Original Item. Only One Available. This is a great example of a Japanese Good Luck flag, with dozens of inscriptions from the friends and family of the departing soldier. There are also some well wishes such as Prayers for Eternal Good Fortune in War and Pure Loyalty in Service to the Nation. One inscription reads As brothers, advance into Hankow, which would insinuate that the soldier was part of the Japanese force during the Fall of Hankow, during which China fell to the Japanese in October 1938 after a four-month defense. This would date the flag to the fall of 1938.

The flag measures 30 x 33” and retains both of its original cloth corner reinforcements along with their tie strings, although the reinforcements show some heavy wear. The flag is in fantastic condition and only has the basic fold marks.

The flag comes with a page of 30 translations of the inscriptions. These include naming who the flag was gifted to, a Mr. Toyoharu Kojima, certainly the soldier who carried this flag into Hankow. There is an inscription of Nayoro, a town in Hokkaido, and a printed map showing this town’s location in Hokkaido has also been provided. Other inscriptions include With the help of heaven we will strike a blow against injustice, and Do not forget the spirit of Yamato. One interesting example is A great battle will come down to the last 5 minutes, never forget this, which was a way of instilling the “fight to the death” mentality.

The flag is made of what appears to be rayon cloth, an early form of synthetic cloth made from wood, with the red "sun" dyed piece sewn into the middle. The flag is in good condition and is the real deal. The writing is still mostly legible, and this would make a fine display piece for a wall or glass table. These are getting harder and harder to find in any condition.

Ready to display!

The Good Luck Flag, known as hinomaru yosegaki (日の丸 寄せ書き) in the Japanese language, was a traditional gift for Japanese servicemen deployed during the military campaigns of the Empire of Japan, though most notably during World War II. The flag given to a soldier was a national flag signed by friends and family, often with short messages wishing the soldier victory, safety, and good luck.

The Japanese call their country's flag hinomaru, which translates literally to "sun-round", referencing the red circle on a white field. When the hinomaru was signed, the Japanese characters were usually written vertically, and radiated outward from the edge of the red circle. This practice is referenced in the second term, yosegaki, meaning "sideways-writing". The phrase hinomaru-yosegaki can be interpreted as "To write sideways around the red sun", describing the appearance of the signed flag. This particular example completely unique is written in old KANJI the writing are mainly Japanese names of this soldier's family and friends with quotes and phrases.