In the long river of history, many stories are buried by the dust of time. However, the story of "Tokyo Rose" Iva Toguri is like a dusty pearl that emits a unique light under the tempering of time. Her life is full of dramatic turns, making people can't help but sigh at the unpredictability of fate.
On July 4, 1916, American Independence Day, Iva Toguri was born in Los Angeles, California, USA. Her parents were first-generation Japanese immigrants and ran a grocery store locally. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles, Iva Toguri harbored the dream of becoming a doctor. However, in 1941, the gears of fate began to turn quietly.
In this year, Iva Toguri's aunt in Japan fell ill, and her mother was also unwell and unable to go to visit. So, Iva Toguri promised her mother to go to Japan to visit her aunt. No one expected that this trip would completely change the trajectory of her life.
When Iva Toguri was preparing to return to the United States in the winter, a world-shocking event occurred - on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and the Pacific War broke out. As the last ship bound for the United States left the port, Iva Toguri found herself trapped in Japan.
For the then 25-year-old Iva Toguri, the winter of 1941 was extremely cold. In Japan, a rationing system was implemented. Only Japanese citizens could receive a specified amount of rations. Iva Toguri, who was an American citizen, was excluded. A strange man found her and proposed that as long as she gave up her American citizenship and became a Japanese citizen, she could obtain a food ration card. But Iva Toguri firmly refused. She always believed that she was an American. Subsequently, the Japanese authorities put her on the list of those prohibited from receiving ration cards.
Without food rations, Iva Toguri could only use the money she brought from the United States to buy daily necessities on the black market in Japan. From 1942 to 1943, Iva Toguri had a very difficult time. By early 1943, all her money was used up, and there was still no sign of the end of the Pacific War.
Just when Iva Toguri was in a desperate situation, she found a job as a typist at the Tokyo Broadcasting Station. Due to her excellent English, she often corrected mistakes in English broadcast manuscripts. For some unknown reason, Iva Toguri, who was originally just a typist, was pushed onto the position of an announcer because of her "pleasant voice" and was paid 6 dollars a month.
Starting from November 1943, in the "Zero Hour" program of the Tokyo Broadcasting Station, a sweet female voice appeared. She called herself "Orphan Ann" and was the "dearest enemy" of the US military. She is Iva Toguri. In addition to broadcasting wartime news provided by the Japanese side, this program also plays American pop music and country ballads. The "Zero Hour" broadcast late at night coincided with the time when American soldiers on the Pacific stopped fighting and were filled with homesickness. Japan hoped to use this to undermine the morale of American soldiers, but the result was unexpected.
Iva Toguri's pure American pronunciation, humorous hosting style, and carefully selected American music made American soldiers crazy about this program. They didn't care about false news. They just wanted to hear her voice and enjoy a moment of tranquility in the music. A soldier who served as a gunner on an American warship recalled after the war: "At that time, everyone especially liked listening to the broadcasts of Tokyo Rose. Especially listening to a female voice speaking authentic American in the broadcast was really a special kind of romance." Since then, female announcers including Iva Toguri have been called "Tokyo Rose" by American soldiers.
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and the war ended. But the turning point in Iva Toguri's fate had just begun. American journalists listed the two Japanese figures they most wanted to interview: the Emperor of Japan and "Tokyo Rose". On September 1, 1945, American journalists Clark Lee and Harry Blunck interviewed Iva Toguri at the Tokyo Imperial Hotel. After the interview, Iva Toguri signed on a 17-page interview record and signed a document to prove that she was "Tokyo Rose". It is unknown whether it was due to material temptation or other reasons. This decision by Iva Toguri pushed her into the abyss of fate.
