Hindsight: 61 Years Ago

by Thomas L. Libby

On September 29, 1949, Ikuko "Iva" Toguri d'Aquino - who has become widely associated with the World War II radio personality "Tokyo Rose" - was convicted of treason for participating in Japanese propaganda efforts. She received a ten-year prison sentence and was fined $10,000.

A Japanese American who had recently graduated from UCLA with a zoology degree, d'Aquino was visiting Japan when the war started. Stranded, she reluctantly agreed to produce Radio Tokyo broadcasts under the handle "Orphan Ann." The programs featured American music and war updates - which led the U.S. military to claim that she seemed overly familiar with its war operations.

When it was reported that she wanted to return to the United States after the war, the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco brought the treason case against her, the most expensive in American history at the time.

Scholarly and investigative accounts have since provided support that d'Aquino was innocent (although this point remains in debate). For example, one article noted that d'Aquino was misled into a confession when Cosmopolitan offered a substantial reward if she told her story to the magazine. Moreover, "Tokyo Rose" didn't actually exist; she was a fictional construct of numerous female radio personas.

D'Aquino was released from prison in 1956, and successfully fought deportation. In 1977 President Gerald Ford pardoned her and restored her citizenship. She retired to live out her days quietly in Chicago.

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