OBON Society Blog

WWII Japanese flags given to group for return to soldiers' families
Three Japanese flags kept at the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Hawaii have been donated to a group working to return World War Two relics to families of Japanese servicemen.
The flags were entrusted to the memorial at Pearl Harbor by former US servicemen and their families. A ceremony to transfer the flags to the OBON SOCIETY, a US based organization that returns war relics to families, was held at the memorial on Thursday.
The Japanese flags were inscribed with signatures and messages by family and friends, then given to departing servicemen. Men carried such flags into battle as good luck amulets.
The president of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Michael Carr, referred to next year as the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two.
Carr said, "This flag transfer becomes a symbol of our continued commitment to ensuring that the lessons of World War Two are never forgotten, that we strive for a future built on peace, mutual respect and understanding."
The co-founder of OBON SOCIETY, Rex Ziak, said: "This is the ship that's going around the world as the vessel that brought Japan to its knees." He went on to say, "now their thoughts have changed their feelings, and it is a simple unconditional friendship, the unconditional peace between US and Japan."

 

【BSS山陰放送】令和６年８月２５日に鳥取県日南の日南町役場で執り行われました「火山行一命日章旗返還」について「BSS山陰放送が」番組を放送して下さいました。

 

ー戦争に引き裂かれた親子　息子が生まれた日に出征し満州で戦死した父親…初めての遺品が約80年の時をこえて息子に返還ー

令和６年８月２５日鳥取県日野郡日南町にて執り行われました「火山行一命日章旗返還」につきまして日南町の広報誌に記事が掲載されました。

A Japanese Soldier’s Son Receives a Memento of His Father, Who Was Killed During World War II

The so-called good-luck flag, which hung on an American veteran’s wall for many years, returned home last month after nearly eight decades

 

滋賀県三日月知事が定例記者会見にて訪米視察時にＯＢＯＮソサエティ本部を訪問された時のことをお話しされています。

ーーOBONソサエティとの交流、これはもちろん滋賀県だけにとどまるものではありませんが、戦争遺留品を返還する活動をしていただいている、させていただいていることを、ぜひ今後さらに促進させていくために、さらにどういったことをしなければならないのかなというような有意義な意見交換をすることができました。この日だけでも数点、レックスさん御夫妻のもとに全米から寄せ書き・日の丸等が届けられる。多い時だと、年間数百点届けられるものをどのように還していこうかと、御本人を特定して、御遺族の御理解を得てと、ここにはやはり米国各州のそして国内各都道府県の協力が重要なのではないかと、こういったことで一致をいたしまして、今後、全国知事会などでもこういった取組についてさらに理解が広がるように努めていきたいということをこの場で表明させていただきましたので、そういったことに繋げていきたいと考えております。ーー

https://www.pref.shiga.lg.jp/kensei/chizi/kaiken/339867.html

A New York man spent seven years working with a nonprofit to find the family of a Japanese soldier

 

TOKYO — A Japanese flag, brought to America by a U.S. soldier who served in the Philippines during World War II, has returned home.

 

The signature-covered flag was taken as a war trophy by the late Bernard Stein, who fought in the Philippines as a member of the U.S. Army’s 38th Infantry Division, known as the Avengers of Bataan. The division landed on the main island of Luzon in January 1945 and helped liberate the Bataan Peninsula and secure Manila Bay.

 

Almost eight decades later, the veteran’s grandson, Scott Stein, an artists’ agent in New York City, sent the banner back to Japan so it could be given to relatives of the fallen Japanese soldier who carried it into battle.

 

It was presented to the family on Sunday during a ceremony in a town in southwestern Honshu, the largest of Japan’s four main islands. The late Bernard Stein, center, fought in the Philippines during World War II as a member of the 38th Infantry Division. (Scott Stein)

 

Many Japanese soldiers carried their country’s flags inscribed with names and messages from family and friends for good luck. Stein inherited the flag from his grandfather, who became a building inspector in Nassau County, N.Y., after the war and died two decades ago, he told Stars and Stripes during an Aug. 8 video call from New York.

