is this flag original?

[gunto]

Is this original? , I think some of the kanji look wierd.

I can get it for 140 us$ is that a good price?

[Andy Harris]

Gunto,
My Japanese wife just took a look at the photo, and says a lot of the kanji is old, but looks real. The "strange" looking kanji to the right of the red ball means "Okinawa".
As far as "authenticity" goes, she's not one to ask!

Good luck.

[MikeB]

Is this flag original?

Hi Gunto-
The characters appear to have been written by different people- that's a good sign. Do you have any close up views of the corner tabs? On a signed flag there can be a whole combination of different factors involved; the flag itself can be good but the kanji may have been added at a much later (post war) date. I have seen combinations of them where the flag and "writing" are good and then someone added additional kanji post war too (this version is not encountered too often.) The most commonly faked flag is a new flag with new kanji, or an old hinomaru with new kanji. These may be I.D.'d because the writing appears to come from the same (or a limited number of) hand/s. Of course, the Japanese character system of idiograms changed post war as well and you will see different combinations if the faker has not done their homework. Someone much more familiar with that might briefly address those factors here for you. I don't have a quick answer for that. Unfortunately, (and I always hate it when I am told this,) the best experience in ID-ing fake flags or anything else, comes from looking at lots of flags close-up. Pictures are often a poor second. Mike

[plmurphy]

Based on the photo I would say this one is ok. He served in the 22nd Infantry Regiment. Some of the characters used are the style used pre 1945 which is a very good sign as mentioned before. If I were you I would go for it.

Regards,

Paul

[Banzi64]

it's original

[Eric Doody]

Flag is also dated April 1944 and has a reference to a Japanese Women's Association!

[Torpedomaat]

In my opinion, the flag is a postwar(during the Occupation) souvenir.
The form of big characters are awful. I think that these terrible kanjis were written by the person who does not know the basics of Japanese calligraphy And the katakana written on the left side of hinomaru has the meaning of the English word obviously.

Haruki

[MikeB]

Is this flag...

It sounds as if Haruki is saying that some of the characters are written in such a way as to phrase something in the manner of an english speaker rather than a Japanese one. I don't read kanji, so I cannot comment to that. The larger characters do appear to have been written by a hand that was a bit stiff or less skilled. It is important to remember that not everyone would write their characters with the skill of a priest, for instance. Can anyone speak to the "characters written on the left side" comment? Mike

[Eric Doody]

I did not notice the katakana on the subject flag until Haruki pointed it out.

There is another set of katakana to the left of the katakana that Hiruki translated. However, the print (of this other katakana) is very small and I can not make out many of the characters.

[Torpedomaat]

Large characters of this flag have typical features of the Chinese characters that Americans and Europeans writes.
However, small characters are signatures obviously written by the Japanese.
I think that an American soldier might have gotten the signatures from Japanese civilians acquainted in his workplace.
I cannot read though the katakana that Eric mentioned seems to be a name of the foreigner.
Haruki

[plmurphy]

I have seen katakana used on pre war items before so the presence of the katakana does not alter my view that the flag is ok. As for the fact that some of the large kanji are badly written, has anyone ever seen the signature of the Taisho Emperor ? It is terrible, it looks like one of my efforts at writing with a brush ! While I take on board the comments made by Haruki I would still be prepared to buy the flag if I was the one interested in it.

Best regards,

Paul

[MikeB]

Is this flag original?

I too have seen pre-War katakana on items like this and would not use this fact to dismiss the flag. Poorly formed characters are not a reason to write-off a flag. I would say that anytime one evaluates an item from a photo there is additional room for error. As an example, I purchased a flag that was up for sale on an online auction a number of years ago. Large vertical and horizontal characters (they stood out like this subject flag,) said BUUN CHOKYU and JINCHU HOKOKU. They were very poorly executed. There was considerable artwork on this flag along with 3 hanko stamps. A single photo was submitted to an online forum for comments/evaluation of authenticity. Most believed that the large characters came from a non-Japanese hand and that the hanko were identical. Unfortunately, the hanko were positioned over 3 different names...an obvious fake. When I copied the hanko, put them side by side, and compared the images I could see minute differences. On translation, all three hanko were different. The flag also contained some great old poems. They were written in archaic figures and were considered fake characters by commentators. I took a chance on it, and picked it up. When I had the opportunity to examine it and then had the characters evaluated I was happy I did.
As for styles of writing, vintage Japanese flags may be found completely covered in Chinese style characters only, covered in Japanese and Chinese characters, and Japanese and Korean characters. Flags of this sort have been discussed here before. We know that there was collaboration, and it undoubtedly accounts for many of the flags made in this manner. Mike

[cbuehler]

I personally am also very suspicious of the writing on this Yosegaki. Many look to have been written by a child they are so poor. Could this have been the case? I dont know. Some other aspects of the flag look OK. It may indeed be a period piece, but I cant quite be comfortable with it. Is there any info as to the seller or origin?

CB

[MikeB]

Is this flag original?

I would be more interested in hearing about slogans on the flag as well. Popular wartime slogans may be present that could fix the flag to a specific time period. As for the "Okinawa" on the flag, that is a rather unusual thing to put on a vintage flag (if the word is simply there by itself without any other context.) Many flags were given as gifts by Women's Associations and they were so identified. Sometimes the Association Chapter Name or the town in which the Association was located were listed too. If a 1944 date is present along with dedication from a wartime Association (good things,) and then you have an out-of-context reference to Okinawa and no other places where battles may have been fought listed (indicating that this may have been a battle record flag,) and then names that do not make sense (further complicating the overall context of the flag,) I would have a hard time buying the flag. I would want more information from a translator so that I could better evaluate it. Post war names on a vintage flag of this kind make little sense to me, however, unless the person was really trying to "color up" the flag for later sale. I have seen those too.... Mike

[cbuehler]

All,
This flag is currently on epay and I believe it is bad. This seller has been selling questionable flags for a while now and they have all had the same type of poor writing and and other nonsense. Avoid!

CB