Japanese "going to war" luck banner with translation

[josephc]

I purchased this large banner off ebay and it came with the following information that I hope can be confirmed here and possibly added to. Is it unusual to have the rising sun flag by itself without the japanese red circle? And it is much larger than others I have come across.

WW2 Japanese Army Going to War banner;the measurement of 128'' x 27''
From top under the rising sun: blue letter: "wish", two letters below: "return with triumph",
below in the middle is the soldier's name, 谷村正一, "Mr. Shinichi Tanimura".
On the right next to the name: "the 16th legion of the Manchuria Troop",
On the left next to the name: "the infantry 36th division"
At the bottom: a location called "inner side of river", workers from a factory name. So the banner was dedicated by these workers. "from workers of 寺西(Teranishi)"
Bottom at left: a signature of the person who wrote this banner in brush pen but really can't read it.

Thank you for any information on such a large banner.
Joe C

[tomp]

A correction on the units: Right side states - 16th Division. Left side states - 38th Infantry Regiment (so a pre 1941 banner). Very unusual, I don't think I have seen such a banner with so much unit information before.


Tom

[Nick Komiya]

As Tom had already pointed out, the translation you have is faulty. As a matter of fact, it hardly got anything right.

First of all, it is not a going to war banner, but the opposite, a banner celebrating a victorious return. The blue character on top says nothing like "wish", but together with the two black characters, it says "Celebrating a Victorious Return".

The name of the soldier coming home is also wrong. He was Shoichi Tanimura.

Tom pointed out it was a pre 1941 banner because the 38th Rgt. transferred to the 29th Div. from the 16th at that point.

As a matter of fact, this banner would be from early as 1933, when the regiment made a victorious return from the Manchurian Incident. The soldier must have been happily discharged upon the unit's return. See post 7 of this thread that shows the same words celebrating a unit's return from WW1 The Evolution of IJA Flight Uniforms (1910-1945)

Those welcoming him home are somewhat obscured in the photo, but "inside the river" is a place name read Kawachi referring to a region east of Osaka. And those welcoming him home seem to be residents around the Teranishi Lumber District.

These are not military, but civilian items, so you could have any design you want. In this case, the Rising Sun alone was more suggestive of a victory, as it symbolizes the Regimental banner fluttering over the high walls of fortress cities in China.

[josephc]

Thank you so much Nick. It makes this banner even the more interesting. Kind of like the welcome home banners for returning US forces.
Very cool to have so many details of this man's service.
Joe

[Nick Komiya]

The soldier, Tanimura would have brought home loads of Sake cups he had ordered at the PX or at a shop in front of the regiment's gate, which had his name written on the bottom. He would be handing these out to the neighbors welcoming him home. He would have chosen the cups from a catalog like the one shown below.