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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1387 items

img Man sitting at desk (ddr-ajah-2-691)

Caption below photo: S/Sgt Richard T. Watanabe Los Angeles

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-691/

img Men playing cards in barracks (ddr-ajah-2-784)

Caption: Joe Iwataki (taking the photo) and his U.S. Army pals relieve the boredom with a poker game in their barracks near Belden, which was in the Feather River Canyon of Northern California, February 1942. Iwataki was from Alameda, CA. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-376 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-784/

img Man sitting on cot playing guitar (ddr-ajah-2-486)

Caption below photo: Roy Nakada / Honolulu

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-486/

img View of military parade from above (ddr-ajah-2-616)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-616/

doc Sketch of Fort Snelling (ddr-ajah-2-566)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-566/

img Yasuharu Koike standing in front of large building in India (ddr-ajah-2-853)

Caption below photo: Yasuharu Koike enjoys himself, touring 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-2-853/

img Portrait of group of men in uniform (ddr-ajah-2-800)

Caption: Niseis from the Military Intelligence School at Camp Savage, Minnesota visit friends and family incarcerated at Topaz, Utah - December 4. 1942. Includes names.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-800/

img Two men sitting on low bench outside camp building. Joe Iwataki on left (ddr-ajah-2-477)

Caption below photo: Ace Fukai

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-477/

img Two men outside building. Joe Iwataki on left. (ddr-ajah-2-581)

Caption below photo: Gordon Sengenber (Hi-school classmate) / In front of Rick Bldg

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-581/

img Group of tents (ddr-ajah-2-865)

Caption below photo: Yasuharu Koike's tent in Burma. Koike service in the MIS in the China-Burma-India campaign in 1944. He was from Alameda, CA.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-865/

img Groups of men standing on road by camp buildings (ddr-ajah-2-442)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-442/

img Portrait of Joe Iwataki (ddr-ajah-2-735)

Caption below photo: Taken at Park Ord, 1941

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-735/

img Group of men sitting alongside road (ddr-ajah-2-444)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-444/

img Shirtless man standing next to sign. "Off Limits to Troops" (ddr-ajah-2-569)

Caption below photo: Calvin Morimatsu

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-569/

img Man standing outside buildings on hillside (ddr-ajah-2-642)

Caption below photo: Cowan

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-642/

img Crowd outside airplane (ddr-ajah-2-712)

Caption below photo: C-54 arrives Nichols Field, Manila

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-712/

img Barracks building (ddr-ajah-2-776)

Caption: Joe Iwataki's barracks at Camp Crowder, Missouri, April 8 to October 1942. Iwataki was from Alameda, CA. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-380 with additional notes

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-776/

img Yasuharu Koike and another soldier stand in front of sign for CBI headquarters (ddr-ajah-2-861)

Caption below photo: Yasuharu Koike (at right) poses with a friend. He served with he Military Intelligence Service (MIS) in the China-Burma-India campaign during WWII. Photo 1944. The two men are standing in front of the signage for the American Army Forces CBI headquarters, established in New Delhi, India, June 25. 1942

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-861/

img Yasuharu Koike and woman seated at a table (ddr-ajah-2-868)

Caption below photo: Sgt. Yasuharu Koike enjoys a bottle of Canada Dry sparking water, with a woman he was engaged to, but didn't marry. Koike served with the MIS (Military Intelligence Service) during the China-Burma-India campaign of WWII. Photo 1944. Inscription on photo front: For old times sake, Shiz

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-868/

img Man standing outside tents (ddr-ajah-2-578)

Caption below photo: Joe

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-578/

img Sunken ships in bay (ddr-ajah-2-670)

Caption below photo: Japanese Ships sunk in the bay

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-670/

img View of moat from above (ddr-ajah-2-726)

Caption below photo: Imperial moat

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-726/

doc Program of 30th Anniversary Reunion MIS Veterans (ddr-ajah-2-26)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-26/

img Inside of barracks with cots (ddr-ajah-2-802)

Caption: Barracks 10, where some of the "Sensei" or instructors of Japanese language were housed at Camp Savage, Minnesota. They were there to teach Japanese American Niseis as part of the Military Intelligence Service Language School. October 1942-October 1943. Supplemental scan of ddr-ajah-2-431 with additional notes.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-802/

img Man wearing helmet standing outside barracks (ddr-ajah-2-441)

Caption below photo: Iwao Shimamoto

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-ajah-2-441/