Togo W. Tanaka ( ja, 田中董梧, January 7, 1916 – May 21, 2009) was an American newspaper journalist and editor who reported on the difficult conditions in the
Manzanar
Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...
camp, where he was one of 110,000
Japanese Americans who had been
relocated 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 ...
on December 7, 1941.
Early life and education
Tanaka was born on January 7, 1916, in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
, the fifth of his
Issei
is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...
parents' six children. He grew up in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, where his parents operated a vegetable market, and graduated there from
Hollywood High School at age 16.
He enrolled at the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
, where he wrote for the ''
Daily Bruin'' and a local Japanese-language newspaper, graduating in 1936 with a bachelor's degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
.
[Woo, Elaine]
"Togo W. Tanaka dies at 93; journalist documented life at Manzanar internment camp"
(July 5, 2009) ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''. Accessed July 7, 2009.
He was hired by the Japanese American newspaper ''
Rafu Shimpo
is a Japanese-English language newspaper based in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California and is the largest bilingual English-Japanese daily newspaper in the United States. As of February 2021, it is published online daily. In print publicatio ...
'' while he was still in college, where he worked alongside
Louise Suski and edited the paper's
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
content, writing editorials encouraging
Nisei
is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...
, those born in the United States to Japanese immigrant parents, to be loyal Americans.
During this time, he also joined the
Japanese American Citizens League, taking a position at the national level in charge of publicity.
[ In an October 1941 trip to ]Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
arranged by the newspaper's publisher, H. T. Komai, Tanaka tried to ensure that the paper would be able to continue publishing in the event that hostilities broke out with Japan, meeting with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
and Attorney General Francis Biddle
Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who was the United States Attorney General during World War II. He also served as the primary American judge during the postwar Nuremberg Trials as well a ...
.[ However, his presence was met with suspicion from ]War Department War Department may refer to:
* War Department (United Kingdom)
* United States Department of War (1789–1947)
See also
* War Office, a former department of the British Government
* Ministry of defence
* Ministry of War
* Ministry of Defence
* D ...
officials, who interrogated him and challenged his allegiance to his home country.[
]
Arrest and internment
Tanaka was one of the few American-born individuals arrested as enemy alien
In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
s on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of the 5,500 Japanese American men subject to FBI detention were immigrants from Japan. No explanation was offered for his arrest, and he was held incommunicado for 11 days, forbidden even to contact his pregnant wife, before being released without any charges.[ In a newspaper interview conducted the day after the Pearl Harbor attacks, Tanaka described how the local Japanese community had "not been in sympathy with Japan's expansion program" and had worked with the FBI and ]Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serve ...
for the preceding several years. He stated, "We think the Japanese Government is stupid and has embarked on a campaign it has absolutely no chance of winning."[via '']Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
''
"JAPANESE ON COAST CALL WAR 'HARA-KIRI'; Residents of Los Angeles Assert Nippon Is Sure to Lose"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', December 9, 1941. Accessed July 7, 2009.
After his release from jail, Tanaka continued to run the ''Rafu Shimpo,'' a difficult task since the Issei staff members remained in FBI custody and over 1,000 households had canceled their subscriptions to avoid any perception of ties to Japan. On February 19, 1942, the same day President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, Tanaka organized a United Citizens Federation meeting at the Maryknoll Catholic Mission, bringing together 21 Nisei organizations and about 1,500 attendees. As the government and the military began to implement plans for removal, he investigated "voluntary evacuation" alternatives and visited the Pomona and Santa Anita assembly centers (then still under construction), reporting on his findings in the ''Rafu''.[ He edited the last issue of the ''Rafu Shimpo'' published before the forced relocation took place.][
Together with his family, Tanaka was sent to ]Manzanar
Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...
on April 23, 1942, under the terms of the earlier executive order. Tanaka characterized the facility as an "outdoor jail," and he was one of what would eventually be 10,000 Japanese Americans, mostly U.S. citizens from Los Angeles County. Located in California's arid Owens Valley
Owens Valley ( Numic: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains and Iny ...
in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, these inmates lived in crude barracks that did little to protect them from frequent dust storms and, in the winter, freezing temperatures. Tanaka reported, "I cannot see how it is possible for any human being of normal impulses to be cooped up within limited confines of barbed wires, watchtowers, and all the atmosphere of internment and not be touched by the bitterness and disillusionment all around him."[
Soon after arriving in camp, he was hired by anthropologist Robert Redfield (a community analyst for the ]War Relocation Authority
The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was a United States government agency established to handle the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It also operated the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York, which was t ...
