Dec. 19, 1941: The suicide of Dr. Rikita Honda, who slashed his wrists while in custody at Terminal Island, revealed that he was the director of a vast spy ring, the FBI says. Honda was head of the Imperial Comradeship Society, which allegedly had 4,800 members in Western states, including California and Arizona.
An FBI report on Honda is here.
A report on the association is here.
In an interview, Harry Yoshio Ueno, who led a riot at Manzanar in 1942, says there were stories that Honda was tortured to death.
one of the relatives went over and verified his corpse. He opened up the sheet and saw that both hands showed that wire or something had been tied up very deeply around his wrists. He looked at that and said to himself, “He must have been tortured to death.” That’s what he told a friend of mine who lived in back of my house.
Tom Treanor writes about a test in Griffith Park of an air raid warning device.
Restaurant owners in Portland, Ore., say that changing the names of the hamburger and the frankfurter because of the war is silly. But German pancakes will be known as egg pancakes and Italian meatballs will be known as meatballs.
Jimmie Fidler says: Mickey Rooney-Ava Gardner marriage is set for Jan. 12 at the Mission Inn, Riverside. Mickey has presented his bride-to-be with a $2,500 engagement ring.
“Dumbo” opens today at the Carthay Circle and United Artists downtown.
March 9, 1935: Dr. Rikita Honda invites veterans of the Japanese army to join a a veterans group.
Dec. 15, 1941: Dr. Rikita Honda commits suicide.
