March, 2012
Satoko Yagishita - satoyagi@beach.ocn.ne.jp
My grandfather died as a soldier of the Japanese military in Tarawa in November, 1943. I examine a fight of Tarawa now. And I look for the articles of many Japanese mementos which died in Tarawa. I feel very stouthearted if the cooperation of many people is provided. Please refer to the following website. http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~yagiko/englishindex.html
Editor's Note: This is the first time I have received communication from anyone on the opposite side of this battle, and I hope that we can open a continuing dialogue with Ms. Yagishita. She is looking for personal items that our Marines and sailors may have brought home from Tarawa; i.e., anything with Japanese writing that can be traced to the owner. As with our Marines, the Japanese military often had pieces of equipment personally identified by the user, and the writing would be in ink or scratched into metal. If you have anything like this, and are sure it came from Tarawa, take a photo of it and the writing and e-mail it to her. Thanks!