Japanese Committee on Trade and Information

[2][3] Located at 549 Market Street,[4] it was created soon after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War with the objective of influencing public opinion in the United States towards Japan and against China.

[10][11][12] Among the individuals the organization funded were Frederick Vincent Williams, who was paid $300 monthly to make pro-Japanese articles, speeches, and radio broadcasts,[13] David Warren Ryder, who wrote a series of pamphlets entitled "Far Eastern Affairs", and Ralph Townsend, who also printed pamphlets with the Committee's support.

[14][15] As the FBI stepped up its surveillance of foreign agents the Japanese consulate became increasingly concerned about exposure of the organization's covert activities.

[7][16] The two special prosecutors who spearheaded the case, Albert E. Arent and Arthur B. Caldwell, made their case before a federal grand jury in San Francisco and on 28 January 1942 succeeded in having the United States government indict Townsend, Ryder, and Williams for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as well as Obana for filing false and incomplete statements on behalf of the organization.

[18] Ryder and Williams professed their innocence and claimed ignorance about the extent to which the Japanese government had controlled the Committee,[20] but both were convicted on all counts in June.