Seabee created flag?

[odin225]

I purchased this flag and these two panels and bayonet a few years ago from the son of Seabee who was stationed in the PI. I have been told that this is most likely a post war flag- but that the person who wrote the Kanji on it most likely was a first language Japanese speaker. I figured that it may have been a seabee flag before I purchased it, but hope that someone here can assist with translation and advise about the two other panels that I got at the time of the sale with the bayonet. Thanks much for any help

[odin225]

closer views

this is a sewn flag

[odin225]

unknown

And the two other items in closer view:

[Rod G]

I think maybe the Seabee/Dad in question made the flag, it's nice quality but with colour bleed and some of the "Kanji" are nonsense. My vote is for a period and theatre made fake.

Whomever drew the panels seems to have had some drawing skills, having said that the quality of the photos is too awful to comment further.

Maybe the guy sold you his Dad's wartime handicrafts?

Cheers!

[GHP]

I think maybe the Seabee/Dad in question made the flag, it's nice quality but with colour bleed and some of the "Kanji" are nonsense. My vote is for a period and theatre made fake.

Whomever drew the panels seems to have had some drawing skills, having said that the quality of the photos is too awful to comment further.

Maybe the guy sold you his Dad's wartime handicrafts?

Cheers!

I agree about the flag ... kanji ... uggh. FYI, most of the kanji are actual Japanese found on flags. It's just got that noticeable "Seabee" look to it. Also, the sun is too small.

Dunno why I do this .... just some fun FYI:

萬歳
Banzai

贈濱野重次君
Zō Hamano Shigetsugu-Kun
Presented to Mr Hamano Shigetsugu

力
Riki [and/or Chikara ]
Strength [I use this kanji for my family name, Power; in Japan, "Riki" is a given name]

祈武運長久
Ki Bu'un Chōkyū
Prayers for Everlasting Luck in the Fortunes of War

林七㐂市
Hayashi *** -- a name
㐂 ＝喜 Yorokobu happiness
Theoretically, it could be pronounced Shichishi'ichi ... I guess

小林 ＊＊
Kobayashi -- a surname

谷川 吾市
Tanigawa Go'ichi -- a name

However, the two painted "handkerchiefs" seem fine. The kanji are well executed and balanced. One shows a famous view of Kawaguchi Lake with a view of Mt. Fuji; one of the Fuji Five Lakes surrounding Fuji. It looks like the artist spelt Kawaguchi as 川口 ... but that might be due to the low quality of the image. If I squint my left eye a bit more than my right ..... it *might* be 河.

河口湖今日見＊さ
逆富士
"Lake Kawaguchi today seen from the opposite of Mt Fuji."
If you search 逆さ富士 [sakasa fuji] you'll see the same view! .... this is what the artist was drawing.

I've seen similar handkerchiefs drawn by Japanese POWs.


--Guy

[Rod G]

Geez Guy, you ARE good! Thanks!

All I get from the 'kerchiefs when I try to get close are really pixolated images that offer nothing of value. I was trying to determine if the same skilled craftsman who created the flag also created the drawings from someone else's artwork. He was a Seabee after all... what can I say... pleasa 'scuse my suspicious mind.

Rod

[GHP]

All I get from the 'kerchiefs when I try to get close are really pixolated images that offer nothing of value. ...

Here's what I see. Maybe my office monitor shows the image a bit clearer? I just now noted that if I shrink my image a bit more, the original kanji are more discernible.

Cheers,
--Guy

[Rod G]

Here's what I see. Maybe my office monitor shows the image a bit clearer? I just now noted that if I shrink my image a bit more, the original kanji are more discernible.

Cheers,
--Guy

Thanks Guy, I appreciate you showing me what you see. It seems obvious when you put it like that, especially against the backdrop of the drawing for context but damn mister... you ARE good!

Rod

[odin225]

thanks

it's a sewn flag- not a Mercurochrome ashcan bottom one like the seabees printed up. I just have it and the two panels and the Arisaka bayonet all packed away right now so I can't get you any better photos- I certainly believe they used a real period Japanese flag and probably had a POW or someone else who spoke Japanese on a first language level 'sign' it.

