【北海道新聞】７月２６日に北海道は松前町で執り行われました「鈴木秀二命日章旗返還式」について北海道新聞が報じて下さいました。／Hideji Suzuki's return of the Japanese flag.
Aug
2
【中日新聞】米から返還の日章旗「母に見せたかった」陸田さん、養老町長に喜び／Returned Japanese flag from the U.S. "I wanted to show it to my mother."
Aug
2
日章旗は日の丸の上に「武運長久」と書かれ、繁義さんの義父らとみられる九十四人の署名が日の丸を囲んでいる。入手経緯が分からないまま一九九四年に博物館に寄贈され、二十九年間展示されていた。
敏弘さんは日章旗を手に帰宅した後、すぐに自宅にある母の仏前に供えた。父の記憶はほとんどないため、返還後は三人の子どもを育てた母の顔が浮かび「親戚など周りに助けてもらった。苦労してきた母に見せたかった」と思いを巡らせたという。
戦争の悲惨さを後世に伝えるため、日章旗は靖国神社への展示を検討している。敏弘さんは「若者に戦争の裏でどれだけ悲劇があったのか考えてもらう史料になれば」と力を込める。
川地町長は「よく返還してもらえた。八十年の歴史には重みがある」と話した。
https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/740695?rct=gifu
【Taipei Times ／AP】Flag carried by Japanese soldier in WWII returned
Jul
31
Toshihiro Mutsuda, center left, and USS Lexington Museum executive director Steve Banta, center right, hold the good luck flag of Mutsuda’s father, Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo
USS Lexington Museum executive director Steve Banta, left, hands over the good luck flag of Japanese solider Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, to his son Toshihiro Mutsuda at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo
On Saturday, when the flag was returned to him from a US war museum where it had been on display for 29 years, Mutsuda, now 83, said: “It’s a miracle.”
The flag, known as Yosegaki Hinomaru, or good luck flag, carries the soldier’s name, Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, and the signatures of his relatives, friends and neighbors wishing him luck.
It was given to him before he was drafted by the army. His family was later told he died in Saipan, but his remains were never returned.
The flag was donated in 1994 and displayed at the museum aboard the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Its meaning was not known until it was identified by the family earlier this year, said museum director Steve Banta, who brought the flag to Tokyo.
Banta said he learned the story behind the flag earlier this year when he was contacted by the Obon Society, a nonprofit organization that has returned about 500 similar flags as non-biological remains to the descendants of Japanese service members killed in the war.
The search for the flag’s original owner started in April when a museum visitor took a photograph and asked an expert about the description that it had belonged to a kamikaze suicide pilot.
When Shigeyoshi Mutsuda’s grandson saw the photo, he sought help from the Obon Society, group cofounder Keiko Ziak said.
“When we learned all of this, and that the family would like to have the flag, we knew immediately that the flag did not belong to us,” Banta said at the handover ceremony. “We knew that the right thing to do would be to send the flag home, to be in Japan and to the family.”
The soldier’s eldest son, Toshihiro Mutsuda, was speechless for a few seconds when Banta, wearing white gloves, gently placed the neatly folded flag into his hands.
Two of his younger siblings, both in their 80s, stood by and looked on silently. The three children, all wearing cotton gloves so they would not damage the decades-old flag, carefully unfolded it to show to the audience.
“After receiving the flag today, I earnestly felt that the war like that should never be fought again and that I do not wish anyone else to go through this sadness [of separation],” Toshihiro Mutsuda said.
The soldier’s daughter, Misako Matsukuchi, touched the flag with both hands and prayed.
“After nearly 80 years, the spirit of our father returned to us. I hope he can finally rest in peace,” Matsukuchi said later.
Toshihiro Mutsuda said his memory of his father was foggy.
However, he clearly remembers that his mother, Masae Mutsuda, who died five years ago at age 102, used to make the long-distance bus trip almost every year from the farming town in Gifu to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where 2.5 million war dead are enshrined, to pay tribute to her husband’s spirit.
That is why Toshihiro Mutsuda and his siblings chose to receive the flag at Yasukuni and brought framed photos of their parents.
