The Mistrial of Iva Toguri and the Myth of “Tokyo Rose”

Presented on November 18, 2020

Virtual Event

Orphan Ann was a disk jockey on Japanese radio during World War II. She was a real person named Iva Toguri. This is her story. This also the story of “Tokyo Rose,” who was not a real person, but a myth—a press invention, later turned political scapegoat. And this is the story of Iva Toguri’s conviction for treason, following a two and a half month jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. That conviction, as it turned out, was based on perjured testimony extracted by the prosecuting U.S. Attorneys. Finally, and most importantly, this is the ennobling story of a brave and loyal American citizen mistreated by our justice system, and the heroic efforts to defend Iva by lawyers of deep conviction and professional skill working for free to defend an innocent woman.

Moderator

    • Hon. Jon S. Tigar
      Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Panelists

    • Charles Wollenberg
      Retired, former Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of History at Berkeley City College
    • Wayne Collins, Jr.
      Attorney
    • Naoko Shibusawa
      Professor and 20th Century U.S. cultural historian at Brown University
    • Michael Weedall
      Author of “Iva: The True Story of Tokyo Rose”