Original Japanese WWII Hand-Painted Silk Good Luck Flag with Lots of Family Signatures & Page of Translations - 26 x 29½”

Original Item. Only One Available. This is a great example of a Japanese Good Luck flag, with the names of roughly 112 of the friends and family of the departing soldier. What’s very interesting is that 57 of these names share the soldier’s (Hiroharu Sotoyama) surname, making this an outstanding example. There are also some well wishes, with the largest at the top reading Prayers for Eternal Good Fortune in War.

The flag measures roughly 26 x 29 1/2” and retains both of its original leather corner reinforcements, and both have their original tie strings. The flag is in heavily flown and worn condition with some heavy tearing along the top with a small stitch repair. This example was likely a battlefield pickup. 

The flag comes with a page of partial translations. As mentioned there are 112 names written on the flag, with 57 being from his family. There is another well wish, “Prayers for a violent, valiant fight”.

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.