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Tokyo Rose: They Called Her a Traitor American History | Published: June 12, 2006 at 8:11 pm ShareThis (Single Page) 5 comments Cheering and expectant crowds greeted the General Hodges, a United States Army transport vessel, when it docked at San Francisco on September 25, 1948. The ship was filled with servicemen returning home from Japan and South Korea, and they eagerly gathered at the high deck railings, waving and whistling to sweethearts and families on the sunlit quayside below. Yet before those GIs were allowed to disembark, a small, thin, Japanese-American woman, flanked by a pair of burly FBI agents, slowly descended the gangplank. As a band struck up the bouncy 'California, Here I Come,' the woman–her head bowed, her pale face reflecting days of suffering from dysentery–stepped toward a waiting car. Although many of the people in the crowd knew who she was supposed to be, few found it easy to reconcile the plain and meek-looking prisoner with popular images of the World War II radio propagandist 'Tokyo Rose,' the sultry-voiced siren who had allegedly done her damnedest to demoralize American troops fighting in the Pacific. The United States government, however, seemed not to harbor any such reservations. Before another year ended, it would put Iva Toguri d'Aquino on trial for treason, even though American intelligence agents had already concluded that she was not Tokyo Rose–that Tokyo Rose was, in fact, merely a creature 'of rumor and legend'–and that d'Aquino's broadcasting activities in Japan during the war had been 'innocuous.' SUBSCRIBE TODAY Did you enjoy our article? Read more in American History magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! Iva (pronounced Aiva) Toguri hardly fit the mold of an American traitor. Born in 1916–ironically on July 4– she was the second of four children of Jun and Fumi Toguri, Japanese immigrants who had settled in LosAngeles and operated a small import business. Like many immigrants, Jun Toguri wanted his family to be as Americanized as possible, so he discouraged his offspring from learning to speak or write Japanese, rarely took them to Japanese-American events, and fed them a diet that combined Western and Asian dishes. When Iva was old enough, her parents encouraged her to try out for school sports, despite her small stature. She discovered an aptitude for tennis. She also joined the Girl Scouts, took piano lessons, and developed a crush on film star Jimmy Stewart. Dreaming of a career in medicine, Iva attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated in 1940 with a bachelor's degree in zoology. If not for a relative's illness, Iva might never have seen the land of her parents' birth. Instead, in the summer of 1941 the Toguris sent their daughter to Tokyo to care for her aunt, Shizuko Hattori, who was bedridden with diabetes and high blood pressure. It was an inopportune time for travel to Japan. Thanks to the island empire's expansionist policies, its relations with the United States were decaying precipitously. Requests by Japanese Americans to visit Japan sparked more than a little suspicion, and Iva's application for a U.S. passport still hadn't been filled by her departure date. When she boarded the Arabia Maru on July 5, 1941, carrying 28 pieces of luggage (filled with gifts for her relations, as well as Western foods to help Iva endure up to a year away from home), she had no visa to enter Japan and only a certificate of identification from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to prove that she was an American citizen. None of this immediately mattered. Iva's first concern was to fit into Japanese society. Although she looked native-born, she didn't know the language, found the people 'discourteous,' and had difficulty handling chopsticks (her father had forbidden their use). 'I have finally gotten around to eating rice three times a day,' she explained in a letter home. 'It's killing me, but what can I do?' Unable to read local newspapers, she remained in the dark as tensions between the U.S. and Japan mounted. It wasn't until late November 1941 that Iva, frightened by increasing signs of an international crisis, decided to return to Los Angeles. She planned to board the California-bound Tatsutu Maru on December 2. However, a last-minute paperwork snafu caused her to miss the boat. Less than a week later, Japan attacked Hawaii's Pearl Harbor, and Iva was stranded in Tokyo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF9L_XnlQg0 ----> sometimes languague has a really important role .