Letter by General Shigeru Honjō

[When Necessary]

This is a private letter penned by General Baron Shigeru Honjō who commanded the Kwantung army during the Mukden Incident and the invasion of Manchuria.

After being arrested as a war criminal by SCAP in 1945, he committed seppuku before the trials began.

 

I would greatly appreciate any even partial translations.

 

Thank you.

[xiayang]

Most of this is beyond my reading skills, but the characters in the leftmost column in the first and fourth images are a name:

山田耕三郎 (Yamada Kōzaburō, probably this guy).

[Nobody]

I cannot read the body of the letter either.

 

The address and the name of the addressee are

市内目黒区向原町二五〇 – In Tokyo, Meguro-ku, Mukaiharamachi 250

山田耕三 殿 – Mr. Yamada Kozo

[When Necessary]

On 9/30/2025 at 10:19 PM, xiayang said:

Most of this is beyond my reading skills, but the characters in the leftmost column in the first and fourth images are a name:

山田耕三郎 (Yamada Kōzaburō, probably this guy).

Thank you so much, Jan!

[When Necessary]

On 9/30/2025 at 11:39 PM, Nobody said:

I cannot read the body of the letter either.

 

The address and the name of the addressee are

市内目黒区向原町二五〇 – In Tokyo, Meguro-ku, Mukaiharamachi 250

山田耕三 殿 – Mr. Yamada Kozo

Thank you so much Moriyama-san!

I think I will need a calligraphy sensei to look at the letter itself but I will try to research Yamada Kozo.

[John C]

On 9/28/2025 at 7:20 PM, When Necessary said:

even partial translations.

D:

Markus Sesko has a book on cursive script. This may help if you don't alredy have it.

https://www.amazon.com/Identifying-Japanese-Cursive-Script-Markus/dp/1291610219/ref=sr_1_10?

John C.

 

[When Necessary]

16 hours ago, John C said:

D:

Markus Sesko has a book on cursive script. This may help if you don't alredy have it.

https://www.amazon.com/Identifying-Japanese-Cursive-Script-Markus/dp/1291610219/ref=sr_1_10?

John C.

 

Thank you John!

I have so many hanging scrolls and pieces of calligraphy, this would definitely be a worthwhile investment.