans in the Gateway
chapter six 1
• 74
Local Struggles: Japanese American and African American Protest
1
and Cooperation after 960
1
Conclusion • 2 3
1
Notes • 2 9
Index • 273

Acknowledgments
My scholarship and thinking for this book have been shaped by so many
people and institutions along the way. There is no way I can possibly do
justice to the tremendous debts I have accumulated, but I am grateful for
the opportunity to at least acknowledge some here.
The University of Chicago has been a source of wonderful mentors and
colleagues. Mae Ngai prodded a microstudy of redevelopment into a more
expansive story of San Francisco’s transpacifi c history. Her incisive feed-
back and her own model of scholarship improved this project in immea-
surable ways and continue to inspire me. Kathleen Conzen was a kind and
able guide through urban and ethnic history, while Thomas Holt’s acute
thinking on race and racism has shaped my understanding of race, differ-
ence, and power. George Chauncey, Kyeong-H ee Choi, Bruce Cumings,
James Grossman, and Amy Dru Stanley have all helped make me a better
historian. I also had the pleasure and privilege to learn among a cohort
of excellent scholars and friends: Thomas Adams, Melissa Borja, Michael
Carriere, Kornel Chang, Jessica Graham, Allyson Hobbes, Molly Hudgens,
Gwennan Ickes, Kouslaa Kessler- Mata, Kelly King- O’Brien, Alison Lef ko-
vitz, Jon Levy, Jason McGraw, Arissa Oh, Sarah Potter, Gautham Rao, David
Spatz, Timothy Stewart- Winter, Ellen Wu, and Ryan Yokota.
A number of people have been instrumental in helping me tell this story.
First, I would like to thank all those who generously shared their memories
and time in sometimes quite lengthy interviews: Masao Ashizawa, Richard
Hashimoto, Uta Hirota, Steve Nakajo, Noboru Nakamura, Victor Ona, Sam
Seiki, Marshall Sumida, Tomoye Takahashi, Franklin Tokioka, Lionel To-
kioka, Marvin Uratsu, George Yamasaki Jr., and Mas Yonemura.
viii acknowledgments
Archivists and librarians are particular allies of historians, and my expe-
rience has been no exception. Marie Browning let me camp out at the San
Francisco Redevelopment Agency Central Records for months of research;
the agency has since closed, its records transferred to the San Francisco
History Center at the San Francisco Public Library. Karl Matsushita lugged
around boxes, provided invaluable information, and offered a little refresh-
ing gossip at the Japanese American National Library. Tami Suzuki, Jeff
Thomas, and the rest of staff at the San Francisco History Center at the
San Francisco Public Library were incredibly gracious with their time and
knowledge. Sherman Seki at the Archives and Manuscripts Department at
the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa Hamilton Library offered helpful sug-
gestions and access. Rosalyn Tonai, Peter Yamamoto, Judy Yamaguchi, and
Max Nihei at the National Japanese American Historical Society offered
timely assistance. Kenji Taguma is not an archivist, but he was a cordial and
informative host while I paged through decades of the newspaper he edited,
the Nichi Bei Times (now reconfi gured as the online Nichi Bei ). I also thank
the many archivists and librarians who have contributed to this project
at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; California His-
torical Society; University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library;
University of California, Los Angeles, Young Research Library Special Col-
lections; Hawai‘i State Archives; the Japanese American National Museum’s
Hirasaki Resource Center; Manuscripts and Records Collection at the Wal-
ter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University; and National Archives
and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland. Finally, I would
like to thank Mark Lucas and the staff at the Mathewson- IGT Knowledge
Center Interlibrary Loan, who tracked down my avalanche of requests with
good humor.
I have found a wonderful and supportive home at the University of Ne-
vada, Reno, in large part due to a brilliant bunch of friends and colleagues.
Emily Hobson is a partner in crime, model of socially engaged scholar/
teacher, and generous reader. Greta de Jong has hosted many a delicious
summer solstice celebration and offered incredibly useful feedback and
ideas. Jennifer Ng and Edward Schoolman have commiserated over food
and drink. My chairs have been fantastic guides: Linda Curcio introduced
me to the world of the tenure track, Bruce Moran was kind and supportive,
and Dennis Dworkin—w ho took a fellow Maroon under his wing right
away—o ffered crucial resources that helped me push to the fi nish line in a
relatively timely manner. Jenni Baryol in the Department of History offi ce
is a lifesaver, time and time again. Chris Church, Marwan Hanania, Martha
Hildreth, Renata Keller, Elizabeth Raymond, Bill Rowley, Hugh Shapiro,
acknowledgments ix
Kevin Stevens, Cameron Strang, Charles Tshimanga- Kashama, and Barbara
Walker have all helped make the department a collegial and smart depart-
ment. Outside of history, Mikaela H. Rogozen-S oltar provided regular writ-
ing deadlines (she did what she could) and fun reminders that there’s so
much more than writing. Others, too, have made Reno a supportive, lively
place: Debbie Boehm and Patrick Jackson, Katherine Fusco and Blake Wat-
son, Jen Hill, Stephanie Gibson and David Rondel, Eunkang Koh, Jessica
Nakamura, Amy Pason, and Daniel Enrique Pérez.
This book has also profoundly benefi ted from the feedback and assis-
tance of a number of fellow historians. I cannot thank enough those who
have read and commented upon versions of these chapters: Charlotte
Brooks, Jason Chang, Grace Delgado, Mary Dudziak, Dennis Dworkin,
Rámon Gutiérrez, Lisbeth Haas, Theresa Mah, Jennifer Miller, Amy Scott,
and Naoko Shibusawa. Bill Issel generously read the entirety in an ear-
lier version and offered sharp and constructive comments. Mariko Iijima
and Yuki Oda kindly answered my questions about Japanese sources. Other
scholars have also offered critical suggestions and ideas at crucial junctures:
Eiichiro Azuma, Andrew Friedman, Madeline Hsu, Lon Kurashige, Scott
Kurashige, Clement Lai, Meghan Mettler, Dennis Ogawa, Greg Robinson,
Joel Tarr, Yujin Yaguchi, Henry Yu, and all the participants at the Race and
Racial Ideologies Workshop at the University of Chicago and at conferences
of the Urban History Association, the Pacifi c Coast Branch of the American
Historical Association, Western History Association, Association for Asian
American Studies, Organization of American Historians, American Histori-
cal Association, Society for the History of Foreign Relations, and the Ameri-
can Studies Association. Ayuko Takeda was an amazingly organized and
diligent research assistant in the National Diet Library in Tokyo. Jennifer
O’Donnell provided translation, as did my incredibly generous colleague
Yoshie Kadowaki. Finally, the wonderfully careful and critical readers for
Stanford University Press and University of Chicago Press helped me re-
think and reshape the book in vital ways.
The University of Chicago Press has been absolutely marvelous to work
with. My friend Charlotte Brooks and former professor Jim Grossman
paved the way for me at the Press, for which I am truly grateful. Tim Men-
nel has been a gracious, supportive, and critical editor, while Rachel Kelly
has been patient and responsive in moving the book toward publication. I
thank the series editors, Lilia Fernández, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, and Amanda
I. Seligman. I especially want to thank Becky M. Nicolaides, whose care-
ful scrutiny of the manuscript produced insights, suggestions, and critiques
that have vastly improved this book.