“My mother missed him and wanted to see him so much and that’s why she used to pray here,” he said. “Today her wish finally came true, and she was able to be reunited.”
With the flag on his lap, he said: “I feel the weight of the flag.”
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2023/07/31/2003804026?fbclid=IwAR1D2VbWcDAOsprKK-s-9in6yRzq2NbhZ2aCXeRftCzoDB4pgAI1luKe8Bw
【読売新聞】令和５年７月２９日に靖国神社参集殿にて執り行われました「陸田繁義命寄せ書き日の丸返還式」につきまして東京新聞が記事を掲載して下さいました。／(Japanese News paper featured Flag return at YASUKUNI) )
Jul
30
８０年ぶり再会 靖国神社で
太平洋戦争でサイパンに出征し、戦死した岐阜県出身の旧日本兵、 陸田むつだ 繁義さんのものとみられる日章旗が米国の博物館で保管されていることがわかり、千代田区の靖国神社で２９日、遺族に返還された。約８０年ぶりに戻った父の遺品を受け取った長男の敏弘さん（８２）は「奇跡的なこと。うれしい気持ちで胸がいっぱい」と喜んだ。
日章旗には「武運長久」の文字や陸田さんと思われる名前のほか、家族や近所の人など数十人の名前が寄せ書きされている。敏弘さんらによると、陸田さんは１９４３年、２６歳で陸軍に召集され、４４年にサイパンに出征したといい、その際に日章旗を持参したとみられる。
今春、退役した空母を改装した米テキサス州の「航空母艦レキシントン博物館」にこの日章旗が展示されていることを知った敏弘さんの長男が、旧日本兵が戦地に持参した遺品の返還に取り組む米国の民間団体「ＯＢＯＮ（オボン）ソサエティ」に相談。出征前に撮影された写真に写った旗と、博物館に展示された旗の特徴が一致することが確認され、返還が実現した。
(A Japanese flag believed to belong to Shigeyoshi Rikuta Mutsuda, a former Japanese soldier from Gifu Prefecture who was killed in action in Saipan during the Pacific War, was returned to his bereaved family at Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on March 29. Toshihiro, 82, the eldest son of Shigeyoshi's father, who received his father's belongings back for the first time in 80 years, said, "This is miraculous. I am filled with happiness.
On the Yosegaki flag, there were inscriptions of the words "Bu-un Choukyu" (Long Live the Warrior), the name of a person believed to be Mr. Rikuda, and dozens of other names, including family members and neighbors. According to Toshihiro and others, Mr. Rikuda was drafted into the Army in 1943 at the age of 26 and went to Saipan in 1944.
This spring, Toshihiro's eldest son learned that the flag was on display at the Aircraft Carrier Lexington Museum in Texas, a renovated retired aircraft carrier, and consulted the OBON Society, a private U.S. organization that works to return artifacts brought to war by former Japanese soldiers. It was confirmed that the flag in the photograph taken before his departure for war matched the characteristics of the flag displayed at the museum, and its return was realized.)
２９日に靖国神社で行われた返還式には、敏弘さんのほか、長女の美佐子さん（８１）、次男の靖則さん（８０）も岐阜県から駆けつけた。来日した同博物館のスティーブ・バンタ館長から日章旗を受け取ると、敏弘さんらは頬をすり寄せ、父との「再会」に感激した様子だった。
２０１８年に亡くなった陸田さんの妻、まさ江さんは毎年靖国神社を参拝し、夫の遺品が戻らなかったことを嘆いていたという。敏弘さんは「最も喜んでいるのは母だと思う。墓前に父の帰りを報告したい」と話していた。
(In addition to Toshihiro, his eldest daughter Misako (81) and second son Yasunori (80) also came from Gifu Prefecture to attend the restitution ceremony held at Yasukuni Shrine on March 29. Toshihiro and his family rubbed their cheeks together as they received the Japanese flag from Steve Banta, the museum's director, who had visited Japan, and seemed thrilled to be "reunited" with their father.
