Is this Hinomaru yosegaki real?

[Amderr38]

I just inherited this hinomaru yosegaki. I know that there are lots of fakes out there. I was hoping to find out if this is real and if it is possible to determine the soldier's name that carried it. I can provide different photos if I am holding it backwards or the image isn't clear enough.

[MAP]

Welcome to the form Amderr.

It looks like a nice one with some honest wear but best wait for the true experts to give you an opinion. They should be around (it's late)

Picture expands nicely so hopefully this will be good enough for them.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Looks fine to me.

[Nick Komiya]

Looks fine to me, too, but no name of owner is evident.

[MichaelB]

Interesting writing of "the slogan" across the top. At times you see the characters for Buun Chokyu/Ki Buun Chokyu written horizontally, vertically, "forward", "backward", and even split up and scattered about the flag in 4-5 areas. There seem to be as many different examples as there were individuals to write characters on the flags. That is just one of the reasons why so many different people find them interesting to study and collect.

MichaelB

[Amderr38]

Thanks MichaelB, it seems every one of these is different. Does the fact that Buun Chokyu is written so much indicate it is less authentic? I had heard that some of these were Chinese fakes that were offensive. I am glad this isn't the case here.

[Amderr38]

Thanks for the rapid response. Is there any identifying information, such as town name or family name, etc? I really appreciate the help.

[MichaelB]

Buun Chokyu is written on many flags, often seen both in large prominent horizontal script across the top of a flag or down either side in large or medium sized vertical script. People often too signed their names in smaller characters and then wrote Buun Chokyu next to that as a serious encouragement to the person going into the military. Seeing Buun Chokyu on a flag or senninbari is not an indication of authenticity or not.
Nick seems to have indicated that there is no family name on the flag, and town names were not typically written, although they sometimes showed up in a second handed sort of way in a dedication line. For example, sometimes you may see the name of a local school presenting the flag. Research later might indicate that the school is in the town that the man hailed from. Names of businesses are also listed sometimes as presenting the flag. The town in which the company was located may end up being the place where the man lived.
MichaelB

[Amderr38]

Thanks again Michael. It looks like you have a lot of experience and your website is also pretty great. I really do appreciate the help.

[Salzburg]

I'd be very happy with that one, if it were mine.

Martin