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 doesn’t appear to be very many well wishes but is mostly covered in signatures. One signature that may name the piece reads Joujiro Watanabe, who went to war.

The flag measures roughly 29 x 41” and retains one of its leather corner reinforcements with the other being long gone, and the remaining one is close to coming off. The flag has been folded several times over the years, and there are many small holes and tears across the flag, making some of the signatures difficult to translate.

Some of the names translated include Keikushiro Miya, Naho Kushiro, Daicho Unbu, Jiro Kawahashi, Kichinosuke Nakagawa, Ken Koyama, Dotaro Fukukawa, Gisaku Hayano, Seisuke Tazuke, Terada Tokohira, and Noriyoshi Koyama.

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 but battle-worn 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.