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 (231)
Military service (2806)
Military Intelligence Service (1145)

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1145 items

img Officer speaking at ceremony (ddr-densho-397-15)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-15/

img Military pinning ceremony (ddr-densho-397-16)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-16/

img Firearms demonstration (ddr-densho-397-13)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-13/

img Military Intelligence Language School building (ddr-densho-397-9)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-9/

img Barracks (ddr-densho-397-41)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-41/

img Military choir (ddr-densho-397-35)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-35/

img Military men pose with child (ddr-densho-397-27)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-27/

img Grounds of Military Intelligence Service Language School (ddr-densho-397-78)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-78/

img Flag flying outside MIS Language School (ddr-densho-397-22)

The sign on the building reads "Headquarters Military Intelligence Service Language School".

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-22/

img Soldier at his desk (ddr-densho-397-62)

The nameplate at the desk is "T. Sgt. T. Matsui". The nameplate at the empty desk is "S. Sgt. N. Fujioka".

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-62/

img Group in library (ddr-densho-397-23)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-23/

img Woman poses outdoors (ddr-densho-397-79)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-79/

img Military march (ddr-densho-397-26)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-26/

img Military march (ddr-densho-397-25)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-25/

img Officer shakes hand with service men (ddr-densho-397-24)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-24/

img Soldier poses with gun (ddr-densho-397-38)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-397-38/

img Military Intelligence Service Language School (ddr-densho-325-85)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-325-85/

doc Newspaper clippings from scrapbook page (ddr-densho-35-332)

Articles on Japanese Americans fighting in the Pacific, including one photo from the Pacific Citizen titled: "Nisei Meets Father on Okinawa." Scrapbook page titled: "Nisei Courage in Pacific War."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-35-332/

doc American Concentration Camps VOLUME 9 June, 1942- November, 1945 (ddr-densho-372-9)

Description about this volume reads directly from the book as follows: Volume 9 contains archival documents from June 1942 to November 1945 which show how some within the military and government establishments were considering the use of Japanese American manpower and special skills. The use of this manpower, as De Witt and his key subordinates correctly …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-372-9/

img Nisei soldier with family (ddr-densho-37-753)

Original WRA caption: Former S. Sgt. Henry H Gosho, Mrs. Gosho (seated) and their eighteen month-old daughter Carol Jeanne are shown with a few of the new Yorkers who attended a dinner in his honor on September 12, 1945, at the Toyo Kwan Restaurant in New York City under the auspices of the new York Chapter …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-753/

img Military Intelligence Service (ddr-densho-37-336)

Original caption: "Left, Tec. Sgt. Herbert Miyasaki, Paaulid, Hawaii, right, Tec. Sgt. Akiji Yoshimura, Colusa, Calif., American-Japanese interpreter with Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill's Infantry troops in Northern Burma. 5/1/44." Town in Hawaii may actually be Paauilo.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-336/

av Ryo Komae Interview (ddr-densho-400-14)

Ryo Komae was born on July 26, 1918, in Los Angeles, California. He was one of three children, and his parents were Tojiro and Komaji Komae. His father was "watchman" (security guard) for the Los Angeles City Market and his mother was a housewife. During World War II, he was removed with his family to the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-400-14/

av George Kobayashi Interview (ddr-densho-400-13)

George Kobayashi was born on February 20, 1924, in Torrance, California. He was one of three children, and his parents' names were Tamechi and Yuko Kobayashi. His father was a farmer in Gardena and his mother was a housewife. When the war broke out, he and his family moved to Fort Lupton, Colorado. During the war …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-400-13/

av Michael Shigeru Yasutake Interview (ddr-densho-400-24)

Michael Yasutake was born on August 4, 1915, in Long Beach, California. He was one of Kumataro and Itsu Yasutake's eight children. His father was a farmer in Gardena, California, and his mother was a housewife. When the war broke out he was already in the army and served with the Military Intelligence Service. His family …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-400-24/

img Man in military uniform reads a newspaper (ddr-densho-404-396)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-404-396/