You must be aware that the Issei were prohibited by law from taking US citizenship (a prohibition which extended even to those Japanese who had served in the US armed forces). A number of Nisei choose to accompany their aging parents back to Japan. If given a choice between your parents well being and retaining your citizenship, which would you choose?

My father and about half of his brothers and sisters were born _after_ the date you mention and they did not have an automatic cancellation of Japanese citzenship. Given the recent fuss about former Peruvian president’s status as a Japanese citizen (he claimed that he didn’t have it, but after fleeing the country, and settling into exile in Japan, he just happened to be eligible) it forces me to ask you be a little more forthcoming. You are able to relate a precise date, but you say ‘laws are on the books’? What laws, what books? What census figures support your assertion?

You are correct that approximately 10 percent of those interned renounced citizenship. However, a good number were children who were being cared for by grandparents or those who felt that they would be attacked and lynched when they returned to the West Coast. Given the fact that many of them had been forced to sell all their possessions and had nothing to return to, this seems logical.

I would also point out that the majority of those renouncing their citizenship were incarcerated in Tule Lake, which had substantially poorer conditions than the other camps, which led to the other motivation for renouncing their citizenship, which was anger and disgust at their treatment. Please read _Beyond Loyalty_ by Minoru Kiyota (UH press) for the story of one such person. Bear in mind that Tule lake was set up as a camp for the ‘no-no’-ers, based on their answers to a loyalty questionnaire that was so poorly written as to make the questions meaningless.

As for the MAGIC intercepts, you are correct, I got my decades confused. But I am a bit confused. You specifically agree that there was no military necessity for the evacuation, which seems to refute Michelle Malkin’s main thesis and the citation of the MAGIC intercepts. If there was no military necessity, then the MAGIC intercepts have no bearing on the evacuation and internment process. Your thesis is that the Japanese-Americans were interned to protect them from a vengeful public. If that is the case, then all of the evidence of 90% of the kibei being dual citizens (obviously the case because Japan has citizenship as jus sanguinis and the US is jus solis) and 10% renouncing their citizenship has nothing to do with it, unless you are suggesting that it was only because the japanese were excluded that they didn’t carry out sabotage and espionage and had they stayed, but the government, after excluding them, had to take care of them. This is similar to Walter Lippmann’s thesis that the absence of Japanese espionage was a sure sign that such cells existed. Are you taking the same line?

If I thought that you had an open mind on this, I would urge you to read the transcript of Min Yasui’s trial, which exposes the absence of any foundation for all your citations of kokutai and Shinto nationalism.

Answer: Does that somehow reduce the threat?

I don�t believe this is true. If you could provide some citation for this claim

Answer: The laws are on the books and and the numbers are in the census…

were born the date you give.

Answer: Born before or after?

Given the fact that their parents were prohibited by law from acquiring US citzenship, you would have to agree that the choice facing nisei is not as clear cut as you make it.

Answer: What your point, here?

I don�t understand how it would have been logical to expect Nisei to renounce the only citizenship that their parents ..

Answer: According to War Relocation Authority records, 13,000 applications renouncing their U.S. citizenship and requesting expatriation to Japan were filed by or on behalf of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Over 5,000 had been processed by the end of the war.

I would also add that there were many in the JA community which did not want the reparation settlement ..

Answer: Out of the thousands who accepted the check, I believe about 20 declined, the parents of Ken Masugi being the latter.

Given that the Commission finished up in the late 80�s and the MAGIC intercepts were declassified in the early 90�s, I don�t think this argument holds any water.

Answer: Historically incorrect. The MAGIC intercepts regarding Japanese-American espionage were released in 1977. Personal Justice Denied was released in 1983 (or thereabouts). Reagan signed the Japanese Money Bill in 1988, and election year – against the advice of his own Department of Justice…

underlines how the relocation camps were not a military necessity.

