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, with the largest at the top reading Prayers for Eternal Good Fortune in War.

The flag measures roughly 27 x 39” and retains both of its original corner reinforcements, which appear to be gold leaf. Both have their original tie strings. The flag is in heavily flown and worn condition with heavy creasing. This example was likely a battlefield pickup. 

The flag comes with a page of partial translations. The page identifies one of the Temple Stamps, numbered 3 on the page, for the Tarobo Jinja Shrine, known as the “Victory Shrine”, located in the Shiga Prefecture. There is a photo of a shrine at a bird’s eye view included, which is likely this shrine.

A large line of text to the right reads Courageous service to the nation, signed Shigeo Shinkai. This person also wrote the main Kanji at the top. Other translations include Certain Victory and Mr. Takezo Fujio. The organization and style of the flag lead us to believe that this was a neighborhood signed 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 fair but rough 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.