Takeyuki Maruyama has an aunt

Today started out like a typical Saturday...rolled out of bed, stumbled around the house for a little while and then commenced the running of errands. After a good workout at the gym, I headed home and hoped to find a package on the doorstep from Google with some good techno-toys, but instead, I found another letter from Japan in the mailbox.  The letter was different than the previous three - it was much thicker. I could hardly wait to get inside out of the rain and open it up, anxious to read the results of the agency's investigation.

The contents of the envelope did not disappoint.

Another family found

Summer is upon us and the hustle and bustle of traveling, yard work and a number of other projects have unfortunately delayed the most recent news and development with my search for families in Japan. Almost a month ago, on May 11, I received another letter from Japan, letting me know they had located the surviving family members of Lance Corporal Toyosaku Karatsu, seen in the photo after the break. 

A second letter, a second son

Just twenty four days after the first letter arrived from Japan, notifying me that the son of Shinzo Furuya had been located, a second letter was waiting for me in the mailbox today after work.

Another son has been located.

Final delivery

The flag has made it to Japan!

I just hope and pray that it is in one piece...I was distracted during the packaging of the flag and did not wrap it in anything or protect it inside the envelope, so I hope the mail system did not damage it. But, it made it to Japan at 3:01PM today, Japan time.

The flag is heading home

Saturday was a bittersweet day. It was the day that the silk Japanese prayer flag, belonging to Shinzo Furuya, began the 6500 mile journey from Muncie, Indiana to Tokyo, Japan and then on to Yamanashi Prefecture.

Updates, home and abroad

Over the past week, there have been a few minor updates in my research efforts. I have found another amazing resource and ran into a delay in returning the prayer flag to Mr. Furuya's son.

Success! A son has been found...

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.

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!

More Japanese treasures

Tucked away in small boxes among medals, Marine lapel pins, and other mementos from Grandpa Givan's time as a United States Marine, I found more treasures that I am working on scanning, photographing, and adding to the collection of war-time treasures featured on this site.

Another resource from Dr. Kaji

Dr. Kaji and I continue to email back and forth and his latest correspondence recommended that I contact the Association of Iwo-Jima Japan, a site dedicated to returning items to the families of Japanese soldiers from World War II.  While the association must work through the Japanese Health Ministry - War Victims' Relief, they may provide a more "human-like communication".

Traditional Japanese fan

A beautiful traditional Japanese fan was also among the items in the cardboard box simply labeled "Japan stuff".  On the front is the Japanese sun disc with the phrase "by all means, we will win" written on either side. A name, scribed in red ink, indicates that the fan belonged to someone with the family name of Kamishima. The lyrics of the songs are for a soldier on the battlefield, but little is known of this fan's origin.

Prayer flag prepared for Shinzo Furuya

Included in the box of mementos Grandpa kept tucked away in a closet were two Japanese prayer flags, which were the Japanese national flag known as the Hinomaru with prayers and greetings from family and friends.

Update: Search for the families

I received a response tonight from Dr. Yasuhiko Kaji, a retired physician from Toledo, Ohio. Dr. Kaji has spent more than 30 years collecting personal items from American veterans and their families and attempting to return those items to their owners. He reviewed the photos I had posted and provided a slightly different translation for the person for which I have the most information - Takeshi Maruyama. He indicated that the name likely reads "Takeyuki" instead of "Takeshi", but he did confirm that the letter was from Renko Maruyama, who is probably his sister.

Dr. Kaji offered to post the photos I have on his web site - http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/Nishiha/english.htm - and said I was on the right track by contacting the Office of Foreign Affairs - Planning Division of War Victims' Relief in Japan.

Based on the experiences of others who have taken this journey, it could take months, even years, for the agency to locate any family members, if they are able to find anyone at all. I'm on about day 5, so I've got a while to wait I think! In the mean time, I'm going to continue researching the items I have and I will be adding more to the site soon.

Letter from Renko to Takeshi (Takeyuki)

The letter below was from Renko and addressed to Takeshi (Takeyuki) Maruyama at a post office in Suga, 27, 5893 Western Division/District Troop. The stamps on the envelope are possibly generals from the time period. The address on the back of the letter is for Renko: Saitama-Ken, Saiwaite-machi (located north of Tokyo). Another translation for the address is: Satte Machi (Satte City), Saitama-ken.

Photos from the wallet of Takeshi (Takeyuki) Maruyama

Below are the photos from the wallet that Grandpa brought home from the Pacific.  These, along with the letter, prayer flags and a fan are the items I hope to return.