Born on July 4, 1916 in Los Angeles, California to parents Jun and Fumi Toguri, Iva Ikoku Toguri was an American citizen of Japanese descent (Lerner 163; Tokyo1). Toguri and his three siblings grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood in Compton, California, where their father disapproved of them learning the Japanese language in order to better integrate into American society. Toguri eventually attended Compton Junior College after finishing high school, then transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles where she graduated in 1941 with a degree in zoology (Iva 1; Tokyo 1). Shortly after college, Toguri left America to care for an extremely ill aunt in Japan on July 5, 1941. Unfortunately, she only obtained a certificate of identity from the U.S. State Department and not a real passport. After six months, Toguri planned to return home on a ship on December 2, but he missed it due to complications with his passport (Lerner 163; Tokyo1, 2). As a result, Toguri was still in Japan when their military bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7. 1941, launching the United States into war against Japan (Lerner 163; Tokyo 2). Refusing to deny her U.S. citizenship, she was classified as an enemy alien and removed from her relative's home. Her request to return to her home country or even to be housed with other American civilians was denied due to her gender and Japanese origin (Iva 1; Lerner163). This was not the least of his worries as the Japanese government not only refused to give Toguri a food ration card, but also kept her under constant brutal inspection by the military (Tokyo 2; Lerner 163 ). However, she was not alone in her difficulties as, as far as she knew, Toguri's family was... middle of paper......l. Toguri divorced her husband half-heartedly and reluctantly in 1980 (Tokyo 5). All his suffering was rewarded in January 2006, when Toguri received the Edward J. Herlihy Citizenship Award from the World War II Veterans Committee (Iva 2). Eight months later, Toguri died at the age of ninety of natural causes at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago on September 26, 2006 (Tokyo 5). Works Cited “Iva Toguri”. Journalists. Flight. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2007. World History in Context. Internet. March 19, 2014.Lerner, Adrienne Wilmoth. “Tokyo Pink.” Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Flight. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2004.163-164. World history in context. Internet. March 7, 2014. “Tokyo Rose.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Vol.27. Detroit: Gale, 2007. World History in Context. Internet. March 7. 2014.