Help Translating Yosegaki Hinomaru from WWII

Hello:

My mother and I were going through some family heirlooms stored in a lockbox and ran across a collection of items my grandfather brought back from WWII. Among the items were a flag, which I have researched and learned is a Yosegaki Hinomaru. Using google image translate I have been able to translate a few phrases and that the flag's owner may have been from Nakagawa Village. After speaking with my mother, we have decided we would like to try and track down any surviving family members and return the flag given its very personal significance. However, I am having trouble idenitfying the name of solidier who owned the flag. It looks like the family name may have been Ogawa since that seems to appear in several places on the flag but I am just not certain and the google translate with image while helpful is sometimes inconsistent given that the text is handprinted and very old. A picture is attached below. I would greatly appreciate any assistance anyone might be able to provide regarding the identity of the owner. I know very little about how my grandfather acquired the flag other than he was in army in WWII and was stationed somewhere in the Philippines in the early part of 1945. I have a vague recollection of my grandmother once telling me about the flag and that it was taken from a captured Japanese solidier but I do not know if this is true. My grandfather never talked about the war after his return home.

Hello, my initial thought is that the name that is written the largest, Inage Eisaburō, would be the intended recipient's name. (The flag has several signatures from people in the Inage family). However there is no "honorific" attached to the name, so that feels sort of strange to me - usually you would expect some kind of honorific attached to the name.
Regardless, you have the location name, and you have several signatures which should be sufficient for someone with resources to be able to search out at least the exact location and the descendants of some of these families. I presume you've already checked out the "Obon Society" website. Also the Japanese embassy has started to accept items like these for repatriation back to the families of the original owners. I don't know which one is better, faster, or more satisfactory.

There is a dedication on the right side (left side in the picture in your initial post) of the flag.

小川君の健闘を祈る
遠藤清夫
Wish You Good Luck, Ogawa
Endō Kiyoo

Thus, the recipient would be Ogawa.

Unfortunately, there are/were 30 or so Ogawa village in Japan, so it's hard to identify the village where 遠藤清次郎 Endō Seijirō was a chief of a group.

Toritoribe said:

there are/were 30 or so Ogawa village in Japan

Click to expand...

I think you mean Nakagawa village, yes?

Ooops! My bad! Yes, I meant 中川村 Nakagawa village. Here's a list of Nakagawa villages.

Toritoribe said:

There is a dedication on the right side (left side in the picture in your initial post) of the flag.

小川君の健闘を祈る
遠藤清夫
Wish You Good Luck, Ogawa
Endō Kiyoo

Thus, the recipient would be Ogawa.

Unfortunately, there are/were 30 or so Ogawa village in Japan, so it's hard to identify the village where 遠藤清次郎 Endō Seijirō was a chief of a group.

Click to expand...

thank you!

Majestic said:

Hello, my initial thought is that the name that is written the largest, Inage Eisaburō, would be the intended recipient's name. (The flag has several signatures from people in the Inage family). However there is no "honorific" attached to the name, so that feels sort of strange to me - usually you would expect some kind of honorific attached to the name.
Regardless, you have the location name, and you have several signatures which should be sufficient for someone with resources to be able to search out at least the exact location and the descendants of some of these families. I presume you've already checked out the "Obon Society" website. Also the Japanese embassy has started to accept items like these for repatriation back to the families of the original owners. I don't know which one is better, faster, or more satisfactory.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

You should research we're and when your grandfather served in the PTO, this information can also be helpful. It could ring a bell on the Japanese side if they know where their family member served. If you need assistance with military terms or operations, you can PM me, I can help for free. Look for your grandfathers Form WD AGO 53-55. If he was a Marine, you can get hold of his entire personal file from the National Archives, most Army records were destroyed in the 73 fire.