OBON ソサエティ／私たちは「遺霊品」という呼称で表現いたします。
Feb
24
OBON SOCIETY
contact@obonsociety.org
https://obonsociety.org
503-741-3733
P.O. Box 282
Astoria, Oregon 97103
OBON SOCIETY
contact@obonsociety.org
https://obonsociety.org
503-741-3733
P.O. Box 282
Astoria, Oregon 97103
Desert News・UTAH ／‘Two modern families,’ a 70-year-old mystery and a soldier laid to rest
Feb
18
The year is 1968. The sea breeze tousled the sod of an Okinawa golf course. Dick Johnson stood on the fairway, 9-iron in hand, eyeing the green. The outing was a break from his high intensity work in the back of a B-52 bomber, manning the electronic defense systems while his crew flew missions to Vietnam dropping some 54,000 pounds worth of bombs on 8-square-mile strips of jungle.
Before this assignment, he flew more modern, G-model bombers, that carried nuclear weapons, though they were never used.
Johnson gazed at the concrete mounds bordering the golf course, originally built to fortify the island from the Allied invasion decades earlier. He imagined his father, Richard W. Johnson, landing on these same beaches in 1945, taking part in the bloodiest battle of the Pacific campaign, and the final major conflict of World War II.
It was this strange juxtaposition of fates that stayed with him, even after his service. A father and son, on the same island years apart, experiencing very different wars.
This moment on Okinawa flooded back to Johnson’s memory when his son brought him an old Japanese flag found tucked away in the family keepsakes of their Lehi home. The flag had handwritten characters circling the bright red sun in the middle.
It was as mysterious to Johnson as his father’s time spent as a Marine in the Pacific theater of World War II — a time Johnson’s father rarely talked about when he got home. In fact, Johnson only got his father to speak about the war once. And he certainly never spoke of the curious flag.
It was only when Johnson’s wife, Marlene, saw a similar flag in a magazine article, that the family began to understand what the object represented — and that it absolutely had to be returned.
War does not end with the signing of a treaty. A complex logistical process continues in earnest after the conflict. The rebuilding of infrastructure, rehabilitation of soldiers and the recovery of the dead.
After World War II, the U.S. began a massive program to bring more than 171,000 bodies home from more than 80 countries, according to historian Kim Clarke. Even today, the government continues to slowly recover the bodies of its fallen. In 2018, for example, the Trump administration successfully negotiated the release of 55 boxes of remains from North Korea, dating back to the Korean War.
In Japan, the issue of missing relatives casts a larger shadow, where many more are affected in a much smaller land mass. An estimated 2.4 million Japanese died overseas in World War II, and while numerous ministries and bureaus collaborate to repatriate remains, the bodies of nearly half are still missing.
For over 70 years, the Myochin family’s fate looked like the losing side of this coin flip. Their eldest son, Norito, volunteered to join the Japanese Imperial Navy. The eldest of 12 children, from a farm 10 miles outside Hiroshima, Norito was expected to help lead the household when he returned.
He was 22 when he was killed in action. Not a trace of him came home. Even the day of his death was unknown — records said Dec. 31, 1944, as a substitute. Heartbroken, the family grieved through the hard labor of their farm life. The next year, the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped, and Norito’s father went to help fight fires in the city’s suburbs. He died young, likely from exposure to radiation.
The large Myochin family began to fracture. The absence of Norito and his father contributed. Toshinari Myochin, the first son of the following generation, felt the heavy responsibility of his role in the family order. He spent weekends keeping the farm operating — the rest of the family had moved — while he managed a machine shop in the city during the week.
Then the Myochin family was notified of a flag, or yosegaki hinomaru.
It was the flag held by the Johnsons in Lehi, Utah. The discovery began to reunite the family under the promise of Norito’s return home. The Johnson family had mailed their flag to the Obon Society, which specialized in the collection and return of these unique artifacts, in hopes the family could be identified. Translators identified the names on the flag, tracing it back to Norito.
According to Rex Ziak, president of the Obon Society, the importance of these flags cannot be overstated. Along with that flag, he said, comes “the living spirit of that person.” So unique is this yosegaki hinomaru that their organization can “return a flag back to a family with a higher rate of accuracy than DNA can trace back a bone or a tooth.”
The Obon Society estimates there are still 50,000 similar flags in the U.S. at this time.
After seven decades, the Myochins learned that Norito died on the island of Peleliu, that this object was carefully taken and preserved by Richard Johnson for years and passed on to his children. 84-year-old Keiko Hirota, one of Norito’s two surviving sisters, was stunned by the news. She said she “couldn’t stop her tears.”
