Rising Sun Flag Possessed by Imperial Japanese Army Soldier, an Exhibit at the National Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Ukraine, to be Returned

July 21, 2005

On July 21 (Thu), after the Japan-Ukraine summit-talks to be held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, Mr. Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine now visiting Japan, will return to Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan, the property of a soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army which had been exhibited in Ukraine's National Museum of the Great Patriotic War.
This Rising Sun flag, which apparently had belonged to a soldier of the Japanese Imperial Army, had been an exhibit in the National Museum in Kiev. The Government of Japan has been requesting the Government of Ukraine to return it to Japan since April 2004. It was agreed that the flag would be returned on the occasion of President Yushchenko's visit to Japan.
The flag will be promptly returned to its original owner, Mr. Yoshisato Yamamura (81), born in August 1923, who now lives in Oita City, Oita Prefecture.

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