European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Locke calif., has a population of 120 Only 24 Are of chinese descent. By Thomas Murphy associated press Ost in limbo Between the past and the future the tiny town of Locke calif., is quietly decaying on the Bank of the Sacramento River a sad footnote in America s history. The sagging Wood Frame buildings along the Block Long main Street Are the legacy of chinese immigrants who came to California seeking a better life and found that the quest of the american dream can be a Nightmare. In the 20s and 30s, chinese villages like Locke now designated a National historic Monument housed the labourers who built the levees and tilled the Fields of California s upper san Joaquim Valley. More than 600 people mostly men lived in Locke. Thousands More would Jam the town on weekends spending hard earned meager wages in gambling Halls four restaurants a half dozen markets and five bordello. The chinese towns thrived because residents weren t Welcome in most other communities. The chinese could work 10-hour Days in the White world for $1 a Day or less but they too often became targets for racist attacks at night. The White  had their towns the chinese had theirs. That changed when Japan invaded China and bombed Pearl Harbor. The ensuing War forever changed the status of chinese immigrants in America. Osamu to i and his wife Mariko say their daughter Urana 15, had trouble at first adjusting to the . After a Job Transfer landed the family in Illinois. It also marked the beginning of the end for Locke. After the War the chinese were More readily welcomed into mainstream America opening doors of Opportunity leading out of the Rural ghettos. Locke the last Rural chinese town in America has about 120 residents now. Almost All Are relative newcomers and Only 24 Are of chinese descent. Some work in town or nearby others Are artists and the rest Are retired. The once bustling Mam Street is now still except on weekends when the curious Stop by to visit the Art gallery the curio shops or the two restaurants. One restaurant is chinese. The other which also serves As an ersatz town Center is universally known As Al the Wop  today Only four longtime chinese residents remain in Locke. They Are the first to admit they Are dying out four others have died in the past year that s exactly the right word dying out " says Ping Lee who at 71 is the youngest of the town s elders. His father founded Locke Nee Lockeport in 1915. Lee himself tried to leave Locke but was drawn Back by his father s business. I saw Locke falling so fast and the population falling because the older people Are dying off and there Are no Young people coming  today Lee is proprietor of the big store Market in nearby Walnut Grove but he still lives in the quiet River town of his birth in a Humble Home along one of the town s two Back roads. His neighbor Tommy King 75, has lived in Locke since 1927. He left Only once to serve in the air Force As a radio repairman during world War ii. Before the War he was a labourer. Even now the pain of those Days is enough to disturb his usually Placid Demeanour. Ever work for 10 cents an hour i did t even get that. I worked 10vz hours for a Buck. During the depression it went lower than that. It went to 75 cents a Day picking tomatoes. Now tomatoes Are 70 cents a Pound. Now you see a dime in the Road and you let it sit there. It s not Worth bending Over to pick it  King whose wife Connie runs a gallery on Mam Street and most of the other elders did t even realize in their youth they were victims of discrimination. I think i was too Young to comprehend what was happening he recalls sitting in the Sun on a homemade Bench in the vegetable Garden beside his Home. We went to segregated schools and we just thought that s the Way it  King and Lee compare the plight of chinese labourers Sybil Vogrin associated press Ormal is a Misnomer for the dozens of japanese who travelled Halfway around the Globe to go to work in an automobile Plant in Normal the heart of Illinois Corn country. This College town of 38,000 in Central Illinois has slowly developed an International flavor since Diamond Star motors corp., a joint venture of Chrysler motors corp. And Mitsubishi motors corp., forced an integration of cultures not easily mixed. The experience of Osamu and Mariko Itoh and their teen age daughter Urana Over the past 18 months is a Good example. Itoh 43, got a management Job at Diamond Star and a rare Chance for his wife and daughter to experience life in America. But they discovered mass Ive adjustments were needed before they could enjoy their new surroundings. Last year was very awful for us Itoh says. Our daughter is 15 years old and is in the ninth Grade. It s a very difficult age and she s needed a Long time to adjust. At first she did t understand English so she was t Able to make any friends in Junior  the situation eased thanks to intense studying at Home and a stint at summer Camp in Wisconsin which helped break the language Barrier and introduce Urana to sailing horseback Riding and wind surfing. The it ohs experience is common among japanese workers transferred by Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi