A letter from Mr. Nobutaka Hirai to his Friends from America

As I mentioned in the recent post regarding Mike West's gift, there was a copy of a letter from the son of a Japanese soldier. The text of that letter appears below. While it may be a long shot, I will try and contact Mr. Hirai and see if he would be willing or interested in helping with my efforts to return Grandpa's wartime mementos. Hopefully he still lives at the address on the letter!


Dear Friends from America,

I am very happy to be here in Iwo with you in friendship peacefully.

I am a son of a Japanese soldier, who left home fifty-one years ago, and has not come home yet.

Father received the summons to the Army on my 11th birthday, February in 1944. He left home two days later. Since then our suffering days started.

We didn't know where he was because Japanese soldiers were forbidden to tell where they were even to their family at that time.

But we happened to find he was far in Iwo in one of his letters. Iwo a small island with no water to drink.

We got 18 letters in all from him. It seemed to be his only comfort and happiness to read the letters from us again and again, and to write to us.

The 18th letter came to us on my12th birthday. That was the last letter.

He wrote and wrote very closely in tiny slight letters. To his children, my little sister - 9 years old, my little brother - 4 yeas old, and me, he said "Every morning when I was up, I turn toward the direction where you live, and call your names one after one and say 'good morning'. And then I pray to God for your good health."

He wrote them with all his love and heart. How much he loved us. How he wished to live and go back to his family. How he wanted to drink the pure water of his home land. We read them and realized his love and wishes.

I truly wonder how he could be so warm and thoughtful like that. I can't read them without tears.

I think everyone that lost one's father or brother here in Iwo feels the same. Indeed a lot of American and Japanese fathers have gone in this hell island. We should share our sorrow with each other.

I have never hated you Americans. Never. Because past Japanese Militarism and Imperialism must be blamed, I believe.

Now I heartily wish Iwo would be an International Park Island of Peace without any bases and weapons. Because that is surely the wish of the fathers who were still lying under the sand of Iwo, I believe.

Also I hope all the people of the world would throw away all the weapon and embrace each other just like as many Americans and Japanese did here in Iwo ten years ago.

Our prefecture assembly decided never to fight again against any other countries last year.

Shall we all together make our world a peaceful earth?

Please write to me if you like.

Your truly,
Mr. Nobutaka Hirai
17-9 Tamura 2
Sawara-ku, Fukuoka City
Fukuoka Japan