As the probability for war against Japan mounted, the US Army realized its deficiencies in intelligence operations against Japan. It was necessary to train the Japanese linguists in the fields of interpretation, translation and interrogation and the US Army sought to train a group of Nisei (second generation of Japanese ancestry) who understood Japanese language, culture and custom.
On November 1, 1941, the US Army secretly opened the Military Intelligence Service Language School at the Presidio in San Francisco.
Although they had doubts about their loyalty to the United States.
One month later, on December 7, 1941, the United States entered the war on the Allied side after the attacks on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Air Force. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of about twelve thousands of Japanese Americans living along the Pacific coast.
The forced evacuation prompted the United States Department of War to claim jurisdiction of the MISLS and in the spring of 1942, the facility was moved from San Francisco to Camp Savage in Minnesota. The first official MISLS class was held a few months later on June 1, 1942.
Two years later, in the spring of 1944, increased enrollment generated the need for larger facilities and the school was moved to Fort Snelling in Minnesota.
The Nisei MIS graduates were dispatched to wherever there was contact between the United States and Japan. They participated in every major firefight, battle and invasion against the Japanese military. They participated in operations conducted by the US Army, Navy, Marines and Air Corps and, at times, helped the British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Chinese and Indian combat units in their campaign against Japan. The MIS was active in every phase of the war in the Pacific until Japan’s formal surrender in 1945.
Some of the MIS’s most notable achievements include their contributions to the invasion of the Aleutian and Solomon Islands, General Douglas MacArthur’s drive through New Guinea and the Philippines, and in the Central Pacific invasions of Tarawa, Kwajalein, Majuro, Eniwetok, Saipan and Guam. They also played decisive roles in helping to make the final assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa successful.
The Nisei agents in the MIS were entrusted with a plethora of tasks during the Pacific campaign including the following: translating important enemy documents, such as battle plans, maps, diaries and letters; interrogating Japanese prisoners of War; serving undercover in the Philippines; serving as order-of-battle specialists; intercepting and deciphering enemy messages; composing and broadcasting surrender appeals as part of psychological warfare; and sand flushing the caves of enemy soldiers and civilians. They were able to gain volumes of valuable intelligence material which would later be used to plan a successful Allied strategy to defeat Japan and many successful operations along the way.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki August 9 flattened the two cities and devastated the country. It would become the last point in the war against Japan.
On August 15th 1945, Emperor Hirohito broadcast his decision to surrender to the Allies and the Pacific war was finally over. Three Nisei linguists oversaw the Japanese surrender and participated alongside General MacArthur in the signing of the surrender documents aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.
During the occupation that followed, the Nisei members of the MIS served to help minimize the gap between General MacArthur’s headquarters (GHQ) and the Japanese people.
Upwards of 3,000 MIS members served during the occupation of Japan and participated in various tasks such as the rewriting of the Constitution, the educational, political reform movements, the woman’s rights movement, and even played a role in public administrative affairs in the central government. Their knowledge of Japanese customs and the language enabled them to bridge the gap between the Japanese officials who did not speak English and the American officials who did not speak Japanese.
The presence of the MIS in the country further contributed to the promotion of a peaceful relationship between the occupational forces and the Japanese people. They interpreted the objectives and orders given by the occupation forces and then verified if the local governments had carried them out. An estimated about 3000 MIS soldiers participated in major tasks ranging from matters of military disarmament to civil affairs and intelligence. The occupation ended in 1952 and forces withdrew from Japan, given the exception for the Ryukyu Islands where the occupational forces remained in control until Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972.
Regardless of the tremendous contributions the MIS had made to both Japan and the United States, the existence of this unit remained classified for years following the end of the war. When military intelligence documents were all declassified in 1972 by way of Executive Order 11652, much of the accomplishments of the MIS in the war effort against Japan remained a secret. Many MIS veterans continued to keep their promise to confidentiality and remained silent for decades.
This film is an attempt to reveal the largely unknown story of about 6000 MIS soldiers who made great contributions to the United States’ victory during the war and the post-war recovery of Japan.

