Help Yosegaki Hinomaru: genuine or fake?

Hello everyone

Always, always the same question : genuine or fake ???

What is your expert opinion about this Hinomaru Yosegaki ?

It will seem that there is a temple stamp at the top, do you confirm ? and what is it ?

As "Majestic" reported in a post on August 1, 2020, I quote :

"At the top of the flag, good luck slogan, is written in reverse (right to left). So in reverse order it looks like 久長運武祈 (Good luck in battle)..... So, is it important and is this an evidence of fake ?

I don't want to abuse your kindness but anything you can tell me about this flag will be welcome

many thanks for your precious help

Regards

Showa Tenno

showa tenno said:

So, is it important and is this an evidence of fake ?

Click to expand...

It is not particularly important, and it is also not evidence of a fake. Conversely, neither is it evidence of authenticity. It's just a phrase that shows up on about 95% of flags like this. The stamp on this flag says Samuhara Fudōmyō-ō. Samuhara is the name of a shrine, and Fudōmyō-ō is the name of a buddhist deity. This stamp, like the phrase "pray for everlasting luck in battle" is neither a positive indicator of authenticity, nor a negative indicator. It's just a stamp that could have been purchased 50 years ago, or a week ago. It would be different if some of the writing or the signatures had some connection to the Samuhara shrine. Actually Samuhara is a shinto shrine, and Fudōmyō-ō is buddhist.
For me there is nothing in this flag that announces its legitimacy. No addressee, no location, no date. It is just a generic flag with a lot of names on it.

Hi Majestic

I note that it is difficult to be peremptory on this subject... and that unfortunately your opinion does not particularly lean in favor of an authentic flag. !!

I'm sorry to hear that... but are there 10% of the flags on the market that are genuine ?? and how to be sure of your purchase ? big question !!

Thank you very much for your help, and for all this information.

Regards
Showa tenno

For me, the indicators of authenticity are

1. Addressee's name. Who is the flag for? Who is the flag honoring? Typically this is written in larger characters, vertically, down the right side of the flag. "To Mr. Suzuki, on the occasion of his enlistment.", or "To Mr. Saitō, congratulations on shipping out to the front line.". This kind of thing.
2. Presenter's name: "From Maebashi Technical School", or "From Section Chief of the Sendai Metalworks Factory" etc... Usually also written on the right side of the flag.
3. A date is very nice to have because it locks down a time, and it can be verified against known historical facts, especially if there is a location or school principal's name on the flag.

That's really it for me. Of course a flag can be authentic with none of these things. A flag as the one in this thread may well be authentic, but we don't know who it is for, who presented it, or when it was presented. It is just a white cloth with a bunch of names. So even though it might be authentic, it isn't very interesting because we cannot connect it to a person, a time, or a place.

Because there are so many of these flags on the auction sites, and because they are so easy to make, we must assume that many of them are fakes. I don't know if 90% of them are fakes, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I totally agree with Majestic-san. It's quite easy to make a fake flag, but it's quite difficult to judge whether a flag is fake or genuine for collectors who are not familiar with Japanese language. That's why literally countless fake hinomaru flags are on the market almost only outside of Japan.

Your flag seems quite questionable to my eyes.

Hi
thank you Majestic
for all these documented responses.
Your answers will be valuable to me in a future purchase.

Thanks also to Toritoribe for his involvement in this analysis

also thank you both for your frankness about your doubts

very cordially,

Hi all

I hope that I will have more luck with these two banners than with the hinomaru Yosegaki that I introduced to you recently.

What do you think? Do they seem authentic?

and if (by any chance) they are, can you tell me a little bit more about what's written on it

as always.... a thousand thanks for your very precious help



Very cordially,

regards,

Showa tenno

The purple banner says
祝 入營 廣瀬甫君
Congratulations Hirose Hajime on Enlistment. (Hirose Hajime is the person's name).

The white banner says
祝 入團 高田博次君
Congratulations Takada Hirotsugu on Englistment (Takada Hirotsugu is the person's name). It also carries the names of other people in the Takada family.

Looks OK to me.

Hello "Majestic"

Once again a thousand thanks for your precious help.
I am glad to know that banners are not a problem, I think there is less forgery in this area, probably also because the selling price is much lower than the Hinomaru.
Most cordially,
Showa tenno