has transferred about 50 employees to management positions at Diamond Star for periods ranging from three to five years. Two Hundred technicians have made the 6,700-mile trek rotating in for six month assignments training their american counterparts in the Assembly Plant with its 470 robots designed by Mitsubishi. The Plant also utilizes Many japanese management techniques such As group discussions on Quality. To the treatment of mexican migrant labourers in California today. But actually they re better off than my ancestors King says because the mexicans Are protected by Law " chinese immigrants were victimized by Law. Under the California 1913 alien land act chinese were barred from owning land. The Law was not declared unconstitutional until 1952 because of that Law Locke was built on a 500-acre ranch owned by George Locke. Although the chinese built their Homes Here they have never owned the land. Even today the houses Are owned by individuals the land is owned by a . But today the corporation is owned by chinese. The injustices of the past the ownership of the land the designation of Locke As a National Monument and the passing of the town elders has left the town s residents worried about the future. There is endless debate about what could happen what will happen what should happen. At 32, Carol Hall sits at the Center of the storm. Whether you live in the past present or future it All Only four longtime chinese residents remain in Locke. The once bustling main Street is still. About 100 americans also went to Japan to study Plant operations there and bring Back insights into the japanese work ethic. Mitsubishi and Chrysler Are co owners of Diamond Star. The Plant makes cars that will be divided Between the two companies and marketed by them under different names. The Plant formally opened on nov. 10 and unveiled its first Model a two door Turbo charged Coupe that Chrysler chairman Lee la coca and Mitsubishi chairman Toyoo Tate took a ride in. It will be called the Plymouth laser and the Mitsubishi eclipse. Next summer the Plant will produce a four wheel drive version of the laser called the Talon for Chrysler s Eagle division. The Plant will employ 2,900 and produce 240,000 cars annually when it reaches full production expected next fall. But language innocent hand gestures and work attitudes All represent barriers that japanese workers must overcome along with obvious changes in palate social habits and entertainment. That has required adjustments by both japanese and americans starting at the top. On a one on one basis at the human level there Bave not been any problems says g. Glenn Gardner Diamond Star chairman. There has not been any prejudice or anything like that. But the language Barrier has been an absolute Nightmare. It s been 10 times worse than i Ever imagined and things like body language Are so much different. For three years now i be been working with japanese executives and i m just now catching on to japanese body  Gardner cited his recent memo Exchange with Diamond Star president Yoichi Nakane. We exchanged letters on the same subject three times before we reached an understanding. I could t get my Point across because of a word Here or a word there. It s Tough  often it s less difficult on the Assembly line because japanese technicians can simply demonstrate for comes together. That s Why i came Back Here says Hall who has left town several times since her late father moved the family Here 20 years ago. Today she shares a two Story building on main Street with her elderly Mother Aida and her 14-month-old daughter Lanette. In actuality it s a ghost town now. The old people Are alive but they say they Are  for younger chinese residents the options Are extremely limited. All i can do is either open up a shop or sell out take my baby and join the rest of the world which eventually is realistic. This town can Only pack so Many memories of the people who have come and gone says Hall whose memories swirl around her late father Wai Halk this is the place that my father chose she says admitting she could t leave because then i would have forgotten truly about How my father struggled and lived off a Dollar a Day. And i would t have been born if he had t picked this  that is exactly Why i be stayed. I have to this is the place that my father chose says Carol Hall 32, with 14-month old daughter Lanette. American trainees and Don t have to rely on words As much. At first we had a Little trouble communicating says Barb Gardner 44, a paint shop employee who has 21 years experience on Assembly lines and operating heavy machinery. She is no relation to the Diamond Star chairman. When we were first hired they taught us to talk Plain English to talk direct and use hand gestures. They even taught us some Basic japanese like Good morning and Good afternoon they also taught us some japanese history and japanese  to help americans better understand their new japanese colleagues a group of three japanese an industrialist an educator and a journalist started a two week speaking tour of the nation in Normal and the neighbouring City of Bloomington. While the japanese Are complimentary of their american hosts there