Prevalence of fake Good Luck Flags

[Nick Komiya]

And here a more typical type of flag for me. One presented by film director, Hiroshi Inagaki to one of his assistant directors, who got drafted. It is signed by many, who later also worked on Akira Kurosawa movies.
Hiroshi Inagaki won an Oscar in the USA for his 1954 film Miyamoto Musashi, starring Mifune.

[Sporter90]

Nick, your two flags are what I meant calligraphy. The writing doesn't have to be good. The viewer doesn't need to understand what's written on it. The combination of the kanji has a unique appeal.

[Sporter90]

So you are more of a slogan fan than that of calligraphy, I see. And more of a Samurai fan than a militaria enthusiast, if those are your favorite slogans. You'll have difficulty finding those late Edo era slogans on Yosegaki flags..

I'm a closet Samurai

[Nick Komiya]

Here's one with personal meaning for me from my Alma Mata. This was presented to a student at Waseda University (Tokyo), who had to leave his studies midway to go to war.

During my Waseda days, a movie was shot on the university baseball field called “Cheer song for Heroes, the Last So-Kei Match (1979)”. It was about a student of Waseda, a catcher on the baseball team, who had to leave for war and died as a Tokko pilot. An amendment to the draft law forced players of both teams to drop their studies and go to war; thus it was the last war-time match between Waseda and Keio (So-Kei-Sen) Universities, two permanent rivals, both having been started by founding fathers of the Meiji Restoration. The matches between these two universities, be it baseball, rugby or regatta have always been major sport events, so the last ball game became legend and a symbol of the tragedy of war for the entire population. Naturally, I saw the movie and it was this story that crossed my mind when I saw this flag. It was only after I had the flag in my hand that I discovered it represented a surprising parallel with the story of the movie. One of the signatures was from a Waseda student on his way to become a Tokko pilot.

Anyway, Japanese collectors, who can read what these flags say collect them for such aspects, which are quite different from typical flags seen on these forums.

[tomp]

Interesting flags, Nick. I am curious about the officer signed flag. You mentioned that it has a link to army paratroopers. What kanji sets it apart from, say, a presentation flag to a pilot or crew member within the IJAAF?


Tom

[Nick Komiya]

You can read the full details here, but the main hooks are the general's career and the phrase "Divine Warriors of the Skies"

[tomp]

Thanks!


Tom

[Sporter90]

Ikki Tousen 一騎當千 Wow, didn't think I'd see it on a flag. May I ask, did you find these flags in Japan or online venues?

[Nick Komiya]

The Tale of the Three Kingdoms has long been prerequisite reading for Japanese intellectuals, read in the original Chinese. Thus idioms from the saga are part of common knowledge vocabulary of the officer class and frequently appear within that context. Yes, those flags were all found in Japan. I would not touch anything taken from a fallen soldier.

[MichaelB]

There seems to be as many collectibles as there are collectors....and as many opinions about collecting. Thank goodness for Forums like this that allow everyone to have their voices heard. My hat goes off to our Administrators and to all of the Forum members here.

MichaelB