Uncle Come-Come

Joe Hirakawa, the Arthur Godfrey of Japanese radio, gets such enthusiastic letters from some of his 1,250,000 fans that he had to remind one admirer: "The war is over, and writing letters in your own blood is undemocratic." Like his burly U.S. counterpart, dapper, 48-year-old Joe Hirakawa is continually swamped with presents: hand-knitted sweaters, fresh vegetables, wine, porcelain vases. "It's wonderful," he sighs. "Not what they send but the consideration behind it."

Joe works hard at being a radio teacher of English, which he interlards with American slang dating back to the '20s. "You bet your life!" a Hirakawa-trained Japa--nese will cry, and "Atta girl!" and "Boy oh boy!" Nicknamed "Uncle Come-Come" because the theme song of his weekday program is an adaptation of the old Japanese children's song Come, Come, Everybody, Joe teaches his listeners about 30 new words each show. He uses short dialogues that have such everyday applications as giving road directions to a stranger or shopping in a department store. Every Friday he summarizes the week's lessons by sprinkling the new words through an interview with an American military or civilian guest.

Joe learned his English on the West Coast during a 19-year visit to his immigrant father. Working first as a railway laborer and store clerk, he later majored dramatics at the University of Washington and played bit parts in a few Hollywood movies. He went back to Japan with his wife Yoneko when her U.S. entry permit expired in 1937. As a Japanese radio announcer, Joe worked in the same matchbox-sized studio with Tokyo Rose. But "she was an American citizen undermining the morale of U.S. troops," he explains disapprovingly. Then he adds: "I was a Japanese citizen merely broadcasting news to the U.S."

There are nearly 1,000 "Come-Come -Clubs" in the islands. Last week Joe was guest of honor at a rally of 2,000 fans in Urawa, 15 miles northwest of Tokyo. Like his other fans, the Urawa club members buy quantities of the English textbooks which give Joe an annual royalty of almost 5 1/2 million yen ($15,000), plus his yearly salary of 130,000 yen. Of his four-year-old program, Joe says modestly: "I just wanted to do something for my country, and realized this was the way."

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