Can someone translate this flag for me?

[monkeyfoot]

Hi

My granddad fought for 4 years in Burma during WW2 and was then in Hiroshima as a peacekeeping force after the war. I never really got to know my Grandfather as he never really talked, he just sat in his chair reading books about the war.

Three years ago, before dying, he gave me a box full of Medals, a service book and a Japanese flag that he captured. I have been meaning to translate this flag for years, but never thought to post images of it on here.

If any of the Chinese/Japanese speakers here could take a look it would be really appreciated. If you could tell me what some of the man areas say it would mean so much. I think the flag is full of Chinese writing of names/propaganda but I'm not sure on this.

Please follow the links for images.

Thanks people

Craig

http://www.2shared.com/fadmin/3969134/d022ca4c/IMG_1102.JPG

http://www.2shared.com/fadmin/3969138/d9948667/IMG_1103.JPG

http://www.2shared.com/fadmin/3969142/7600f9be/IMG_1104.JPG

http://www.2shared.com/fadmin/3969146/716d3da7/IMG_1105.JPG

ps: I saw a flag like this in the British museum...it wasn't half as good though, this one looks like its got bullet holes in it :)

pps: please click the link, and once loaded, click the image to blow it up to full res

[cjurakpt]

just have it all appraised and put it on the block; who says you can't put a price on sentimentality? :D

no no, just kidding, just kidding! my wife's grandfather had the same deal: being one of the first guys into Berlin on a tank under Zukhov (USSR) he had a chest full of metals that will come to her one day via her mom; he didn't talk about it much either, but I convinced her to get him going once and taped it; pretty intense stuff, in general;

anyway, you might have better luck trying to have the flag (and all the other stuff) looked at by someone who is a military historian; also, the pics are a bit hard to see a lot the characters clearly (I am no expert, just saying)

[Gowgee]

My server blocks the site to which you've uploaded the photos. Could you post them to this thread?

[monkeyfoot]

Hi cjurakpt

You should be able to see a full res image if you let it load. This will allow you to see it in more detail. I have thought about taking this to a military historian, but I have not come across one as of yet. Good idea though.

Gowgee - Ill upload them somewhere else as KFM limits filesize to 100k

[cjurakpt]

Hi cjurakpt

You should be able to see a full res image if you let it load. This will allow you to see it in more detail. I have thought about taking this to a military historian, but I have not come across one as of yet. Good idea though.

maybe try a local university for some guidance in the right direction? or a local veteran's organization?

I did let it load, or so I thought, but it didn't seem to get any bigger...

[Mr Punch]

Did you get the watch he stuck up his ass too? :D

Might I suggest if it's so valuable to you, and possibly to others, that you don't hold it down with a cup of coffee...!? Up to you, mind.

There are lot of names, and not propaganda as such, but exaltiotans to fight and try harder etc. There are at least a couple of yojijukugo on there (which means 'four character proverbs') most of which are direct from Chinese, so Chinese readers should be able to decipher them for you. The 20 or fewer that I know don't cover them so I'll ask my wife when she gets back tonight.

[monkeyfoot]

Mr Punch - good spot on the coffee! I was in a rush before I headed back to London so held it down with anything I could find..... a cup of old coffee and a resin Buddha lol

Thanks for the general info on the flag. It would be great if your wife could take a look at it.

I look forward to your response

Craig

[Gowgee]

Monkeyfoot,

I've just been able to open up your 'flag' image. What you have here is a 'Gouriki Kigan (合力祈願)', a kind of prayer amulet for a particular soldier for martial fortune in combat. The most common type was known as a 'sennin-bari(千人針)' where a thousand stitches were made in the amulet in WWII.

I don't have time to translate all of them, but they all have common themes like "serve the country", "make sure you win - don't be concerned about your own life", "your sincerity will shine through", and so on. Japanese soldiers treasured these amulets, so get that bloody coffee cup of it!

[SPJ]

respect to all soldiers from all sides in all wars.

wu yun chang jiu 武运长久 on the top meaning the fortune/luck of fighting last long.

or long live the fate of fighting. Japanese soldiers believed that they fought and died for the emperor just like samurai before.

--

It is a flag with singatures of all soldiers in the unit.

The flag usually stayed with the commanding officer in the commanding post or HQ.

If the flag got captured, that means the unit got wiped out.

--

The flag should belong to the family of the soldiers in the unit.

---

I have relatives fought in Burma, too. They served in the Chinese expeditionary force under US generals and staff.

