THE NEW CANADIAN
Vol
12�No. 94
TORONTO, ONT. SATURDAY, DECEMBER a, 1949
$6 per 1 year�10c per Copy
THE WEEKLY HABIT
By TOYO TAKATA
You never know whom you r;n into. Although the world's population totals more than 1900,000,000. :and the earth 'a' '^d surface is something like [ \V)QO,00,0 . square miles, every-body is continually meeting- up ijth familiar faces in the re-r.otest and strangest of places, or coming across a total stranger tith whom they share a mutual scqaaintance.
You've probably had that ex-K'rience some time in your life, perhaps, several. . Only recently, we met a young iakjiri living only three blocks my who happened to be a. friend of. a person Avho enrolled the same course on the same �iay as us back in Victoria. And S was through this meeting that re learned that, this former tlassma'te was killed in England during the war, in an air accident. Jure, we knew hi'm well, we even t.xcha nged Christ mas presents. ;
There happened to be only one loiher person who started that day. \aking the same course, and only i&st week while thumbing; through a Canadian magazine devoted to entertainment, we Van across his picture. We knew hihi is a lousy sax player and how ie caption read that he was with a.orchestra and leading the reed fetion in a Vancouver nightclub. And on our last trip to Chicago, rrjet an American Nisei on �e subway who happened to be .2 cousin of Shinobu Higashi, the first editor of The New Canaan. �' � ' '
Going back to our ghost-town -ie, there was a schoolteacher, in ~e of those deserted villages who. ^opened to be a sister of one � the primary grade teachers in our school on the coast. There was a classmate back in :-;?h school,-who. before he gradu-Kfd, moved to California. We ��-tea wondered what ever became ;! him.. Then three years ago, /a found out he was still living ^wn-there. That was through &y Kayser's College of Musical ir.JTvJedce, He appeared as a c Etesian t oh the program -and talked off with the first prize, recognized him by his name, - v-'c.? and he gave his home-�vhu-h happens to be our ~"p!'i(- too. Furthermore, "'� ^rjcylar broadcast origin-;r---y: L,,? Angeles so there r;' '�mistake' as to whom it
fiing a brother of ours � hockey game. He got / mersation wfth an ^ranger. Getting into a! side, it turned out - ^a? bom in one of the oar street. Then be r.un-.ber-of the boose, it *o be our address. Greets of Toronto, we've less than foar haku-�e knew back in B. C.
Yet, on the other hand, we'll never know how many near misses we've had. How many times, we just missed running into an old friend merely because we were a fraction of a second too early or too late, or because We turned into a store or because we were looking in the wrong direction. There are. more near misses than hits.
We know of a rather pathetic case where one' person came to see another and he was within five, feet of the party whom he wished to see and yet they never; met. ,
Th i s ha ppened back in the summer of 1942 during the peak of the 15. C. exodus. Remember the infamous Hastings Park which was the. temporary; home for thousands of. us? That's where we lined up for stew and slept in horse stalls.
A white farmer from the Fraser Valley came all the way to Vancouver to visit-his Japanese friend whpm he knew to be: confined there. He came to the gate and asked the Mountie on guard if he could see his. friend. The officer absolutely refused and turned him away.
It. wasn't that this particular officer was cold and heartless. But he knew the man whom the farmer was looking for, and this man had been placed in a cell for causing some disturbance in the Park. The Mountie could nol bring him out, at the same time he did not .tell t'he farmer that his Japanese friend was locked up in a cell.
Put the ironic' part was that the cell was located just five feet away from where the fanner stood asking the Mountie if he could see his friend. They were merely separated by a wall.
Whether they did see each other since then, we do not know but to this day neither of them know how close they were to each other at that time.
Kent JCCA Plans Pre-Xmas Supper
CHATHAM, Ont. � The Kent JCCA is planning a pre-Christ-mas Supper and all mothers and parents are invited to bring the family along for an evening of a chow-mein supper and light entertainment by the local talent.
On the program there will be so!r�<, shadow ' piays and also cartoon films for the youngsters. This will be a fine opporttmrtv :a see and chat with friends with whom you dor.'t come into contact otherwise.
h is expected that the Supper wi!! take pface s^rre time in December and the exact place, date and the time will be announced as soon as it is settled. So don't forget this evening which should be everything we expect it to be.
X. S.
Five B. C. Japanese Become Citizens
GRAND FORKS, B C. -� Five ] persons of Japanese origin were presentee with Citizenship papers . following their taking an oath of allegiance at a Naturalization Court in Grand Forks on Nov. 25.
Those given papers by Judge M. Colquhoun were Mrsi Yoshimo Tanaka, Hisakichi Uyede,. Kinde Maede. and Saburo Tabata, all o� Greenwood and Masanobu Muku-yama of Carmi.
Following this, applications for �Citizenship- -were heard by the. Judge from twel\e people,.eleve i of Japanese origin. Kach of those applying had two sponsors and among the latter were: Dr. G. A, Ishiwa.ra and Mr. W. Hamagishi. The applications were all approved ..-and following approval from Ottawa, Naturalization papers will bo given early next year.
