Mitsu Yashima

Mitsu Yashima
Mitsu Yashima in 1975
Native name	八島 光
Born	Tomoe Sasako
Died	December 7, 1988
Occupation	Children's book author and artist
Spouse(s)	Taro Yashima
Children	Makoto Iwamatsu

Mitsu Yashima (八島 光, Yashima Mitsu), whose real name was Tomoe Sasako (笹子 智江, Sasako Tomoe), was a Japanese expatriate children's book author and artist who joined the United States Office of Strategic Services along with her husband, and fellow artist, Atsushi Iwamatsu (pseudonym Taro Yashima), to oppose the Empire of Japan during World War II.

Career

One of the few woman to attend college in Japan in the 1930s,^{[citation needed]} she lived in a time when Japanese government suppression was getting more stronger. She joined a young study group to learn forbidden topics, where she met her future husband, Atsushi Iwamatsu. She and Atsushi joined peaceful protest groups called "culture clubs" that used their art to make anti-authoritarian statements about Japan's government and the harsh conditions people lived under to support the military as it readied for war.^[1]

They were both thrown in jail for protesting militarism in Japan.^{[citation needed]} Even while pregnant, she underwent beatings at the hands of jailers in the six-foot square cell she shared with from five to 15 other prisoners. Atsushi was not spared beatings either.^{[citation needed]} Tomoe and Atsushi moved to America to study art in 1939, leaving behind their son, Makoto Iwamatsu, who would grow up to be a prolific actor in America, with relatives. When World War II broke out, Atsushi, along with his wife Tomoe, joined the Office of Strategic Services. She adopted the pseudonym Mitsu Yashima, and Atsushi the pseudonym Taro Yashima, to protect their son who was still in Japan. When she was with the Office of Strategic Services, she was in Washington doing broadcasts of American propaganda aimed at the Japanese Empire. She then went to San Francisco to do broadcasts aimed at the Japanese Empire's female citizens. The messages urged sabotage against the Empire's war effort. She talked about how terrible the food situation was, that Japanese women were prohibited from wearing makeup or pretty clothes, and about how there wasn't even time to comb one's hair. She urged them to run away from the cities because of the danger of bombing. She also told them not to save money. She has sometimes been described as America's "Tokyo Rose".^{[citation needed]}

She and Taro went on to collaborate on a children's book, Momo's Kitten, but eventually they separated.^{[citation needed]}

She was sympathetic of the United States' decision of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but still believed that atomic weapons should never be used again.

Mitsu Yashima died at age 80 on December 7, 1988, the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.^[2]

See also

• Japanese resistance to the Empire of Japan in World War II

References