Military Intelligence Service

The first Japanese Americans to serve in the military during World War II were linguists involved in the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS). The MISLS was charged with training soldiers in the Japanese language for intelligence purposes. Japanese Americans served as both instructors and students at the school, which opened on November 1, 1941. The Language School began recruiting instructors and later students directly from concentration camps as early as July 1942. MISLS graduates were assigned in small teams to units fighting in the Pacific and to intelligence centers throughout the Allied command. They translated captured documents, interrogated prisoners of war, wrote propaganda, encouraged Japanese soldiers and civilians to surrender, and monitored radio broadcasts. After the war, they acted as interpreters at the war crime trials and for the occupation government in Japan.

World War II (277)
Military service (4131)
Military Intelligence Service (1387)

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img Group of men in uniform holding rifles (ddr-ajah-2-757)

Caption: Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) squad. Fort Ord, CA., at far left, front row, in Joe Iwataki of Alameda, CA. March 1941. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-58 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-757/

img Group of men and women sitting outside (ddr-ajah-2-522)

Caption below photo: Community sing

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-522/

img Men walking on road in snow (ddr-ajah-2-447)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-447/

img Three men sitting outside polishing shoes (ddr-ajah-2-534)

Caption below photo: Yuk / Yas / Shining shoes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-534/

img Entrance to Yasukuni Shrine (ddr-ajah-2-724)

Caption below photo: Part of Yasukuni Shrine

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-724/

img Large building with truck in front (ddr-ajah-2-678)

Caption below photo: American Red Cross (Formerly a bank bldg)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-678/

img Crowd outside stadium entrance (ddr-ajah-2-517)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-517/

img Horse drawn hay wagon (ddr-ajah-2-556)

Caption below photo: Minnesota Farm Scene

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-556/

img Two woman and two men in uniform. Joe Iwataki on left (ddr-ajah-2-492)

Caption below photo: Joanne / Mary / Midori

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-492/

img Group of men by Red Cross canteen truck (ddr-ajah-2-473)

Caption below photo: St. Paul Red Cross Canteen feeds up after Wednesday hikes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-473/

img Yasuharu Koike by temples with statues (ddr-ajah-2-854)

Caption below photo: Yasuharu Koike enjoys himself, touring New Delhi while serving with the MIS in the China-Burma-India campaign during WWII. Photo 1944. He was from Alameda, CA.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-854/

img Men watching man work on rifle (ddr-ajah-2-751)

Caption: Basic training for Joe Iwataki, of Alameda, A included taking apart an M1 rifle while he was stationed at For Ord, near Monterey, CA. (Joe is taking this photo) 1941. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-62 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-751/

img Man standing outside building (ddr-ajah-2-653)

Caption below photo: G-2 bldg at Tolosa

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-653/

img Man standing by Camp Savage sign. Signed on from: George (ddr-ajah-2-463)

Caption below photo: George Nakamura

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-463/

img Woman sitting in chair with Joe Iwataki behind her (ddr-ajah-2-526)

Caption below photo: Mary Hayano

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-526/

img Men standing in field (ddr-ajah-2-481)

Caption below photo: Wednesday Afternoon Recreation

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-481/

img Photo of Yasuharu Koike questioning a Japanese soldier in Burma (Myanmar) (ddr-ajah-2-855)

Caption below photo describes context of MIS during the China-Burma-India campaign

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-855/

img Men watching speaker (ddr-ajah-2-565)

Caption below photo: The speakers' platform

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-565/

img Group of men and women lined up at buffet table (ddr-ajah-2-527)

Caption below photo: Chow Line

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-527/

img Joe Iwataki with two women and a man seated at nightclub (ddr-ajah-2-730)

Caption below photo: Alice Takeuchi / Frank Tomita / Amy Okazaki / Visit to nite club during furlo from Manila May, June 1945

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-730/

img Yasuharu Koike giving a fellow soldier a haircut (ddr-ajah-2-857)

Caption below photo: Yasuharu Koike cuts the hair of a friend while serving somewhere in the steaming hot jungles of Burma during WWII. At right is a Chinese assistant. Koike was a member of the MIS, the Military Intelligence Service. Photo August 1944. Koike hailed from Alameda, CA.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-857/

img Man sitting at desk (ddr-ajah-2-706)

Caption below photo Bill Cox

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-706/

img Men studying at tables (ddr-ajah-2-804)

Caption: Nisei soldiers of the "famous" C-3 class study while at Camp Savage, Minnesota. They were members of the Military Intelligence Service Language School during WWII. Photo October 1942 to June 1943. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-428 with additional notes.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-804/

img Man standing outside camp building (ddr-ajah-2-539)

Caption below photo: Tekawa Sensei

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-539/

img Men walking down stairs from plane (ddr-ajah-2-713)

Caption below photo: General Torashiro Kawabe, Imperial Japanese Army envoy

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-713/