Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Just purchased at a large military auction! This is a lovely USGI Bring Back from WWII: an original Japanese WWII "Meatball" National flag, inscribed to the soldier who brought / sent it home.

This example is however unlike others that we have had, in that the entire inscription including the address, name, and date, is entirely written in Japanese! It took a bit, but we were able to transcribe the entire flag:

 米国 マサツセッツ洲 イーストハンプトン
プリザント街 77番地
ライオネル エー ラプレード

日本九洲

年六十四百九千
日二 月 二

Translated, this reads:

USA Massachusetts Easthampton
Pleasant Street 77
Lionel A. Laprade

Japan, Kyūshū

1946
February 2nd

We have kept the word order somewhat similar to the Japanese, most of which is written in Katakana, a phonetic alphabet specifically used for foreign words.

We have done some preliminary research, and Lionel A. Laprade was a U.S. Marine Corps WWII Veteran from Easthampton, MA who passed away in 2016 at the age of 91, having lived in Easthampton for most of his life. He was a member of the 5th Marines Association and Iwo Jima Survivors Association per his obituary listed here: Lionel A. Laprade.

The flag measures approximately 18 1/2"H x 24"W, and looks and feels to be made from fine silk cloth, as many flags were. The body of the flag is white, with a red "sun round" dyed into the middle. It has leatherette corner reinforcements, without any hanging ties, and is very much the size and type that would have usually been used for a "good luck" flag.

A great USGI bring back flag from the Pacific Theater of WWII, ready to research and display!

The Japanese call their country's flag Hinomaru (日の丸), which translates literally to "circle of the sun", referencing the red circle on a white field. It embodies the country's sobriquet: Land of the Rising Sun.