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Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot

A Dual Biography

Frederick P. Close

Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot explores the parallel lives of World War II legend Tokyo Rose and a Japanese American woman named Iva Toguri. Trapped in Tokyo during the war and forced to broadcast on Japanese radio, Toguri nonetheless refused to renounce her U.S. citizenship and surreptitiously aided Allied POWs. Despite these patriotic actions, she foolishly identified herself to the press after the war as Tokyo Rose. An examination of U.S.-monitored English language radio transcripts from Japan between December, 1941 and April, 1942 shows only one innocuous broadcast by a female. Yet in April, 1942 a news correspondent with the U.S. Navy reported that sailors in the Pacific theater routinely listened to Tokyo Rose's propaganda. This book assembles for the first time a collection of images from American pre-war popular culture that provided impetus for the legend. It analyzes the wartime situation of servicemen, which caused their imaginations to create the mythical femme fatale even though no Japanese announcer ever used the name Tokyo Rose. Using interviews conducted over decades, this dual biography also explores Toguri's character and decisions by placing her story and conviction for treason in the context of U.S. and Japanese racial views, Imperial Japan, and Cold War politics. New research findings prompt a different perspective on her sensational trial, the most expensive in U.S. history up to that time. Misguided strategy by Toguri's defense attorney and her deceptive testimony about a key event led to the jury's verdict as surely as the perjury suborned by prosecutors.
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Scarecrow Press
Pages: 544 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
978-0-8108-6777-2 • Hardback • December 2009 • $83.00 • (£64.00)
978-0-8108-7466-4 • eBook • December 2009 • $78.50 • (£60.00)
Series: Security and Professional Intelligence Education Series
Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical, History / Military / World War II, Political Science / Intelligence & Espionage
Frederick P. Close is a founder of the non-profit Southwest Center for Educational Television. He has spearheaded the production of 76 ethnographic documentaries produced throughout the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and broadcast in four season-long series by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), as well as selected commercial television, radio, and cable channels in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
Close's skill as a storyteller compels one to keep reading.
— Nichi Bei Weekly


Dubbed a dual biography, this personal history parallels the legend of the infamous—and largely fictitious—Tokyo Rose with the true story of American patriot Iva Toguri. Tried and wrongly convicted of treason, Toguri, an unfortunate victim of time and circumstances, deserves another day in the court of public opinion. Close gives his subject her due by interweaving the straightforward facts of her life with the fanciful mythology of Tokyo Rose. World War II buffs will appreciate this attempt to set the record straight.
— Booklist


Close sets out to tell a 'dual biography' that compares and combines the 'lives' of Iva Toguri, a Japanese American who found herself trapped in Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and eventually became a broadcaster for the Zero Hour program produced by Radio Tokyo, and Tokyo Rose, the fictive temptress whose radio propaganda aimed to undermine US soldiers' morale in the Pacific. Presenting a thorough accounting of both Toguri and Tokyo Rose from their respective 'births' on, Close explores how a variety of forces—including racial hostilities exacerbated by the war, curiosity about the 'true' identity of Tokyo Rose, increasing Cold War tensions, and even Toguri's ambition and nalveté—all helped to forever connect Toguri, no matter how unfairly, to the treasonous (though fictional) broadcaster. Close covers his subject in exacting...detail....Though Tokyo Rose has received a good deal of scholarly attention, Close's very accessible book provides a meticulous history that presents intriguing insights and raises new questions through its novel approach. Summing Up: Recommended.
— Choice Reviews


For more information, visit the author's website.

Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot

A Dual Biography

Cover Image
Hardback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot explores the parallel lives of World War II legend Tokyo Rose and a Japanese American woman named Iva Toguri. Trapped in Tokyo during the war and forced to broadcast on Japanese radio, Toguri nonetheless refused to renounce her U.S. citizenship and surreptitiously aided Allied POWs. Despite these patriotic actions, she foolishly identified herself to the press after the war as Tokyo Rose. An examination of U.S.-monitored English language radio transcripts from Japan between December, 1941 and April, 1942 shows only one innocuous broadcast by a female. Yet in April, 1942 a news correspondent with the U.S. Navy reported that sailors in the Pacific theater routinely listened to Tokyo Rose's propaganda. This book assembles for the first time a collection of images from American pre-war popular culture that provided impetus for the legend. It analyzes the wartime situation of servicemen, which caused their imaginations to create the mythical femme fatale even though no Japanese announcer ever used the name Tokyo Rose. Using interviews conducted over decades, this dual biography also explores Toguri's character and decisions by placing her story and conviction for treason in the context of U.S. and Japanese racial views, Imperial Japan, and Cold War politics. New research findings prompt a different perspective on her sensational trial, the most expensive in U.S. history up to that time. Misguided strategy by Toguri's defense attorney and her deceptive testimony about a key event led to the jury's verdict as surely as the perjury suborned by prosecutors.
Details
Details
  • Scarecrow Press
    Pages: 544 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
    978-0-8108-6777-2 • Hardback • December 2009 • $83.00 • (£64.00)
    978-0-8108-7466-4 • eBook • December 2009 • $78.50 • (£60.00)
    Series: Security and Professional Intelligence Education Series
    Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical, History / Military / World War II, Political Science / Intelligence & Espionage
Author
Author
  • Frederick P. Close is a founder of the non-profit Southwest Center for Educational Television. He has spearheaded the production of 76 ethnographic documentaries produced throughout the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and broadcast in four season-long series by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), as well as selected commercial television, radio, and cable channels in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
Reviews
Reviews
  • Close's skill as a storyteller compels one to keep reading.
    — Nichi Bei Weekly


    Dubbed a dual biography, this personal history parallels the legend of the infamous—and largely fictitious—Tokyo Rose with the true story of American patriot Iva Toguri. Tried and wrongly convicted of treason, Toguri, an unfortunate victim of time and circumstances, deserves another day in the court of public opinion. Close gives his subject her due by interweaving the straightforward facts of her life with the fanciful mythology of Tokyo Rose. World War II buffs will appreciate this attempt to set the record straight.
    — Booklist


    Close sets out to tell a 'dual biography' that compares and combines the 'lives' of Iva Toguri, a Japanese American who found herself trapped in Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and eventually became a broadcaster for the Zero Hour program produced by Radio Tokyo, and Tokyo Rose, the fictive temptress whose radio propaganda aimed to undermine US soldiers' morale in the Pacific. Presenting a thorough accounting of both Toguri and Tokyo Rose from their respective 'births' on, Close explores how a variety of forces—including racial hostilities exacerbated by the war, curiosity about the 'true' identity of Tokyo Rose, increasing Cold War tensions, and even Toguri's ambition and nalveté—all helped to forever connect Toguri, no matter how unfairly, to the treasonous (though fictional) broadcaster. Close covers his subject in exacting...detail....Though Tokyo Rose has received a good deal of scholarly attention, Close's very accessible book provides a meticulous history that presents intriguing insights and raises new questions through its novel approach. Summing Up: Recommended.
    — Choice Reviews


Features
Features
  • For more information, visit the author's website.

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