Masae Rikuda's wife, Masae, who passed away in 2018, visited Yasukuni Shrine every year and lamented the fact that her husband's belongings had not been returned. Toshihiro said, "I think it is my mother who is most pleased. I want to report my father's return to the graveside.")
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/.../news/20230729-OYTNT50200/
【The Mainich】It's a miracle, say family of Japanese soldier killed in WWII, as flag he carried returns from US
Jul
30
USS Lexington Museum executive director Steve Banta, left, and Toshihiro Mutsuda, the elderly son of Japanese soldier Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, hold together Mutsuda's good luck flag during the handover cer
USS Lexington Museum executive director Steve Banta, left, and Toshihiro Mutsuda, the elderly son of Japanese soldier Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, hold together Mutsuda's good luck flag during the handover ceremony of his good luck flag at Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, Japan, on July 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
TOKYO (AP) -- Toshihiro Mutsuda was only 5 years old when he last saw his father, who was drafted by Japan's Imperial Army in 1943 and killed in action. For him, his father was a bespectacled man in an old family photo standing by a signed good-luck flag that he carried to war.
On Saturday, when the flag was returned to him from a U.S. war museum where it had been on display for 29 years, Mutsuda, now 83, said: "It's a miracle."
The flag, known as "Yosegaki Hinomaru," or Good Luck Flag, carries the soldier's name, Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, and the signatures of his relatives, friends and neighbors wishing him luck. It was given to him before he was drafted by the Army. His family was later told he died in Saipan, but his remains were never returned.
The flag was donated in 1994 and displayed at the museum aboard the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Its meaning was not known until it was identified by the family earlier this year, said museum director Steve Banta, who brought the flag to Tokyo.
Banta said he learned the story behind the flag earlier this year when he was contacted by the Obon Society, a nonprofit organization that has returned about 500 similar flags as non-biological remains, to the descendants of Japanese servicemembers killed in the war.
The search for the flag's original owner started in April when a museum visitor took a photo and asked an expert about the description that it had belonged to a "kamikaze" suicide pilot. When Shigeyoshi Mutsuda's grandson saw the photo, he sought help from the Obon Society, group co-founder Keiko Ziak said.
"When we learned all of this, and that the family would like to have the flag, we knew immediately that the flag did not belong to us," Banta said at the handover ceremony. "We knew that the right thing to do would be to send the flag home, to be in Japan and to the family."
The soldier's eldest son, Toshihiro Mutsuda, was speechless for a few seconds when Banta, wearing white gloves, gently placed the neatly folded flag into his hands. Two of his younger siblings, both in their 80s, stood by and looked on silently. The three children, all wearing cotton gloves so they wouldn't damage the decades-old flag, carefully unfolded it to show to the audience.
"After receiving the flag today, I earnestly felt that the war like that should never be fought again and that I do not wish anyone else to go through this sadness (of separation)," Toshihiro Mutsuda said.
The soldier's daughter, Misako Matsukuchi, touched the flag with both hands and prayed. "After nearly 80 years, the spirit of our father returned to us. I hope he can finally rest in peace," Matsukuchi said later.
Toshihiro Mutsuda said his memory of his father was foggy. However, he clearly remembers his mother, Masae Mutsuda, who died five years ago at age 102, used to make the long-distance bus trip almost every year from the farming town in Gifu, central Japan, to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where the 2.5 million war dead are enshrined, to pay tribute to her husband's spirit.
The shrine is controversial, as it includes convicted war criminals among those commemorated. Victims of Japanese aggression during the first half of the 20th century, especially China and the Koreas, see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japanese militarism. However, for the Mutsuda family, it's a place to remember the loss of a father and husband.
"It's like an old love story across the ages coming together ... It doesn't matter where," Banta said, referring to the Yasukuni controversy. "The important thing is this flag goes to the family."
That's why Toshihiro Mutsuda and his siblings chose to receive the flag at Yasukuni and brought the framed photos of their parents.
"My mother missed him and wanted to see him so much and that's why she used to pray here," he said. "Today her wish finally came true, and she was able to be reunited."
Keeping the flag on his lap, he said, "I feel the weight of the flag."