Two days later, Iva Toguri's interview was published in the newspaper and attracted unprecedented attention. Because she was the only one who admitted to being "Tokyo Rose". At first, Iva Toguri received "celebrity" treatment in Japan. She was invited to various activities, and American soldiers stationed in Japan scrambled to ask her for autographs. But in less than a month, she was arrested. There are different opinions about the entity that arrested her. Japanese expatriate writer Suo Sasaki believes that it was the Japanese authorities who arrested her on charges of "treason" because she refused to give up her American citizenship and join Japanese citizenship during the war. Some materials show that it was the American authorities in Japan who arrested her on charges of "treason" on the grounds that as an American, she helped the Japanese broadcast to undermine the morale of American soldiers. Judging from various signs, the latter is more credible.
Iva Toguri was imprisoned in Sugamo Prison in Japan for a year and was released on October 25, 1946. After being released from prison, she couldn't wait to apply to the American Consulate in Yokohama to return to the United States. But she was dissuaded by her husband, Togi Toguri (of Japanese-Portuguese descent). In early 1948, Iva Toguri's child was born and then died. The huge blow made her even more eager to return to the United States. However, she didn't know that at this time, an anti-Japanese upsurge was sweeping across the United States. Japanese-Americans suffered many unfair treatments. After the news of Iva Toguri's hope to return to the United States spread to the United States, it triggered a greater crisis. Walter Winchell, the most influential columnist and broadcaster in the United States, strongly urged the government to severely punish this "traitor". In September 1948, Iva Toguri was arrested and then extradited back to the United States by ship.
On September 25, 1948, Iva Toguri arrived in San Francisco, USA. She was greeted by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In court, Iva Toguri firmly denied that she had committed treason and believed that she was just a radio announcer. Her lawyer Wayne Collins collected her broadcast tapes to prove that she had not said any treasonous remarks. But on October 7, 1949, the Federal District Court in San Francisco still convicted Iva Toguri of treason, deprived her of American citizenship, and imposed a fine and a 10-year prison sentence.
After serving a prison sentence of 6 years and 2 months, Iva Toguri was released in 1955. But she received an expulsion order and became a stateless person. With the help of lawyer Collins, she successfully appealed the expulsion order but still could not restore her American citizenship. It wasn't until January 1977 that Wayne Collins Jr., the son of Collins, persevered in defending her, and Iva Toguri finally regained her American citizenship. At this time, she was already 61 years old.
After Iva Toguri was pardoned, the direction of public opinion in the United States suddenly changed. She changed from a "traitor" to a "patriotic hero". Someone proposed to erect a monument for her with the inscription: "Salute to the loyalty and courage of Iva Toguri. Her patriotic heart has never changed." But none of these can change the bumpy life she has already gone through. In her later years, Iva Toguri ran an oriental gift shop in Chicago. On September 26, 2006, she passed away quietly at the age of 90.
Jean-S Says
Before deciding to tell the story of Iva Toguri, I hesitated for a long time. Because on the same day, Wu Peifu, as the "most powerful person in China at that time," appeared on the cover of Time magazine in the United States. Wu Peifu's tortuous life is much more exciting than that of Iva Toguri. But in the end, I still chose Iva Toguri. She is undoubtedly a little person. Her story may not be so fascinating, but this is exactly what moves me. If Iva Toguri could have boarded the ship back to the United States smoothly in 1941, she might have spent her life as a doctor uneventfully. However, fate took a turn that year..
Broadcasting for the Japanese, becoming the dream lover of American soldiers, being accused of treason, then becoming a patriot, losing citizenship, and then being pardoned. This series of changes all happened to this weak woman Iva Toguri. What she did at the beginning was just going to Japan to visit her aunt. To be honest, I don't quite believe that when Iva Toguri was broadcasting, she had no idea about the nature of the work she was engaged in. But as a girl with black hair and yellow skin, born in the United States, longing to return to the United States during the war but being stranded in Japan. In such a historical background, how much right to choose does she have?
In fact, it's not just Iva Toguri. In a specific historical period, who among us can truly control our own destiny? Iva Toguri's story shows us the unpredictability of fate and the helplessness of individuals in the torrent of the times. Her life is a microcosm of that special era and also makes us more deeply understand the complexity of history and the multifaceted nature of human nature.