Answer: I agree. The evacuation from the military zones was a military necessity, however. Do you not think the government had an obligation for those people who could not or would not care for themselves? I can assure you if the government had dropped off 120,000 at the border of the military zones and left them to fend for themselves, today we’d be in an uproar about how ethnic Japanese were tossed at the doorstep of a racist American public and left to fend for themselves.

In fact, should such an occurance in a time of war repeat itself, I predict that is exactly what will happen….

Nisei born before December 1, 1924 could nullify thier Japanee citizenship by submitting formal notification to the Home Minister. Those born afterwards would lose their Japanese citizenship within two weeks of birth unless their parents registered them with the Japanese Consulate.

I don’t believe this is true. If you could provide some citation for this claim, I would appreciate it. My father, Hawaiian nisei, and his brothers and sisters had to go down and formally renounce their Japanese citizenship even though they were born the date you give.

However by 1933, only 8% of Nisei born before 1924 had renounced their Japanese citizenship, and by then, also, some 40% of Nisei born after 1924 had been registered at the Japanese Consulate so as to acquire Japanese citizenship.

Given the fact that their parents were prohibited by law from acquiring US citzenship, you would have to agree that the choice facing nisei is not as clear cut as you make it. Also, given that the attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise to everyone one, I don’t understand how it would have been logical to expect Nisei to renounce the only citizenship that their parents could have when there was no reason to do so.

I would also add that there were many in the JA community which did not want the reparation settlement because they knew that there would be people who would make the same kinds of claims that you have made, so your comment quoting Orwell is rather ironic in that regard.

You also argue that the Commission on Wartime Internment didn’t even inquire about the MAGIC intercepts. Given that the Commission finished up in the late 80’s and the MAGIC intercepts were declassified in the early 90’s, I don’t think this argument holds any water.

Finally, you point out that it was necessary to fill out an application to enter an relocation camp in 1942. This underlines how the relocation camps were not a military necessity. The Japanese-Americans who were interned were only those who lived in the coastal areas (there is a map at Eric Mueller’s blog) A handful of Japanese who lived outside of those areas (because before the war, relocating was not a simple matter) and were not interned. Thus, your fact underlines that there was no military necessity for interning the Japanese, as can bee seen by restricting the relocation to the west coast but allowing Japanese to remain uninterned if they lived inland or could afford to relocate. IIRC, a number of those applying for entry to the relocation camps were college students who were able to avoid the relocation camps by transferring to universities outside the exclusion area, but needed to enter the camps in order to take care of aging Issei parents. The University of Washington has a website about some of these students here

�You can�t criticize it without reading it�

A model is an abstraction. All models are wrong.
However, some models are more useful than others (I believe
that Box said something like this).

His quote of BlackWhite was accurate. I read the book last week. It does mean that one person can think Black is White if the Party demands it. The idea of BlackWhite is that someone can steadfastly argue, and indeed believe wholeheartedly, that black is white (or whatever other silly cause they are arguing for).

What you are describing is DoubleThink in general, of which BlackWhite was a specific skill. BlackWhite exists as a tool for DoubleThink, but true BlackWhite involves complete zealotry for a single idea, no matter how backwards it may be. BlackWhite is useful for dealing with simple issues that can be refuted, like seeing four fingers and saying there are five, or ignoring the disappearance of a coworker.

DoubleThink itself is far more subtle, where, like you describe, and individual can hold both opinions simultaneously and defend whichever side that needs defending given the situation. DoubleThink is hence far more useful, especially when Oceania switches enemies, or the Chocolate Ration is reduced and the Party claimed that it is raised.

I agree that to completely review/critique a book you need to read the whole thing. But, at the same time, if I write a book claiming the sky doesn’t actually appear blue, you probably wouldn’t have to read the whole thing to figure out that I’m nuts. And if you also happened across my blog and found that I made other outrageous claims along the same lines, you could probably make some pretty safe guesses about my book without paying for it.

Keep ’em comin’!