[Mike Cash]

Thanks to Pioneer and Douglas for contributions. I should point out that the amount collected so far is enough to pay for the flowers and even most of my gasoline (went by motorcycle) so no further contributions are needed. I will report on the Kiva loan as soon as I get a chance to take care of it.

If there is interest we can consider making this an annual thing.

I know some of you sometimes have occasion to visit Japan yourselves. Please note that on Flickr the photos are geotagged to the precise location of the tomb. That cemetery is hard to navigate even with a guide map, so please make use of the geotags if you ever decide to visit. The tomb is in Section 13-1-18, located on the northwest corner of row 18.

There are numerous flower shops near the main gate selling prepared arrangements and including the loan of a bucket and ladle for washing tombstones and cleaning up. Return the bucket/ladle to the flower shop when you're done with them. There are water faucets located here and there throughout the cemetery if you need more water. The tomb is about 600m or so from the main entrance and if you have a vehicle it is possible to drive there.

[Mike Cash]

Finally have a chance to sit down and look at the name listing stone and the very first thing I notice is that my suspicion about this being either a relocated or refurbished/consolidated tomb is right on both counts. The tomb is a relocation from Koushouji Temple (香正寺）, a Nichiren Buddhist temple in Fukuoka City, and the move is dated November 18, 1933. (This cemetery, operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, opened in 1923).

There are 10 names listed on the stone, six male and four female, plus the one blank space:

Keiyo(?) or Keisei(?) d. Nov 27, 1902 aged 67
Chie d. Aug(?) 18, 1920 aged 79
Yoshiro d. Feb 15, 1927 aged 49
Shigero(?) d. Feb 6, 1944 aged 28 (died in the war)
Kumao d. July 5, 1947 aged 78
Kango d. Dec 14, 1958 aged 72
Fern(?) d. July 13, 1955 aged 63
Takuma d. Mar 11, 1960 aged 84
Yuuko d. May 20, 1966 aged 31
Blank
Nofu d. May 11, 1975 aged 92

I have no idea if "Fern" was a foreign woman who married into the family or was a Japanese woman whose mother liked the name "Fern". The other names with question marks are because there can be more than one way to read the name and without direct knowledge of what the correct reading is it is impossible to know for sure.

[thoughton]

This has been a very interesting read, thanks for making the effort Douglas and Mike!

[wwwmorrell]

Thanks Doug & Mike for saving this mans piece of history from disappearing into obscurity, much appreciated.

If this location is made known to the many Pentaxians who visit Japan hopefully the Takumar name will live on forever, maybe one day I will make it myself.

Not much of a donation person except for the Salvo's, but will PayPal $10 towards future cost's or use it with your Kiva loan.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Finally have a chance to sit down and look at the name listing stone and the very first thing I notice is that my suspicion about this being either a relocated or refurbished/consolidated tomb is right on both counts. The tomb is a relocation from Koushouji Temple (香正寺）, a Nichiren Buddhist temple in Fukuoka City, and the move is dated November 18, 1933. (This cemetery, operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, opened in 1923).

There are 10 names listed on the stone, six male and four female, plus the one blank space:

Keiyo(?) or Keisei(?) d. Nov 27, 1902 aged 67
Chie d. Aug(?) 18, 1920 aged 79
Yoshiro d. Feb 15, 1927 aged 49
Shigero(?) d. Feb 6, 1944 aged 28 (died in the war)
Kumao d. July 5, 1947 aged 78
Kango d. Dec 14, 1958 aged 72
Fern(?) d. July 13, 1955 aged 63
Takuma d. Mar 11, 1960 aged 84
Yuuko d. May 20, 1966 aged 31
Blank
Nofu d. May 11, 1975 aged 92

I have no idea if "Fern" was a foreign woman who married into the family or was a Japanese woman whose mother liked the name "Fern". The other names with question marks are because there can be more than one way to read the name and without direct knowledge of what the correct reading is it is impossible to know for sure.

Thanks Mike!
Think this will answer your question about Fern:


From Milwaukee Sentinel, Sunday June 14, 1936.


From New York Times, July 14, 1955.