Richard reflected on the Battle of Peleliu during a recorded interview in 1977 — the only time he spoke of the war. The island reached 115 degrees during the day, and their water was tainted with oil from unwashed drums. “They told us we’d be off there in 48 hours,” Richard said. “Forty-eight days later, we were still killing those guys and they were still trying to kill us.”
Writer Eugene Sledge, in his account of the battle, wrote: “None came out unscathed. Many gave their lives, their health and some their sanity. All who survived will long remember the horror that they would rather forget.”
After the battle, craters pockmarked the coral island. Its jungle was denuded of all foliage, exposing ghostly limestone gullies and a vast network of caves. Richard would sail from that island alive, but 1,544 Americans and almost 11,000 Japanese would not. Despite the heavy toll, Peleliu would not play any significant strategic role in the rest of the war. “It’s a sad thing to realize you went through all this for a bunch of craters,” Richard said. “The whole thing was a big farce.”
The Johnsons were initially reluctant to meet the Myochins. “Would they think my grandfather killed the man?” they wondered. “Did they harbor resentments towards us?”
Months later, Dick Johnson and his son, Chris, sat around a table with the members of the extended Myochin family. They were “like old friends getting together for lunch,” Johnson said, “at a site where some of the most terrible things in history have happened.”
Lunch was held less than 100 yards from where the atomic bomb had been dropped in Hiroshima. Ziak said he is always amazed by this process of reconciliation. “Two modern families that have much more in common with each other than their differences,” he said, “just a magical, magical, unforgettable moment.”
“It was sobering to see the value the family placed on the flag, which was only an interesting memento for us,” Johnson said.
Remarkably, both Norito and Johnson were the eldest of 12 children. Both families also saw the sobering impact of the atomic bomb, but from vastly different vantage points. If the bomb had not been dropped, Johnson speculates that his father would likely have died fighting on the Japanese mainland. But Norito’s father died from the bomb’s effects.
Johnson ended up flying with nuclear weapons during his time in the Air Force. “It caused me to ponder about nuclear weapons. I never thought much about it,” he said. “Once I was in service, it was just what I did — it was my duty, if required, to drop nuclear weapons.”
When Keiko, Norito’s sister, was 7, she recalled seeing a brilliant bright flash from over the ridge line. Miles away, the atomic bomb had been dropped and tens of thousands were killed instantly.
“Her whole life has been tempered by (the bomb),” Ziak told me. “Who she met, who she married, what she did in her life, would have all been under the shadow of it.”
The families spent time together in Shinto shrines, the family farm and war museums. Though they spoke different languages, they managed to communicate through gifts and gestures of humility. With each passing moment, Johnson and his son grew in the belief that “even the incomprehensible wounds of war can be healed.”
Keiko tearfully held her brother’s flag at the family memorial site, among the stone markers of her parents and siblings. She got on her knees, no easy task at her age. She lit incense and said a prayer. Holding the flag in her hands, the only part of Norito to ever return, Keiko expressed only gratitude.
Her brother was home after a long, long journey.
https://www.deseret.com/2023/2/17/23583422/world-war-2-remains-returned-yosegaki-hinomaru?fbclid=IwAR0NegRG-ZSAD1oFS7gvpjLRsaw8rbygJTdEVNXVPTKfznRhlkeZ8uly_I8
朝日新聞／2人の日章旗、80年経て帰郷 米の団体通じ滋賀の遺族のもとに／Japanese flag returned home to the bereaved family in Shiga
Feb
18
返還式は1月30日、県公館で開かれた。県遺族会の今堀治夫副会長が「遺骨や遺品がひとつもない遺族もいる。返還は意義のある事業。米国と日本が恩讐（おんしゅう）を越え、現在の友好関係の上に成り立っている」とあいさつ。三日月大造知事から遺族らに日章旗が手渡された。1944年に北マリアナ諸島のテニアンで戦死した清水さんの日章旗は、おいの一雄さんが受け取ることになっていたが、返還式の直前に亡くなったため、同町の遺族会が代行した。
寺崎さんは旧満州へ出征し、終戦後に帰国。85年に83歳でこの世を去った。生前、戦争についてはあまり語らず、淳子さんは日章旗の存在はまったく知らなかったという。「祈武運長久」「元気で」などとびっしり寄せ書きされた日章旗を手に、「びっくりした。何とも言えない。戦争みたいな無意味なことはもう……」と語った。
米オレゴン州の民間団体「OBON SOCIETY」は、連合軍兵士が戦利品として持ち帰った日章旗などを日本の遺族に返還する活動を続けている。県遺族会によると、県内の遺族に遺品が返還されたのは、2015年以降、今回で18件という。
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASR2K73YVR2DPTJB004.html?iref=pc_photo_gallery_bottom
東愛知新聞／78年ぶり日章旗が遺族へ(The Japanese flag worn by Navy personnel who died in the Philippines in World War II was returned to their families)
Feb
7
2月3日に愛知県豊橋市役所にて執り行われました「加藤博夫」命日章旗返還式の様子を東愛知新聞が報じて下さいました。本文はリンク先でお読み頂けます。
東日本新聞／戦没者遺族に日章旗返還「ＯＢＯＮソサエティ」から日本遺族会通じて(Return of the Japanese flag to the bereaved families of war dead from the "OBON Society" through the Japan．.
