Very large Japanese flag 50x77 inches

[Oceansider]

I bought a couple of trunks from the family of a WWII vet who died in 1978. He was in the Philippines at the end of the war and brought home many souvenirs including four flags, most the standard sizes about 30 inches or less in width.

This one is very large: about 50 x 7 inches: in the first photo you can see the size relative to a 36-inch long yardstick (just under one meter).

[Stu W]

That's a whopper! Looks like it is well made.

Thanks for showing. Have you photos of the others? Any signed?

Regards,
Stu

[Oceansider]

That's a whopper! Looks like it is well made.

Thanks for showing. Have you photos of the others? Any signed?

Regards,
Stu

There were two more (one folded up red and white flag turned out to be a signal flag - not Japanese).


This one is 30x28 inches:

[Oceansider]

This one is about 19x23 inches and it looks like one edge may have been cut off or the hem came undone. All of these smelled really bad, as did a lot WWII US field gear in the trunk along with three us B-6 leather flight helmets and a WWII Japanese fur hat. The trunk had been sealed up for at least 35 years and there was some of his old camping stuff in there and something got very raunchy after all those years.

I'm using lots of Febreze, although the flags smell went away after 20 minutes in the dryer with some fabric softner sheets. It was on the "no heat" setting and I put a few damp rags in with them.

[Oceansider]

Any ideas on how a large flag like this might be used?

[Papa Nambu]

A large flag like that would likely be used like you would expect a flag to be used, on a pole in front of a building. The smaller flags that we see more often were usually carried by soldiers or used for display for private homes. Aside from the morale boosting of the signed yosegaki flags, flags could also be used for signaling. For example, to mark areas and buildings held by Japanese troops to prevent being targeted by Japanese aircraft or artillery.