The Pittsburgh Press (November 2, 1940)
U.S. DIPLOMACY IN FAR EAST IS EYED BY HAWAII
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Island Residents Alert to Washington-Tokyo Problems
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Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 2 (UP) –
Hawaii, scarcely known to the United States’ Founding Fathers, rapidly is becoming perhaps the most vital testing ground of their constitutional theories, with immense consequence to American policy in the Pacific.
The question involved, fundamentally, is whether this rich territory, strongly fortified and guarded, will continue to function as a solid unit despite a population consisting of more than one-fourth Japanese.
Relations between Japan and the United States now are considered the most strained in history. The United States fleet has been based in Hawaiian waters for seven months, and commanding officers indicate it will remain there indefinitely. Its presence is a symbol of the urgent necessity that lies behind the diplomatic policies of Washington and Tokyo.
To the Japanese in Hawaii, alien or citizen, the situation presents peculiar and distressing problems. They total about 155,000 persons, of whom 119,000 are American citizens by virtue of their birth in Hawaii. All of the older Japanese have been in the territory for years, since immigration from Japan actually ceased more than two decades ago when it was agreed no more Japanese laborers would enter American territory.
Practice ‘Dual Citizenship’
Since 1924, it has been impossible for these older Japanese to become citizens, under terms of American legislation. Further complicating their status and that of their children is the “dual citizenship” practice of the Japanese home authorities, whereby Japanese citizenship id retained by all persons of Japanese ancestry whose birth is registered with Japanese consular or diplomatic representatives.
Two events served to place Hawaii’s Japanese in an uncertain state within the last year: the United States abrogated the 1911 amity and commerce treaty, and the Securities and Exchange Commission forbade Hawaii Japanese purchases of unregistered Japanese war bonds.
Most of the Japanese businesses and land buildings are in the hands of the older generation. They consequently view the present situation with definite fear.
To their children the problem is far more acute. Americans, they find themselves suspect by outsiders and crudely lumped with Orientals not eligible for citizenship. Under the traditionally strong influence of their parents they have preserved religious and racial characteristics and customs. Recent figures indicate that of 46,670 Japanese in territorial schools, 43,150 attend Japanese language schools in addition.
Japan’s adherence to the Berlin-Rome axis only serves to intensify the cleavage between Tokyo and Washington, and to leave Hawaii’s Japanese in an ever more uncertain position.
Language Difficulties Exist
Hawaii’s white business leaders unqualifiedly stand by the proven loyalty of Japanese-Americans. They regard them as American as any racial segment of the United States – perhaps more so. It is to be remembered that Japan at home for decades has been patterning life after the western mode, adopting western dress, movies, autos and speech. The Hawaii-born Japanese can only be uncomfortable and ill-placed in any return to pure Japanese Orientalism and Asiatic custom.
Yet Japan itself id hewing rigidly to the “New Order in Asia” line laid down at the start of the China campaign, and seems to be heading for a direct conflict with Anglo-American joint Pacific policy.
Language difficulties intensify basic misunderstandings between Japanese and Americans. Many Americans admit they cannot distinguish a Chinese from a Japanese. There is a long background of mistrust, suspicion and emotional reaction between the western United States and Japan, dating back to the forced opening of Japan to western commerce.
Island ‘Key’ to U.S. Defenses
It is to be noted that Hawaii contains by far the greatest concentration of Japanese aliens and citizens in any part of the United States. Available census figures indicate that nearly half of all Japanese resident in the United States are in the territory.
Hawaii, in any actual hostilities between Japan and the United States, would be the base for American defense and offense alike. It is some 3,500 miles from Japan, 2,400 miles eastward of the United States and the protection point for vital north and mid-Pacific shipping.
To the south, west and north of Hawaii, flung in a great curving line, are the Japanese mandated islands, screening the whole of the far western Pacific. They are another question mark in Japanese-American relations, with most naval and military sources convinced that effective Japanese bases have been established at many points.
The United States appears committed to defense of the Philippine Islands until those islands are finally independent, and likewise to all possible aid to China. Japanese attacks on any British possessions in the Far East unquestionably would be followed by extremely strong Washington reaction. The United States recently was reported to have assured French Indo-China of material support as long as its government offered any effective, independent resistance to Japanese encroachment.
Thus, Hawaii’s Japanese find themselves caught between Tokyo and Washington diplomatic, military and naval policies heading for a definite showdown.