Feb
7
https://www.tonichi.net/news/index.php?id=99782&fbclid=IwAR03-V9mYSfR5H271yD4jK_Bd3pO4flHueb0gIgDVyJrgZlTI9ZU-25MGHs
中日新聞／県内ゆかり旧日本兵２人の日章旗 終戦から７８年ぶり故郷の親族らに返還(The Japanese flag of two former Japanese soldiers associated with the prefecture who went to war )
Feb
7
太平洋戦争に出征した県内ゆかりの旧日本兵二人の日章旗が、終戦から七十八年ぶりに、親族らに返還された。日章旗は米国の兵士らが戦利品として、母国に持ち帰っていたとみられる。受け取る予定だった親族の一人は、直前に息を引き取った。（堀尾法道）
県遺族会や県によると、二人の旧日本兵は、甲賀郡水口町水口（現甲賀市水口町水口）から満州に渡り、現地で召集された寺崎徳蔵さんと、愛知郡日枝村（現豊郷町吉田）の清水一郎さん。歩兵第二四八連隊に所属した寺崎さんは、復員して一九八六年に亡くなった。第七六一航空隊に所属した清水さんは、マリアナ諸島で四四年八月に二十六歳で戦死した。
二人の日章旗はいずれも米国で保管されていた。遺品の返還活動を続ける米国の団体「ＯＢＯＮ ＳＯＣＩＥＴＹ」の依頼で、県遺族会などが親族を捜した。
一月三十日の県公館での返還に、寺崎さん側は長女の川島淳子さん（９３）と義理の孫の川島康弘さん（６９）が出席した。淳子さんは終戦の年、満蒙（まんもう）開拓団の一員として家族で満州に渡り、父親はその年の七月に召集された。終戦直後、逃げる際に母親を飢えで亡くした。
返ってきた父親の日章旗に「なんとも言えない。旗に父の名前が大きく書いてある。お骨でも出てきたみたい。今夜から抱いて寝ます」と語った。康弘さんは「親族として万感の思い。日本へ帰るのだという、祖父の強い意志を感じた」とあいさつした。
清水さん側は、おいの一雄さんが出席予定だったが、一週間ほど前の一月二十四日、六十九歳で亡くなった。代理で、豊郷町遺族会の久木淳行会長（８０）が受け取った。県遺族会相談役の国松善次元知事（８４）は「一雄さんは残念ながら出席できなかったが、日章旗が豊郷に帰ってきた」とほっとした表情を浮かべた。
三日月大造知事は「敵味方の恩讐（おんしゅう）を超えて返還できた。戦争の悲惨さ、平和の尊さを伝えたい。直前に亡くなった一雄さんは、どんな思いだったか。他の人たちの遺品を一刻も早く返さないといけない」と述べた。
毎日新聞／日章旗2点「帰国」 米から 県出身元兵士の遺族へ(Two Japanese flags Returned home)
Feb
5
甲賀市水口町出身で旧満州（現中国東北部）から出征した寺崎徳蔵さん（復員し1986年に82歳で死去）と、豊郷町出身でマリアナ諸島テニアン島で戦死した清水一郎さん（当時26歳）の日章旗。
朝日新聞／日章旗にみた「77年前の父のぬくもり」 娘2人に米国から返却(A Japanese flag belonging to a man who was killed in action in the Philippines during World War II was delivered )
Feb
4
愛知県豊橋市出身で、第2次世界大戦中にフィリピンで戦死した男性の遺品の日章旗が3日、遺族の元に届けられた。所有者の米国人から「返したい」という申し出があり、米国のNPO法人を通じて日本遺族会や豊橋市遺族連合会が男性の親族を探し出した。
豊橋市出身の加藤博夫さんは、1945（昭和20）年2月にマニラで戦死した。32歳で、海軍上等主計兵だった。
米コネティカット州在住の所有者が返還の意向を示し、NPO法人「OBON ソサエティ」（オレゴン州）を通じて日本遺族会に連絡があったという。遺族会の照会で、加藤さんが豊橋市の出身と判明。豊橋市遺族連合会が、83年発行の戦没者の戦歴や戦没状況などをまとめた「平和の礎（いしじ）」から加藤さんの身元を割り出した。
