Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to war, the US incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans, and suicide.

“In September, 1931, Japanese forces invaded Manchuria, hypocritically citing ‘more than 120 cases of infringement of rights and interest’ of Japanese and Korean residents there. After five months of fighting, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo. The reaction from Russia, Britain, France and the United States was unsurprisingly bellicose.”

Japan’s expansionist aims began with the invasion of Manchuria in 1931, but the need for raw materials and natural resources pushes their ambitions beyond Manchukuo into China, South-East Asia, and eventually into the Pacific islands. Their insatiable expansionism, fueled by near-religious nationalism, eventually leaves them overextended and poorly defended, with an Imperial army willing to die for nationalism and a god-like emperor.

“Shinto is an ancient religion that can be traced back to the Yayoi culture from the third or second century BCE. The earliest writings about Shinto appear from the eighth century. It’s a polytheistic religion that revolves around the worship of spirits called kami, which inhabit all things and are worshiped within households and public shrines called insha.”

Douglas Wada’s father, Hisakichi, is a miyadaiku carpenter responsible for building Shinto shrines. It is an occupation of great honor and privilege, and he has standing in the community in Hawaii, where he and his wife Chiyo settled after leaving Japan. At the heart of his skillset is a firm belief in Shinto, which includes the worship of spirits at home and in public. His work as an artist and carpenter tied to Shinto shrines is paramount to his identity. While other shrine workers were arrested in Hawaii, exiled back to Japan, or were incarcerated in the mainland, as Wada’s father, Hisakichi’s position saves him from a similar fate.

“Douglas Wada is now steeped in Japanese traditions and Shinto religion. He also now speaks fluent Japanese, something that eludes even those Hawaiian Nisei who study at local language schools.”

After spending five years in Japan, graduating from high school and attending some university, Douglas Wada becomes a man of two cultures. He is a