I can't find a reference to the hometown or rank. I can't even find the recipient's name, unless its the wierdly-placed "Koike - something" just under the "Good Luck In Battle" phrase. Most of the time these are presented to civilians about to go off to war, and so they are presented by friends, fellow workers, classmates, etc... I haven't seen a lot that are addressed to people using a military rank.
As an aside, there are a lot of people with the surname Sugiyama and Yasue who signed this flag. Yasue is not a super-common last name, and it seems to be particularly prevalent in Gifu prefecture, which may give a hint at where the flag originated. (Note: the lack of an addressee, and a preponderance of a certain phrase or kanji might also be an indication of a fake. I can't tell if this flag is real or not.)