Grandfather found a WW-II sword in 1945, then found a hidden message that sent him on unexpected mission to find rightful owner
Some things have value beyond the use they were originally intended for. A man knew that a sword his grandfather had brought home from Okinawa, Japan, after World War II was one such thing. The traditional katana came with a message that suggested it was an important family heirloom. Years after the war, back in 2021, the man, Kevin Chroust, decided to get the sword back to its rightful owners in Japan with the help and approval of his grandfather, Joseph Kasser, who was also known as Benny, per his personal essay on Outside Online.
The message on the sword read, "I am very glad to have the honor to ask your favor to send my sword to my home. This sword, as I have been told, has been handed down from generation to generation to keep my family safe and comfortable. Remembering your kindness." Kevin had grown up listening to his grandpa's war stories and looking at the sword that his grandfather had gotten during his last days in World War II in Okinawa. Kevin had asked his grandfather if he would like to find the rightful owners of the sword around June 2021. Kasser immediately agreed to his request. The old man had sent the sword back to his parents at home through the postal service in 1945.
He came back home some time after that and was surprised to see that the sword had reached safely. The tag on the sword had an address on the other side that read, "Colonel Tomesuke Umeki. Takaharu-Machi, Nishi-Morokata County, Miyazaki Prefecture. Takaharu station. Yoshito line." The man started looking for the sword's owners with his 99-year-old grandfather and hoped for the best. Kevin contacted his journalist friend, Yutaka Nakamura, in Tokyo, Japan. He had found out about Takaharu in Japan through the internet. The town had a small population of 7,900 people. The Japanese journalist had found quite a few things and came to know that there was no one called Tomesuke Umeki. They needed to check koseki, a family registry and would need a lawyer for it.
Kevin reached out to a town employee at his friend's suggestion through email. The man, Tomesuke Umeki, had a nephew who was found through the search. Soon enough, they found that the man also had a son, Takemitsu, who was in his 90s and had left the town. The family in Japan came to know that someone in the US had been looking for them. Kevin and his grandfather sent a letter to the family along with photos of the sword and the letter from the original owner. His journalist friend translated their letter into Japanese for the family. "He probably wasn't so different from me, only born on the other side of the world," the grandfather wrote in the letter. Tomesuke died in 1974 at the age of 74. His son, 96 at that time, told the duo that his dad had left home with the sword, but returned without it. He never talked about the weapon after that. Takemitsu thought that the sword had been forfeited to the US Army.
The grandfather knew that the sword meant a lot to the man's son, who had also served in World War II as a 20-year-old. It was decided that the sword would be sent to Japan first and Kevin would travel to the country later to return it. The man hoped that the sword would be considered a historical artifact and allowed in the country. He got it looked at by a sword expert as well. The sword was handmade and qualified as an art object in Japan. In June 2022, Kevin was in Japan and found out that the sword had been made 500 years ago. In July of that year, Kevin finally met Takemitsu at his home in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture. The man was glad to have his father's sword back.
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