She was originally buried in New York, but it looks now like her grave were moved (?).
Kind of nice they are together now, after almost a 20 years marriage.

The woman he married in his last years of life, Makoto, is not there!

Could you indicate which are the female names, besides Fern?

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

This has been a very interesting read, thanks for making the effort Douglas and Mike!

Thanks Doug & Mike for saving this mans piece of history from disappearing into obscurity, much appreciated.

If this location is made known to the many Pentaxians who visit Japan hopefully the Takumar name will live on forever, maybe one day I will make it myself.

Not much of a donation person except for the Salvo's, but will PayPal $10 towards future cost's or use it with your Kiva loan.

You are welcome!

Stay tuned!! I've got much more material. Soon I will post some of the portraits he took.

[wwwmorrell]

Thanks again Douglas, I'm a great believer in the knowing where we come from & where its going to lead us in the future.

Will stay tuned.

You are welcome!

Stay tuned!! I've got much more material. Soon I will post some of the portraits he took.

[Mike Cash]

Just look at the post-mortem names to spot male from female. The male names end with 士 and the female names end with 姉.

Edit: I didn't intend to sound so blunt. I wrote that from my iPhone as I am away from my computer again.

The women are Chie, Yuuko, Fern, and Nofu.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Mike. In some ways this doesn't seem logical since he died in NY in 1951 it would be surprising if in those days they then would refrigerate and sent his body back to Japan for burial .... unless he was cremated first and his ashes buried in Japan ?

EDIT. Oh I see you have confirmed the name. Hmm.

Great thread Douglas.

Missed this post before. Better get this right. He died in 1960 in New York, not 1951. And I think the evidences are now strong that he was indeed buried/moved to Japan.
It is logical if you consider that he kept strong links to his Japanese family and Pentax (I'll be posting more evidence for this), and that he had no children in the US.

[RioRico]

In case any are interested, I've added this thread as a reference to the Wikipedia TAKUMAR page: Takumar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and let's hope it stays there.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Just look at the post-mortem names to spot male from female. The male names end with 士 and the female names end with 姉.

Edit: I didn't intend to sound so blunt. I wrote that from my iPhone as I am away from my computer again.

The women are Chie, Yuuko, Fern, and Nofu.

Thanks Mike! I did figure it out, good training. When I retire I'll learn Chinese/Japanes + latin + icelandic just for fun


Trying to get some order in this (m/f for male/female):

1st generation, perhaps husband and wife, probably parents of the Takuma generation:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(m) Keiyo or Keisei (?) Kajiwara: born about 1835, dead Nov 27, 1902, aged 67, presumably the last samurai in the family
(f) Chie Kajiwara: born about 1841, dead Aug(?) 18, 1920, aged 79, presumably his wife

2nd generation (Takuma generation):
clues: we know that there should be five brothers in this generation, and that Takuma was the third of them
there ought to be at least one sister, otherwise, how could Kumao Takumara (Pentax founder) have a nephew to take over the company, named Matsumoto, but she would presumably be buried elsewhere with the Matsumoto family?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(m) Kumao Kajiwara, born about 1869, dead July 5, 1947, aged 78, 1st brother, founded Asahi Optical Company, precursor of Pentax, in 1919
missing brother, perhaps the blank position on the stone?
(m) Takuma Kajiwara, born about 1876, dead Mar 11, 1960, aged 84, 3rd brother, emigrated to the US 1894/95, photographer and painter
(m) Yoshiro Kajiwara, born about 1878, dead Feb 15, 1927, aged 49, 4th brother
(f) Nofu Kajiwara, born about 1883, dead May 11, 1975 aged 92, sister or wife??
(m) Kango Kajiwara, born about 1886, dead Dec 14, 1958 aged 72, 5th brother, became painter at the Japenese emperors court
+
(f) Fern Horton Kajiwara, born Searls about 1893 in Wisconsin, US, dead July 13 in New York, 1955, aged 63, married to Takuma in 1936

3rd-4th generations:
presumably children or grand children of the 2nd generation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(m) Shigero(?) Kajiwara, born about 1916, dead Feb 6, 1944, aged 28 (died in the war)
(f) Yuuko Kajiwara, born about 1935, dead May 20, 1966, aged 31


