Temple which uses this stamp

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it so much. Sorry it's faded :(

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/N7maNZZ.jpg[/IMG]

I guess you mean the orange-red stamp?

I can read only parts of the three lines (vertical in the stamp; here I am writing left to right, horizontally):
š –{ ?
ŽÐ? ?
”ª”¦‹{ (Hachimangu)

Something tells me that this may be very old. Please note that shrine stamps may be replaced over time. I guess the middle line would hold the key to the name, but the stamp is not clear (at least not enough for me to decipher).

Thank you so much!
The stamp is on a flag from the 40s before or about WWII, and I'm trying to find the prefecture that it comes from.
But I have no working knowledge of Japanese custom or language, so anything is useful to me.
Again, thank you :)

I see. There may be some military group names or other place names on the rest of the flag... if your intention is to return it to the original owner, I have heard of an organization who is helping... This "Hachimangu" part, the only part I could read clearly, is common to so many temples across Japan that that alone would not be sufficient to locate it :(

Yes, I am trying to return it, though the original owner, I'm sorry to say, died in the war. My grandfather brought this flag back, and it was given to me after his death.
Though if it's possible to locate this man's family, I'd love to do so.
I would love to hear of this organization you mentioned :)

Yes, I meant to say that the owner's "family" of course...

If you are a registered user and can post here as such, I will be happy to private message you about it.

I wasn't a member, but I just signed up.
(This is "Nathan")

The red stamp seems to say,
š •¼�¬ŽÐ�@“¡�蔪”¦‹{ (Kokuhei-Shosha Fujisaki Hachiman-gu).
This is shinto shrine in Kumamoto Prefecture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujisaki_Hachiman-g%C5%AB

Kokuhei-Shosha is a rank for shinto shrine used in the past.
"“¡" is hard to read, but there's no other Kokuhei-Shosha which ends with "�蔪”¦‹{".

Additionally, written words are similar to
Ž­Ž™“‡•à•º‘æŽl�\ŒÜ—ü‘à‰Ì (Song of Kagoshima 45th Infantry Regiment).
I think it is written like this,

‚ �T�_�B‚ÌŸN‰Ô
‘å˜a’jŽq‚Æ�¶‚ê—ˆ‚Ä
‘I‚Ñ�¢‚³‚ꂵ‚‚͂à‚Ì‚Ì
æ£‚ð‹¹‚É•ø‚«‚Ä‚Í
‚È‚ñ‚¼‚©‚Ö‚è‚Ý‚ñ
ŒN‚ªà¨
�U‚Ó˜r‚Ì—Í—N‚« (photo ends with this line)
�G—íŽR‰Í‚̗삱‚à‚é (guessing from the song)
ŽF‹÷Œ’Ž™‚̈ӋCŒ©‚¸‚â (guessing from the song)

Kagoshima Prefecture is in the south of Kumamoto Prefecture, so perhaps the flag comes around there.

N,
You have no idea how helpful this is, to finally have a place to start. THANK YOU SO MUCH!Is there any way I might be able to contact you as time goes on? I am trying to make a documentary out of the search for the owners of this flag :)

I had thought that the OP had already been connected to a reliable search organization and that the case was closed. I didn't imagine he still didn't even have "a place to start." I wonder what other questions he might still have.

Uco,
This is true. AK has private messaged me a partial translation along with two websites to organizations which specialize in the return of such items. I am extremely thankful for all the information and intend to use it as a last resort.

The reason being, that this flag is not simply something I found on craigslist or ebay. This is the ONLY thing my grandfather kept after the war. Every single other thing he got rid of. But for some reason, he held on to this for 70 years.

At this point, I don't want to delegate its return to a company or organization until I've exhausted all the footwork I can do personally.

My goal right now is to make a documentary surrounding the return of this item, something that is personal to myself and this soldier's family.

What if the family doesn't want to be involved in your documentary?

This might be a crazy idea but it may work. If you can post a help message on here Japan-Guide or other travel websites to find some travelers traveling to Japan or already in traveling for a long stay. You can ask them to help you by stopping by shrines asking workers or the person who manage the shrine about the stamp on the flag. With enough travelers you may or should get a hit. The person just need the best quality photos of the flag and what is written on the flag and the stamp. The traveler just need to make sure they download the photos onto their phone

I did this when I was in Japan helping some apps update there photos when they ask people and it was fun to do it.

Wish you luck. Keep us posted

Seiko,
What a wonderful idea! Thank you so much :)
And that was kind of you to help out on your trip.

I was somewhat surprised, too, that the OP considered himself not having a place to start :(

These organizations are equipped with the means to look up the soldiers groups, and also would know if there are some families looking for any clue to the fate of the long lost relatives. So I thought they would be the best resource to go to. You can send THEM (meaning the organizations) detailed photos to see if they have any clue.

Now that you have an idea about the shrine (at least the area), you don't have to go and ask at different shrines - they might recognize the stamp (if it has not changed over the years) but probably the shrine would have gone through generation change so that you might not be able to locate anyone who has firsthand knowledge about it.

But now hearing that part of the effort is a documentary, I can see that the OP is more interested to go the "harder" way so I rest my case.

Okay, no offence. I was just hoping to help.

I was wondering since it's not that difficult to read that flag once any Japanese adult starts concentrating or is shown a better photo. I'm sure AK could've read it if she knew that that was what you needed more than to have the flag returned. People like myself stopped participating in this thread, because we thought you were taken care of.

All in all, war flags are one of the easiest war memorobia to track down, because it has everything written on it. I can understand that you want to make a dramatic documentary and that you need to do a "journey" along its way, but I suspect your journey may end up easier.

Good luck to you, and I'll try to stay out of this so that you can do what you need to do. I just hope you show your honesty to the family of the original owner, that's all.

AK & Uco,
Again, thank you both for your help. I really appreciate that you care so much about a decidedly touchy subject :)
I know it can be difficult to trust people's motives, especially strangers on the internet :/
But rest assured that I will handle this matter with all care and respect, honoring the wishes of the family, wanting to see this flag placed rightly back into their possession, while still trying to work out some personal family history questions on my end.
My local friends in the Japanese American community have helped me to translate the flag already. This temple stamp is one of the last pieces in the puzzle before the real work begins.
Thanks again, and I wish you well :)