A Rare Recording of Iva Toguri, "Tokyo Rose"

The following are live recordings of Japanese-American Iva Toguri, of "Tokyo Rose" infamy. Tokyo Rose was a generic name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. In fact, the name "Tokyo Rose" was never actually used by any Japanese broadcaster, but rather first appeared in U.S. newspapers in 1943 in the context of these radio programs. Toguri had traveled to Japan to tend to a sick aunt just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Unable to leave the country when war began with the United States, unable to stay with her aunt's family as an American citizen, and unable to receive any aid from her parents who were placed in internment camps in Arizona, Toguri eventually accepted a job as a part-time typist at Radio Tokyo. She was quickly recruited as a broadcaster for the propagandist program The Zero Hour, under the moniker, Orphan Ann. The name Tokyo Rose ceased to be merely a symbol, however, during September 1945 when Toguri attempted to return to the United States. Toguri was arrested and imprisoned for a year in Japan by American authorities. She was subsequently freed, then arrested again two years later. After being returned to the US, Toguri was tried and convicted of one count of treason, in a trial fraught with integrity issues and dubious testimony. Toguri was eventually paroled from prison in 1956, and finally received a pardon from President Gerald Ford in 1977.