Original Item. Only One Available. This is a great example of a Japanese Good Luck flag, with the names of dozens of Japanese friends and family of the departing soldier. There are also some well wishes such as Do Your Best in Good Spirits and Banzai to the Imperial Forces.

The flag measures 29 x 41” and retains both of its original corner reinforcements, which appear to be gold leaf. Both of the two tie strings are retained, but are weak. The flag is in fantastic condition and only has the basic fold marks with some light staining across the flag as shown.

The flag comes with a page of partial translations. Only the well-wishes are translated, with all untranslated text being signatures of friends and family. Some of the well-wishes include Serve the Nation with Patriotism, Yokazawa-san, do your best, Believe in Certain Victory, and Pure Sincerity in Offering Service to the Nation. Yokazawa is likely the soldier who carried the flag.

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.