Help with translating a WWII flag

My father brought this home from WWII and has always wondered what it says. He did not get it from a soldier, he got it from a Japanese family in Sasebo. He was with the first US troops that arrived there in September 1945. Thank you very much.
In the close-up photos I have numbered what I believe are different phrases.
http://imgur.com/a/qfhBw

Also, is it unusual for one of these type of signed flags to have artwork as well as signatures?

It's a flag addressed to a soldier whose family name is Yoshii ‹g‹�

You may know that friends and relatives signed Japanese flags and sent them to soldiers going to war. Here as well, many names of the senders are written, and in particular, 7 says "navy colonel Akasaka Tokuji (or perhaps Noriharu, depending on how the kanji of the name is read)", so the soldier must've been in the navy. By the way, Sasebo was and still is a big naval base.

A lot of the writings are basically slogans of "encouragement" such as "tokko (suicide attack)" and "gyokusai (death for honor)".

Artwork is rare simply because not everyone is an artist. I suppose Mr. Yoshii had some artistic friends who can really draw.

The fact that it was given to your father after the war, this clean, means that this was either a fake souvenior or a flag that came home safely with the soldier Yoshii. It's not unusual that it came home after the death of the soldier (even though it is so clean), but in that case I'm not sure if the family would have want to give it away to anyone, since the flag would've been one of the very few memorabilia of the deceased.

On a related note, toward the end of the war, many young soldiers went to war to sacrifice themselves for suicide attack units that the navy was famous for. But when the war ended, they ended up coming back alive, while others were killed by accidents during training. In both cases, their flags would have typically returned in good condition.

Uco,
Thank you very much for your response.

I am certain that the flag is not fake. My father was with the first US troops to arrive in Sasebo. He has said that the city was significantly bombed out. I doubt that the local residents would have had the time or inclination to prepare souvenirs.

Your other scenarios are very interesting though. With regard to the soldier being dead, I agree that the family would be hesitant to give it away. However, I don't know the fear they were facing as US soldiers landed in their town.

With regard to the suicide troops, could this flag have belonged to a Kamakazi pilot? If that were the case, would he have still carried it with him on his assignment, or could he have possibly left it with his family?

I will meet with my father this weekend. I'll see if he can remember any more details regarding how he got the flag. He's now 88 and it was 70 years ago, but perhaps he can offer more insight.

Thanks again for your reply.

Carl

Hello again,

First of all, please keep in mind that I am no expert. I'm just answering out of common sense as a Japanese resident, probably slightly younger than you.

With regard to the suicide troops, could this flag have belonged to a Kamakazi pilot?

That's possible, although I don't see anything that specifically suggests that he was meant to fly. There were various kinds of suicide troops including submarine troops. Basically, the idea was that the military was running out of fuel, and with the war-time sacrifice mentality, they sent out troops carrying fuel and bombs for one way only.

It's also possible that Mr. Yoshii was assigned to a suicide troop, but never departed, due to his unit running out of fuel/gear for good or because the war ended.

Another thing that came to my mind, since you say your father landed right after the war, is that Mr. Yoshii never left his home in the first place, due to the war ending or what not. I say this, because it typically took a while for soldiers to come home from their units because of the lack of transportation, and because there was great confusion that occured after the war.

If that were the case, would he have still carried it with him on his assignment, or could he have possibly left it with his family?

Well, typically those flags were meant for the soldiers to fold and put in their uniforms for good luck, but I suppose it's up to the receiptant.

The other thing is that most war flags left are not exactly blood-stained, but torn or have turned brown probably due to the harsh environment the holders had gone through. So one can assume that whoever carried the flag your father got hadn't experienced much.

For example, I have a relative who went on "gakuto-shutsujin" in which precious college students were drafted at last minutes. He never went to battle, because he was killed in training while still in Japan, and his flag is as clean as your father's.

By the way, your father has every right to keep the flag that seems to have been properly given to him by the original family, but if you're ever interested, there are organisations working to return these flags. You may be able to find out more through them.
http://obon2015.com/english/

Also, here is what I found by Googling Mr. Akasaka.
http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japanese-militaria/translating-wwii-flag...

36 says, "Congratulations on your enterance to the troop."

You know, I just found something interesting, and moving as well. On 33 it says, "I wish you good health" by Mr. Iwasaki (no first names), and that's all he says. This is not at all a typical thing to write when everyone is encouraging him "suicidal honor". The guy must have had a very bold sense of humor, because 32 says, "I wish you fight well." while 31 says, "human bomb".

Anyway, just like all the other flags, this one has a lot of names on it, so it should be easy to trace given the proper time and effort.

Uco,

I am very grateful for your help. My father will truly appreciate this information. And making an aging parent smile is a wonderful thing. Thank you for helping me do that.