I have had this translated by someone who read the Kanji on another forum who told me that ' that this is most likely a post war flag- but that the person who wrote the Kanji on it most likely was a first language Japanese speaker." you can find it on that forum. I never doubted this was 'real' flag, but always figured it was a seabee one, but it is a WW2 bringback I am certain of it.


The person who translated it said:

"As I said before, the characters on the flag look like they were written by a Japanese (or someone who could write kanji at a first language level) but, from looking at it in its entirety I believe it to be a (directly) post war souvenir "slogan" flag.



The reason I say this is the flag is just filled with random slogans like Banzai, Chikara (strength), Bu un chou kyuu (long lasting military fortunes), etc. The typical (war time) "good luck" (hi no maru yosegaki) flag usually has three (3) distinct components 1. one slogan (usually bu un chou kyuu), 2. the persons name (last then first followed by kun) and then 3. a bunch of signatures around the sun. "

I think maybe the Seabee/Dad in question made the flag, it's nice quality but with colour bleed and some of the "Kanji" are nonsense. My vote is for a period and theatre made fake.

Whomever drew the panels seems to have had some drawing skills, having said that the quality of the photos is too awful to comment further.

Maybe the guy sold you his Dad's wartime handicrafts?

Cheers!

[odin225]

thank you!

As I noted, when I went and bought this flag, I went in knowing that it was a seabee created flag-not a genuine signed flag. Please note, the sun is sewn into the flag, not Mercurochrome in or painted on. Why this flag 'bled' is lost to time and the original owner. The fellow who sold me this, the panels, and the bayonet all but confirmed my suspensions of it being a seabee flag when he flat out told me his pop was a seabee. I am fully aware of the mfg of flags that us troops did in the field during the war and I paid him a fair but not excessive price for the flag, the bayonet and the panels. The panels are what really piqued my interest the most [or handkerchiefs] as you call them - at some point when I am able to access them, I will provide better photo images of them. I do appreciate you taking the time to critique and translate what you have found. I was more curious than anything else about the flag and what the Kanji meant more than anything else. He also had a Japanese hand gun which I was unable to purchase due to the state where I was living having strict gun laws. So I know the father did have his share of souvenirs.

I agree about the flag ... kanji ... uggh. FYI, most of the kanji are actual Japanese found on flags. It's just got that noticeable "Seabee" look to it. Also, the sun is too small.

Dunno why I do this .... just some fun FYI:
However, the two painted "handkerchiefs" seem fine. The kanji are well executed and balanced. One shows a famous view of Kawaguchi Lake with a view of Mt. Fuji; one of the Fuji Five Lakes surrounding Fuji. It looks like the artist spelt Kawaguchi as 川口 ... but that might be due to the low quality of the image. If I squint my left eye a bit more than my right ..... it *might* be 河.

河口湖今日見＊さ
逆富士
"Lake Kawaguchi today seen from the opposite of Mt Fuji."
If you search 逆さ富士 [sakasa fuji] you'll see the same view! .... this is what the artist was drawing.

I've seen similar handkerchiefs drawn by Japanese POWs.


--Guy

[odin225]

other items in the lot

found these photos of the painted panels before I packed them.

[odin225]

1

1

[odin225]

2

2

[GHP]

Thanks for the clearer photo .... those two kanji!! Copied from "grass script", so I cannot make it out at all.

The sentiment is still the same, except with a "mo/also" added.
川口湖今日も見＊省

逆富士
"Lake Kawaguchi today also see/ reflection
opposite of Mt Fuji."

• I thought the mystery kanji might mean "reflection" ... but that would be 反映.
• Hmmmr .... now I found 反省 as another meaning of "reflection" .... and that one kanji just might be 省 -- so I'll place it there in magenta to indicate its tentative nature.
• Interesting in that Kawaguchi is spelt this way instead of the normal 河口 -- both 川 [kawa] and 河 [kawa] mean river; Kawaguchi means the "mouth of the river."

The lower left corner has a statement:
大乃*
That last kanji could be an abbreviation for 国; but, every time I search 大乃国 (or substitute the old-style 乃 with modern の which means possessive "appostrophe s" ) .... I get Sumo results! At first I thought it was 大乃松 Ōnomatsu "Great Pine" .... but there's no way that last kanji can be pine.

At this point, I give up.


--Guy

[odin225]

thank you!

Thank you I appreciate it.