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.
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.