Unique signed silk flag
Hello everyone, I am at work and have no access to my flags or computer, but wanted to start a thread on a unique flag that I have. This flag was researched and pictures taken by Nick Komiya. All research and picture credit belongs to Nick, he brought this flag to light. The following is directly pulled from the WAF website, from Nick Komiya's original research thread on 10 different Yosegaki flags. I wish I could have bought all of them!
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4. Yosegaki Flag from Howa Heavy Industries, manufacturer of the Type 99 rifle
Masao Moriwaki was a worker at Howa Heavy Industries engaged in the production of war plane components and weapons including the Type 99 rifle. As the situation became desperate for the Army, even those working in the weapons industry, who used to be exempt from service had to be called up for military duty. Instead, those jobs would be taken up by high school students who were mobilized as factory workers from March 1943. Thus, Moriwaki’s call-up must have taken place after that.
He and his colleagues belonged to an association in the workplace called the 7th Aviation Association, which probably was the association of workers in something like the 7th Aviation Components Dept. In the name of Howa Heavy Industries, his colleagues in the association presented him with this Yosegaki flag.
They used a unique silk flag with water marked floral patterns, consecrated at the Tsushima Shrine with a stamp that read “Tsushima Shrine, Praying for Ever-lasting Fortune in Battle” Vertically written on the right was “Presented to Masao Moriwaki”, “Howa Heavy Industries”, “7th Aviation Association”, and on the top was the large slogan “Praying for Ever-lasting Fortune in Battle”
Nowadays Howa Machinery Ltd. is Japan’s prime producer of assault rifles for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, producing the 5.56mm Type 89 rifle as well as the 7.62mm type 64 rifle. The company shares the same origins as the Toyota Motor Corporation, now the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. Starting out in 1907 as Toyoda’s Loom Works Ltd to market the looms, it further spawned the Showa Heavy Industries in 1936, which specialized in the manufacture of weapons and production machinery. Then in September of 1941, the two companies merged into one, taking the first character of Toyo (also read Ho) from Toyoda and Wa from Showa to become Howa Heavy Industries. At that time, plane components and steel were added to its area of business. At the end of the war in October 1945, the name was again changed to Howa Machinery and they dropped the weapons and plane components from their business. However, these were once again revived as part of their business in May of 1953. They are located in Kiyosu City, Aichi Prefecture.
The Tsushima Shrine whose stamp appears on the flag was founded in 540 and located in Tsushima City, Aichi Prefecture.
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