Good luck flag presented to Japanese soldier Tani Yoshio

Place Asia: Japan, Shikoku
Accession Number RELAWM28047.003
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Flag
Physical description Printed cotton
Maker Unknown
Place made Japan
Date made 1938
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Description

Japanese soldier's autographed national flag with a single slogan, 'Long-lasting good fortune in war' and the name of the soldier to whom it was presented, Tani Yoshio from the village of Suida-cho, written in black ink characters. Another phrase gives the information that Tani was born in the year of the dragon (1916) and was 22 years old when the flag was presented to him, in 1938. There are string ties at two corners of the flag from which it was originally suspended in the shrine.

History / Summary

Flag was taken from a shrine at Tokushima on the island of Shikoku. This type of flag was presented to the soldier, by a single individual, on his enlistment and then hung in the shrine when he left for war, where it was an object of veneration and worship.