How to find distant relatives?
 

My grandmother is Japanese, she came to the USA in 1948. She's originally from Koriyama and she tells me that her family used to raise race horses. Her brother (my father's uncle and I believe my great uncle) was adopted by her grandfather to continue his name. She also has the last name of her grandfather (I'm not sure if he also adopted her), she was given it in case her brother died in the war. She used to write letters with some of her sisters but she's lost contact with them.

Anyway, I'd like to find a way to contact some of my distant relatives over there but I've had a difficult time finding information. I'd also like to know more about family history and the culture in general. I don't speak Japanese but am thinking about learning it.

Do you think I'd have any luck finding my family or is it just "a pipe dream" (whatever that means)?

Thanks.

I actually feel that you have more than a good chance of finding your relatives. That you know their (former) profession is great because not many people are in that field. The fact that Koriyama is a small town is a plus as well.

If you're willing to go to Koriyama, it may only take a few days to find someone. If you find just one relative, you will find the others in no time.

If you have to stay where you are to look for them, you could hire a private eye here. I know it won't be cheap, though. It could cost you less if you just hopped over here and do it yourself.

If they are still living in America then you can find them pretty easily. There are many sites that specialize in locating people. Just google it check out a site.

I bet the Koriyama City Hall has these kinds of records. I have stayed in Koriyama and it is nice warm suburban town and I am sure you can find help there.

Unfortunately I do not have a ton of money to spend on a trip or a private eye right now. I have a small child which pretty much eats up a lot of money. I would love to go to Japan but that will be in the future and not anything in the near term (at least that gives me some chance to try to learn the language). I would love to actually track down someone in another way, does anyone have suggestions for cheaper ways to do it? If you were going to do this without spending a ton of money, how would you do it?

A page for Koriyama city foreigners

This is the website in English...

Advertize in the Fukushima Minpo, the largest local newspaper, maybe?

福島民報：福島県の新聞社＝福島民報社のニュースサイ ト｜「広告に関する問い合わせ」受付画面

If you're lucky, they might even want to write an article about you. Something big city papers won't do...

That sounds like a really good idea! I'll have to ask my grandmother more questions and make sure that she's okay with it before I do it of course but otherwise I might give that a try! Thanks!

The cheapest way to find a person in Japan is to access NTT(Nippon Telephon and Telegram) database at 0190-104104 using modem. It will cost you 40 JPY per person.

Unfortunately, I already switched the phone line to KDDI (another phone company than NTT) and can not access to the database.

If someone living in Japan can access to this database, ask him to access NTT database telling the relative's name.

Once I found one of my friend using this database before I switched to KDDI.