) and served as one of Manzanar's two "documentary historians."[ Using his background in journalism, Tanaka documented the conditions and experiences in the camp for the WRA and sent reports to be included in a study of the internment policy performed at the ]University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. His detailed reports on the factional divisions within the camp and his advocacy for cooperation with camp authorities put him into what his son later described as "a no man's land" in which he had lost his rights as an American and was not trusted by other Japanese internees in the camp.[
In ]rioting
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...
that took place on the 1942 anniversary of Pearl Harbor, two protesters were killed. Fred Tayama, a prominent JACL leader who had been accused of colluding with WRA officials in the arrest of popular anti-administration organizer Harry Ueno, was beaten in his barracks apartment two days earlier; Tanaka was the next target of the protesters, who were critical of his support for cooperation with military authorities that operated the camp, and was able to avoid attack by donning a disguise and joining the mob searching for him. He was moved with his family after the incident, along with others labeled as collaborators, or "''inu''," to another internment facility in Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth.
Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...
. During this time he wrote reports on the Manzanar Riot and prewar communities for the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement study. He was released in 1943 and moved to Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, where he worked with a Quaker group that assisted other former Japanese internees and refugees from Nazi Germany to find employment and housing.[
]
Post-war experiences
After the war, Tanaka worked as head of textbook publications at the American Technical Society in Chicago. He also edited "Scene, The Pictorial Magazine", a ''Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
''-type periodical for Japanese Americans which ran from 1949 to 1954, and wrote a column for the JACL's national paper, the Pacific Citizen
The ''Pacific Citizen (P.C.)'' is a national, award-winning semi-monthly newspaper based in Los Angeles, California, United States. The ''P.C.'' has been providing the leading Asian Pacific American (APA) news to the community since its inception i ...
. He moved back to California in 1955 and went into the business of creating trade journal
A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...
s. He started a real estate venture, Gramercy Enterprises, in 1963, and retired from the company in 1985 as chairman.[
In a 2005 visit to the exhibit at the Manzanar National Historic Site, he saw his own desk and typewriter on permanent display (where they remain today). A park ranger who had prepared the display described the visit by Tanaka as being "like history walking in the front door."][
]
Personal life
Tanaka died at age 93 on May 21, 2009, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. He was survived by his wife, to whom he had been married for 68 years, as well as three children, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.[
TOGO TANAKA Copied from Togo's biosketch 4/27/88 15:35 fax
Chairman, Gramercy Enterprises, 1980--,President 1963-1980,
Director, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco 1983-1989 (end of second term)
Director, Federal Reserve Bank, Los Angeles Branch 1979-1983,
President, Rossmore Management Company,
President, T.W. Tanaka Co., Inc.,
Director, L.A. Wholesale Produce Market Development Corporation,
Advisory Council Member, California State World Trade Commission,
Member Los Angeles Rotary Club 1972—President 1983-84,
Member Stock Exchange Club of Los Angeles,
Mason, 32nd Degree, Beverly Hills Lodge No. 528,
Al Malaikah Shrine, Member,
Member Board of Directors: American Red Cross, LA Chapter: American Heart Association, Constitutional Rights Foundation, Goodwill Industries of Southern California, Greater Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau,
Director, Methodist Hospital of Southern California
Formerly: Commissioner, Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, 1975–76; Director, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, 1973–75; Citizens Management Review Committee of Los Angeles Unified School District 1974-75
Born Portland, Oregon January 7, 1916 Hollywood High School '32 California Scholarship Federation, Ephebian
Ucla '36 Phi Gamma Mu, Phi Sigma Alpha, ]Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
University of Chicago Graduate Studies '43; Who’s Who in Midwest '50-'55, Who’s Who in West '55--, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry ‘75—Editorial Depart., Head, American Tech (Chicago)'50-'52
President, Chicago Publishing Corp '50-'55
Editor-in-Chief, Scene Magazine (Chicago) '49-'55
President, School Industrial Press '55-'68
Married to Jean Wada 11/14/40, 3 Children, 5 grandchildren, resides in Los Angeles
References
External links
''Japanese American World War II Evacuation Oral History Project, Part III: Analysts''
- contains two Togo Tanaka interviews with Betty E. Mitson and David A. Hacker (May 19, 1973), and Arthur Hansen (August 30, 1973).
Togo Tanaka interview with James Gatewood
(December 13, 1997)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Togo
1916 births
2009 deaths
American newspaper editors
Japanese-American internees
American writers of Japanese descent
Writers from Los Angeles
Journalists from Portland, Oregon
Hollywood High School alumni
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
American male journalists
American journalists of Asian descent
20th-century journalists