Item:
ONSV22NCS136

Original U.S. WWII “Seabee Special” Japanese Good Luck Flag - GI Made to Sell and Trade

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. These types of flags are growing increasingly difficult to come across anymore. While it may appear as a Japanese hinomaru yosegaki good luck flag, this is a recreated example. Its a genuine WWII Japanese with US Marine "kanji". Many Marines after the initial invasion would construct these flags from silk or from already existing Japanese flags, and had a “regular business” making them. The Marines that made them often used the parachute silk and mercurochrome from medical supplies for the writing. One Marine even stated that “we sold and traded them to those stupid squids as fast as we could make them.”

The flag itself measures 20” x 13 ½” and is “signed” with many different characters as well as “gibberish” to make them appear as Kanji. Often Marines would make these flags and copy the characters found on Japanese ration boxes and supply crates, meaning that there are flags out there that will literally have “fish” and “sake” written on them! Definitely a lucrative business for bored Marines.

The condition is really good and shows only minor wear from being displayed. The sun appears to have been dyed into the center by whoever made it, as it is sloppy compared to actual Japanese produced examples. There are even replicated temple stamps present.

This lovely example comes more than ready for 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.

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