Refused by Japan

Will Fight for U.S.

DESCENDENT OF OLD FAMILY OF FIGHTERS

Seattle Nipponese is Certified for Service in Uncle Sam's National Army and Is Proud of It.

Shigeo Katsuki is a descendant of the Samurai, the old fighting nobility of Japan. His father, a captain in the imperial army, defended the government in the rebellion of forty years ago.

Shigeo tried in vain for admission into the Army College of Japan, to follow in his father's footsteps as a warrior. For physical deficiencies he was refused. He came to America in 1908; and today he is the holder of blue ticket to No. 217 and certified as a member of the Liberty Army of the United States. And Shigeo, in his modest way, is proud of it.

Katsuki is a newspaper man, a reporter and correspondent, and he learned the business in the United States. Arriving in Vancouver, B.C., in 1908, he soon came to Seattle. From here he went East, touring the principal cities, finally stopping in Colorado long enough to take a special course of one year in Colorado College. He then came back to Seattle, and for more than six years has been engaged in newspaper work here and in Tacoma and Vancouver, B.C. Most of his work has been done on The Great Northern News, but he was for several months on the staff of The Asahi News of this city.

Does Not Claim Exemptions.

"I had no reason to claim exemption," said Katsuki; who gives scant consideration to the fact that he is an alien, who could at once claim and obtain immunity. "I want to join the army. I want to do some good for the United States. I am looking forward to the second generation. Some Japanese say we are not citizens, therefore we should not fight for United States. I look ahead. The more good we do for the United States now, the better it is going to be for the next generation of Japanese, who will be citizens of this country. I have to fight against some opposition, and the other day I wrote an article for The Great Northern News explaining my stand."

Katsuki's father died several years ago, never having fully recovered from an accidental wound which terminated his usefulness in the war of forty years ago. Katsuki has a mother and a sister in Japan, and a sister in this country. They are not dependents, however, he is careful to explain. "I do not have to send my money home to Japan," he said. "Have never had to do so. I have only myself to look after."

And gradually the ambitious young Japanese reveals the lure which beckons him. He, scion of the Samurai, is out to make good; to do something notable, so that when he goes back to visit his mother and sister in Japan he will not be overshadowed by his young friends who are rising to positions of prominence in the old homeland.

Wishes to Get Ahead.

"Always I study," said Katsuki. "I wish to get ahead. My mother writes me to go back to Japan. But I shall not go back until I have been successful."

Of late he has been studying aviation. He has several books dealing with airplanes and their construction, and he is digging deep into their contents.

"I cannot get into that part of the service now," he said, "but maybe some time they will take me."

Besides his aviation ambition Katsuki has one more bee buzzing in the offing. He hopes to do some writing from the front for Japanese papers, both here and in Japan. He has not yet completed arrangements for this, but hopes to do so soon.

Getting Into Trim.

Katsuki is 29 years old now -- almost 30. He's single, in 5 feet 2 1/2 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds stripped. Recovering from a long illness, he is putting himself in fine physical trim in a garden at the rear of the rooms, at 712 Seventh Avenue South. Right now he looks fit, though small, and he's well dressed -- dapper, almost though minus the cane which usually accompanies that adjective. His room is lined with both American and Japanese books, including a standard encyclopedia. "Tom Brown's School Days" and some late fiction.

Several years ago he worked as a call boy at the Rainier Club, and many of Seattle's leading businessmen and professional men will recognize in the accompanying photograph the "Professor" who served them so promptly and courteously a few years back.

Katsuki is short; he's light; his eyes are none too good; he's an alien and he has a mother and sister. Is he claiming exemption? Here's what he says:

"I do not know when the army will call for me. Perhaps next month. Perhaps later. But when I am called, I am ready."