Takano v. Dulles, Civ. A. No. 1210.

• Decision Date: 17 November 1953
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 1210.
• Parties: TAKANO v. DULLES, Secretary of State.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii

116 F. Supp. 307

TAKANO v. DULLES, Secretary of State.

Civ. A. No. 1210.

United States District Court D. Hawaii.

November 17, 1953.

Wirin, Rissman & Okrand, Los Angeles, Cal., Fong, Miho, Choy & Chuck, Honolulu, Hawaii, for plaintiff.

A. William Barlow, U. S. Atty., Louis B. Blissard, Asst. U. S. Atty., Honolulu, Hawaii, for defendant.

WIIG, District Judge.

This is an action brought by the plaintiff, Lydia Chimako Tsurumaru Takano, against the Secretary of State, under Section 503 of the Nationality Act of 1940, 8 U.S.C.A. § 903. The complaint, filed September 29, 1952, alleges that the plaintiff is a citizen of the United States, having been born at Los Angeles, California, on June 26, 1923; that she is married to John Masaru Takano, a citizen of the United States and a permanent resident of the Territory of Hawaii; and that she claims Hawaii as her permanent address. It is further alleged that plaintiff voted at the general elections conducted in postwar Japan in April 1947, and that her voting was not her free and voluntary act but was the result of coercion. In July 1951, plaintiff applied for a passport at the office of the United States Consul in Japan, which was refused, and instead she was issued a "Certificate of the Loss of the Nationality of the United States" on October 29, 1951, stating that she had lost her United States nationality by voting in the 1947 elections.

The defendant filed a general denial to the allegations contained in the complaint, through his attorney, the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii.

This Court has jurisdiction of the case.

The plaintiff gained admission to the United States for the purpose of prosecuting the present action under a "Certificate of Identity" granted on the plea of need of her physical presence at the trial. Although numerous exhibits were received in evidence, the plaintiff was the only witness who gave oral testimony. The following fairly summarizes plaintiff's proof at the trial with respect to the circumstances leading up to and surrounding her participation in the 1947 elections:

In February 1931, when plaintiff was seven and one-half years of age, she and her younger sister were taken by her stepmother to Japan. Both sisters carried passports duly issued by the Department of State. It was plaintiff's intention to return to the United States upon graduation from Girls' Middle School. She was graduated from the school in April 1941, but did not return to the United States because her father did not send her funds with which to travel. Her father remained in the United States during the entire period in question.

Sometime in 1944, plaintiff obtained employment of a temporary nature for the district officers in the district where she was living, which employment was available to persons who were not nationals of Japan. This employment continued until April 1947. She voted in Japanese elections on April 20 and April 30, 1947. When asked why she voted, plaintiff testified that General MacArthur had granted women the privilege of voting and she was afraid if she did not comply with his orders she would be punished; she feared she might not receive her rations at a time when food and materials were scarce; and she feared that if she failed to vote, it would hamper the procedures for her return to the United States. She also testified her stepmother's father became an election official in 1947 and he told her that all members of the family had to vote. She had lived continuously with her stepmother's father from the time of her arrival in Japan. She testified she did not want to vote in 1947 because she was not familiar with politics but in her mind there was no alternative but to vote. She requested exemption from voting in 1948 because after the 1947 elections she learned for the first time that her voting would prevent her from returning to the United States.

Some of the above testimony was elicited on cross examination. Further evidence brought out on cross examination revealed that there was no actual threat of bodily harm, or loss of job, or loss of food, if she failed to vote, nor had she ever heard of anyone losing a ration card for failure to vote at a Japanese election.

On June 7, 1951, plaintiff married John Masaru Takano, an American citizen, whose permanent residence is Honolulu, Hawaii. The marriage took place in Japan and a child was born to the couple in Honolulu on August 1, 1953, the mother having returned to Hawaii for the purpose of appearing in this action. She claims Honolulu, Hawaii, as her permanent residence.

Documentary evidence introduced by plaintiff depicted the post-war situation in Japan with respect to sponsorship and control of political elections by the American Occupation Forces under the command of General MacArthur. The "climate" during this period has been fully described in Hatsuye Ouye v. Acheson, D.C. Haw., 91 F.Supp. 129; Akio Kuwahara v. Acheson, D.C.S.D.Cal., 96 F.Supp. 38; Hichino Uyeno v. Acheson, D.C.W.D.Wash., 96 F.Supp. 510; Kasumi Nakashima v. Acheson, D.C.S.D. Cal., 98 F.Supp. 11, and Kiyokuro Okimura v. Acheson, D.C.Haw., 111 F.Supp. 303.

It is settled in the Ninth Circuit that the elections held in Japan in 1947 were political elections in a foreign state within the meaning of Section 401 (e) of the Nationality Act of 1940, 8 U. S.C.A. § 801(e). Acheson v. Mariko Kuniyuki, 9 Cir., 189 F.2d 741, rehearing denied, 9 Cir., 190 F.2d 897, certiorari denied, 342 U.S. 942, 72 S.Ct. 554, 96 L.Ed. 701. Nevertheless, the occupation and government of Japan by the Supreme...