A little over four months ago, I started a search for families that I had never met, with faces I had never seen and from places I have never visited. The only information I had to go on were characters that I could not decipher or read, scrawled in pencil and ink on the backs of faded wallet-sized photographs, a tattered silk flag, and a delicate paper fan. With the help of Fumiko Kishi Chiuini, a very patient and generous instructor of Japanese at the Indiana Academy for Sciences, Mathematics, and Humanities, we reviewed all of the mementos my grandfather had collected during the war and she did her best at translating a language that was even a little foreign to her.
With that information in tow, I began to scour Google's search results for any family, distant or otherwise, that might be related to the soldiers whose belongings I now had in my own closet. Luckily, I stumbled across an article about a son pursuing the same goal and there was mention of a government office in Japan dedicated to returning the belongings of fallen soldiers. After more searching, I found an email address for the office and asked for help. A few days later, I received a follow up email from Kanako Sekine (関根 加奈子), with instructions and a questionnaire that would initiate the investigation. I returned the completed form and a links to the photos and documents from the web gallery. Then, I hoped for the best.
Today, that hope was answered in the form of a letter that arrived by air mail from Tokyo, Japan. The flag, seen below, now has a family.
The text of that letter appears below (any misspellings are intentional and how they appeared in the letter).
Today is truly a good day - I was so excited to see that air mail envelope sitting in the mailbox when I got home from the gym tonight. While a very small part of me is sad to lose this beautiful flag, knowing that Grandpa kept it for all of those years, I know that it was not his to keep. It belongs to Shinzo Furuya and his family. I do not know if his son will contact me or what I would say if he did, but I look forward to whatever may come next on this venture. All I know is that my next steps will involve a visit to the post office (or maybe UPS? I've never sent something to a different country before!) with a carefully wrapped package that is almost 70 years old and long overdue to be returned home where it belongs.
With that information in tow, I began to scour Google's search results for any family, distant or otherwise, that might be related to the soldiers whose belongings I now had in my own closet. Luckily, I stumbled across an article about a son pursuing the same goal and there was mention of a government office in Japan dedicated to returning the belongings of fallen soldiers. After more searching, I found an email address for the office and asked for help. A few days later, I received a follow up email from Kanako Sekine (関根 加奈子), with instructions and a questionnaire that would initiate the investigation. I returned the completed form and a links to the photos and documents from the web gallery. Then, I hoped for the best.
Today, that hope was answered in the form of a letter that arrived by air mail from Tokyo, Japan. The flag, seen below, now has a family.
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| Japanese prayer flag belonging to PFC Shinzo Furuya |
The text of that letter appears below (any misspellings are intentional and how they appeared in the letter).
Dear Mr. Kyle Parker
March 1, 2011
Thank you very much for your cooperation in our effort to return the belongings of fallen Japanese servicemen to Japan.
We are writing to notify you of the results of an investigation that was conducted by this office to identify the owner of "The Japanese Flag" bearing the name Shinzo Furuya. This investigation was carried out in response to your request dated November 2, 2010. Through the investigation, we have identified the owner to be the person mentioned in Item 1 below.
As we would like pass on the item to the surviving member of the owner's family (see Item 2 below), we kindly request that you send the item to the address provided in Item 3. Other articles are currently under investigation.
Yours sincerely,
Foreign Affairs Planning Division of War Victim's Relief
Social Welfare and War Victim's Relief Bureau
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
1. Owner of the item
(1) Name: Shinzo Furuya
(2) Rank: Private first class
2. Family
(1) Name: --- I am going to withhold the name, address, and telephone number of Mr. Furuya's son until I receive permission from him to publish it
(2) Relation to owner: Son
(3) Address: ---, Yamanashi-ken
(4) Telphon: ---
3. Address to which the item should be send
Satoshi Taniyama or Kanako Sekine
Foreign Affairs Planning Division of War Victim's Relief
Social Welfare and War Victim's Relief Bureau
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
1-2-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo, Japan 100-8916
Today is truly a good day - I was so excited to see that air mail envelope sitting in the mailbox when I got home from the gym tonight. While a very small part of me is sad to lose this beautiful flag, knowing that Grandpa kept it for all of those years, I know that it was not his to keep. It belongs to Shinzo Furuya and his family. I do not know if his son will contact me or what I would say if he did, but I look forward to whatever may come next on this venture. All I know is that my next steps will involve a visit to the post office (or maybe UPS? I've never sent something to a different country before!) with a carefully wrapped package that is almost 70 years old and long overdue to be returned home where it belongs.
Reading this reminded me of what a gifted creative writer you are. What an amazing gift you have given to Shinzo Furuya's family. I was very moved by this post. You are doing a good thing, my dear friend.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Kyle. Well done. As always. JK
ReplyDeleteHi Kyle. Good on you! Two days ago I received the same letter as you, except that the name of the fallen soldier and the found son was different as a result of my inquiry. About 6 months ago I came across a flag similar to yours in an antiques shop in Brisbane, Australia. The flag was taken from a soldier who died fighting the Australians in Papua New Guinea. I took pictures of it, did some research and sent a detailed letter to the same people you did. They found that soldier's eldest son. I will now do my best to buy that flag (about $520) so that I can return it to the son. I have contacted the owner (antique dealer) to ask for a price reduction, but I'll cop the full price, even if I have to sell some of my own items. I go to Japan once a year so I want to take the adventure a step further an hand the flag over myself. I speak Japanese and lived there for two years. My Japanese wife and relatives can act as a 'cultural' buffer if that helps. Stuff like that doesn't happen all the time so I want to document and photograph the whole adventure so that in 40 years time my kids and grandkids can go back over this little adventure and see that dad/grand-dad set a high standard in treating others like he hoped to be treated.
ReplyDeleteTake care
Is there an email where we can reach you Kyle? We are working on a similar project about returning articles of war back to original family in Japan. We just sent you a friend request and added myself to your fb group. Let me know, thanks!
ReplyDelete