My new favorite flag.

[grimnar]

G'day gents,
I thought you all would appreciate this beautifully touching flag that I recently found.

From the little research I have done I believe the recipient was someone associated with the 岩本 Iwamoto family. 2 little, children's hand prints adorn the lower left corner a 秀子 Hideko and a 邦子 Kuniko. I wonder if they could have been the soldiers little ones? Quite sobering to think about.

Has the usual "everlasting fortunes in battle" slogan but the top slogan is one I haven't come across, I know it has 'nation' in the word. lol Any help would be great.

Does anyone have an idea about the meaning behind the Kabuto helmet stamp? I have seen it on a few other things to have always wondered.

Also is it just me or does the characters on the right side of the Shrine stamp look like a stick figure? Pretty cool if that's what it was supposed to look like.

Lastly, I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Matt

[GHP]

The top:

勇戦奮闘
yūsen funtō
Bravely Fight、Strenuous Effort

The "stick figures" ... yeah! It sort of looks like a man. Actually, it is the kanji for
甲宗八幡宮
Kōsō Hachiman-gu Shrine

When stacked, and the old seal-script is used:
甲
宗
八


--Guy

[grimnar]

Many thanks Guy....

After a little googling I think I know the story behind the helmet.

According to tradition, the Koso Hachiman Shrine was built to house the helmet of Empress Jingu. So this may be the reason for the stamp.

What I do find curious, is the fact that there is no recipient's name. What I am presuming is that due to the flag being a 'family' type, given to their loved one, a name wasn't really deemed necessary as the person was already known well by his family. All supposition of course. So I may never know.

Guy, if I can ask for your language expertise.... The kanji in the box: 吉 夫 would these 2 be 'good luck husband'? Also what would the name be in the right side of the box? I can make out 岩本 'Iwamoto' but not the next 3 characters. Again, Thank you for all your help.




Matt.

[GHP]

Hi Matt.

In this case, 夫 means "boy" or "male child". So the man's name was 夫 Yoshio [Happy Child]. When it stands alone, 夫 means husband. Confusingly .... you've heard the Japanese term for "okay", right? 大丈夫 -- Daijobu. It often is tempting [and I'm very guilty!] to parse each kanji for an understanding ... but you can get into trouble with "meaning errors" if you're not careful. If you parsed "daijobu" you'd think it meant a big, tall, husband.
大 -- big
丈 -- length/height
夫 -- husband




The name within the box is another probable/possible relative named Ryotaro.
岩本凉太郎
Iwamoto Ryōtaryō

I also noticed there was not a recipient's name and, like you, presume the flag was given to a family member to cherish. Interestingly, there is one name that is not like the others ....

石山
Ishiyama


Cheers,
--Guy

[grimnar]

G'day Guy,
Cheers for the explanation. As you said it's very easy to get 'bogged down' with the peculiarities of the language, but hey I've only just started my journey and every correction I am given is another learning experience.


I did notice that tiny little 'Ishiyama' signature. Maybe a child or someone who didn't feel comfortable writing their name the same size as the others?? Who knows.....

Still a very interesting flag that speaks volumes as to its purpose and to those that gave the soldier it.

Thanks again mate.

Matt

[imperialjapan]

Just to be clear, Yoshio (吉夫) is a personal name. In this way of writing (still seen on letters and New Year's cards), the family name is written once and the personal names are listed, leaving a blank space where the family name would have been on the 2nd+ times. Saves on effort and also has good balance.

So Yoshio was a relative--probably a son or perhaps younger brother--of the person written on the right.

Best,
Rich

PS the hand prints are really cool!

[grimnar]

Good evening Guy,
I wonder if I could push my luck and ask you to take a look at these for me? They came together along with a senninbari but would like to know if the are connected or belonged to the same owner.

I am having quite a bit of trouble trying to read the characters on the left side of the flag. I can make out a few, and know its the recipients name but without the others it's just words.


The second is a flag made of paper. I know what the black characters say, 山口県下松市日立製作所 戸工場設計課挺身隊

"Yamaguchi Prefecture Kudamatsu Hitachi (Ryuto?) factory design department volunteer corps"


but the blue characters are beyond my language abilities. I know most of them will be signatures but do any of them mention the name of the recipient? And does that name tie in with the large fabric flag?

Many many thanks for your help Guy.

1st flag


Name?


Paper flag