Dear all,
I just came into possession of this Japanese WW2 Hinomaru. NOT a flag taken from a KIA (this is VERY important to me).
The provenance of the flag (as explained to me) was that this belonged to a Japanese service member who returned home from WW2 safely. After his natural death, the flag (together with a larger flag) was given to his next of kin, his sister, who had married a GI and moved to the US. She gave it to her daughter, a Linda Blaine Wiese of Missouri upon graduating officers school.
The flag was professionally framed but then sold by her when she was going throug a divorce to a person named Mary Pertzborn, who I finally bought this flag from. I have, unfortunately, been unable to find out anything about the Japanese service member's identity. It would be meaningful to me to find out more about this gentleman in order to preserve the memory of his service appropriately, since his family gave this away.
Here is a link and photo of my flag (the smaller in the photo) when it was appraised by the grand-niece of the serviceman in 2014.
Home & Away appraisal event: Japanese flags
Unfortunately, I do not have the larger flag but I am including the photo in case it might yield information regarding the person's identity. The other photos are close-ups of the flag as provided by the seller.
I believe the top 久長運武 should be read right to left as: 武運長久 (Buun Choukyuu), translating roughly to "continued luck in the fortunes of war" or "praying for your good fortune in the battle", a common slogan for this type of keepsake. I am hoping to get more information on the rest. I think the red seals belong to a temple (which made me think that this was a post-war repro) but together with the other flag, I believe the (very rough) information that I have is accurate. ANY help with this endeavor is greatly appreciated!
I just came into possession of this Japanese WW2 Hinomaru. NOT a flag taken from a KIA (this is VERY important to me).
The provenance of the flag (as explained to me) was that this belonged to a Japanese service member who returned home from WW2 safely. After his natural death, the flag (together with a larger flag) was given to his next of kin, his sister, who had married a GI and moved to the US. She gave it to her daughter, a Linda Blaine Wiese of Missouri upon graduating officers school.
The flag was professionally framed but then sold by her when she was going throug a divorce to a person named Mary Pertzborn, who I finally bought this flag from. I have, unfortunately, been unable to find out anything about the Japanese service member's identity. It would be meaningful to me to find out more about this gentleman in order to preserve the memory of his service appropriately, since his family gave this away.
Here is a link and photo of my flag (the smaller in the photo) when it was appraised by the grand-niece of the serviceman in 2014.
Home & Away appraisal event: Japanese flags
Unfortunately, I do not have the larger flag but I am including the photo in case it might yield information regarding the person's identity. The other photos are close-ups of the flag as provided by the seller.
I believe the top 久長運武 should be read right to left as: 武運長久 (Buun Choukyuu), translating roughly to "continued luck in the fortunes of war" or "praying for your good fortune in the battle", a common slogan for this type of keepsake. I am hoping to get more information on the rest. I think the red seals belong to a temple (which made me think that this was a post-war repro) but together with the other flag, I believe the (very rough) information that I have is accurate. ANY help with this endeavor is greatly appreciated!
