On the first pages of the old photograph ablum of my grandfather, Howard W. West, and his time in the Marines and military, much of which was spent on the USS Arizona during the 1920s, I found a lovely signed photograph or postcard of an oriental woman. The signature reads: Nishimura Sannomiya, Kobe, Japan.
The first hunt for Nishimura on the web came up with a Shoji Nishimura (1889-1944), a Vice Admiral with the Japanese Navy. He died in the Battle of Leyte Gulf website guiding the Fuso and Yamashiro Battleships among other destroyers and cruisers.
Both Nishimura and Sannomiya are surnames and the names of towns, streets, buildings, and companies around Japan.
If you have any information on this Nishimura woman, it might help fill in some blanks about the life of my grandfather. Please leave a comment below to help us uncover our ancestors’ past.
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