1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello Everybody, I'm Eves and you're tuned into 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class, a show where we traveled 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: back in time one day at a time. Today is January. 5 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: The day was January nine, nineteen seventy seven. US President 6 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: Gerald Ford pardoned Iva Tuguri Dakino, a Japanese American broadcaster, 7 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: more than two decades after she was released from prison. Daquino, 8 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: also known as Tokyo Rose, have been convicted of treason 9 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: for aiding Japan during World War Two. Tokyo Rose was 10 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: actually the name that Allied service people gave women who 11 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: broadcasted on Japanese propaganda radio. Daquino became synonymous with the 12 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: label Tokyo Rose, but there were many broadcasters who worked 13 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: to demoralize Allied soldiers, sailors, and marines in the Pacific. 14 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: Daquino grew up in Los Angeles. In ninety one, months 15 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: before the Pearl Harbor bombing and the US's entry into 16 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: World War Two, she went to Japan to take care 17 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: of her sick aunt. She left with an identification card 18 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: but no passport. While in Japan, she went to the 19 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: U s Vice Consul to get a passport, saying she 20 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: wanted to go back to the US. Her application was 21 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: sent to the State Department, but before her passport was issued, 22 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Dakino was stuck in Japan 23 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: during the war. There, she refused to bow to Japanese 24 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: pressure to renounce her US citizenship and become a Japanese citizen. 25 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: She attended a Japanese language and cultural school, and she 26 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: worked for the Doma news agency, but Japan would not 27 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: grant her a food ration card and it was hard 28 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: to make ends meet. In late night. Team forty three, 29 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: she began working as an announcer and DJ for Radio 30 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: Tokyo's propaganda broadcasts. At the time, Allied prisoners of war 31 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: were forced to broadcast propaganda. Dacano started broadcasting on a 32 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: program called The Zero Hour under the name Orphan Ann. 33 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,959 Speaker 1: She was one of many women who spoke American English 34 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: and announced for these propaganda broadcasts, which were sent out 35 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: to US troops. They made statements designed to lower troops morale, 36 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: played popular songs in broadcast news. She made a reported 37 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: one and fifty yen or seven dollars per month. Army 38 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: analysis determined that the propaganda broadcast did not have a 39 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: negative effect on troop morale, but they're supposed concern with 40 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: Dakino was the fact that she seemed to have intelligence 41 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,399 Speaker 1: on US ship and troop movements based on her broadcasts. 42 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: After the Japanese surrendered in nineteen, reporters found out about 43 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: her broadcasts and interviewed her. After gaining notoriety for her 44 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: press and becoming associated with the moniker Tokyo rose U, S, 45 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: authorities arrested and questioned her. She claimed that she never 46 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: called herself Tokyo rose and her broadcasts, which was true. 47 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: There was no evidence that any broadcaster even called themselves 48 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: Tokyo rose U. S. Military occupiers released her after detaining 49 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: her for a year since they did not have evidence 50 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: that she committed crimes against the US, but the case 51 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: against Aquino was reignited when she requested a US passport 52 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: again and veterans groups and broadcaster Walter Winchell spoke out 53 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: against her return and alleged crimes. The US Justice Department 54 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: reopened her case. She was arrested for treason, sent to 55 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: San Francisco, and put in county jail. Her trial started 56 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: in ninety nine. During the trial, She said that she 57 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: had never made disloyal statements and that she had even 58 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: tried to thwart the broadcast effectiveness by including double meanings. Still, 59 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: she was convicted on a single count of treason for 60 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: speaking quote into a microphone concerning the loss of ships. 61 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 1: Dakina was the only woman who broadcasted for Radio Tokyo 62 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: who was known to be an American citizen. She was 63 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: sentenced to ten years in prison and a ten thousand 64 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: dollar fine. She served six years and two months of 65 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: her sentence and was released early for good behavior. The 66 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 1: government tried to deport her, but she resisted those efforts. 67 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: She ran a grocery store and gift shop in Chicago 68 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: and sought a pardon with persistence. She maintained that she 69 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: even secretly gave food and medicine to Allied POWs in Japan. 70 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: So she had a lot of detractors. There were also 71 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: people who supported her and were skeptical of the government's case. 72 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: Journalists ron Yates of the Chicago Tribune found out that 73 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: two former Radio Tokyo employees who testified against Akino at 74 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: trial had perjured themselves under pressure from US officials. A 75 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: sixty minutes special on the case premiered in nineteen seventy seven. 76 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 1: On January nineteenth of that year, President for pardoned her 77 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: on his last full day in office, and her citizenship 78 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: was restored. Daquino died in two thousand and six at 79 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: age ninety. I'm Eves Jeff Coote and hopefully you know 80 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 81 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 1: Send your best history means to us at t d 82 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Email 83 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: still works. Send us a note at this day at 84 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: iHeart media dot com. Thanks for listening and we'll see 85 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: you tomorrow. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the 86 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 87 00:05:58,200 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.