豊橋市役所で開かれた「日章旗返還式」で遺品を受け取った加藤さんの長女の侑子さん（82）と、次女の白井式子さん（81）=いずれも同市在住=によると、出征時はまだ幼く、父親の顔は覚えていないという。返却された日章旗を手にした侑子さんは、「父のぬくもりを感じました。ありがたい」。式子さんは「父に会えたような気がします」と述べた。https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASR237QLHR23OBJB00B.html?iref=pc_photo_gallery_bottom
NHK／戦死した豊橋市出身の男性のものとみられる日章旗が遺族に返還(A Japanese flag believed to belong to a man from Toyohashi City who was killed in action is returned to his bereave)
Feb
3
返還された日章旗は太平洋戦争中の昭和２０年２月２６日にフィリピンのルソン島で３２歳で亡くなった豊橋市出身の加藤博夫さんのものとみられます。
アメリカのコネチカット州の人が持っていたもので、日章旗の返還に取り組むアメリカの団体や日本の遺族会の活動で返還が実現しました。
３日は加藤さんの長女の加藤侑子さんと次女の白井式子さんが豊橋市役所を訪れ、浅井由崇市長から日章旗を受け取りました。
日章旗には加藤さんの名前をはじめ「武運長久」の文字やおよそ５８０人の名前が寄せ書きされています。
長女の加藤侑子さんは「父のぬくもりのようなものを感じ、奇跡のようでびっくりした。ありがたいことです」と話していました。
また、次女の白井式子さんは「父のことは全然記憶にはないが、会えた気がしました」と話していました。
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/tokai-news/20230203/3000027403.html?fbclid=IwAR2yOiC6SKL14XfU3xhv_1S8_7FNP9khoYadl8IvfhEm4a-m_JVkgEt0Wlc
京都新聞／寄せ書き日章旗返還 大津で93歳長女ら受け取る「父は苦労。今夜から抱いて寝る」(Eldest daughter, 93, and others receive belongings of father killed in war in Otsu)
Feb
1
太平洋戦争で従軍した滋賀県出身の元兵士の日章旗が遺族らに返還された。縁者らが武運の祈りを込めて寄せ書きした日章旗を手にした遺族や立会人の首長らは、戦没者に思いをはせ、平和への願いを新たにした。
遺留品を遺族に返す活動をする米国オレゴン州の非営利団体「ＯＢＯＮ ＳＯＣＩＥＴＹ（オボン ソサエティー）」から昨年８月、米国の兵士らの手に渡った遺留品２点の情報提供があった。県遺族会の調査で遺族が特定された。
返還式は１月３０日に大津市の県公館で開かれた。満州（現在の中国東北部）から復員し、８３歳で亡くなった寺崎徳蔵さんの長女川島淳子さん（９３）＝甲賀市水口町＝は、両手で押し頂くようにして日章旗を受け取った。「義勇奉公」などの文字がびっしりと墨書きされた旗は、戦後７７年を経て布が大きく裂け、穴も開いていた。
一家で満州に渡った川島さん自身も、帰国途中に母親が餓死するなど辛酸をなめた。「お父さんは何も言わへんかったけど、苦労してくれはってんなぁと思って。今夜から抱いて寝ます」と感慨深そうだった。
第７６１航空隊に所属し、太平洋のテニアン島で２６歳の若さで戦死した清水一郎さんの日章旗は、受け取る予定だったおいの清水一雄さんが２４日に亡くなったため、豊郷町遺族会の久木淳行会長が代理で受け取った。
「寄せ書き日の丸」を返還する活動を軸にする非営利団体の活動により、県内では２０１５年以降で、軍隊手帳や手紙を含め１８件の遺留品が返還された。県遺族会の今堀治夫副会長は「遺骨や遺品一つない遺族もいる中で、大きな意義のある事業。円滑に進むよう遺族会の役割を果たしたい」と話した。
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