Imperial Japan, "Private Kanai Industrial Youth School". Color, 1945.
This heavily fringed silk Japanese organizational color is in excellent condition. It conforms to the general style of Imperial Japanese regimental flags. Japanese army colors bore purple fringe, so the significance of the golden yellow fringe and the insignia on this flag remain unknown.
Japanese national flags and ensigns surviving from the Second World War are plentiful. Also ubiquitous are the "hinomaru yosegaki "or 'Good Luck Flags' carried by individual soldiers. However, Japanese organizational colors and standards and are rare.
Japanese regimental flags from WWII are virtually unheard of today because it was not customary for the Japanese Army to issue replacement colors; the flags of most combat units simply wore out, often leaving only the fringe. Additionally, after Emperor Hirohito addressed the nation by radio on 15 August 1945, accepting the terms of the Potsdam declaration, the Japanese GHQ (General Headquarters) ordered all units to burn their flags prior to the arrival of the allies on August 28th and the formal surrender on September 2nd, 1945. As a result the only known color in a public institution is the flag of the 321st Regiment, currently on display at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
This flag's inscription is not fully understood, but a preliminary translation implies that it is from a school for aviation cadets, possibly bomber crews. While it conforms to the size and style of regimental flags, the insignia and golden yellow fringe are atypical, leading to speculation that it might be a flag for veterans or alumni.
This flag was acquired at auction with the understanding that it was a WWII era flag brought back from Japan by a returning GI.
Provenance: Acquired at an Internet auction in 2008.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources:
Good Luck Flags (Hinomaru Yosegaki), Nambu World, 8 October 2011, from:
http://members.shaw.ca/ursacki/flags2.htm
Japanese egimental flags (WWII), Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.from:
http://www.flagsforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=184
Japanese Flags: Early Meiji Era, Flags of the World, 8 October 2011, from:
http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/jp%5Emeiji.html
History, Yasukuni Shrine, 8 October 2011, from:
http://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/about/index.html
