Need help with flag

[KJV]

Hi guys,

any ideas about this flag, wartime or after? Japanese is not my area. I don't even know if it's upside down

Thanks,
Kevin

[KJV]

more

[Stu W]

Hi Kevin,

Flag looks good to me.

Have a look here ...

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=493366

Regards,
Stu

[KJV]

Hi Stu,

thanks for the Kanji list, is there a family name?

Regards,
Kevin

[Nick Komiya]

It is interesting that the flag was presented by a Catholic Youth Association, so all the signatures are from Christians, some with a religious message

[KJV]

Hi Nick,

I thought most Japanese were Buddhist ?

Kevin

[GHP]

Admiral Yamamoto (no, the OTHER one) was a long-time Catholic and even was a Knight of Malta, if I recall. Yamamoto was the President of the Catholic Youth Association

One of the signatures at the 9:00 o'clock position (right-most one) translates as:
キリストの兵士こそ愛国の武士" -- 西澤 ....
"Kirisuto no Heishi koso Aikoku no Bushi" - Nishizawa ...[can't read first name]
"CHRIST'S SOLDIERS are Patriotic Samurai"

So I would guess this is a war-time flag by a Christian group that was determined to show that although they believed in a FOREIGN religion, their members were pro-Japanese and patriotic.

By the way, here's what Admiral Yamomoto Stephan Shinjiro looked like:


You can definitely see the Cross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights of Malta) hanging below the Order of the Rising Sun and to the viewer's left.

Image source

The book is entitled, Chichi - Yamamoto Shinjiro Den [My Father - Yamamoto Shinjiro, a Biography].
--Guy

[KJV]

Hi GHP,

Thanks, this is very informative. Guess it's a little different, which is always nice.

Regards,
Kevin