An act of thoughtfulness will be honored this afternoon when a
Japanese flag covered with fond signatures is given to Jim Tarp at
the Buddhist Community Center.
An act of thoughtfulness will be honored this afternoon when a Japanese flag covered with fond signatures is given to Jim Tarp at the Buddhist Community Center.
The flag is a smaller replica of one Tarp’s mother received from a U.S. serviceman friend just after World War II and passed on to her son.
Much later – after almost 60 years – Tarp, owner of JET Electric in Morgan Hill, showed the flag to Brian Shiroyama.
“I recognized that the flag was a gift to a Japanese soldier named Ippei Saeki (a common gift to a soldier going to war),” Shiroyama said. “Almost 80 family members, relatives, and friends signed the flag under the words: ‘Long Live the Warrior Spirit.”
Tarp said for a long time the flag was a bit of a mystery.
“I didn’t know what it was,” Tarp said.
When he understood what the flag meant to a family, he asked Shiroyama, who reads Japanese, if he could find out which soldier and which family, hoping to return it.
“The flag contained one important clue as to its origin: Yaho Village’s Third Youth Group,” Shiroyama said.
He sent a digital scan of the flag to his friend, Takahiro Ichikawa, an influential Japanese member of the Yokota U.S. Air Force Base in Tokyo and asked him to locate the Yaho Village.
Ichikawa responded quickly.
Yaho Village, now part of Kunitachi City, is only about 15 miles from the center of Tokyo and less than 10 miles from Yokota. Ippei’s younger brother, Manshichi Saeki, was located in the village – his signature appears on the flag.
From Manshichi, Ichikawa and Shiroyama learned that Ippei had been drafted into military service in 1944 at the age of 21. He was killed in the Battle of Okinawa on June 17, 1945.
Tarp knew what he had to do.
“I sent the flag to Ichikawa to be returned to Manshichi,” Shiroyama said.
Instead of just delivering the flag to Saeki’s family, Ichikawa arranged a formal military event at Yokota. On Aug. 6, the commanding officer of Yokota U.S. Air Force Base returned the flag to Manshichi in a ceremony attended by Japanese and American dignitaries. The event was covered by all major Japanese newspapers and several TV stations, Shiroyama said.
To return a small part of the favor, Saeki’s brother, Manschichi had about 60 friends and family members sign the flag to be sent to Tarp. It is a bit smaller than the original flag but is otherwise quite similar – except for words in English – “In appreciation” and “Jim Tarp”
Mayor Dennis Kennedy will present the Saeki family flag to Tarp this afternoon at 1pm during the regular Japanese-American senior group gathering at the Buddhist Community Center, 16450 Murphy Ave.
Details: webpages.charter.net/deenko/
