Tatsuya Yasue and his sister, Sayoko Furuta, were left with nothing of their older brother after he was killed during the Second World War in the Pacific. The Japanese authorities gave them only a box containing some rocks as a substitute for his body, which was never recovered.
But on Tuesday, after 73 years of grieving, the siblings finally got something of their brother back.
Marvin Strombo, 93, an American war veteran had taken the flag from the body of Japanese soldier Sadao Yasue as a souvenir. But he soon saw it was no ordinary flag. It was covered in calligraphy - signed good luck messages, wishing Yasue safe return from the war.
Mr Strombo vowed to return the flag one day to the family of the fallen soldier and on Tuesday, 73 years later, in a moving ceremony in hHigashishirakawa village, in central Japan, he fulfilled his pledge.
Tatsuya Yasue, 89, buried his face in the flag and smelled it.Then he took the hands of the man who had brought this treasure home and kissed them.
His sister, Sayoko Furuta, 93, covered her face and wept silently as the flag was placed in her lap.
"I was so happy that I returned the flag," Mr Strombo said. "I can see how much the flag meant to her. It meant everything in the world to her."
The signed messages on the flag - 180 of them from friends and neighbours from Yasue's tea-growing mountain village - helped Mr Strombo find its rightful owner. Tatsuya Yasue recognised the names and remembered their faces and friendship.
The smell of the flag immediately brought back childhood memories. "It smelled like my good old big brother, and it smelled like our mother's home cooking that we ate together," he said. "The flag will be our treasure."
Tatsuya last saw his older brother the day before he left for the South Pacific in 1943. The siblings had a farewell picnic outside Yasue's military unit and at the end he told his younger brother to take care of their parents. A year later, the family received the box of stones. Months after the war ended, they were told he died somewhere in the Mariana Islands, presumably on July 16, 1944, the day of the fall of Saipan. He was 25.
"That's all we were told about my brother. We never knew exactly when, where or how he died," Tatsuya said. Mr Strombo was able to provide some answers. He said he had found Sadao Yasue's body on the outskirts of Garapan, a village in Saipan, that he had probably died of concussion from a mortar round, had no severe wounds and that he looked peaceful.
There is even hope that Yasue's remains might now be recovered, unlike the bodies of a million Japanese war dead overseas who have never been found.
Allied troops frequently took the flags from the bodies of their enemies as souvenirs, as Japanese flags were quite popular and fetched good prices when auctioned, Mr Strombo said. But to bereaved families in Japan, they have a much deeper meaning, especially those, like Yasue's family, who never learned how their loved ones died and never received remains.
Mr Strombo, who fought in three Pacific battles, admitted he felt guilty about taking the flag. For years he kept it in a glass-fronted cabinet in his home in Montana. He began the search for its owner in 2012 with the help of the Obon Society, a charity which helps US veterans and their descendants return Japanese flags to the families of fallen soldiers. The group's researchers traced it to the village of 2,300 people in central Japan by analyzing family names.
Tatsuya Yasue thanked Mr Strombo for taking such good care of the flag and also for staying healthy enough to make the long journey from Montana to his village at the age of 93.
"it's like the war has finally ended and my brother can come out of limbo," he said.
Allied troops frequently took the flags from the bodies of their enemies as souvenirs, as Japanese flags were quite popular and fetched good prices when auctioned, Strombo said. But to the Japanese bereaved families, they have a much deeper meaning, especially those, like Yasue, who never learned how their loved ones died and never received remains. Japanese government has requested auction sites to stop trading wartime signed flags.
In 2012, he was connected to the Obon Society, an Oregon-based nonprofit that helps U.S. veterans and their descendants return Japanese flags to the families of fallen soldiers. The group's research traced it to the village of 2,300 people in central Japan by analyzing family names.
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
ETFs explained
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There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Results
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Aatebat Al Khalediah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Avenue, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: My Catch, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile (TB) Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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Syria squad
Goalkeepers: Ibrahim Alma, Mahmoud Al Youssef, Ahmad Madania.
Defenders: Ahmad Al Salih, Moayad Ajan, Jehad Al Baour, Omar Midani, Amro Jenyat, Hussein Jwayed, Nadim Sabagh, Abdul Malek Anezan.
Midfielders: Mahmoud Al Mawas, Mohammed Osman, Osama Omari, Tamer Haj Mohamad, Ahmad Ashkar, Youssef Kalfa, Zaher Midani, Khaled Al Mobayed, Fahd Youssef.
Forwards: Omar Khribin, Omar Al Somah, Mardik Mardikian.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
