(1914–1976) was an American labor activist and a

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Ariyoshi was born in Hawaii in 1914 to Japanese

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

parents. Ariyoshi grew up helping his family make a living on a small eight-acre coffee plantation. He attended

Konawaena High School Konawaena High School is a public school located in Kona District, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. Konawaena means "the center of the leeward side" in the Hawaiian Language. The school has a Kealakekua, Hawaii, Kealakekua mailing address, ...

before he worked for six years to help pay off the family debt. Around then, Ariyoshi became interested in labor politics. He attended the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

, but became alienated by his perception of institutional bias against

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s and liberal thought. He transferred to the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

. In

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where he was befriended by the parents of the novelist

Erskine Caldwell Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (19 ...

, Ariyoshi became determined to ease the plight of the

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

he met and to improve labor conditions for the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

. In 1941, Ariyoshi graduated from the University of Georgia with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in journalism (A.B.J.) from the

Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. Established in 1915, Grady College offers undergraduate degrees in journalism, advertising, public re ...

. After graduation, Ariyoshi traveled to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he befriended Karl Yoneda, a founder of the

International Longshore and Warehouse Union The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and in British Columbia, Canada; on the East Coast, the dominant union is the Intern ...

. On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese navy attacked

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, Hawaii. Soon afterward, following the signing of

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a President of the United States, United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized the fo ...

, Ariyoshi was placed in the

Manzanar War Relocation Center Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one o ...

, a

Japanese American internment During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country. Abou ...

camp.

Second World War

Ariyoshi met and married his wife, Taeko Ariyoshi, at Manzanar. He decided to help the war effort by working as a language specialist with the

United States Army Military Intelligence The Military Intelligence Corps is the Military intelligence, intelligence branch of the United States Army. The primary mission of military intelligence in the U.S. Army is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence ...

. He was soon transferred out of the internment camp and into India, Sri Lanka, and Burma because of his ability to translate Japanese. While stationed in the

British Colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

, Ariyoshi witnessed what he believed to be the inequality of the colonial system. He was later transferred to China, where he was exposed to the

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

Dixie Mission

While stationed at the

Dixie Mission The United States Army Observation Group (), commonly known as the Dixie Mission (), was the first US effort to gather intelligence and establish relations with the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army, then headquartered in ...

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

, Ariyoshi met and worked with both

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

and Japanese Communists, including

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and

Sanzo Nosaka Sanzo is an American brand of sparkling water flavored with Asian fruits. These flavors include lychee, yuzu, pomelo, calamansi, mango, and formerly Asian pear. History Sanzo was founded in 2019 by Sandro Roco, a Filipino American who grew ...

. His primary duties in Yan'an were to learn more about the Communist efforts to train Japanese

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

, translate Japanese source materials and develop Allied

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

against the Japanese. In China, Ariyoshi saw the differences between the peasants' meager lifestyle under the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

and the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and left China with an appreciation for what communism or at least progressive

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

could accomplish.

Other wartime activities

Ariyoshi came into contact with members of the

Korean independence movement The Korean independence movement was a series of diplomatic and militant efforts to liberate Korea from Japanese rule. The movement began around the late 19th or early 20th century, and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. As independence a ...

and the Japanese dissident Kaji Wataru.

Postwar

Ariyoshi returned to Hawaii in 1948 and, inspired by the progressive

Japanese-language is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. ...

paper, ''

Hawaii Hochi The ''Hawaii Hochi'' (Japanese: ''ハワイ報知'') was a six-day-a-week Japanese-language newspaper published and sold in Hawaiʻi from 1912 to 2023. An English-language edition was also published under the name ''Hawaii Herald,'' which relau ...

'', began publishing a labor-oriented newspaper, the '' Honolulu Record''. As

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, Ariyoshi lambasted labor conditions for the working class and addressed what he considered to be other social inequalities in the islands. His

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

views bolstered the growth of the local labor movement and the Democratic Party in Hawaii. However, at the height of the

Second Red Scare McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...

and

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

, he and six other progressives (including Jack Hall, the head of the Hawaii Longshoremen's Union) were arrested under charges of attempting to overthrow the American government under the

Smith Act The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, 76th United States Congress, 3rd session, ch. 439, , is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28, 1940. It set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of ...

. The case later became known as the Hawaii Seven. Ariyoshi spent one night in jail, and after his release, he continued to promote his socialist views through his paper. The court found him guilty, but he appealed the ruling and was eventually acquitted of all charges. Madame Sun Yat-sen, the widow of

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

, "the George Washington of China," had donated her mother's wedding dress to be sold to provide funds for Ariyoshi's legal defense. In 1958, Ariyoshi was forced to close his newspaper for lack of funds. He became a

florist Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related s ...

, earning himself the nickname, "The Red Florist." In 1969, he was appointed a member of the Hawaii Foundation for History and the Humanities. Ariyoshi was later appointed president of the organization, a position that he held for three years. With the American opening to China, Ariyoshi was one of the first Americans invited to return to that country, even before

President Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

's visit. He wrote a series of articles for the ''

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honol ...

'', and a television documentary on Chinese arts and crafts, which helped to repopularize cloisonne in the country. He was a founder of the Hawaii-China People's Friendship Association to improve relations between China and the United States. He served on the national steering committee of the U.S.-China Friendship Association from its founding in 1974 until his death. In later life, Ariyoshi began teaching at the

in the Ethnic Studies Department. In 1976 the Hawaii Legislature honored Ariyoshi for his life's work and apologized for the things that had been done to him in the

McCarthy era McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...

. Koji Ariyoshi died later that year from cancer, and an annual award in his name was established by the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship to honor an outstanding figure in promoting U.S.-China friendship.

In film

On May 5, 2005, he was featured in the Biography Hawaii series airing on PBS Hawaii. The documentary featured original footage of Ariyoshi during his time in Yen'an and explored his persecution during the 1950s.

References

External links

Review of episode and feature on Ariyoshi.
full archives (pdf) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariyoshi, Koji 1914 births 1976 deaths Trade unionists from Hawaii United States Army personnel of World War II Dixie Mission participants Editors of Hawaii newspapers Hawaii people of Japanese descent American civil rights activists of Japanese descent Japanese-American internees American male journalists American journalists of Asian descent American writers of Japanese descent American military personnel of Japanese descent United States Army non-commissioned officers University of Georgia alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty Hawaii Communists