Frank Shozo Baba

[1] The Voice of America started in 1942, with Baba working on the news and commentary related to psychological warfare against the Japanese with radio shortwave, which was prohibited at that time in Japan.Baba was assigned to the Strategic Bombing Survey-GHQ, and he arrived at Naval Air Facility Atsugi by C-54 Skymaster on November 2, 1945.Baba became a key person of the CIE (Civil Information and Education Division[2]) and deeply involved in the NHK radio program and its policy.GHQ deemed that radio broadcasting would be the strongest weapon to bring up democracy in post-war Japan.Baba worried about whether the democracy among Japanese people would be maintained after GHQ left Japan, they might revert to non-democratic ways quickly if NHK and newspapers were under the control of some of the remaining powers.He wanted to establish the commercial broadcasting system in parallel with NHK's monopoly, and would attempt to have his boss use his proposal to help persuade.Baba persuaded newspapers, advertising agencies and parts of the private sector to be in support of the plan for commercial broadcasting.
Japanese AmericanWorld War IIUnited StatesVoice of AmericaOffice of War InformationSupreme Commander of the Allied Powerscommercial broadcastingAyauta, KagawaAsahi ShimbunSan Francisco ChronicleThe San Francisco ExaminerAyauta District, KagawaCaliforniaJapanese New YearOakland Technical High SchoolHaas School of BusinessUniversity of California, BerkeleyJapanese literaturespeech competitionsAttack on Pearl HarborGila River War Relocation CenterHeart Mountain Relocation CenterUnited States Navycommissioned officersJapanesecivil servantpsychological warfareshortwavePotsdam DeclarationSurrender of JapanNazi GermanyStrategic Bombing SurveyNaval Air Facility AtsugiC-54 SkymasterUchisaiwaichōdemocracyInformation PleaseTwenty QuestionsNow It Can Be ToldFountainelectionletterDouglas MacArthurShigeru YoshidaChubu-Nippon BroadcastingMainichi Broadcasting SystemUnited States Information AgencyEmbassy of the United States in Tokyo1964 Summer OlympicsjournalistsWashington, D.C.interpreterbureaucratsJohn F. KennedyWhite HouseOrder of the Sacred TreasureMasaru IbukaTsuneo WatanabeTetsuya ChikushiAlhambra, CaliforniaUnited States Office of War InformationMainichi ShimbunUniversity of San DiegoImperial War Museum Duxford