Hi

Don't know if anyone can help here. I have just got hold on some of my fathers war things and in a tin box I found these. He was is Burma during the war, a gunner in a Sherman tank.

The to "Rising Sun" Flags I have found out about, but the small perfectly square blue one, I cannot find anything on the internet.

Any WW2 history experts here? I really would like to know what the blue flag is about. Thanks in advance.

I see, perhaps something lost in time.

I live close to where there was the "united offensive" and the gruesome end of WW2. As a result, we have a quite large museum geared towards the second world war. With your permission I can send them a picture of that flag and maybe they know more.



-Wolf

yes please, thank you very much Wolf. Appreciate your help in this.

@Tarkus1971 @Pasquill has found out what it seems to be he is on Discord but it makes sense what he is saying ...https://militarysakecups.com/products/antique-japanese-military-1st-mountain-artillery-hand-stitched-furoshiki-wrapping-cloth


basically he says it is a wrapping cloth or Furoshiki ---- well done Pasquill

Awesome items Tarkus! My Grandfather was also in Burma, however I don't have any of his items (if he had any).

Convinced its a furoshiki. Would be great to get a translation of the text.

Ran it through a image translator. Doubt its accurate but here it is.

誉彡灸銃縣潟緋

Honor 囧 moxibust gun Sutaga scarlet.

Honor which is easy enough

moxibust could be moxibustion a traditional burning of herb for wellbeing.

Sutaga could be a name or place

Scarlet easy enough.

Hope this helps.

hey thanks for that, im on hols currently, but will be back home later next week. Those flags are very fragile too.

a wrapping cloth, i think i will now look into what it was wrapping, that would be interesting.

Hello @Tarkus:

I got a reply from the director of the military museeum in Diekirch, I will now do my best to translate:

"This appears to be an unfinished talisman/good luck charm, that every japanese soldier would have brought into combat."
"Often, people from his village would sign it and women would put in 1000 stitches. This was then called a Sen-Nin bari. "

He also informed me that if you don't have any use for it, he would be interested in acquiring it.

Cheers!



-Wolf

wow that is so cool, thank you wolf, how do I go about getting in touch with the director of the museum. I have sent you a PM about this also. At last I know what it actually is.

While I'm no director of a museum or an expert on Japanese WW2 artifacts but what I've looked up since, I feel he's not 100%.

The Japanese flag with the Japanese language is a good luck charm called a "yosegaki hinomaru" The flag given to a soldier was a national flag signed by friends and family, often with short messages wishing the soldier victory, safety, and good luck.

"A Senninbari (千人針 thousand-person-stitches) or One-thousand stitch is a strip of cloth that measures approximately 15 cm (6 in) high and up to 90–120 cm (3–4 ft) or more in length. Each end of the belt (sash) may or may not have strings, snaps or buttons that allow it to be fastened about the waist. Examples that lack these were often tucked into the waist. Other variations were never worn but may have been folded and placed inside helmet liners, pockets or packs. Senninbari were decorated with 1000 knots or stitches, and each stitch was normally made by a different woman."

The above description does not match.

It does match if you assume this is one of the 'Other variations' and also assume it is 'unfinished'.

No snap or buttons or ties on the one I have, and no stitching, also perfectly square in shape. Intriguing indeed.

My money is on the blue cloth being a Furoshiki

Hey, saw a random link from this site to my site, which led me to here.

Just FYI, the blue cloth is indeed a furoshiki. These are used for wrapping all kinds of stuff - bento box, clothes for the public bath, etc. It's a utility item. The words on the flag are "Niigata prefecture 'Behind the gun association'". The association's name is literally "behind the gun" but it really means a kind of military support association - like "standing behind/beside someone with a gun" sort of meaning.

The hinomaru flag with words on it is a going away flag for soldiers, signed by family and friends as a good luck charm.

Awesome! I was right! Cheers!

wow that is so cool thanks for all you help everyone.

Dude if you want i can reconstruct the flags that in photoshop it is better than nothing