Japanese Prayer Flag. Authentic? Translate?

[tomp]

I hope you will be able to relay back to the forum what the Dept. Head says about the flag. I would be very interested in this.


Tom

[GIZMO8Z]

Will do!

[BOB COLEMAN]

The kanji is definitely written by different individuals and by people adept at writing kanji. The writing does not look anything like one would find written by non Japanese writing service men making bogus souvenirs. The flow of the writing is very natural.

[tomp]

I suppose that it might be possible. Heck, not being a native writer of Japanese, much less one who is able to write with brush in old style Japanese puts me at a distinct disadvantage in this realm. That being said, I still have have doubts about this flag and as stated earlier, I am very interested in what the dept. head says about it.

Another route that might be taken is to get in contact with Dr. Mike Bortner in Florida, the gentleman who wrote the book on good luck flags. He is a wellspring of information on these flags and a great guy to boot. If interested go to Get History Today - Home, Mike's website.

Tom

[GIZMO8Z]

I sent an e-mail to Mike. I'm still waiting to hear back from the department head... I will post all of my findings, ASAP!

[GIZMO8Z]

Tomp, looks like you may be correct!

Here is what mike had to say:

Hello Joseph-
Thank you for your message. This is an interesting flag and I have been collecting similar examples of it for a number of years. Your question, "Is it a reproduction or an authentic, Japanese made WW2 vintage good luck flag?" is a tough one to answer. Here is what I know about these flags;
Your flag takes the pattern of what is now becoming known as the "fake Tojo flag." These flags are typically displayed vertically (tie strings on top) rather than in a horizontal fashion (tie strings on the side) as you would find on most standard flags. This is quite unusual but typical of these flags. The characters are always written in the same style/manner on these flags. There is normally two stamps on this flag; one in each of the upper corners, although not always. The stamps seem to be different on different flags. The flag generally displays the signature of the Japanese Prime Minister, Tojo but is usually mis-spelled. The red orb is usually larger than on a standard Japanese national flag.
These are some of the common characteristics. Whether these were made in Japan for any logical purpose or were Sea Bee knock-off's, we don't know. I have seen images of our guys displaying these flags, supposedly captured from the enemy. Until someone comes up with a better account of what these are or who may have made them, they will remain in the questionable category.
I hope this answers most of your questions. Take care and have a great week.

Dr. Mike Bortner

[tomp]

Thanks for sharing the info.


Tom

[GIZMO8Z]

If I can meet up with the dept. head, I will make sure to post my findings!