Japanese WWII flags - Yosegaki Hinomaru - Columbia Maritime Museum

One section of the Columbia Maritime Museum was dedicated to information about World War II - I found an exhibit about Japanese Yosegaki Hinomaru to be very interesting...

"This flag for Yoshio Watanabe was covered with signatures and well-wishes for a safe return from friends and family. Although he never returned from the war, his flag is now returning home 70 years later."

The drafted soldier and his family

"During WWII American soldiers returned home with a wide array of battlefield souvenirs, including Yosegaki Hinomaru (good-luck flags). Most of these items were boxed up and put into storage where they have remained until they were rediscovered by family members many decades later.
"Today an ever-growing number of Americans are sending these personal items back to Japan. They want to bring closure to the wives, children, and relatives of missing Japanese soldiers and they realize the flags provide an important link."

"The task of finding one specific family in Japan seems almost impossible. To accomplish this, many people contact the nonprofit humanitarian organization OBON SOCIETY.
"The OBON SOCIETY, headquartered in Astoria, Oregon, receives these battlefield souvenirs and analyzes them for clues. Then, working with a team of researchers and Japanese government agencies, they conduct a careful search throughout Japan. After relatives are successfully located, these family heirlooms are returned at no cost to them."
http://obonsociety.org/

"A Father's Collected Flag Returned

"My father, James Farmer, PFC, USMC, was a BAR-man (Browning Automatic Rifle) with G Company, 3rd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. He landed with the 3rd wave on Iwo Jima on the morning of 19 February, 1945.

"My father took the Yosegaki Hinomaru from a Naval Officer, Seichi Kawashita. One of the photos my father had was of Mr. Kawashita. It showed him along with his wife and young child, a boy, I think. Unfortunately, the photo bothered my mother so badly she could no longer stand the pain, so she destroyed it.

"Message to the family:

"It is with the deepest respect and humility that I return this flag to you. Although I was not responsible, I am saddened and troubled at the pain and loss you have experienced. Mr. Kawashita and my father were forced into a brutal conflict that brought death and destruction over the entire world.

"Although my father survived the war, he was never the same. He was plagued by recurring nightmares and regrets until just before his death in November, 1998. It is my solemn wish that this flag will bring your family some peace."

This was a part of history that I never knew... I had never heard of Yosegaki Hinomaru nor of the effort to return them to their families.