 

As a youngster, he was fascinated by the banner and a Japanese sword at his grandfather’s home, but he didn’t know how they got there. “He never talked about his wartime experiences,” Stein said. “He must have seen some intense stuff in the war, but there were no mental health things when he returned. He just kept it bottled up.” Stein had no plans to hand the flag down to his own son. It was time for it to return home, “especially for the family that might not have any remnant of their lost loved one,” he said.

 

The search for the flag’s original owner began in 2017, when Stein sought help restoring the item. A friend Stein asked about fabric restoration told him about the Obon Society.

 

The nonprofit group helps veterans and their families return old war trophies like flags and swords. Japanese researchers helped the society trace some of the 50 signatures on the flag to Tottori prefecture, Keiko Ziak, founder of the Obon Society, said during the video call. It turned out that the soldier who carried the flag into battle, Yukikazu Hiyama, was born in Nichinan town on Feb. 15, 1922. He served as a corporal with the 1st Independent Tank Brigade and died in China on Aug. 17, 1945.

 

It was the first lost WWII flag returned to Tottori prefecture, Ziak said. It wasn’t only the fallen Japanese soldier’s family who was excited about the flag’s return, she said. This flag, brought to America by a U.S.soldier who served in the Philippines during the World War II, has been returned to the original owner's family members in Japan. (Scott Stein)

 

“The flag includes the names of many members of the community and people recognize their grandfathers’ or fathers’ names on it,” she said. The flag was given back to the fallen soldier’s son, Tsukasa Hiyama, 81. “I appreciate that Mr. Stein, who had the flag, returned it,” he said by phone Monday. “I want to thank him for it.” Hiyama also thanked the Obon Society and the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association, which helped find him.

 

The only son of the fallen soldier was born July 5, 1943, the same day his father left home for the Imperial Army and the war, Hiyama said. “Honestly, I don’t know anything about him,” he said of his father, adding that his parents had been married only a year when he was born. The Obon Society called in April to say that the flag would be returned, Hiyama said. “I was surprised,” he said, adding he didn’t think something that belonged to his father would be returned after all these years.

 

Hiyama said he hopes to display the flag so relatives of the people who signed it also see it. It is the only memento he has of his father. “I want to take time to take a close look at it,” he said.

 

ー旧陸軍兵の日章旗“帰郷”　日南出身の故火山行一さん　８１年ぶり、遺族に返還　息子の司さん「おやじの姿」喜ぶー

　米国で元米兵（個人）が所持していた日南町出身の旧陸軍伍長・故火山行一（ひやまゆきかず）さん（享年２３歳）の寄せ書き入り日章旗が見つかり、遺族への返還式が２５日、同町霞の町役場で行われた。一人息子の司さん（８１）＝米子市上後藤４丁目＝は、遺影でしか知らない亡父の唯一の形見をしっかりと受け取り「一つの区切り。胸のつかえが取れた」と、８１年ぶりの“帰郷”を喜んだ。

　行一さんは１９４３年に出征。独立戦車第１旅団砲兵隊に所属し、４５年８月１７日に中国大陸の奉天（現・瀋陽市）で亡くなった。長年生還を願っていた母・あさえさんは２０００年に８０歳で亡くなった。

　連合国軍兵士が戦地から持ち帰った日本兵の遺留品の返還活動に尽力する非営利団体「ＯＢＯＮ（オボン）ソサエティ」（米国オレゴン州）によると、元米陸軍兵ベルナルド・ステイン氏の他界後、日章旗を譲り受けた孫が２０１７年に遺族の捜索と返還を依頼。日本の遺族会ら関係機関の協力を得て、２４年春に遺族が判明した。

　返還式では、同ソサエティ捜索担当の工藤公督氏が判明に至った経緯を説明し、同町の中村英明町長らの手を経て司さんへ日章旗が手渡された。

　丁寧に折りたたまれた日章旗を広げた司さんは「早く母の墓前に報告したい。日章旗を通じて、長年知ることのなかったおやじの姿やにおいを実感できれば」と話した。

　参列した町遺族会の野口忠実会長（８６）は「火山家の宝であるともに日南町の宝。できれば多くの方にご覧いただき、平和とは何かということを実感してもらう機会となれば」と期待を寄せた。