During World War II, Radio Tokyo broadcast 24 channels to foreign countries, hoping to disrupt the morale of the US military through psychological offensives. The military placed young women as announcers, and they were responsible for delivering "bad news" to American soldiers in the Pacific Theater through the airwaves, such as the sinking of their ships and the fact that their wives would be out of the wall at home. Because it often broadcasts American pop music, the show is popular in the U.S. military, and they call these female announcers "Tokyo Roses.".
Among the 12 announcers, Toguri speaks English with an American accent and has a sweet voice that is most loved by the U.S. military. In fact, Toguri is a Japanese-American who was born in Los Angeles, California, to first-generation Japanese immigrants. She graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1940 and hoped to become a doctor. Yet the Pacific War destroyed her dreams.
In the summer of 1941, Toguri went to Japan to visit her sick aunt, but was forced to stay in Japan for many years. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the United States, and the "Pacific War" broke out. At this time, Toguri Yuko wanted to return to China, but she had no chance and was trapped in Tokyo.
Her survival became a problem because of the war, the Japanese authorities implemented a rationing system for food, and only those with Japanese nationality were eligible to receive it. It was suggested that she renounce her American citizenship and join Japan so that she could receive food, but Toguri refused, insisting that she retain her American citizenship. As a result, the Japanese authorities included Tosu Uzumaki in a list of those who prohibit the issuance of ration cards.
Without living supplies, Toguri Ikuko's life was extremely difficult. In early 1943, she found a job as a typist at Tokyo Radio and Television. Because of her good English proficiency, she was often commissioned to revise English broadcasts, and because of her excellent business skills and good voice, Toguri Yuko later switched from a typist to an announcer, and her monthly salary rose to $6.
In November 1943, Toguri Yuko began to host the zero-hour program, her voice was sweet, the hosting style was gray and humorous, and she also called herself the "closest enemy" of the US military, and the English pronunciation of an American accent made the US military feel very kind, so the show not only did not break the morale of the US army, but made them fall in love with listening to the radio, thinking that it was a kind of enjoyment, and even American soldiers said in an interview after the end of the war that listening to her radio was a unique romance.
Japan's defeat and surrender followed a turning point in Toguri's fate. At the time, two American journalists offered a $2,000 interview with Ikuko Toguri, in which she admitted that she was one of the "Tokyo Roses," but the inadvertent act brought her years in prison. Less than a month after the interview, Toguri was arrested by Japanese authorities on charges of "treason" and held in Sugamo Prison in Japan for a year.
After her release from prison, Toguri was arrested again, this time by the American occupying forces. In September 1948, Tosumi was extradited to the United States for trial. In court, Toguri insisted she was innocent, arguing that she had been using "puns" to encourage rather than demoralize fellow Americans. But her defenses, as well as intercession with American soldiers, failed, and Tosumi was convicted of treason, automatically disqualified from U.S. citizenship, fined $10,000, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
It was not until later in life that Toguri regained her American citizenship under the relentless defense of her son Wayne Collins Jr. At the time, she was 61 years old and ran a gift shop in Chicago that specialized in oriental gifts. She died quietly on September 26, 2006, at the age of 90.