Before Mike gave us these names from the grave stones, I was trying to find the parents of Takuma/Kumao/Kango from other sources, looking for a late Edo period samurai with a life span that made it plausible that he could have parented them. The only candidate I found was Kajiwara Heima - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediad. If you have seen the movie "The last Samurai", he was part of the real story behind that movie (mind you, Hollywood messed up the story a lot, for instance, the western officer that turned into a samurai was French, not American), responsible to armor the resisting samurai with western guns, canons etc. More so, his first wife Futuba Yamakawa even fought as a warrior, she lead a troop of women armed as samurai warriors. His second wife Tei Mitzuon was running a modern school for girls. But neither their names, nor the life span of Heima and Futuba (I don't know it for Tei), match what Mike has found now. It is still possible though that Heima was a brother or cousin of the father of Takuma.
I haven't been able to find anything about Keisei (Kajiwara), whom I presume is the father of Takuma and Kumao Kajiwara, the grandfather of Saburo Matsumoto.

Edit: It is worth noticing that Kumao Kajiwara lived to 1947. Most sources on the web that claims that Saburo Matsumoto took over after his uncle some time in the mid-late 1930's makes it sound like Kumao died, and Saburo was forced to take over and interrupt the career he had started as a printer when he left his earlier apprentice at AOCo. Now it looks more like Saburo just retired. He was 65 in 1934, 70 in 1939.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

In case any are interested, I've added this thread as a reference to the Wikipedia TAKUMAR page: Takumar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and let's hope it stays there.

Thanks Rico.

When I'm done with this (getting feedback from this thread and hopefully help to fill some gaps), I will update the info on Wikipedia on Takuma Kajiwara with references and all.

[wolfiegirl]

fascinating reading! thanks for putting all this together douglas!

[Mike Cash]

Douglas, there is an alternate possibility for ending up with a nephew with the family name of Matsumoto, one which doesn't require a sister.

It is possible that the Matsumoto family had only daughters and that one of the Kajiwara brothers married and took the Matsumoto family name in order to perpetuate the name in that line. It used to be pretty common long ago and it still happens today. (I once had a male coworker named Kojima who changed to Hirayanagi when he got married. Later on he divorced and took back his "maiden" name of Kojima).

Of course, I have no way of knowing if that is the case here, but keep it in mind as you do your research.

Also notice that the names are listed in order of date of death, with the exception of Fern. Kumao died in 1958, Fern in 1955, and Takuma in 1960. The order of engraving leads me to believe that both Fern and Takuma were interred at the same time....1960. Either by his own wishes or those of his family in Japan, Fern and Takuma were interred together, despite Takuma having remarried. This could explain why second wife Makoto isn't there; she was either pissed off or unwanted. After all, if Fern had been interred there in 1955 when she died, that would be a different matter and wife #2 might agree to be interred there also. But if wife #1 got moved there the same time as hubby, #2 might be excused for resenting that! I think the order of engraving supports that hypothesis. Notice that the date order is maintained in the case of Takuma and Fern, even though one might think he would be listed first.

You should consider the blank name in light of that rigid attention to chronological order. For the blank to be for the second brother, it would have to be someone born before 1875 and still alive in 1975 when Nofu died and they decided to leave a blank space. Not impossible, of course, but more probable that it was left for a spouse who just never showed up. It may have even been left open for Makoto. It could be for someone who died before Nofu and who it was assumed would be added to the tomb, but for whatever reason didn't make it. In that case they would have left a blank so as to not screw up the order of engravings.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Douglas, there is an alternate possibility for ending up with a nephew with the family name of Matsumoto, one which doesn't require a sister.

It is possible that the Matsumoto family had only daughters and that one of the Kajiwara brothers married and took the Matsumoto family name in order to perpetuate the name in that line. It used to be pretty common long ago and it still happens today. (I once had a male coworker named Kojima who changed to Hirayanagi when he got married. Later on he divorced and took back his "maiden" name of Kojima).

Of course, I have no way of knowing if that is the case here, but keep it in mind as you do your research.