Are complaints entering on entertainment and food especially a Lack of fresh fish and other Staples of their diet. I like America Itoh says. I never get homesick. But i m not satisfied with the shopping. In Tokyo i can get anything i want. Here i can t get everything especially japanese food and fashionable  Itoh marvels at the size of american grown vegetables but does t understand the popularity of hamburgers and fast food. He follows . Politics but wonders can you Tell a Democrat from a Republican?." the United states is super other than its fast food Itoh says. When i brought my daughter Home from three weeks at summer Camp with no japanese food i promised her a trip to the Best sushi restaurant in Chicago. She said no daddy i want a hamburger and a Coke " loneliness can be a problem for people like Katsuhiko Kawasoe 51, a Diamond Star executive whose wife and children remained in Japan. Sure i miss them Kawasoe says. But for the time preserve whatever peace there is so he does t turn into Stone now that her father is gone she has found a need within herself to Honor the lives of other elderly chinese who remain. If i were to actually say to Here just to save your Honor because i love you they d say no you re crazy because  s their inner secret. If you Tell them that you re making them pay dues in a Way their soul. So you want to humbly stay Here and say i like to frolic around you old Man " Hall vows to leave again and for Good. But not yet. This is the Only place right now that keeps my soul fulfilled. I could Romp out there but i see More lost  when she is ready to sell her historic building Clarence Chu will be ready to buy it. He is co director of asian City development the Hong Kong based corporation that owns the land on which Locke sits. He also operates a gift shop in Locke and has lived in town for 11 years. Asian City already has purchased several other buildings on main Street and its ownership has stirred worry about Locke s Fate. The company has just gotten approval to build 72 single family Homes on 22 acres elsewhere on the 500 acre property but Chu insists he does not intend to change the character of the historic Village. Anyone with a knowledge of places designated As National historic monuments would never have any thought that someone would come in and destroy it. Nobody can do that he says. Chu says he would just like to see a few new shops so that main Street does t collapse from neglect. There were Only two shops on Mam Street when Chu arrived. Now there Are 10. As for the houses on the two Back streets they Are alive with artists who have fled High rents in Urban areas for the peace quiet and Economy of Locke. The Charm of the place is that it s a dump concludes Rodney Birkett who paints surreal oils in a two bedroom House he rents for $185 a month. His neighbor a registered nurse named Holly Pauls has lived in Locke for eight years but will soon be moving. The House she rents has been purchased by a chinese woman from Sacramento 30 Miles to the North who plans to live there with her Mother. It s a town in limbo she says. It s always been in limbo. We re All waiting for something to happen. But it s never going to be seriously developed until All the elderly chinese Are  being there Are Many things to do at work and i play a lot of Golf. It s completely different kind of Golf course Here. It s so Flat and it s much cheaper than in  the japanese find the american educational system much less demanding than their own. They worry their children will fall behind upon returning Home. To Shore up perceived weaknesses in the american system the state has been spending $120,000 a year since 1986 to pay for a special school at Illinois state University operated by the Rev. Nobukazu Tanaka 45. Every saturday 73 japanese in grades one through nine Are tutored in japanese language and culture mathematics and social studies. We focus on the japanese language because we re afraid the students Wriight forget their japanese writing Reading and speaking skills Tanaka says. After three years in the United states quite a Large number of Young people struggle with the language when they return to Japan Diamond Star also hired Todd Imahori 32, an assistant professor of communications at Illinois state to train both its japanese and american workers. Japanese workers Are schooled on body language told to avoid crossing their arms during conversations and avoid certain hand gestures considered offensive in America. American workers Are taught How to understand English spoken with a heavy japanese accent to interpret common japanese gestures and the different japanese work ethic Imahori teaches the japanese workers about american work habits and attitudes which Are geared toward individual achievement and Reward rather than the group oriented goals common in Japan. In Japan if a worker gets behind he voluntarily stays late to catch up. Here workers go Home at 5 . Whether the work is done or not he says. Then there Are the family concerns of american workers which must be taken into consideration and holidays. Religious holidays do not exist in  Page 14 the stars and stripes monday january in 1989 the stars and stripes Page 15