WWII Japanese Flag
Hi guys, my collecting disease is spreading and I am interested in buying a Japanese flag for my collection. I am an extreme novice when it comes to these so I appreciate any help. Id be thankful if someone can tell me if this flag is a WWII genuine example and if its possible to have it translated.
Thank you,
John
Looks ok to me. Has the common 武運長久 "Good fortune in battle", and the name of the soldier on the right, some signatures at the bottom, and 義勇奉公 "Serve the nation with loyalty and courage" on the left. Red shrine stamp. You'll need someone more fluent to read the names for you.
為塚本初義君
Tame Tsukamoto Hatsuyoshi kun
For Mr. Tsukamoto Hatsuyoshi
Shrine stamp:
白山宮印
Hakusan-Gū [no] In
Hakusan Shrine Seal
Possibly this one: Hakusangu Shrine, Nisshin City, Aichi, Japan [about 10 miles east of Nagoya City center]
It looks like this on your flag, reads from right to left:
宮白
印山
--Guy
Regarding the dedication lead kanji 為.
I do not know how 為 is pronounced when it is the lead kanji in a dedication. The normal reading is "tame" [tah-may] and means "for; for the sake of; etc." Like 子供の為に "kodomo no tame ni" for the sake of the children.
According to Wictionary, 為 has various readings, and I'm not certain that "tame" would be correct as a stand-alone kanji.
Readings
Wu Chinese reading: い (i, Jōyō)←ゐ (wi, historical)
Tang Chinese reading: い (i, Jōyō)←ゐ (wi, historical)
Native Japanese reading: する (suru, 為る); ため (tame, 為); たり (tari, 為); つくる (tsukuru, 為る); なす (nasu, 為す); なり (nari, 為); なる (naru, 為る)
Use in Name: さだ (sada); しげ (shige); す (su); すけ (suke); た (ta); ち (chi); なり (nari); びい (bii); ゆき (yuki); よし (yoshi); より (yori)
Note re "Chinese" readings: When kanji were borrowed from China, the Chinese sounds were also borrowed. These are commonly called "on-yomi" [sound reading]. The Chinese characters were applied to native Japanese words; these readings are called "kun-yomi" [meaning reading].
Example: 水 Water.
水 On-yomi = sui [Chinese pronunciation is actually Shuǐ ]
水 Kun-yomi = mizu
An example close to our interests:
祈武運長久
Ki Bu'un Chōkyū
The dictionary form of 祈 is 祈る [inoru]; we mostly see it as 祈り [inori]. They all mean prayer. However, when used as a stand-alone kanji, in this case preceding a phrase/dedication .... the kanji 祈 is read as "ki" [sounds like "key"]. If I didn't already know about the "ki" pronunciation, it would be logical for me to read this as "Inori Bu'un Chōkyū".
THEREFORE ..... I have no idea how 為 is pronounced in this case!
Japanese is a challenging language!
--Guy
Hah, I can barely speak / read one language let alone multiple. I wouldn't even know where to start with Japanese!by ghp95134
Thank you Ryoyo and Guy, I really appreciate the translation!
Just pulled the trigger on it! Thanks so much for the help guys, this is my first Pacific related piece of militaria
Hi guys, the flag just arrived today and I love the patina. I took some closeups of the writing, hopefully these pictures give a bit more detail. I did have a comment on another forum questioning its authenticity, heres the quote: "The characters seem to be off and more painted rather than written, all in the same hand". Thanks for the help guys!
I see what the other guy was trying to say, but at least the shrine stamp is not the current one in use, so chances are it's OK
I spent the morning getting it framed. I really like the result, I will definitely be buying more pacific related militaria to put with it. Thanks for the help guys
Nicely done John . Looks great
Semper Fi
Phil
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