Translation request

[waltc]

Hello to all. I preface my request with hopes that it is not inconsiderate or inappropriate. It is personal and historical curiosity. I am trying to find out what this flag means. The only information I have is that it was my Uncles. I believe he was in the occupation in the late 1940's. I am not sure where to start looking, and here I am.
Thank you in advance, Michael.

 

[Toritoribe]

It's so called Kamikaze Hachimaki, not Yosegaki Hinomaru flag.

神風
航空兵器総局長官 遠藤三郎謹書
Kamikaze
Written by the Director of the General Bureau for Air Ordnance Endō Saburō

Lieutenant General Endō was in the position from November, 1943 to the end of the war, so it's in this period.

航空兵器総局
1943年11月1日の軍需省設立とともに発足。長官は遠藤三郎（陸軍中将）。

航空兵器総局

アジ歴で資料を誰もが簡単に資料を見つけられるよう、資料検索のナビゲーション機能「アジ歴グロッサリー」を設けました。テーマ別にキーワード一覧、地図、組織変遷表、年表等から、お探しの資料や関連資料にもスムーズにアクセスすることができます。

www.jacar.go.jp

遠藤三郎 (陸軍軍人) - Wikipedia

ja.wikipedia.org

Here's a newspaper article about the same Kamikaze Hachimaki.

「美談にしてはいけない」送り出された10代の特攻隊

軍都の幻影元航空廠設計士の遺言（4）山口恭央（やすひさ）さん（87）＝大村市＝は子どもの頃、近所の農家で休暇...｜西日本新聞meは、九州のニュースを中心に最新情報を伝えるニュースサイトです。九州・福岡の社会、政治、経済などのニュースを提供します。

www.nishinippon.co.jp

(all in Japanese)

 

[waltc]

It's so called Kamikaze Hachimaki, not Yosegaki Hinomaru flag.

神風
航空兵器総局長官 遠藤三郎謹書
Kamikaze
Written by the Director of the General Bureau for Air Ordnance Endō Saburō

Lieutenant General Endō was in the position from November, 1943 to the end of the war, so it's in this period.

航空兵器総局
1943年11月1日の軍需省設立とともに発足。長官は遠藤三郎（陸軍中将）。

航空兵器総局

アジ歴で資料を誰もが簡単に資料を見つけられるよう、資料検索のナビゲーション機能「アジ歴グロッサリー」を設けました。テーマ別にキーワード一覧、地図、組織変遷表、年表等から、お探しの資料や関連資料にもスムーズにアクセスすることができます。

www.jacar.go.jp

遠藤三郎 (陸軍軍人) - Wikipedia

ja.wikipedia.org

Here's a newspaper article about the same Kamikaze Hachimaki.

「美談にしてはいけない」送り出された10代の特攻隊

軍都の幻影元航空廠設計士の遺言（4）山口恭央（やすひさ）さん（87）＝大村市＝は子どもの頃、近所の農家で休暇...｜西日本新聞meは、九州のニュースを中心に最新情報を伝えるニュースサイトです。九州・福岡の社会、政治、経済などのニュースを提供します。

www.nishinippon.co.jp

(all in Japanese)

Thank you so much for your reply, more than I had hoped for. I wonder about the article with the same flag that you referenced. Is this a common flag?, or what was the purpose of the article? I will work on a translation out of curiosity.

 

[Toritoribe]

It's not a flag, as I wrote in my previous post, but a Japanese hand towel (tenugui). The towel is folded in three to use as a headband. You can see how it's used in the following photo.


The article says that the hachimaki was donated to a library by a worker of the 21st Naval Aeronautical Arsenal in Nagasaki. He said that the hachimaki was made by donations from kamikaze pilots, and mobilized students worked with this hachimaki headband wrapped around their head at the arsenal, as in the photo. It's reasonable that the director of the general bureau for air ordnance wrote calligraphy on hachimaki for workers of aeronautical arsenals.

As you can see below, the two calligraphies are completely the same, thus, those hachimaki would be printed ones, not his own handwriting.


You can also find lots of same hachimaki.

Google Search

 

[waltc]

Excellent explanation! I thank you again for your time and consideration.