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→Early Life
==Early Life==
==Early Life==
Iva Ikuko Toguri was born in south-central [[Los Angeles]] on 4 July 1916, the daughter of a Japanese immigrant. This made her a ''nesei (子姓 a first generation American citizen of Japanese descent). Her mother was crippled as a result of diabetes. She was raised a [[Methodist]], joined the local Girl Scouts, and dreamed of becoming a medical doctor, fueled in part by having to care for her mother.
Iva Ikuko Toguri was born in south-central [[Los Angeles]] on 4 July 1916, the daughter of a [[Japan|Japanese]] immigrant. This made her a ''nesei'' (二世 lit. "second generation", or a first generation American citizen, of Japanese descent). Her mother was crippled as a result of diabetes. She was raised a [[Methodist]], joined the local Girl Scouts, and dreamed of becoming a medical doctor, fueled in part by having to care for her mother.
She graduated from UCLA, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology in 1941. Her aunt Shizu, who lived in Japan then took ill and Iva was chosen to go to Japan to represent the Toguri family in after her ill aunt. Her travel documents listed her occupation as “pre-med student”.
She graduated from [[UCLA]], with a Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology in 1941. Her aunt Shizu, who lived in Japan, then took ill and Iva was chosen to go to Japan to represent the Toguri family in after her ill aunt. Her travel documents listed her occupation as “pre-med student”.
She sailed for Japan on 5 July 1941, aboard the Arabia Maru. However, she left with no passport. The State Department refused to issue one on such short notice and instead, gave her a Certificate of Identification, saying that this document would be sufficient to get her to and from Japan. However, when she applied to return to the U.S. in November 1941, becoming more fearful of the situation in Japan, she was refused on the grounds that there was no evidence that she was an American citizen, and the document provided by the State Department was unacceptable. She was thus left stranded in Japan when war broke out in December.
She sailed for Japan on 5 July 1941, aboard the ''Arabia Maru''. However, she left with no passport. The State Department refused to issue one on such short notice and instead, gave her a Certificate of Identification, saying that this document would be sufficient to get her to and from Japan. However, when she applied to return to the U.S. in November 1941, becoming more fearful of the situation in Japan, she was refused on the grounds that there was no evidence that she was an American citizen, and the document provided by the State Department was unacceptable. She was thus left stranded in Japan when war broke out in December.
==Beginning of the War==
As a foreign national, Iva was regarded as an enemy alien by the Japanese authorities, who instructed her to renounce her American citizenship and register as a Japanese citizen. She refused, requesting instead to be sent to an interment camp along with other foreign nationals. Her request was refused, because of her gender and also because she was of Japanese descent. Alone, frightened and unable to read and barely able to speak Japanese, she returned to live with her uncle.
However, problems arose when she was overheard expressing happiness at the [[James Doolittle#The Doolittle Raid|Doolittle Raid]] and neighbours accused her uncle of harbouring an enemy spy. In order to protect them, she left their house, renting a small apartment. She gave piano lessons to pay the rent, as well as for Japanese lessons.
She found employment at the Domei News Agency, working as a typist, transcribing English-language news broadcasts for the agency. It was here that she saw the report containing the names of her family in America, who had been shipped off to Gila River Interment Camp in Arizona. Already shocked by this news, she returned home one night, to find her room being searched by the dreaded Kempeitai Military Police. At this point, Iva again requested to be interned, but this too was declined and she was told, with typical Japanese efficiency, that it would cost too much to feed her, especially when she was perfectly capable of earning a salary.
Shortly thereafter, Iva was hospitalized for six weeks, suffering from malnutrition, pellagra and beriberi. In order to pay the hospital bill, she had to borrow money from her landlady, as well as from a Portuguese national, Felipe d’Aquino, who shared her pro-American feelings and with whom she had struck up a friendship. In order to pay them back, she took on a second job, working as a typist for Radio Tokyo. Her job was to type up English-language scripts, drafted by the Japanese Propaganda Ministry, which would then be broadcast to the Allied troops in the Pacific war zone.
[[Image:Tokyo Rose.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A mug shot of Iva Toguri, taken at Sugamo Prison on 7 March, 1946. It bears the same caption as the photograph above.]]
[[Image:Tokyo Rose.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A mug shot of Iva Toguri, taken at Sugamo Prison on 7 March, 1946. It bears the same caption as the photograph above.]]
==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==