The cranes helped narrow things down quite a bit. The picture was clearly taken on the starboard side. The forward cranes are a bad fit because behind them there is a step down to the ship's torpedo tubes. There doesn't look like enough room for a group photo.
On the other hand, the last 11 meter utility boat position on the starboard side is a good fit. Later on it was the location of a triple 25-mm anti-aircraft gun mount, but in 1931 it was a good location to take a picture, theoretically with the superstructure in the background.
I knew that my grandmother had been in Japan until 1931. I also knew that she lived near Kure, and that she had a cousin who was in the Navy at Kure, on a ship based at Kure.
I am positive that is my grandmother. I am fairly sure the picture shows her on a warship. The nearest naval base was Kure. The only reason I can think of for her to visit Kure is to visit her cousin, so it follows that if she went on any ship, it was his.
So, my working theory is that my grandmother did visit Kure, did visit her cousin, and did visit Naka. But did she bother to tell me? No. That's perfectly in character for her.
According to the distant relative who provided the photo, his name was Senior Lieutenant Masao Tao. One of his relatives went on to settle in Watsonville, CA. He makes an appearance in, of all places, Wikipedia. @gasagasagirl en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redman_Hi…
Another thing she once mentioned: she had written him before the war and he had said that he wished that the U.S. and Japan not go to war, but if they did, he would do his duty. She said he died in the war. I asked if he went down with his ship, and she just shrugged.
I took that as a yes. She was a stoic who mentioned winning a beauty pageant in 1942 while confined to the horse stables at Tanforan. She didn't talk about how bad the horse stables were. She knew that was obviously bad so why mention it. My whole family was like that.
I don't know anything about Tao, except a list of the Naka's captains doesn't include him. Rank sounds a bit low to skipper a light cruiser, so maybe he was the XO? She was 14 at the time and was answering a question 60 years later, so I'm cutting her a little slack here.
I've got a few books on Japanese cruisers on order. Don't know what I'll find but it couldn't hurt. I never thought I would find out anything more about my grandmother or her cousin, or a particular day in 1931, but life is full of surprises.
@KyleMizokami Great thread. Have you seen the Japanese cruiser bible’s section on Naka? If it’s not in there it probably isn’t anywhere else (in English)
@TheBaseLeg No, I haven't heard of it. Got a link?