as broadcasters on the nightly “Zero Hour.”
Introducing herself as Orphan Annie, she
spun the latest American jazz records laced
with subtle messages of home life and loved
ones left far behind. Only infrequently would
she dwell on topics of a military nature; for
the most part, NHK programming consisted of
entertainment, leavened throughout with sul-
try female banter. In 1945, Toguri also met
and married Filipe J. d’Aquino, a Portuguese
working for the Domei News Agency.
If through these broadcasts Japanese au-
thorities hoped to demoralize American mili-
tary personnel throughout the Pacific, they
were sadly mistaken. “Zero Hour” quickly be-
came one of the most listened-to programs
in broadcasting history, and millions of
homesick Americans thoroughly enjoyed the
music, the nostalgia, as well as the novelty of
being addressed in fluent, vernacular En-
glish. These broadcasts proved so popular
that they were deliberately piped onto the
public address system of warships! They
were a welcome diversion from the drudgery
of military life, and Toguri, along with at
least eight other female broadcasters, be-
came collectively dubbed as “Tokyo Rose.”
This moniker was strictly an American in-
vention—it was never adopted or used by
Toguri or any other broadcaster. As further
proof of the popularity of “Zero Hour,” when
the women apologized for constantly playing
the same music for lack of new records, Gen.
Robert Eichelberger arranged a cache of
recordings to be dropped on Tokyo—during
an air raid! Fighting men of the Pacific the-
ater fondly remember Tokyo Rose as a
nightly staple of the war. Toguri had unwit-
tingly become, by default, the first radio an-
nouncer with a cult following.
Following Japan’s capitulation in Septem-
ber 1945, the Allied occupation unleashed a
horde of journalists looking for a story. It fell
upon two reporters from the Hearst publish-
ing empire, Clark Lee and Harry Brundidge, to
track down and interview the mysterious
Tokyo Rose. This was accomplished only
after much difficulty. Japanese broadcasters
were unfamiliar with any radio personality
employed under that name. When Toguri was
finally encountered, she willingly consented
to be interviewed by Cosmopolitanmagazine
in exchange for $2,000. But once her identity
was finally established, Toguri was arrested
by Allied authorities on October 17, 1945, for
attempting to demoralize American troops.
She stridently denied any such motives and
was seconded by the other prisoners of war
who worked with her. However, Toguri was
incarcerated at Sugamo Prison, along with
true war criminals, to await her fate. On April
27, 1946, she gained release when the Depart-
ment of Justice announced they had no inten-
tion of pursuing the case further. Toguri’s
story was also published in Cosmopolitanas
promised, but she never received a penny in
recompense.
The release of Tokyo Rose caused an up-
roar in the American media industry. Walter
Winchell, a leading radio broadcaster, in con-
cert with several anti-Asian organizations in
California, went on the attack. They held her
up as an example of Asian “sneakiness” in
turning a fluent UCLA graduate against her
country and demanded that Toguri be extra-
dited home to stand trial for treason. Her na-
tive city of Los Angeles also passed a motion
forbidding her to live within its boundaries.
With public pressure building on the Justice
Department, Toguri was arrested a second
time on August 26, 1948, and summarily
shipped to San Francisco. There she was in-
dicted again on eight counts of treason stem-
ming from broadcasts between November
1943 and August 1945 designed to demoralize
American troops. Toguri’s ensuing ordeal
lasted 56 days and cost the taxpayers
$500,000, being the most expensive trial to
that date. Intense deliberations resulted in a
hung jury, and the judge admonished jurors
for not delivering a verdict—especially con-
sidering the time and expenses involved. Fur-
ther debate resulted in a conviction of one
charge stemming from the mention of a “loss
of ships.” Judge Michael J. Roche then sen-
tenced her to 10 years in federal prison,TOKYOROSE