"Meat Ball" Flag. Help needed

[travisgreyfox]

Thanks so much Nick. I am going read both wiki links you sent me!

[Nick Komiya]

The original Chinese poem by Wen Tianxiang was called the "Song of Righteousness", which was much revered by the Japanese Samurai and there are several Japanese versions (written in classical Chinese) of which Hirose's version is the most modern. Here's a translation of the Chinese original, which was a message of rejection he sent to the Mongolian Emperor, Kublai Khan (Grandson of Genghis Khan) from his Mongolian captivity.

Song of Integrity
There is integrity that is embodied in various forms.
On the earth it is mountains and rivers, in the sky it is the sun and stars.
In man it is the noble spirit that fills up the whole world.
The imperial road should be cleared of barbarians and be flooded with light.
In times of great danger man’s high moral principle shows itself and leaves its record in history.
This is revealed in the records of Qi, the writings of Dong Hu of Jin.
Zhang Liang’s service to Qin and Su Wu’s moral courage in the Han Dynasty.
It was General Yan’s head, Ji Kang’s blood,
Zhang Suiyang’s teeth and Yan Changshan’s tongue.

It was the Liaodong hat that could withstand ice and snow.
It was Zhuge Liang’s memorial which was so heroic that it moved the immortals.
It was the river-crossing oar that wiped out the nomad invaders.
It was the Mongolian scepter that crushed treacherous vassals’ heads.

Integrity is so majestic that it will never die out.
It shoots up to the sun and the moon, and life and death are of no importance before it.
It supports both the earth and the sky.
Our lives hinge on our cardinal guides and our foundation rests on our morality.

But now everything is upside down.
Divested of his headgear this prisoner is kept behind prison bars in the north.
He would be only glad to be burned in the barbarians’ crucible.

Ghost flame rages in the room and the courtyard is wrapped in darkness.
Oxen and steeds live in the same fold and chickens and phoenixes share the same food.
The earth is shrouded in mist and fog.
If things go on like this, miseries and disasters will spread.

I am sad that this swamp used to be my paradise-like homeland.
Fallacies cannot become truth nor can Yin and Yang be confused.
So I am worried and look up at the white clouds floating in the sky.
My heart is full of sorrow and I wonder where the sky will end.
The ancient sages are far away, my execution is nearing.
I open a book to read, and there is sunshine on the ancient words.

[travisgreyfox]

Thanks so much Nick, you are a wealth of knowledge. You can also thank yourself for peeking my interest (more so) into Japanese military items and culture.

KUDOS to you sir!

[travisgreyfox]

This flag can be dated between 1942 and 1944 May. The first date is from the name of the distribution and manufacturing control organization on the sticker. The second date is from the name of the organization on the flag, which changed from 1944 May. That was an organization for assisting people inducted into war production.
You are displaying the flag upside down, so I show you below the correct orientation with the key to the 1944 date marked.

What Chen translated as saying "product of Japan" is actually saying "Japanese style clothing" like Kimono, which had a different distribution network from Western style wear.

The writing to the left of the red mark is the first line of a poem from Takeo Hirose saying "Futile is the contemplation of life and death until nature demands it". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeo_Hirose He was familiar with the Chinese classics, so he styled the poem after one by Wen Tiangxiang of the 13th Century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Tianxiang

The one who got presented the flag does not have his name on the flag. There is no problem regarding authenticity.

The messages say----

-Banzai
-Wish you good results
-Celebrating the leap forward into action
-Wishing you everlasting fortunes in battle
-Fiercely determined service (to the nation)

Otherwise they are all names

Sorry to bother you since you have helped me so much, thus far. I was wondering if there is any reoccurring names on the flag that could be traced back the soldiers family. The reason I am asking is because the Obon Society Obon Society | Family to Family is a group dedicated to hunting down relatives of soldiers to return these banner/flags. Any help would be appreciated.

[travisgreyfox]

On a side note: Now that I have really begun researching Japanese culture and battle tactics I sincerely regret the title of this thread. It would seem calling this piece of history a "meatball flag" could come off as extremely demeaning, so I apologize for my ignorance. Wish I could just edit the title.



-Travis

[Nick Komiya]

Sorry, your flag is a dead end, no chance.

[travisgreyfox]

Sorry, your flag is a dead end, no chance.

Ahh dang. Well it was worth a try. Why is it a dead end though?

[Rod]

Ahh dang. Well it was worth a try. Why is it a dead end though?

Hi Travis,

I commend you for the sentiment, it's a nice thought.

The flag is a 70+ year old gift signed by well wishers and/or family members. The product label suggests yours may have come from Japan sometime after WW2 (suggesting perhaps a homeland unit as opposed to overseas deployment). Very few Hinomaru no Yosegaki are worth the effort of returning them for the sake of "closure". Most of those on the market today were sold off by family members uninterested in keeping them, pretty funny if someone went to all the trouble of returning one of those.

The Obon Society misrepresents the significance of these flags, they're gifts to wish departing soldiers well and in most cases nothing more. Micheal B. is great on the subject of politically motivated returns, I think it's been discussed elsewhere.

Rod