Original Item: Only One Available. This is an interesting original Japanese WWII hinomaru Buddhist prayer or good-luck banner, measuring approximately 12 x 35 inches and retaining several Buddhist inscriptions and three temple-style seals. Its narrow vertical format distinguishes it from the more familiar square or rectangular yosegaki hinomaru flags covered with signatures from family, friends, and coworkers.

The most important inscription appears around the central sun and is drawn from Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, the section devoted to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, known in Japan as Kannon.

The relevant passage reads:

怖畏軍陣中

念彼観音力

衆怨悉退散

A close translation is:

“When in fear amid the ranks of battle, if one contemplates the power of Avalokiteshvara, all enemies will completely disperse.”

The key phrase 念彼観音力, read in Japanese Buddhist usage as nenpi Kannon riki, means “contemplate the power of Kannon.” It is repeated throughout the twenty-fifth chapter of the Lotus Sutra in passages describing protection from fire, weapons, attackers, imprisonment, dangerous animals, storms, and other threats.

The complete military-context verse is especially appropriate to a wartime prayer banner because it specifically refers to fear “amid the ranks of battle” and concludes that hostile forces will disperse through contemplation of Kannon’s power. Japanese Buddhist sources preserve essentially this same wording, 念彼観音力　衆怨悉退散.

Rather than functioning simply as a patriotic slogan, the inscription reflects a longstanding Buddhist devotional tradition in which Kannon was invoked for protection in moments of danger. The verse is therefore particularly meaningful on a wartime banner intended to accompany, protect, or spiritually support a serviceman.

There are three temple stamps that we were unable to identify. There is a signature line that we could not translate, and several other small inscriptions that are good research projects.

This example is particularly noteworthy for the combination of its hinomaru design, three temple-style seals, unusual vertical banner format, and direct quotation from the Kannon chapter of the Lotus Sutra referring specifically to danger in battle. The untranslated seals and subsidiary inscriptions offer a strong opportunity for further research into the banner’s exact religious and personal associations.