was a pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

politician in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. He was the first Japanese American elected to the Senate of the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

Early life and political career

Abe was born in

Kailua Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu on the windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is in the judicial district and the ahupua'a named Ko'ol ...

in 1895 to immigrant parents from Japan, Matsujiro and Raku, who had arrived in the islands two years earlier as migrant workers from Fukuoka. He attended public schools there. He entered the police department as a Japanese interpreter in 1918, and as a member of the

Hawaii National Guard The Hawaii National Guard consists of the Hawaii Army National Guard and the Hawaii Air National Guard. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. Those functions range f ...

was taken into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

with his fellow guardsmen to serve in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war, he rose to the rank of deputy sheriff. He was married to Asami Miyose Abe, with whom he had six children. In 1940, Abe became the first American of Japanese ancestry to be elected to Hawaii's territorial senate; he ran from the South Hilo district as a Republican. His

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

of the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Japan became a hotly discussed issue during his election campaign. His citizenship issues first came to public attention in early October; soon afterwards, Abe announced that he would be renouncing his Japanese citizenship. He received confirmation of his expatriation on November 2.

Arrests and detention

The intersection of Abe's ancestry and rise to prominence set him up for negative attention from the US Army's Hawaii sub-command; he was arrested on August 2, 1942, roughly eight months after the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

brought the United States into

. Two days later, he was formally charged with possession of a

Japanese flag The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the , but is more commonly known in Japan as the . It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising S ...

. However, at the time he was charged, this was not in fact an offence; with

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in effect, the Army issued an order making this a crime, but that was not until six days after his arrest. As a result, he was released by a military tribunal two weeks later. The flag in question was a prop in a movie theater which Abe owned jointly; he suspected that it had been planted. However, the Army took Abe into "custodial detention" anyway soon after, a fact which they did not publicly announce until September 8. This time, no charge was filed against him. The writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

had been suspended due to

. Unable to serve out his term as a state senator, Abe resigned from his elected post on February 4, 1943, stating as his reason that he wished "to protect the people of the territory and the legislature from unjust outside attacks." He was the last Japanese American to resign from the Hawaii territorial legislature; his resignation marked the first time since 1931 that Hawaii had no state legislators of Japanese extraction. Abe would be held for a total of nineteen months, first at

Sand Island A sand island is an island that is largely made of sand. The largest sand island in the world is Fraser Island, Australia. Other examples of large sand islands are Moreton Moreton may refer to: People Given name * Moreton John Wheatley (183 ...

, and then at the

Honouliuli Internment Camp Honouliuli National Historic Site is near Waipahu on the island of Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. This is the site of the Honouliuli Internment Camp which was Hawaiʻi's largest and longest-operating internment camp, opened in 1943 and closed ...

, where fellow Japanese American legislator Thomas Sakakihara was also detained. He was released on July 12, 1944; in an interview with the '' Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' soon after, he stated that "my conscience is clear".

Later activities

Unlike fellow internee Sakakihara, Abe did not return to politics after the

end of World War II End of World War II can refer to: * End of World War II in Europe * End of World War II in Asia World War II officially ended in Asia on September 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan on the . Before that, the United States dropped two atomic ...

. He died on November 26, 1982, at the Castle Memorial Hospital.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Sanji 1895 births 1982 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I American politicians of Japanese descent American police officers Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent Hawaii Republicans Japanese-American internees American military personnel of Japanese descent 20th-century American politicians Asian conservatism in the United States