The Case Of Tokyo Rose: Discovering The Themes Of Race And Gender

Naoko’s article Femininity.. Race.. Treachery.. How the ‘Tokyo Rose’ Became an American Traitor after the Second World War. Tokyo Rose was a pseudonym used by an unidentified Japanese radio broadcaster who was hated during World War II. According to the author, Tokyo Rose was not one person. It was a combination of several female English-speaking Japanese announcers. Toguri DiAquino, an American from Japan, was falsely charged in 1947. This was despite the very thin evidence and the original recommendation that the case be dismissed. Shibusawa hinders an in-depth and nuanced examination of the historical circumstances that led to this conviction. The analysis would be more robust if Shibusawa had provided more detailed justifications for certain historical factors, as well as his characterisation of the people involved. He also included ‘alternate stories’ which is poor historiographical and does not help his thesis. His analysis is nevertheless comprehensive and persuasive. His analysis also aids historians in understanding the relationship between race/gender in the Pacific War.

Shibusawa attempts a historical answer to the question of what social and political factors led the US government, despite very little evidence, to convict Toguri. To address this question, Shibusawa outlines several political and social influences that led to Toguri being convicted. She was chosen because of her ability to create sensational wartime narratives that are racialized and gendered by the media. He argues that media has played a key role in creating expectations of Japanese women being passive patriots and demonizing Japanese sexuality. These two factors combined led to mistrust in Toguri’s active patriotism. He does emphasize political factors. He says that the media’s reinforcements on popular notions about orientalized and feminized treachery were in tandem to the prosaic political motivations and key characters in her trial.” The Cold-War politics, which promoted loyalty and condemned traitors, was a strong motivator for the U.S. Government to pursue her cause. Essentially, he claims that American conceptions of race and gender created during World War Two informed the U.S. Government’s view of and response to traitorism.Shibusawa’s argument; that the media’s narratives regarding gender and race strongly influenced the case, is strong. As a symbol of America’s view of Japanese inscrutability and dangerous femininity, he explains why the Tokyo Rose character is important. He also explained that media propagated the notion that Japanese-American females should be passively loyal and cooperative in their patriotism. Toguri’s act of patriotism, even though she had a clean record, was distrusted by the media. Shibusawa mentions Toguri’s part in this, but he fails to properly address it. He says that Toguri was named by Brundidge as the original “Tokyo Rose”, and that there were no feminine substitutes. He only mentions this extremely significant detail in his story and doesn’t include it in his analysis. He also claims that she was only accused of lying to the FBI about the extortion they attempted to obtain from Toguri’s Japanese coworkers. This despite the fact that this contract appears likely have been presented in court. Shibusawa would be able to argue that she was not convicted of the crime and that her confession had no impact on her selection for prosecution. Overall, the author provides a convincing explanation for why Toguri is being targeted. His nuanced intersectional analysis shows the connection between American views on femininity and Japanese race. But he could have made it stronger by minimizing other factors.

Shibusawa’s inclusion of both social and political factors in his case analysis makes it historical holistic. He believes that the Cold War led domestic loyalty to the Soviet Union and a hatred for traitors. That is why the Tokyo Rose trial was reopened. This explanation allows him to expand his analysis and answer the question of how Toguri was convicted. It also explains why the U.S. government pursued the case. This holistic approach makes it seem unfounded that he dismisses the post-war motivation to justify internment. Additionally, he neglects to mention how the American racial view towards the Japanese has changed over time as they became allies fighting communism. Shibusawa is able to consider multiple factors and make his analysis solid. However, he doesn’t fully justify the emphasis on certain factors.

While his evidence use is strong. Shibusawa’s use alternate histories as a justification for his conclusion makes his argument weaker. Manilla Rosa and Axis Sally are examples of alternate candidates who could be prosecuted. He also says that Tokyo Rose could possibly have been told an ‘alternate story as a hero’ at the same time. Unconvincing notion that he was able to see the past and understand why something did not happen is also unconvincing. These alternatives do little to support his analysis.

Shibusawa claims share strong similarities with John Dower’s War Without Mercy. The authors allege that U.S. policy towards Japanese-Americans in the postwar period was influenced by Japanese-American stereotypes. These stereotypes were cited by both sources as a reason for the negative treatment of sub-populations. Fujitani claims in Right To Kill that Japanese experienced passive rather than active racism due to their government’s use o bio-power. Shibusawa claims that Toguri, a racially-discriminating race, was considered treacherous by the American government after World War II seems to be directly contrary to Fujitani. These sources, however, attempt understanding the effect of war on the Japanese’s perceptions and treatment in America. Historical insight into this topic, as well as the larger issue of war’s historical impact on minorities, is provided by Femininity and Race and Treachery.

Shibusawa’s argument is strong because he can view an event through multiple historical perspectives. This allows historical analysis to be complex. Historical analysis must look beyond the details of an event to understand its causes. It also needs to consider the political and social context. It is impossible to understand history if we can only explain how it happened. A convincing article also shows the importance an intersectional view of history. Historical conceptions of gender and race can be combined to provide a better understanding of historical events. Shibusawa used these methods to make sense of a single case, such as that of Tokyo Rose.