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Post-WWII orphanages 2011/2/6 09:06
My father was in Japan at the beginning of the Occupation, right after WWII. Being a medical doctor, he was assigned to help in an orphanage. Ifm sure there were many in those early post-WWII days.

He often spoke of the beautiful Japanese people and the respect that was shown. He also spoke highly of Kumamoto. Can anyone tell me if there were post war orphanages in this city? Is there any way of determining the staff of any orphanages from those days?

He was stationed there for about two years and got to know many people. As a thank-you for his help with the orphanages, he was given a school bell. I still have this bell and would like more information as to its origin.

Thank you so much for any help with my questions.
-Jeff Morrell
by jeffmorl  

bell? 2011/2/6 14:10
Mr. Jeff Morrell,

Does the bell have the school name on it? If so, perhaps you can try contacting its municipal or even the school itself if it still exists under the same name.

If it's in Japanese, you can have a photo uploaded on the web so that poster here can read it for you.
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

Thank you... 2011/2/7 02:32
I have some photos of the bell and the kanji characters in six panels.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59279118@N08/

Thank you again for your help.
Jeff Morrell
by jeffmorl rate this post as useful

. 2011/2/8 13:29
Thank you for the link. However, I'm afraid all those engravements are common war-time educational expressions, except for Panel f (Bell 4) which tells us the date it was made, September, 1941. I wonder if the school name is in the inner part of the bell or somewhere.

Either way, why not contact Kumamoto and tell them your whole story. The following are official sites of the prefecture and city. Follow the foreign language link and you will find email addresses as well as international exchange organizations.
http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/
http://www.city.kumamoto.kumamoto.jp/

Or you can try contacting the local newspapers of Kumamoto or some major newspapers in Japan. Here is the website and postal address for the local newspaper.

http://kumanichi.com/index.shtml
Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun
172 Yoyasu-cho, Kumamoto-shi
Japan 860-8506

Best of luck.
by Uco (guest) rate this post as useful

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