Flag good luck

[Orion385]

Hi ...
a friend bought these Japanese flags. he assures me that he is
WWII era ... he would have bought them in Japan by an acquaintance ..
can you help me identify these flags? whether real or false?
or even help me with the translation?
the rising sun has already been sold as original !!
gratitude and regards from France

 

[Orion385]

Nobody for help me ,?
Many thanks

 

[Majestic]

They don't look authentic to me. The writing on all of the phrases is identical, which means it was probably written by one person (rather than signed by many people, as is usually the case with WW2-era flags). Two of the flags have the same name on them: Hashimoto Kikuo. Its sort of unusual to see two flags with the same name on them. Usually the person going off to war would receive a flag from his school or his place of work, and it would be signed by his acquaintances. It's not impossible to see two flags with the same name, but it is highly unusual. (Did he receive two flags, take them both to war, then return with them both and sell them?). I find these items to be a bit suspicious.

 

[mdchachi]

They don't look authentic to me. The writing on all of the phrases is identical, which means it was probably written by one person (rather than signed by many people, as is usually the case with WW2-era flags). Two of the flags have the same name on them: Hashimoto Kikuo. Its sort of unusual to see two flags with the same name on them. Usually the person going off to war would receive a flag from his school or his place of work, and it would be signed by his acquaintances. It's not impossible to see two flags with the same name, but it is highly unusual. (Did he receive two flags, take them both to war, then return with them both and sell them?). I find these items to be a bit suspicious.

What does 塊周 mean? It's a name?

 

[Majestic]

日本魂 means "Japanese Spirit". The small 周 next to it is a mystery to me.

 

[Orion385]

thank you very much for your intervention
I would like to find one that is real like a lot of passionate people but it becomes complicated
I see auctions on a sales site in Japan which seem interesting but difficult to be sure that they are originals.
could I still ask for your help with supporting photos?
thank you so much

 

[Majestic]

It is difficult to judge these things, even if one reads Japanese. I like to see

1. A clear dedication (who is the flag for?)
2. The name of the person or organization who is presenting the flag
3. A date or location
4. Signatures clearly written by different people.

There can be authentic flags without these things, but personally I feel more confident when it has all or most of these things. The second flag you you posted has a dedication, a large name next to the recipient's name (which I take to be the presenter), and it also has a date of August 15 1944, and the signatures look like they were written by various hands. So it has all of the qualities you want to see in a WW2 flag. It also has the stamps of some shrines (Katori Shrine and Kashima Shrine). This flag looks OK to me. But there are so many fakes lately, I would be seriously cautious about buying one of these from any online dealer unless the dealer is a specialist in Japanese war memorabilia.

 

[Orion385]

Ok many thanks for your information