wwii prayer flag... yosegaki

[kaigunair]

dusted off another item from my collection to share. I believe its supposed to be a yosegaki for a flight related soldier, but I don't see the kanji for flight anywhere. From some previous posts, there are a lot of experts on this board, so i'd appreciate any insight on it.

[kaigunair]

last set of pics...
thanks in advance!

[Nick Komiya]

This flag was presented by the people of the Fukui Wounded Soldier’s Convalescence facility to Hiroshi Takagi, who was probably an employee there. The head of the facility and other staff are signing.
This facility was established in October of 1939 for soldiers suffering tuberculosis. After the war, it continued as a national hospital but was recently privatized, existing today as Lake Hills Mikata Hospital in Fukui Prefecture.
The presentation of the flag happened very close to the end of the war, which is indicated by the last-ditch slogan “Tokko of a hundred million (people)”, which meant that the entire population of Japan should go down fighting, a slogan associated with scenes of women training with bamboo spears.
There is nothing in this flag to associate it with air units.

[kaigunair]

Thanks again Nick. Just for clarification, was the employee leaving for the war? Any indication where he was headed?

I would consider donating this flag to the hospital, but I've heard most japanese institutions wouldn't want to be associated with wwii? Maybe there is a city museum that might find a place for it?

All in all, good to finally know what this and know that its one of those items that doesn't really fit into my collection.

[Nick Komiya]

The employee was heading for the war zone, but as per Army regulations there is no mention of unit or destination. Frankly, I don't think the hospital would want to have anything to do with this flag; as a hospital they would be horrified to see the slogans encouraging killing and destruction all over the flag. If the man died in battle, the family might be interested in something to remember him by, but it will take a huge effort unless you speak Japanese and are capable of making some cold calls from the local phone book. Read my ealier thread to learn more about the practice of Yosegaki here http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=research