--

[SPJ]

dan xia bao guo 丹心报国

meaning one heart for the country.

mie mi ying 灭米英

eliminate or destory America and Britain.

---

and many other prayers.

[Shaolinlueb]

weird. my grandfather has a similar flag from when he was in pacific. but he didnt capture it, it was given to him by a P.O.W. he befriended. probably not the same as yours.

[monkeyfoot]

Wow thanks guys! Really impressed by the detail of feedback you've all given. I didn't even realise the significance of this to the Japanese soldiers; in ignorance I just thought it was 'just a flag'. I googled it and came across so much info about Shinto and the amulets etc. Really pleased that you've all pointed me in the right direction.

SPJ - I would love to give it to the families of the soldiers whose names are on the flag....not sure how one would go about that though.

Thanks a lot guys. If anyone else sees/knows any other interesting facts about the flag then please leave a reply.

cheers!

[Mr Punch]

OK, like the others said with a couple of additions and amendments.

As Gowgee said, it's an amulet. I thought that most of the exaltations were yojijukugo because they were mostly four-letter combinations I couldn't read! My wife tells me however, that they weren't so much set phrases as things, prayers, encouragement etc that people wrote themselves so they're some of them much harder to decipher.

When I looked again myself I was reminded just how far my Japanese still has to go! And my wife couldn't understand some of them even after we'd worked out the individual kanji.

Next to most of the prayers/phrases are the names/relationship of the person who wrote them to the soldier who carried it.

What we got:

across the top (don't forget, it's right to left):

圻武運長久 (pronunciation maybe: ki/inori bu un chou-kyuu/nagahisa) As SPJ says it's a prayer for the war. Inori is 'prayer'/'blessing', bu-un is 'the fortunes of war'... but it could also be not 'choukyuu' which means 'eternity', but 'Nagahisa' - this soldier's name. If it's the former it would be 'A prayer for eternal fortune at war'. Those two have the same kanji and meaning, so it's difficult to tell. In that age names were still somewhat talismanic themselves, so the name 'Long-life' for a boy who must've been born sometime in the three decades of fighting before WW2 was no accident. It is probably as SPJ says, since bu-un-chou-kyuu seems to be a yojijukugo.

Coming down in a diagonal in the bottom left: 生命惜しむな　(seimei oshimu-na)
'seimei' is life/soul. 'Oshimu' means 'spare' or 'value' or 'regret a loss' (verb). 'Na' is a strong negative imperative. So: 'Don't spare your life' or 'Don't value your soul'. This one is signed Chichi (Father).

On the left: 滅米英 (Zetsu-beiei) 'Destroy America and Britain' or 'Kill (all) Americans and British'

Left of centre under the sun: 一億一丸 (ichi-oku ichi-gan)... maybe 'one bullet, one billion (lives)'... 'Oku' is billion, 'gan' is a round thing, sometimes and probably in this case a bullet.

Right side on its side: 純忠奉公 (jun chuu hou kou) 'Pure loyal service'

etc... gotta go now, if you want to know more lemme know and I'll do some more... it's interesting and kind of fun: some of them are a real enigma... and some of them (like the message from the father) sent chills down my spine.

[Mr Punch]

SPJ - I would love to give it to the families of the soldiers whose names are on the flag....not sure how one would go about that though.The people who wrote on the flag did so to encourage and protect their friend/relative/colleague... it was given to one person. Since his name probably doesn't appear in full anywhere to give it to his family is probably impossible. There may be a name of a high school teacher or something on it and the school or something, which would make it possibly traceable.


probably not the same as yours. And quite possible is. Even in those days of extreme nationalist indoctrination, some of the soldiers wouldn't have been into the Shinto vibe. These kind of amulets where people write good luck messages on something of yours or something for you are ten-a-penny over here! Elementary school, junior high, high, university/vocational college etc... so not pouring scorn on the tradition at all, just saying it would depend on your background as to how much you valued it.

The PoW who gave your grandfather yours maybe would have thought that since it didn't help him in battle it had no value for him. He also might have thought that since he was captured and dishonoured he was a dishonour to the hopes and exaltations of the people who wrote it for him. He also might not have cared about it in the first place.

Monkeyfoot's one has a very strong message from the guy's father, which suggests: he was from a military family, he was from a nationalist family, or maybe he was from a family of people who cared about appearances.

[Mr Punch]

Friggin typical!

When they were our enemies we got: Annihilate America and Britain! Don't spare yourself!

Now they're our allies, this is the best we get... (http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/2-gsdf-sergeants-punished-for-injuring-themselves-to-avoid-drill) :eek: :D