Knowledge of Japanese language, culture crucial to WW II success in the Pacific

Knowledge of the Japanese language and culture by the U.S. military was crucial in prosecuting the Pacific military effort in the Second World War. Bellingham residents Irwin and Carole Slesnick published a book in 2006 about the use of Japanese interpreters during the war and during the occupation of Japan. Entitled "Kanji & Codes," it provides a fascinating account of the training and use of Japanese interpreters by the military.
The U.S. Army, anticipating the possibility of eventual conflict with Japan, sent four men to Japan in 1908 to learn the language and to familiarize themselves with Japanese culture. The development of a Japanese language school in Tokyo followed. Over the next four decades, the U.S. established 14 additional language schools at home and abroad to train Americans to read and speak Japanese.