"Toyko Rose"
The
Zero Hour | After
The War | The
Trial
During
World War II, a young Japanese American woman gained
notoriety as "Tokyo Rose" for her broadcasts
of Japanese propaganda beamed over Radio Tokyo
to American troops in the South Pacific.
Tokyo
Rose was born Ikuko Toguri in Los Angeles on July
4, 1916. Her father, Jun Toguri, had come to the
United States from Japan in 1899. Her mother followed
in 1913, and the family moved to Los Angeles. During
her school years, Ikuko Toguri used the first name
of Iva. She attended grammar schools in Calexico
and San Diego, California before returning with her
family to Los Angeles where she finished grammar
school, and went on to high school and junior college.
Iva Toguri enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles and graduated
in January, 1940, with a degree in zoology. She did graduate work there until
June of that year. During her school years, Toguri was a popular student and
was considered to be a loyal American. Her favorite pastimes were sports, hiking,
and swing music. From June 1940, until July 1941, Toguri assisted her father
in his business. When she decided to travel to Japan, members of an honorary
fraternity group to which she belonged gave her a farewell party shortly before
her departure.
On
July 5, 1941, Toguri sailed for Japan from San Pedro,
California, without a United States passport. She
reportedly gave two reasons for her trip: to visit
a sick aunt and to study medicine. In September of
that year, Toguri appeared before the United States
Vice Consul in Japan to obtain a United States passport,
stating she wished to return to the United States
for permanent residence. Inasmuch as she had left
the United States without a passport, her application
was forwarded to the United States Department of
State for consideration. Before arrangements were
completed for issuing a passport, the United States
was at war with Japan, and no further action was
taken by United States authorities with regard to
her request.
After
the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Toguri applied
for repatriation to the United States through the
Swiss Legation in Japan, but later withdrew the application,
indicating she would voluntarily remain in Japan
for the duration. Meanwhile, she had enrolled in
a Japanese language and culture school. From mid-1942,
until late 1943, Toguri worked as a typist for the
Domei News Agency; in August, 1943, she obtained
a second job as a typist for Radio Tokyo.
In
November 1943, Toguri began her career as a broadcaster
for Radio Tokyo that was to bring her notoriety and
eventually result in her conviction for treason in
the United States. Her program, known as the Zero
Hour, became part of Japanese psychological warfare
designed to lower the morale of the United States
Armed Forces. Zero Hour was broadcast daily, except
Sunday, from 6 p.m. until 7:15 p.m., Tokyo time.
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The
Zero Hour
Toguri
was introduced on the program, which usually began
with band music, as "Orphan Ann," "Orphan
Annie," "Your favorite enemy Ann," or "Your
favorite playmate and enemy, Ann." Following
are comments reportedly made by Toguri for a program
broadcast in October 1944: "Hello, boneheads.
This is your favorite enemy, Ann. How are all you
orphans of the Pacific? Are you enjoying yourselves
while your wives and sweethearts are running around
with the 4F's in the States? How do you feel now
when all your ships have been sunk by the Japanese
Navy? How will you get home? Here's another record
to remind you of home."
Toguri's
average time on each program was about twenty minutes,
duing which she made comments similar to the above,
and introduced popular records of the day, such as "Speak
to Me of Love," "In a Little Gypsy Tea
Room," and "Love's Old Sweet Song." The
remainder of the program was devoted chiefly to news
items from America and general news commentaries
by other members of the broadcasting staff. Toguri's
salary at Radio Tokyo reportedly amounted to some
150 yen per month about $7.
There
is no indication that Toguri ever used the nickname
Tokyo Rose on the Zero Hour. It was not until early
1944 that she became aware that United States troops
had given her that title. Actually, the name Tokyo
Rose was applied by United States Armed Forces personnel
in the South Pacific area to any of a number of English-speaking
Japanese women broadcasting over Radio Tokyo between
1943 and 1945. Toguri was the only American born
person given that nickname; as far as is known, the
others were Japanese citizens. Reportedly, Toguri
was proud of the nickname Tokyo Rose. On one occasion
while she was confined in a Japanese prison after
the war, Toguri autographed a Japanese yen note as
Tokyo Rose for a United States military guard.
On
April 19, 1945, Iva Toguri married Felipe D'Aquino,
a Portuguese citizen of Japanese-Portuguese ancestry.
The marriage was registered with the Portuguese Consulate
in Tokyo; however, Mrs. D'Aquino did not renounce
her American citizenship. She continued her Zero
Hour broadcast until the cessation of hostilities
despite reported warnings by her husband to discontinue
her role in the program.
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After The War
After
Japan's surrender in August 1945, United States Army
authorities arrested Mrs. D'Aquino as a security
risk, and she was kept in various Japanese prisons
until her release in 1945. She was again arrested
by Army authorities in September 1948, and brought
under military escort to the United States, arriving
in San Francisco on September 25, 1948. There, she
was immediately arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) Agents acting on authority of a warrant charging
her with the crime of treason for adhering to, and
giving aid and comfort to, the Imperial Government
of Japan during World War II.
The
FBI's investigation of Mrs. D'Aquino's activities
covered a period of some five years. During the course
of the investigation, hundreds of former members
of the United States Armed Forces who had served
in the South Pacific during World War II were interviewed;
forgotten Japanese documents were unearthed; and
recordings of Mrs. D'Aquino's broadcasts believed
to have been destroyed were discovered by the FBI.
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The
Trial
Mrs.
D'Aquino's trial began on July 5, 1949, the day after
her 33rd birthday. Sixty-one days later,on September
29, 1949, the jury brought in a verdict of guilty
of the count in the indictment which read, That on
a day during October, 1944, the exact date being
to the Grand Jurors unknown, said defendant, at Tokyo,
Japan, in a broadcasting studio of the Broadcasting
Corporation of Japan, did speak into a microphone
concerning the loss of ships." Mrs. D'Aquino,
who had gained notoriety as Tokyo Rose, had become
the seventh person to be convicted of treason in
the history of the United States.
It
is estimated that the trial cost the Government $500,000;
the transcript of the proceedings contained over
a million words. Sixteen of the Government's 46 witnesses
who appeared at the trial were brought from Japan
where they originally had been interviewed by the
FBI. Twenty-six witnesses appeared for the defense.
On
October 6, 1949, Mrs. D'Aquino was sentenced in the
San Francisco courtroom to ten years of imprisonment
and fined $100,000 for the crime of treason.
On
January 28, 1956, D'Aquino was released from the
Federal Reformatory for Women at Alderson, West Virginia,
where she had served six years and two months of
her sentence. She successfully fought government
efforts to deport her.
In
November 1976, Mrs. D'Aquino filed another petition
for Presidential Pardon; she previously had applied
unsuccessfully for pardon in 1954 and 1968. On January
19, 1977, President Gerald Ford issued a pardon to
her.
Mrs.
D'Aquino was last known to be living in the Chicago,
Illinois, area.