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230730/p2g/00m/0na/011000c?fbclid=IwAR3LnJfdvxET2Q9I-kGojmJVVh83SFhL_P-J-Jfrvdbm2Y_vR-TlxzQ1h_Q
【The Associated Press】A WWII Japanese soldier's 'good luck flag' is returned to his family from U.S. museum
Jul
29
TOKYO — Toshihiro Mutsuda was only 5 years old when he last saw his father, who was drafted by Japan's Imperial Army in 1943 and killed in action. For him, his father was a bespectacled man in an old family photo standing by a signed good-luck flag that he carried to war.
On Saturday, when the flag was returned to him from a U.S. war museum where it had been on display for 29 years, Mutsuda, now 83, said: "It's a miracle."
The flag, known as "Yosegaki Hinomaru," or Good Luck Flag, carries the soldier's name, Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, and the signatures of his relatives, friends and neighbors wishing him luck. It was given to him before he was drafted by the Army. His family was later told he died in Saipan, but his remains were never returned.
The flag was donated in 1994 and displayed at the museum aboard the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Its meaning was not known until it was identified by the family earlier this year, said the museum director Steve Banta, who brought the flag to Tokyo.
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/29/1190933123/japan-soldier-flag-world-war-ii-returned?fbclid=IwAR0BtR0oSZ0CavhzBWYxUqpZabus6FQsEwzpVWZKi-OT27ogdlujiIl1VH8
【J-Cast News】太平洋戦争「寄せ書き日の丸」が米国から遺族の元へ 博物館長「返還できることを光栄に思う」／Museum director: "We are honored to be able to return it."
Jul
28
返還に取り組んでいる米NPO「OBON（オボン）ソサエティ」（オレゴン州）が2023年7月27日に東京都内で記者会見し、返還までの経緯を説明した。出征時の集合写真に写っていた日章旗に書かれた文字と、博物館に展示されていた日章旗の文字が一致したことから持ち主を特定、返還が決まった。
寄贈の経緯は不明で「その旗の真の意味は29年間知られてこなかった」
返還される日章旗は、岐阜県出身の陸田（むつだ）繁義さんが出征時に持っていたもの。日の丸の上に、右から「武運長久」の文字。右には陸田さんを指すとみられる「睦田繁義君」とある。日の丸の周辺には、住んでいた地域の住民や親族によるとみられる数十人分の署名がある。
日章旗は、米テキサス州のUSSレキシントン博物館に展示されていた。元々は航空母艦で、リニューアルを経て92年に博物館としてオープン。その2年後の94年に寄贈された。ただ、どういった経緯で持ち込まれたかは明らかではなく、スティーブ・バンタ館長によると、「その旗の真の意味は29年間知られてこなかった」状態で額縁に入れて展示されていた。
日章旗が展示されている様子を写真で見た陸田さんの遺族が23年4月にOBONソサエティに「米国にある祖父の遺品を返してもらえるよう手助けをしてほしい」と連絡。OBONソサエティが博物館に連絡して事態が動いた。陸田さんの出征時の集合写真に日章旗が写っており、写真の提供を受けた博物館が現物と突き合わせた。バンタ氏は、当時の経緯を
「この博物館に飾られている旗と、（写真に写っているのと）同じような角度から同じような方向で見たところ、全く同じものが浮き上がってきた」と説明した。
