Japanese flag with Japanese Writing Historical? Help

[Wblastoff]

From a guy I know who does "clean-outs" in NYC

[GIZMO8Z]

If you're not aware, these flags were carried by individual Japanese soldiers. Before leaving for the front, friends and loved ones would sign them and write patriotic slogans and well-wishes. Individuals would also visit shrines and temples and have these flags stamped.

As these were personal items, they were often decorated with little drawings. I've seen some with Mt. Fuji, tigers, drawings of ladies, and now the funny face on yours.

I cannot read Japanese, but in general seeing different styles of writing on them is a good sign. It means that the flag actually was passed between different people to be signed by friends and loved ones before being given to the soldier.

These flags would then be folded up and carried by the Japanese soldier that it was given to. After the battle, American soldiers and Marines would scour the battlefield for souvenirs and inevitably stumble upon these flags.

[Alan M]

A very nice original "been there " example

[Nick Komiya]

Here again is a good example of what many thought was good, but is actually quite bad, a post-war joke flag made as souvenir. Joke flags are those that are filled with fictional names taken from novels, movies, etc along with other celebrity names. It is a Japanese equivalent of Gatsby, Teddy Roosevelt, Sherlock Holmes, Paul Revere and Betty Grable all signing together.

[Nick Komiya]

Early post-war joke flag souvenirs for GIs very often featured the name of Sanshiro Sugata, which was Akira Kurosawa's first film as director https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanshiro_Sugata . His name is in the upper left corner along with another name that was "in" in 1946, Chuji Kunisada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunisa...ji_(1954_film)