Original Japanese WWII Hand-Painted Silk Good Luck Flag with Lots of Well Wishes & Page of Translations - Portion Missing - 26 x 37½”

Original Item. Only One Available. This is a great example of a Japanese Good Luck flag, with dozens of well wishes, with the largest at the top reading To Celebrate your Enlistment, but as shown there is a very large chunk missing from the top of the flag, which supports this example being a battlefield pickup.

The flag measures roughly 26 x 37½” and no longer retains its corner reinforcements, having worn away very long ago. The flag is in heavily flown and worn condition with heavy tearing across with a very large chunk of the flag missing as shown. This example was almost certainly a battlefield pickup given the piece missing and overall wear.

The flag comes with a page of 7 translations. Some of the well wishes include Prayers for Eternal Good Fortune in War, Do your best, (May you have) A Heroic, Brave Heart, and Good Health in Battle. Another reads Presented to Mr. Chiyozo Sakai, a good research project as this is likely the name of the soldier. Another signature reads From the employees of Nozwa Industries, Inc., 3rd Production Plant. The translator attempted to find this factory but could find no mention of it.

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 rough condition but 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.