mitsugi nishikawa was born in artesia, california in 1916, making him a us citizen by birth. because his parents were japanese citizens, he also had japanese citizenship. he resided in the united states until august 1939, before the outbreak of world war ii, when he went to japan to study. on march 1, 1941, he was conscripted into the japanese army, nine months before the attack on pearl harbor, and he served as a mechanic. japanese law provided a maximum sentence of three years for evading conscription. after the war, he applied to the us consulate in japan for a us passport. instead he was deprived of his us citizenship under section 401(c) of the nationality act 1940, which reads: