Surrender tag translation

[Nicholas]

The condition of the surrender tag is not that great. If anything can be deciphered it would be greatly appreciated.

[k morita]

It's a surname and first name.

堂富武雄　(Dōtomi  Takeo).

[Nicholas]

Thank you. I would have never figured that out.

[Kiipu]

And cross-reference to the Mantetsu sword it is attached to.

Looking for information

[Nicholas]

There is also a character that is on the back of the surrender tag that can be seen through the frontside i circled it in the original picture.

[k morita]

Hi,

Part of a kanji has no meaning.

[Nicholas]

11 hours ago, k morita said:

Hi,

Part of a kanji has no meaning.

Thanks for your help. I was hoping it would lead me somewhere but the name Dōtomi Takeo is a dead end.

[SteveM]

The name Dōtomi is one of the rarest in Japan. On the site I use for researching Japanese names, it says there are only 10 people in Japan with this surname, and they all live in Nagasaki prefecture, Ikishi city (長崎県壱岐市). No doubt they are all related. 

 

Source: https://myoji-yurai.net/searchResult.htm?myojiKanji=堂富

[Nicholas]

4 hours ago, SteveM said:

The name Dōtomi is one of the rarest in Japan. On the site I use for researching Japanese names, it says there are only 10 people in Japan with this surname, and they all live in Nagasaki prefecture, Ikishi city (長崎県壱岐市). No doubt they are all related. 

 

Source: https://myoji-yurai.net/searchResult.htm?myojiKanji=堂富

Thanks Steve. All my searches on that surname for any historical context came up empty. I can only guess the person associated with that name had something to do with the railroad company.

[SteveM]

Yes, that's a safe bet. What I was hinting at with my post is that if you contact that city, there is a chance that you might get a lead on how to contact someone in the Dōtomi family. It's a city of fewer than 3000 people. Everyone in that town knows someone named Dōtomi. If you can get in contact with the family, they most likely have memories and records of a grandfather or grand-uncle who was in Manchuria, working for the railway. 

This assumes that you want to repatriate the sword.

 

You can also try to repatriate the sword through services of a group called the Obon Society, or through your nearest Japanese Embassy. The thing about the Dōtomi name is that it is so rare, and so specific to that one location, it shouldn't be too difficult to try to make some enquiries on your own. But I'm saying this as someone who speaks and writes Japanese, so mine is not an unbiased opinion. If the name were the equivalent of Smith or Jones, it would be quite challenging to find any descendants, but Dōtomi is unique, so I feel it wouldn't be so difficult. 

 

If you don't wish to repatriate the sword, and are just looking for information on the person, it becomes a bit more difficult.

 

[BANGBANGSAN]

Could it be 重富 Shigetomi?

[SteveM]

The kuzushi version of 重 is very different from the one on this tag, so it can't be 重.

[Nicholas]

On 4/7/2024 at 4:50 PM, SteveM said:

This assumes that you want to repatriate the sword.

Im not looking to repatriate the sword. That was not my intention. I just wanted to document some history on the sword and possibly the owner to keep with it. I’m not going any further than some google searches. I wouldn’t reach out to the family.