<Begin Segment 20>

CO: When did you join the Rocky Shimpo?

JO: That didn't come until January of 1944. I was at that time employed in war work. And I had to get permission so I did not assume the job. I was offered a job on the 13th as editor of the Rocky Shimpo and as public relations director for the Japanese publishing company, which sponsored the Rocky Shimpo. I actually assumed duties about a week after the passage of the re-institution of the draft.

CO: So when did you start getting interested in some of these cases?

JO: Well, our, my first interest wasn't in the draft. At the time, there was no action on it anyway. But we had this anti-alien land proposal, which was before the Colorado legislature and I went up to the legislature. I had a invitation from the speaker of the house and I contacted some lawmakers and opposed the passage of an anti-alien land law in Colorado. The lower house passed the measure but the senate killed it, and as a result, the proponents took it before the general election which was turned down by the voters of the state of Colorado.

CO: When did you first start hearing about the draft resistance in camp?

JO: I didn't hear anything about draft resistance particularly except in a general way when five individuals from Amache refused to go to their induction. And in the process, they made some outlandish statement that they were disloyal to the United States. Of course, I didn't believe that they were disloyal, that they were just frustrated. And about the same time, thirty at Minidoka opted to renunciate, I guess, their citizenship in protest. And I didn't think that was a proper way to go about their grievances. So on February 28th I wrote the editorial, "Let Us Not Be Rash." It was carefully written and I hope I sent the proper message. It became the most scrutinized, most analyzed, most debated editorial of World War II. We have evidence that it was brought up before various branches of the government and that they all drew their own conclusion. The Justice Department in the name of Tom C. Clark wrote his own conclusion and on the basis of which, it was supposed to be used in a conspiracy trial in Cheyenne. Mr. Clark, Mr. Clark was the individual that selected the Japanese American Citizens League as the sole representative of the Japanese in America.

CO: So when did you start getting these, start noticing those really resisting from Heart Mountain?

JO: Heart Mountain didn't enter the picture for the reason that they had organized against the loyalty questionnaire the year before. And there were matters that were still simmering at the time. They were probably the last group to enter the draft picture. On Friday of the week that I published the first editorial, I was approached by a representative of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee. And as a result, on Monday I wrote a second editorial announcing the formation of the Fair Play Committee and what their purpose and their goals were.

[Interruption]

CO: When you say you were approached, did an individual approach you?

JO: Obviously.

CO: Who?

JO: You want me to give the name?

CO: Well, I'd like to know who.

JO: Okay, Sylvia Toshiyuki, who was an Anglo married to a Japanese.

CO: Okay, so she approached you and...

JO: ...and presented me with a sheaf of documents all written by Kiyoshi Okamoto. It's the first time I ever knew there was an organization in Heart Mountain. And after reading it, thoroughly digesting it, I approved of the method they were using to seek constitutional remedies and subsequently I editorially supported the organization. It was the same principle on which I was criticizing the JACL and the national government.

CO: So, tell us about what happened after you published the editorial.

JO: Well, before these editorials ever came up -- I'm going backwards -- I was turned in, let's say, by the JACL in the person of Joe Grant Matsuoka, who was a regional director of the Denver JACL. The complaint to the United States attorney was that I had improperly registered my selective registration in 1940. As a result, they thoroughly investigated me, going to Seattle, going to San Francisco. In San Francisco -- they couldn't get hardly anything out of Seattle -- but in San Francisco, every Caucasian people that knew me gave me the highest recommendation. And the San Francisco FBI ruled that, well, ruled me a white paper; white paper meaning clean. And as a result, the case was dropped by the United States attorney.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 1994, 2003 Densho and Emiko Omori. All Rights Reserved.