For nearly 20 years, I have been in possession of a piece of fabric taken from a Japanese soldier by my uncle in the war. It has some writing on it, which we pretty much assumed was a prayer of some sort, until I recently set about translating the characters. Thanks to some good folks over at r/translator, I was able to gather that the words make reference to a fabric shop (which could either be where he original owner worked, or simply got it). Another part has what could be the owner's name.
I would like to see if there is some sort of database to locate the possible owner of it, and maybe make a connection to return it to any living descendants. I was told that it was taken from the Philippines.
Thank you, and a Merry Christmas to all who partake!
(Edit: my finger slipped and accidentally hit the post button before I was finished)
https://reddit.com/r/translator/comments/a9cpfj/_/eck3gpy/?context=1
this comment was posted on your other post and i wanted to make sure youd seen it in case it helps you. best of luck in your search!!!
merry christmas and happy new year to you too :)
In English? You're outta luck.
There is at least one place in Japan that keeps a list of all the Japanese soldiers killed in action during WWII.
The archives of the Yasukuni Kaikō Bunko (靖国偕行文庫) at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo has a list of all the people who died in the armed forces of Imperial Japan. The "souls" of these people have been enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine.
You'll run into a few snags. For one, their archive's website is in Japanese and they don't post the list of war dead online, as far as I can tell. You'll need to get a Japanese speaker to contact them and help you get the info you're looking for.
Website is here: https://www.yasukuni.or.jp/schedule/archives.html
Fair warning, Yasukuni is politically radioactive. Fourteen Class A war criminals executed post-war have been enshrined there as "war dead." Chinese and Koreans killed while being forced to fight for the Japanese have been enshrined at Yasukuni, against their families' wishes. And the Yushukan museum run by the shrine embraces a highly-revisionist view of the Sino-Japanese Wars and WWII that downplays Japan's role as an aggressor and ignores Japanese war crimes. People who've approached the museum in the past regarding Japanese war dead have been included in exhibits. One Chinese musician who wrote a piece honoring some Japanese airmen who died in the 2nd Sino-Japanese War. He's sent the piece to the shrine and is now featured in a museum exhibition. There is some possibility the museum's curators may try to exploit your story in a similar way. It's not a certainty - but it is something to be aware of.
So Yasukuni's archives may be your best bet in finding what you're looking for - but be cautious.