"Nikkei Post-War Social Clubs Reunite"
Back in the ‘40s and ‘50s, they were the Dots, Drakes, Stinkers and Rogues.
On March 18, members of these and other Nikkei post-war social clubs went “Back to J-Town,” reuniting at the JCCCNC in San Francisco’s Japantown, which co-sponsored the event.
To the sound of tunes such as “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Mona Lisa,” and “Mack the Knife” performed by Richard Kishimoto, club members and their guests — now mostly graying Nisei — mingled and reminisced.
“A lot of people that we know, we wouldn’t recognize ‘cause as they get older, you know, they change,” said Mimi Iwatsu of the Jynx. “But it’s nice to see everybody.”
And “everybody” was there. Organizers, who began planning the event almost a year ago, noted the 200-plus attendance, with some coming from as far as Hawai`i, Virginia and even Japan.
“We planned for approximately 125, 150,” said committee member Cal Kitazumi, who also provided the welcoming remarks. “But it’s gone above 200 now.”
“It’s gratifying that all these people have come out,” committee chair Nob Fukuda told the Nichi Bei Times while scanning the crowded room.
For many Japanese American teens readjusting to life after internment camps, the clubs were a social focus point, and a way to reconnect and provide normalcy.
“When we were all thrown into camp, the first thing they did was to organize different types of sport leagues,” recalls Kitazumi, a member of the Fogs. “That kind of filled in the vacant spot for these people and they were able to make friends, and that same philosophy carried on after the closure of the camps.”
“We couldn’t join the other groups…they wouldn’t allow Asians to be in it,” pointed out Steven Doi, another Fogs member. “That was when you couldn’t marry another nationality, we couldn’t go to the public swimming pool…All Asians, we were ‘dirty.’”
So they formed their own groups, one of which were the Stinkers.
“We were seventh, eighth graders (and) we liked the little skunk, what was the name of the…Flower! The one that was in Bambi,” Kashiwa Hatamiya reminded other members of her group. “Remember, we saw the skunk, Flower, and we said, ‘Oh, that’s so kawaii (cute),’ let’s call ourselves Stinkers.”
Most of the men did not have as clear a recollection.
When asked where the Barons got their name, member Fukuda couldn’t recall, noting that it “was a long time ago.”
He did, however, clearly remember why he enjoyed being in the club: “We were in our teens, getting into the stage where we were associating with girls.”
The other men agreed.
Shig Yabu, a member of the Celtics, also joined the Barons, for social reasons.
“Well, the Celtics group that I played basketball with, they didn’t have any social activities, they just played basketball,” he explained. “And it got to the point where, well, being of age, you want to meet girls.”
And club-organized dances were THE place for the Japanese American teens to meet.
“We used to have a thing called the Y Mixer at the Buchanan Y (YMCA), the first Saturday of every month,” recalled Fogs member Doi, who estimated that the mixers consistently drew at least 150 teens.
“We would all go there and you would automatically meet maybe a hundred girls,” he laughs. “It was wonderful…one of the greatest social functions in San Francisco.”
These dances, as well as other scenes depicting the social activities of the Nikkei youth, were recorded in a series of nostalgic drawings by Willie Ito, Jr., a Barons member and former Disney and Hanna-Barbera animator. Ito’s artwork, together with decorative signs of each group’s name, created by Mickey Kitagawa, were displayed during the reunion. The two were presented tokens of appreciation for their work by committee member Suzie Okazaki.
The program also included a raffle drawing led by Bill Hirose and Elsie Uyeda Chung, group karaoke of “Tiny Bubbles” and “Ue o Muite Aruko” led by Kishimoto and photos of the individual clubs.
Committee members Fukuda, Kitazumi, Ito, Hirose, Uyeda Chung, Tom Arikawa, Mitzi Hada, John Kobayashi, Somao Ochi, Fumi Quong, Joe Tondo, Sumi Akashi, Shig Furuta, Bill Nakahara, Suzie Okazaki and Helen Takeshita were recognized for their work in organizing the event.