持ち主判明で「この旗は私たちの手元にあるべきものではないとすぐに理解」
具体的には、「睦」と「武運長久」の「武」の文字の一部が一致している。その結果として「この旗は私達の手元にあるべきものではないとすぐに理解した。私たちのなすべきことは、この旗を日本へ送り、ご家族のもとに届けることだと考えた」といい、
「29年間、この旗にとっての家でいられたことを誇りに思うが、それ以上に今こうして日本で、そして本来旗があるべき場所である、陸田家に返還できることを光栄に思う」
などと話した。
OBONソサエティは、すでに数百枚の日章旗を遺族に返還してきた。日章旗にある署名から持ち主を割り出すのが一般的だが、持ち主の側から日章旗の存在を知らされ、返還が実現するのは今回が初めてだ。
日章旗は7月29日に靖国神社で遺族に返還される。
https://www.j-cast.com/2023/07/28466112.html?p=all&fbclid=IwAR0cUdip18MucP8WolTnn5kaJtNIDqyuLuGuiIKW_aGa7O7TTcoqZR-CFxg
【東京新聞】「武運長久」願った日章旗 米テキサスの博物館から遺族に返還へ 太平洋戦争で戦死した岐阜出身男性の遺品／ The Japanese flag wishing for "long military fortune" to be returned to the bereaved family
Jul
27
USSレキシントン博物館に展示されていた日章旗を見せる、同館のスティーブ・バンタ館長（右）と、遺族への返還の橋渡しを務めるNPO「OBONソサエティ」のレックス・ジーク共同代表＝東京都千代田区の日本記者クラブで
博物館によると、日章旗は開館2年後の1994年から額縁に入れて展示しており、入手経緯は不明。敏弘さんによると、博物館で日章旗を見かけた人が写真を撮影、専門家の分析を経て父・繁義さんの遺品ではと連絡があったという。
敏弘さんから今年4月、出征前の繁義さんと署名入り日章旗を写した写真などを受け取ったオボンソサエティが、博物館に協力を依頼。博物館が日章旗を額縁から出し、文字の見え方を確認したところ「完全に一致」し、返還を決めた。
◆「旗の意味を知り、私たちの手元にあるべきでないと理解した」
会見したスティーブ・バンタ館長は「（展示していた）29年間、旗に込められた意味が分からなかった。その意味や家族が返還を希望していると知り、私たちの手元にあるべきでないと理解した。あるべき場所に返すことができ、光栄に思う。返還を通じ、日米の平和友好関係を促進できることを願っている」と話した。
敏弘さんは「父が出征したのは、私が4歳くらいの時。父の印象はあまり残っておらず、日章旗があることは知らなかった。旗が残っていたこと自体奇跡で、父の帰りたいという願いがずっとあったのだろう」と話した。
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/265938?fbclid=IwAR0BsN9PC3Ik9aTNljS_amxwcDS9xKG-kPC0-vINyhKZ9J40nAg5fSMe3vs
【北海道新聞】令和５年7月２６日、北海道松前町で執り行われました「鈴木秀二命日章旗返還式」について北海道新聞が記事を掲載して下さいました/ (Japanese News paper featured Flag return in HOKKAIDO Prefecture )
Jul
27
同団体や遺族によると、秀二さんは留萌市出身。旧陸軍第２４師団輜重兵（しちょうへい）として、武器や弾薬などの運搬を担当していたという。旧日本軍が組織的な戦闘を終えたとされる６月２３日の２日前の２１日に死亡した。最期の様子は分かっていない。
今月２６日に町役場で行われた返還式には、遺族７人が出席した。一弘さんと妻の玲子さん（８３）が石山英雄町長から日章旗を受け取った。縦約６５センチ、横約８０センチの旗には「必勝」「大和心」などの寄せ書きが記され、出征時に渡されたとみられる。一弘さんは「優しい父だった」と在りし日の姿に思いをはせ、玲子さんも「夢のよう」と涙ぐんだ。日章旗は自宅の仏壇に供えるという。
日章旗は、沖縄戦に参戦した元米国陸軍大佐が持ち帰った。その後、孫が旗に込められた思いを知り、２０２０年に同団体に返還を依頼した。直後に連絡を受けた札幌在住の同団体スタッフの工藤公督さん（４８）が留萌市内などで調査を開始。６０年ほど前に松前町の企業に就職し、現在も町内で暮らす一弘さんの存在を知り、１カ月ほど前に連絡した。
一弘さんは小学校入学前に秀二さんと別れ、「連絡が来た時はびっくりした。工藤さんや団体には感謝しかない」と話した。
https://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/article/884427
【毎日新聞】令和５年７月２６日に北海道松前町で執り行われました「鈴木秀二命日章旗返還式」について毎日新聞が紙面で報じて下さいました。／(Japanese News paper featured Flag return in Hokkaido Prefecture )
Jul
27
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