Back when my father got this flag he was told by his shipmates that the sayings on the flag were aggressive anti-American comments. That is one of the reasons that he has been hesitant to ask anyone to translate it over these many years. He will be surprised to learn that the phrases are more positive and encouraging to the soldier, rather than specific anti-US. Obviously they are war-based, and that is always sad, for both sides. But from what you've said, and what I have recently read about these flags in general, the writings seem to be more along the lines of "Good Luck" and "Be Safe" rather than "Death To The Enemy." Am I correct with that assumption?

Thanks,
Carl

rather than "Death To The Enemy." Am I correct with that assumption?

Not quite, I'm afraid, and I'm sorry if I gave that wrong impression.

You have to face the fact that "luck" and "encouragement" during war basically is about killing as many enemies as you can, because that is what soldiers are meant to do. Or at least, that's how people were expected to make encouragements, and if you didn't you even could have been arrested. And in order to be "safe", you needed to kill the people trying to kill you.

For example, 41 says "fully destroyed the enemy", the big letters above 43 says "charge with your sword" (you might see the same letter elsewhere), on the right from 47 is one of the many slogans here that means "kill", and even the suicidal slogans basically means "sacrifice yourself in order to kill the enemy", and others that say "loyalty" or "bravery" implies "be loyal and brave enough to kill your enemy".

Now, these flags were always signed by men (there were other ornaments that women made) and as you can see, they have written slogans in very bold brush strokes. I don't see any comments specifying America(ns), but the main enemies during that time was obviously the Americans and the British, so I'm not sure if your father will be happy about it considering the fact that these slogans were mostly meant to be against him and his allies.

In battle, you need to defeat the enemy in order to maintain your luck and safety, and we have to face the fact that fury is what brings energy out of a soldier. I'm not saying I approve of it, but that's how it was, especially toward the end of WW2 in Japan when everyone was desparate, and your father probably knows that very well.

Do note, however, that since such propaganda was so dreadful during the war, the majority of the Japanese today are very serious about keeping peace and Japan hasn't been in combat for more than half a century. Needless to say, the U.S. is one of the most popular countries to the Japanese.

Anyway, that's why I say that number 33 is very special. I even wonder when it was written. Perhaps it was written at the very end, when there was noone else to accuse the writer and it was all up to Mr. Yoshii to accept that comment.

I'm sure a lot of Mr. Yoshii's friends did want to write something as nice as "wish good health", but they weren't supposed to. Some were probably even brainwashed and would eventually suffer a great culture shock as the Americans came in. So even the Japanese today see these flags as a memorabilia of the "dark times". It's nothing you can be happy about, and although they're historic treasures, noone would put it up on their walls or anything.

It's only something we can use to remember that we should be responsible for a better future. Oh, and I notice now that you are the poster on the other link.

Uco,

Once again, thank you.

In my last email I mentioned that my father will smile when I provide him this information. I didn't mean to imply that the actual contents of the flag will make him happy, but rather the answers to a 70-year-old mystery.

With regard to propaganda, I must relate a story my father has told often. (I think it's a universal sign of age: when you reach your 80s you tend to repeat the stories of your youth, even though your family and friends have heard them all many times!)

By 1945 we had been at war for many years, and my father had been told that the Japanese were a merciless, evil people. When he landed at Sasebo, a mere month after the war ended, he did not know what to expect. So he was completely shocked that on his first day in the bombed out city he saw a Catholic church. He was, and still is, a devout Catholic. And it was amazing to him that there were Catholics in Sasebo as well. I think this discovery had a long term effect on him.

With regard to the rest of his time there, he was transferred to a different city, where he was put in charge of building a baseball field. He was a semi-pro baseball player before being drafted (he got his draft notice two days before receiving his acceptance notice with a major-league team) and he spent the rest of his time in Japan pitching for the Navy baseball team.

Thanks again for your help with this. I wish I could repay you, but my primary field of expertise is the electric guitar. If you ever have a guitar question, please let me know!

Carl

Hey, I'm a professional E to J translator who specialises in the electric guitar! Of course, the biggest job for translators is the research, and I mostly manage by Googling rather than truly knowing about the instrument itself, but I might see your name again somewhere when I Google! You owe me nothing though. I only answered what I can without effort, when I got distracted from work!

And yes indeed, the region of Kyushu (where Sasebo is) is famous for its long history of Catholics, and one of the only two cities that suffered the atnomic bombing, Nagasaki, had always been the very center of Catholicism in Japan. I think there are more baptised Catholics there than there are Buddists.

It's great that your dad worked on baseball matters. You probably know that a lot of Japanese military veterans have worked hard on building peace by doing volutary projects and such. I only wish the whole world can always be like that. Translating and music will hopefully work as bridges.