Also notice that the names are listed in order of date of death, with the exception of Fern. Kumao died in 1958, Fern in 1955, and Takuma in 1960. The order of engraving leads me to believe that both Fern and Takuma were interred at the same time....1960. Either by his own wishes or those of his family in Japan, Fern and Takuma were interred together, despite Takuma having remarried. This could explain why second wife Makoto isn't there; she was either pissed off or unwanted. After all, if Fern had been interred there in 1955 when she died, that would be a different matter and wife #2 might agree to be interred there also. But if wife #1 got moved there the same time as hubby, #2 might be excused for resenting that! I think the order of engraving supports that hypothesis. Notice that the date order is maintained in the case of Takuma and Fern, even though one might think he would be listed first.

You should consider the blank name in light of that rigid attention to chronological order. For the blank to be for the second brother, it would have to be someone born before 1875 and still alive in 1975 when Nofu died and they decided to leave a blank space. Not impossible, of course, but more probable that it was left for a spouse who just never showed up. It may have even been left open for Makoto. It could be for someone who died before Nofu and who it was assumed would be added to the tomb, but for whatever reason didn't make it. In that case they would have left a blank so as to not screw up the order of engravings.

Great info Mike!

I was of course just guessing that another brother had to have been born before Takuma to make him the third brother, and I just placed him in the largest time gap. If one of the older brothers were adopted and hence buried in that family grave, it would also solve the problem. It actually makes sense in view of something Takuma said in the 1951 interview: "Born in Japan, Kajiwara was the third of five brothers in a Samurai family. Knowing that the eldest son would retain the family title, and that according to the custom he might be adopted into the same class family with no sons, Kajiwara decided to travel the world."
At the time it did not make much sense to me, and it is written in such a general way that it gets uncertain if it happened or not. I get the feeling that the reporter had difficulties to follow how Takuma described this. For a while I thought this could relate to the only child, a son, that Futuba Yamakawa had with Heima Kajiwara, whom was adopted into the Yamakawa family. As we now know that Heima was not Takuma's father, but likely some more distant relative, that possibility is ruled out.

With these new bits of the puzzle, I think the best guess is:

1st generation, perhaps husband and wife, probably parents of the Takuma generation:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(m) Keiyo or Keisei (?) Kajiwara: born about 1835, dead Nov 27, 1902, aged 67, presumably the last samurai in the family
(f) Chie Kajiwara: born about 1841, dead Aug(?) 18, 1920, aged 79, presumably his wife

2nd generation (Takuma generation):
clues: we know that there should be five brothers in this generation, and that Takuma was the third of them
there ought to be at least one sister, otherwise, how could Kumao Takumara (Pentax founder) have a nephew to take over the company, named Matsumoto, but she would presumably be buried elsewhere with the Matsumoto family?
Add to this the order of the names and graves.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(m) ????? Matsumoto, born Kajiwara before 1869, adopted by his wife's family, 1st brother, father of Saburo Matsumoto (2nd head of Pentax) and grandfather of Tohru Matsumoto (4th head of Pentax)
(m) Kumao Kajiwara, born about 1869, dead July 5, 1947, aged 78, 2nd brother, founded Asahi Optical Company, precursor of Pentax, in 1919
(m) Takuma Kajiwara, born about 1876, dead Mar 11, 1960, aged 84, 3rd brother, emigrated to the US 1894/95, photographer and painter
(m) Yoshiro Kajiwara, born about 1878, dead Feb 15, 1927, aged 49, 4th brother
(f) Nofu Kajiwara, born about 1883, dead May 11, 1975 aged 92, unmarried sister or wife to Kumao, Yoshiro or Kango??
(m) Kango Kajiwara, born about 1886, dead Dec 14, 1958 aged 72, 5th brother, became painter at the Japenese emperors court
+
(f) Fern Horton Kajiwara, born Searls about 1893 in Wisconsin, US, dead July 13 in New York, 1955, aged 63, married to Takuma in 1936

3rd-4th generations:
presumably children or grand children of the 2nd generation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(m) Shigero(?) Kajiwara, born about 1916, dead Feb 6, 1944, aged 28 (died in the war)
(f) Yuuko Kajiwara, born about 1935, dead May 20, 1966, aged 31

empty space someone who didn't show up, like Mike suggested