Good luck flag needs translation

skydiverpt · 4 Aug 2020

Greetings from Uk.
I am a fan of WW2 Japanese history, which I am learning slowly.
I would love to have some help translating this flag I owned recently.
Thanks so much in advance for your time.

Grandpa Frank · 4 Aug 2020

I always wonder why my 1972 flag looks so old and faded yellow and WWII flags look so new and white. I'm guessing WWII flags were silk maybe? I think mine is linen which may explain it.

Toritoribe · 4 Aug 2020

Uncle Frank said:
I always wonder why my 1972 flag looks so old and faded yellow and WWII flags look so new and white. I'm guessing WWII flags were silk maybe? I think mine is linen which may explain it.

Or, the white flags are really new ones, i.e., fake ones, as is often the cases...

Anyway, the name of the recipient of the flag is 鈴木惟夫 Suzuki Tsuneo.

skydiverpt · 5 Aug 2020

Thanks for that, really appreciate it!!!
This one is made of silk, really soft and fragil.
Really difficult to be fake.... Luckly!!!

Any more tips on the other letters?
Thanks so much for the support and help!

Toritoribe · 6 Aug 2020

Unfortunately, those can't be evidence that the flag is genuine. It's easy to make a flag look old, or fake flags can be made by writing signatures on a genuine blank flag later.
I'm skeptical about the authenticity of the flag. There are so many mistakes in the kanji of the signatures written on the flag, as if the writer actually didn't know kanji.

skydiverpt · 6 Aug 2020

Ok, thanks so much for your information's.
Would be possible to detail?
Always learning, Just bought the flag from a establish seller, but of course, I can't vouch for it.
Would be great to know more details, please.
Thanks so much for your input and time.
Best regards,
RAul

Toritoribe · 6 Aug 2020

Here's obvious mistakes among questionable ones.

skydiverpt · 6 Aug 2020

Thanks again for your time.
Is there any of the traditional wishes of good fortune on War?
like May your feats live trough long times.

Thanksso much for your help.
Best regards.

Majestic · 6 Aug 2020

Big, vertical writing, right side
祈武運長久 (pray for good luck in battle)

Horizontal writing on top
莫妄想一途 (Fight without thinking of past or future)
天皇道ヲ直進 (Direct path to/for the Emperor)

The vertical writing is oddly stylized.
The horizontal writing... is slightly unusual Japanese. I have never seen either of these phrases before, and none of them come up in a search, which in itself is unusual.

skydiverpt · 6 Aug 2020

Hi Majestic,
thanks so much for your help.
Yes, indeed, I also have never seen those phrases before.
And thinking of the japanese culture of honouring the ancestors, its a bit odd...

I am really curious about the ones on the top left corner, like on a 45 angle...
Would you please help me with that?

Again, thanks so much for your time and help.

best regards,

Raul

Majestic · 7 Aug 2020

One is a name, looks like 高橋順助 (Takahashi Junsuke). The one next to that is illegible to me.

The word 莫妄想 from the first horizontal phrase (makumōsō) is a zen phrase. This word itself it is not a red flag. In fact, it means in this case to act with decisiveness, without other thoughts distracting you. It is an exhortation to live in the present: the past and future are illusory, and it is only the present that it important. So in this context it is appropriate to the flag. But its certainly not a common word, and its inclusion here seems funny. The comment about the emperor also seems funny, coming right after a zen phrase.

skydiverpt · 7 Aug 2020

Yes, really unusual phrases for this kind of flags...
Maybe poets or philosophical families?... Which its a lot unusual being related to war...

I do like the way you express the meanings of the phrases. Very zen I would say. It transmits inner peace / knowledgeable of Japanese philosophy!...

Would be possible to know about this 2, on the photo atached?

Thanks so much for your time and support! I do appreciate it!

best regards,
Raul

Toritoribe · 7 Aug 2020

Those are all just signatures.

As for the two lines on the top of the flag, it's actually a single sentence.

莫妄想一途ニ
天皇道ヲ直進セヨ

In this case, 莫妄想 is considered to be used as an adverbial phrase 妄想なく written in kanbun style, rather than a zen phrase 莫妄想, so the meaning is something like "Go straight on the path of the Emperor wholeheartedly without doubt."

By the way, "I'm skeptical about the authenticity of the flag." is a humble expression of "it's a fake". I think it's useless to think about the details of a fake flag.

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