By President Harry Truman

A secret unit of the U.S. Army during World War II, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) was almost comprised of Nisei, second generation Japanese American, military men who had pledged absolute allegiance to the United States at a time when most were facing social and political inequalities. Braving the many prejudices brought against them, Nisei soldiers of MIS had to fight against Japan, their parents’ homeland, and proved their patriotism to the country that had caged their families in the internment camps. During the war, the MIS was successful in persuading the surrender of Japanese troops and helping many civilians to avoid the path of suicide that would otherwise have been taken. They would go on to play a crucial role in expediting Japan’s recovery following Japan’s formal surrender in 1945. About 3000 MIS soldiers during the war and about 3000 served during the Japan occupation. Despite their contributions and achievements during the war, information regarding the MIS remained top secret and classified by the government until Executive Order 11652 was issued in 1972, which began the official process of declassifying documents of national security information and materials. However, many MIS veterans keep silent even after that.
This film will explore an untold chapter in Japanese American history and have the audience think about the values of “Peace”. It describes how the MIS contributed to America’s victory and to Japan’s recovery after the World War II ended. This film is the third and final installment of the trilogy centered on Japanese American history during WWII, following “Toyo’s Camera – Japanese American History during WWII” (2008) and “442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignity” (2010). Both films were widely appraised in the U.S. and Japan releases and have since captivated the minds and hearts of many.
The film’s staff consists of the same members who produced the previous two films, led by veteran filmmaker Junichi Suzuki and Golden Globe Award-winning musician Kitaro.
Many MIS veterans are now in their 90’s, much older than those who served with the 100th /442nd teams during the war. Realizing that this may be the last opportunity for them to tell their stories, there was a heightened sense of urgency in making this film.
There were Nisei known as Kibei in MIS, who had been born in the United States and educated in Japan, and later they returned to the United States leaving their siblings in Japan who were still in school. Some of Kibei had siblings who had entered the Japanese military. As the soldiers of enemy countries, they had to fight each other. As a result, families were torn apart and some siblings became no longer friends as they used to be.
This film aims to illustrate and convey to the audience what it means to love you country, the contradiction involved in war, the perils of discrimination, and the importance of preserving peace.
Filming began in Washington D.C. We interviews MIS veterans, former United States Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta and many other who have important roles in Japanese American community.
The midway point between Japan and the United States, the Hawaiian Islands are one place where the cultures of both countries coexist. We interviewed many energetic Japanese American veterans, including Senator Daniel Inouye (veteran, 442nd RCT) and Former Government George Ariyoshi (veteran, MIS). Hawaii is also home to Jake Shimabukuro, who is known for his skill with the traditional Hawaiian Ukulele and is credited with keeping the legacy of Nisei soldiers during World War II alive through his music.
Upon arriving in Japan two weeks following the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that shattered the country and took the lives of many, our film crew was devastated to see a Japan in ruins. It was one that, as many MIS veterans would later agree, had not been seen since the war ended. In the face of mounting grief and challenges, the Japanese people remained strong, calm, and hopeful, much like they had during the post-war period. In the years that followed, the MIS had successfully helped rebuild the country and its relations with the world. Most importantly, the MIS would work to ultimately strengthen Japan’s bond with its former enemy, the United States.
We visited the Presidio in San Francisco where the original Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) was started. In MISLS, Japanese language was taught to the students to train them to be MIS soldiers. We went to the Camp Tracy, a top-secret interrogation center during the war, where wiretapping operations were performed on Japanese prisoners in contravention of the Geneva Conventions.
In Los Angeles, the film crew would meet Kibei brothers who were MIS veterans. During the war, they had fought as enemies against their younger brothers who had joined the Imperial Army. A veteran admitted that the feelings of pain that he had carried with him even after the war ended.
The film crew has interviewed nearly 80 people during the process of making this film. It is a production that attempts to preserve the legacy of the MIS before it is forgotten.