How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Puts me in mind of a type of gun butt wound I saw a few times in the war. One of those kendo strikes the Japs used."
"Kendo?" said Art Moran.
"Stick fighting," Horace explained. "Japs are trained in it from when they're kids. How to kill with sticks."
"Ugly," said the sheriff. "Jesus." (5.52-55)
Here, Horace explains that Carl's wound looks an awful lot (to him) like the ones inflicted by Japanese soldiers using kendo blows during World War II. As you can see from the use of the slur "Jap" here and in the previous quote, Horace is not particularly fond of the Japanese.
Quote #5
Then—and afterward he would remember this, during the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, Horace Whaley would recall having spoken these words (though he would not repeat them on the witness stand)—he said to Art Moran that if he were inclined to play Sherlock Holmes he ought to start looking for a Jap with a bloody gun butt—a right-handed Jap, to be precise. (5.75)
Although apparently Horace didn't feel quite enough on the up-and-up to repeat this to the court, he definitely set Art Moran on the trail of a "Jap" with his analysis of the head wound. The moment makes clear that there's a lot of prejudice and animosity—as opposed to evidence—behind his recommendation. Otherwise, why would he hesitate to say it in court?
Quote #6
In the back of Judge Lew Fielding's courtroom sat twenty-four islanders of Japanese ancestry, dressed in the clothes they reserved for formal occasions. No law compelled them to take only these rear seats. They had done so instead because San Piedro required it of them without calling it a law. (7.1)
Here we get yet another example of the ongoing insidious racism and animosity toward the Japanese that pervade San Piedro.