Seeking A Flags Rightful Owner

In an effort to return a World War II era Japanese Good Luck Flag to its rightful owner(s), I am desperately trying to find someone who can translate/identify a family's name inscribed upon it.

Please post a picture of the flag; I am sure we can help you with the translation.

Heritage Concern said:

In an effort to return a World War II era Japanese Good Luck Flag to its rightful owner(s), I am desperately trying to find someone who can translate/identify a family's name inscribed upon it.

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Sorry if it's not legible...I can take a better photo if necessary.

The orientation is wrong. It should look as below. The person to whom the flag was presented is 解良清次郎 Kera Seijirō. Many other readings are also possible: the last name could be read as Kaira, or Kairyō. Anyway, it is an unusual name, found most often in Niigata prefecture. Since it is an unusual name, you may have some luck in finding the owner.

So Kera Seijiro, Kaira, or Kairyo...very interesting...(sorry, I'm not familiar with the punctuation marks above the letters or how to apply them but will learn to do so). I'm assuming that Kera is a "first" name (similar to American culture) and the other(s) are/is a "Surname" (again like American culture)?

I totally agree that the uniqueness of the young man's name will serve me well in potentially locating an ancestor. Any further guidance that you have in the matter will be greatly appreciated. I sincerely want this flag to be returned in the respectful manner in which it was given. Thank You Very Much!

Dion E. Roe
The Heritage Concern

I assume you are familiar with the Obon Society? I think they are your best option for getting the flag returned.

Kera, Kaira, Kairyō is the family name (surname).

Seijirō is the given/personal name. So in the US he would be Seijirō KERA. In Japanese custom, the surname goes first, and then the given name. There are no middle names in Japan. If you end up communicating with anyone in Japan, its probably best to NOT use the terms "first name" and "last name" as this always causes confusion. Best to use "surname/family name" and "given name".



There are only about 670 people with this family name, according to the site below, and I presume many of them are related somehow, so the chances of finding descendants is quite high. Note the diacritical marks in the name are not super important in trying to pinpoint this person. The kanji and their pronunciation are what's important. Even a rough or slightly incorrect pronunciation will not slow down your research. The Obon Society mentioned above is one resource to check out. The Japanese embassy in your area may be another.


We had a member on the forum here not too long ago (within the last year, I think) who submitted a flag to the Obon Society. The Obon Society explained that finding descendants is not easy, and that it may take a long time (i.e. years) to find the descendants. But in the end they were able to find the descendants within about three months, I think. In your case, you can also be optimistic that, with the right resources, you can probably find the descendants within the same time.

There are at least two other people from the Kera family who signed this flag. Kera Kumazō (m) and Kera Tsuruko (f), so that should also help pinpoint the person. There are other names that are on the flag: about six people named Otani (尾谷), Tanaka (田中), Miyano (宮野) etc... These are all useful.

The big writing on the far right flag is a patriotic slogan: 盡忠報国 (Jinchū hōkoku). It just means "give all for your country". It's not particularly unique or helpful in tracking down the owner, but I thought you might be curious.

mdchachi said:

I assume you are familiar with the Obon Society? I think they are your best option for getting the flag returned.

Obon Society | How to Return a Flag

OBON SOCIETY is a non-profit humanitarian effort dedicated to the pursuit of peace. We provide opportunities for reconciliation between families through the return of personal items taken during war.

obonsociety.org

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Well... not too familiar, but I am aware of their efforts as of late. There definitely seems to be a major up-tick so to speak in Good Luck Flags being discovered/returned. I'm very pleased with this trend as I previously felt a bit hesitant because of the magnitude of such an endeavor, returning a flag to someone a million miles away, so many decades later.

I myself acquired the flag from my mother and she from her father, who I knew very well. As a child I was fascinated by it but didn't know specifically how one obtained such a flag. I thought well, you're a soldier in a war against a country called Japan... so what's so difficult about getting a Japanese Flag... they should be everywhere right? So unbelievably naïve.

Over time... many many decades... the flag transitioned from a well-deserved spoil-of-war for my grandfather to something he wished he'd never laid eyes on. I'm 53 now and my grandfather's been gone a very long time, but I'm confident this is the right thing to do because it's what he would do... if he were still with us today.

Majestic said:

There are at least two other people from the Kera family who signed this flag. Kera Kumazō (m) and Kera Tsuruko (f), so that should also help pinpoint the person. There are other names that are on the flag: about six people named Otani (尾谷), Tanaka (田中), Miyano (宮野) etc... These are all useful.

The big writing on the far right flag is a patriotic slogan: 盡忠報国 (Jinchū hōkoku). It just means "give all for your country". It's not particularly unique or helpful in tracking down the owner, but I thought you might be curious.

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This is remarkable... and overwhelming... a good overwhelming. So first and foremost... THANK YOU... AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ELSE... WOW!!! This is incredible... and that's a lot to process so let me digest all of that and we'll talk a lot more!