Moose Jaw's Japanese
By Genichi Ohashi
MOOSK JAW, Sask. � Often called the "Friendly City," Moose Jaw is the home of 92 Japanese, 47 Nisei and 15 lssei. Little known to British Columbia Japanese at the time of evacuation from the Coast, the Japanese community steadily increased during the past three years.;
Three years ago, the Depart -mont of Labor opened a hoste-four miles south of the city where internees and their families were accommodated. At the time there were only 18 Japanese in Moose! Jaw. The closure
Hawaii Nisei Makes Full-Length Film
HONOLULU. � Owner of a Hawaiian motion picture studio, of the Hostel in August, 1948, Cine-Pac, and now completing was the major factor iit the in- j the filial editing, of "Damien"
flux.
N. Y. Firm, Japan Make Wheai-Cotton Deal
VANCOUVER, B. C. � Accord ihg to the Vancouver . Ne\vs Herald, a $2,000,000 barter deal between Jap�m and the Bunge Corporation of New York has been made under which about �2,000.(101� worth of Canadian wheat will be exchanged for cotton piece' goods.
About (i()0,()l)O bushels of wheat .has been purchasd from the Can- ' adian Wheat Hoard at ^2.3(> a bushel. First shipment leaves'. .Vancouver. in mid-J)eeember aboard the steamship Aliki, the . second in January.
-The cotton goods will come to Canada with the approval of the 'pepart'inent of Trade and Com-merrc.
Eighteen families and llWingl
which is the first full-length feature motion picture to be made
persons comprise; the Japanese �V �awaii; by a Hawaiian comp-communitv now. In 194G there ).W 1S ^-year-old George Taha-
were only five families and four single persons. :
Of the total, 84 are still minors, of whom 22 are students attending the. Central Collegiate Institute, the Technical High or the public schools. -
Occupation among the Japan-
ra.
� Hhwaiian theatres are now. showing newsreels produced in Hawaii by George tahara and a Ta'hara film short has been recently televised by the National Broadcasting company. He made war bond films during the war which won him a Treasury
ej;c centres in a cafe and tea {department citation- Today his garden which employs 12 and the I studio has equipment valued at Providence Hospital which has/more than $250,000. -
Kingi Takeda Heads Raymond Busseis
RAYMOND, Alta. � To open the liM!)-o<> season, the Rayjnond Y.I5/A. held an election recently, For president, Kingi Takeda was cho?e:i. Other officers are Mav Nishiyama, vice-president; Roy Takeda,' treasurer; Tomi Sasaki, secretary; Ayakb Kitagawa, corr responding secretary; Heidi Kawasaki and Mitsugi Tsukishima, sports conveners; Mariko Ikeda and. Jim Hironaka, sports conveners; Kigi Tsukishiriia, editor of the Raymond Busseis; Mae Kovnta; assistant editor.
seven Japanese workers. The CNR, hotels, a. woollen mil:, cafes, cleaners, a fruit distributor, a furner, nnd-an oil company are oilier employers-of' Japanese.
Among the Nisei is one who is a chick-se.xor, who during the off-season sells goods. Another. A.T.C.M., opened her own studio in October.. Two girls are nurse:-,-in-training at local hospitals.
. "Wearever" holding, an
Until "Darien", his most ambitious project had been his production of a full-length color film on the life Of the people of American Samoa "which" he produced in 1948, '
Masaoka in Vancouver
VANCOUVKR, B. C. � Mike .Nlas'aoka, legislative director of the J A C L-A nt i - Discr imination-Committee, is expected to visit this city on Dec.-5/for two days.
Principal Says It's Typical
to St. Vital School; of These People
Japanese Services
To Be Broadcast Dec 18
HAMILTON. � The All People's Church of Hamilton is hold ins: Anniversary Service* on Sunday, Nov. 2��. Rev. K. Shimizu will preach at the Japanese Serv-
ice at -2:3" p.m.
T':\* Canadian National Unity C'>u:.ci! is sponsoring the half hour rv.^mmg devotion every �5nnday turning from 8^ to 9 ' p.m. n>r station CKOC in vari-f ous laniruage?. The Japanese lanjriage bni�dca�t will be made l>ec. 1* with R*�v. K ShimizB poking charge
ST. VITAL, Man. � An elder- , ly lady, Mrs. Tsutsumi, lives with , her son and his family. Her two : grandchildren,. Mitsuo and Ka- j zuko, attend the locar primary j school.. She has often visited this school to bring the two teachers their gifts of cooking or of handicraft.
Then, recently, ~h�- *>naW -j. ' cheque for �50 to the iocal schoo; board. Now nearing So, the English language is difficult to hei. but with the aid of h�rr two grandchildren, she expiairi^ that it v.a5 in appreciation for all the kir.dne-s t�> herself and to her family. Mrs. Tsutsumi requested that the rr.or;ey be used to buy sometiung for the new collegiate how being built in St. Vital, .-�mvetnlng that the teacher? and the pupils would n*-ed.
Mitsuo is >n!y in grade r� > . and Kazuko in grade one but sb<e thought that :t *m time that the
school deserved some appreciation for what it was doing.
V. H. L. Wyatt, supervising principal, told the Winnipeg Free Press that 'This is typical of the Japanese families in St. Vital. They are very- appreciative of education. The^ children;are nearly all excellent pupils�we have about 25 of them here. They're industrious and well-liked by other children and are never left out of any of the social activities or sports".
The Tauuu&i family moved from B. C. during the war and were .living.on. a beet farm neai Kmer^n, Man. when :h� war f-nded. They moved :n:� St. Vital Lhree years ago.
Now the Glenlawr. school boar>i has decided to send her a Tetter of tppreciati/.q. Trustees, twdi-*rs, and the principal are gotsg to decide what to purchase with the mote:.-.