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

av Interview with Manny Goldberg, part 2 of 6 (ddr-densho-1007-1563)

Goldberg discusses the different reasons he and the Nisei joined the army and his service in Saipan. Interview is cut short to move location after background noise becomes an issue. Video starts at 0:51. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 61, II NY #47, 6-85, Goldberg. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1564/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1563/

av Interview with Harry Fukuhara, part 1 of 5 (ddr-densho-1007-1697)

Fukuhara discusses his service in the Pacific theater, working with ATIS, and his first landing. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Last few seconds are an accidental recording from the Kiyofumi Kojima interview. Original title: 212, II JA #36, Harry Fukuhara, Sun. Feb. 2. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1698/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1697/

img Send-off of Military Intelligence Service members at the Napoli Restaurant (ddr-densho-1007-205)

Caption on back.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-205/

av Conversation between John Burden and Shig Kihara, part 3 of 3 (ddr-densho-1007-1785)

Conversation continued from ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1654/. Burden and Kihara discuss Burden and his wife predicting that Japan would fight the US before Pearl Harbor, the story of Admiral Chester Nimitz, and the founding of the Military Intelligence Service Language School. Around 6 minutes, tape shifts to b-roll shots of the two walking around and their surroundings. Video …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1785/

doc Joe L. Harada interviewee form (ddr-densho-1007-1136)

Used for the film Color of Honor.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1136/

av Interview with Yukio Kawamoto, part 5 of 8 (ddr-densho-1007-1549)

Kawamoto discusses the letters he wrote to his parents during his service, visiting them in camp (Topaz), and getting his dog tags marked as Buddhist. Also talks about post-war occupation of Japan with ATIS. Video starts at 0:57. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 50, II NY #33, Kawamoto. Interview …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1549/

av Interview with John Aiso, part 4 of 5 (ddr-densho-1007-1577)

Aiso discusses the difficulty Nisei had becoming commissioned officers, the qualities of Nisei MISLS students, how he himself learned Japanese, his time at Harvard Law School and difficulty finding a job, his time working for the British American Tobacco Company in Manchukuo, being drafted and founding the MISLS, and the role of Nisei soldiers during the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1577/

av Interview with Shiro Tokuno, part 3 of 4 (ddr-densho-1007-1783)

Tokuno discusses the role of Nisei in the occupation, the attitudes Japanese nationals and American officers had toward Nisei, his service managing agricultural/forestry/fisheries/mining in occupied Japan, the policies he helped implement, moving to Sacramento and farming after the war, deciding to go into military intelligence, his mother's thoughts on him joining the military, and working with …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1783/

av Interview with Sho Nomura, part 2 of 6 (ddr-densho-1007-1611)

Nomura discusses his family's internment at Gila River, volunteering and testing for the MIS language school, and the difficulty his family faced in camp after he volunteered. Video starts at 0:22. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 94, II LA #41, 7-25-85, Sho Nomura Interview II. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1612/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1611/

av Interview with Harry Fukuhara, part 2 of 5 (ddr-densho-1007-1698)

Fukuhara discusses his service in the Pacific, being mistaken for a Japanese soldier, interviewing a gravely wounded prisoner of war, and POWs he interviewed just before their death. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 213, II JA #37, Harry Fukuhara, Sun. Feb. 2. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1699/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1698/

doc Letter from Jimmie Matsumura to Mr. Harrington (ddr-densho-1007-1007)

Xeroxed copy.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1007/

doc John Aiso notes 1 (ddr-densho-1007-931)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-931/

doc MIS Intelligencer (ddr-densho-1007-1087)

Volume 24, Number 2.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1087/

av Interview with Ray Aka, part 3 of 6 (ddr-densho-1007-1687)

Aka discusses his father's reaction to being arrested, the sort of person his father was, growing up apart from his family, working as a "schoolboy", his time studying at San Francisco City College, getting drafted, being evacuated to Fort San Houston, and being ordered to go to Camp Savage for language school. Loni Ding can be …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1687/

av Interview with Harry Akune, part 3 of 4 (ddr-densho-1007-1602)

Akune discusses his service on Corregidor Island and Mindoro Island, and a combat jump he performed. Video starts at 0:28. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: 88, II LA #29, 7-24-85, Harry Akune Interview III. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1603/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1602/

doc Speech: National Memorial Service in Honor of Japanese-American Servicemen who Fought in World War II (ddr-densho-1007-1837)

Speech by Akiji Yoshimura delivered February 20, 1977 honoring military service and contributions of Japanese Americans.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1837/

av Interview with Ray Aka, part 4 of 6 (ddr-densho-1007-1688)

Aka discusses his father's arrest and incarceration by the FBI, his time in language school, his time teaching in the military in Monterey, his service in occupied Japan after the war, and his first impressions of Tokyo. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions in the background. Original title: II JA #22, Ray Aka, Feb. 1, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1688/

av Interview with Don Oka, Steve Yagi, and Shigeo Ito, part 3 of 8 (ddr-densho-1007-1619)

Oka on the left, Yagi in the center, and Ito on the right. The three discuss their service in the Pacific theater, their military training in the Midwest, JICPOA, and their encounters with high-ranking officers. Video starts at 0:23. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind the camera. Original title: II LA #49, 7-26-85, Oka, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1619/

av Interview with Barry Saiki, part 4 of 5 (ddr-densho-1007-1705)

Saiki discusses the loyalty questionnaire given to Nisei in camp, visiting his father in New Mexico, being drafted, being recruited for intelligence work, moving to Japan in 1967, his work in international business, and the formation of the Military Intelligence Service Language School Association and other such organizations. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions behind …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1705/

doc Eugene Y. Kono notes on MIS and Repatriation (ddr-densho-1007-1108)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1108/

doc The Japanese Community in the Twin Cities (ddr-densho-1007-1839)

Essay by Gladys I. Stone describing the development of Japanese American communities in Minnesota from the early 1900s through the post-World War II period. It was published in the Hennepin County History, Quarterly Publication of the Hennepin County Historical Society, Volume 47, Number 1, Winter 1988.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1839/

doc Booklet: Japanese Americans Play Vital Role in United States Intelligence Service in World War II (ddr-densho-1007-1841)

This booklet was written in 1946 by retired Brigadier General John Weckerling and examines the overlooked role Japanese Americans played in U.S. military intelligence during World War II. Nisei linguists and the Military Intelligence Service Language School are given particular emphasis.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1841/

av Interview with George Nakamura, part 3 of 5 (ddr-densho-1007-1682)

Nakamura discusses his service in China on the front lines, and meeting an American pilot who crash-landed in his area. He reads a letter he wrong during wartime. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions in the background. Original title: 198, II JA #16, George Nakamura, Fri. Jan. 31. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1683/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1682/

av Ishii family b-roll (ddr-densho-1007-1571)

No audio, video starts at 0:46. B-roll of various pictures belonging to the Ishiis, several of Chris' service. Original title: 68, II NY #55, Ishii, Ishii Family Pix

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1571/

av Interview with Arthur (Art) Morimitsu, part 4 of 6 (ddr-densho-1007-1752)

Morimitsu discusses the difficulty of getting promoted in the MIS and his time in Burma. Video starts at 0:17. Loni Ding can be heard asking questions in the background. Original title: 61B, II VFW #4, VFW - LA, Art Morimitsu, Feb. 15, 1987. Interview continues at ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1753/

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1007-1752/