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TOKYO ROSE FBI FILES
280 pages of files copied from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., covering The bureaus' 1948 espionage investigation of Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino, AKA "Tokyo Rose". She was accused of being the Japanese American woman World War II radio personality whose program the "Zero Hour" broadcast Japanese propaganda over Radio Tokyo to Allied troops in the South Pacific. 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. D'Aquino became the seventh person to be convicted of treason in the history of the United States. On October 6, 1949, Mrs. D'Aquino was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment and fined $100,000 for the crime of treason.
103 pages of additional material include records relating to the treason prosecution of D'Aquino. They concern legal matters, process of the case through the courts, trial witnesses, other treason investigations and prosecutions, "Zero Hour" program broadcasts, prisoner-of-war conditions in Japanese territory, Japan during World War II, etc.
Ikuko Toguri was born 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. Toguri enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles and graduated in 1940. 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. Zero Hour was broadcast daily, except Sunday, from 6 p.m. until 7:15 p.m., Tokyo time. 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."
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,
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. 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 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.
On January 28, 1956, D'Aquino was released from federal prison after serving six years and two months. 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.
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