And sports too!

Uco,

I presented all of your information, as well as a few comments from the other site, to my father last night. He was very grateful.

It turns out that I had one part of the story wrong. It wasn't a shipmate, but rather a local Japanese school teacher who told him that the phrases were anti-American sayings. My father says that he approached the school teacher shortly after he got the flag, and asked him to translate it. The teacher looked at the flag and told my father that he would rather not say what was written on it. When my dad insisted, the school teacher said that the flag said, "Death to the proud Americans." Of course, these are 70-year-old memories from an 88-year-old man, but he is pretty certain of it. He said that that particular phrase stuck with him, and that was the reason he never further pursued having it translated.

As for the rest of his time in Sasebo, he said that one of his jobs was to take a relatively small landing craft, called an LCT, out to larger ships in the harbor to bring returning Japanese soldiers back to the shore. He said that he and 5 or 6 other sailors would bring hundreds and hundreds of Japanese soldiers ashore. And then they would take Chinese and Korean soldiers back out to the big boats, to be returned to their countries. He said that everything was peaceful and everyone just seemed relieved that the war was over.

In early 1946 he was transferred to Tokyo. That's where he pitched for the Navy baseball team vs. the Army team. He said that the audiences were primarily Japanese and that one of the bigger games drew close to 40,000 people.

Looking back, what a difference a year made... from a horrible war, to a fun baseball game. Unfortunately, it seems that we, the human race, can't seem to remember the beauty of peace. It is such a shame that there is still so much fighting going on in the world.

Meanwhile, it is strange to talk to my dad about this. When he was 17, and just drafted, he joined the Navy. But in boot camp everyone was assigned to the amphibious-landing squad in preparation for a beach attack on Japan. The war ended before that ever took place.

For comparison, when I was 17, my main concern was playing drums in a rock & roll band, and wondering what the next Beatle record would sound like.

Quite a difference.

Thanks again for your help.

Carl

Carl,

"Death to the proud Americans."

Perhaps he is talking about number 2. The literal translation would be "Get rid of the American demons in one throw."

Translations don't work word by word especially between different cultures, so the teacher may have interpreted it to "Death to the proud Americans." or maybe the teacher just hesitated to use the word "demon".

The top kanji on 2 which is •Ä is an abbreviation of "America" (it is still used today and there is no vulgar meaning to the abbreviation itself). I hope I haven't overlooked any other comments on America. Many of the slogans are unfamiliar to us today.

When I was 17, I won "Some Girls" and a Dylan book by sending some postcards to a local TV show.

Thank you so much. This answers some questions my father has had for these many years.

And I'd like to repeat my offer of any help with guitar info. I had my own guitar store for 33 years, before selling it to one of my employees. (Now that I have some free time I can address things I've been putting off for decades... like this flag translation!)

I've also started a mini-video series featuring vintage guitars, called Musicians With Guitars Drinking Wine, which you can see at WorldwideFilmworks.com If you like old guitars you should enjoy the short films.

Thanks again for all of your translation help.

Carl

Thanks for sharing your story Carl. I deal with various organisations and associations in research on such war-related items with the intention of returning them to either the original owners or relatives/friends.

I have also worked with a number of ex-POWs from Australia all with different stories about their wartime experiences which is fascinating. The way you speak about your father gives me the impression he is a good man.

On a side note, I don't know a great deal about guitars but the basics, but to have owned a guitar store sounds really really cool. I'm currently in love with the Gretsh White Falcon!

Out of curiosity was there any more to the story of how your father got the flag?

Harimogura,
I've asked him, but he can't seem to recall. He remembers some specifics about his time there, but much of it blurs together. For example, he remembered getting a sword that he traded away for airmail stamps so he could write home to his family. But then he said that it might have been a rifle... Obviously there is a big difference between a sword and a rifle, but after 70 years he's not sure which it was.
In his defense, he's 88-years-old, and a lot has happened in his life since then.

If he remembers any more details, I'll post them here.
Thanks,
Carl

Wolfy,

The Gretsch White Falcon is a truly cool guitar!

If you're thinking of tracking one down, here are my thoughts: As a vintage guitar dealer and collector, I always prefer an original vintage piece, rather than a reissue. The only exception to that rule is Gretsch.

In the mid-1960s Gretsch used an animal-hide glue to attach the binding. Decades later the binding started to react to that glue. The first symptoms are brown spots on the binding, then cracks (which often cause sections to break off), and eventually the binding starts turning to dust. And since it's happening from the inside out, you can't stop it. (You can slow it down by leaving the guitar out of the case. I don't know any of the science behind this reaction, but it seems to happen faster if the fumes build up in the case.)

The worst years for this issue are 1964 through 1967. I don't think I've ever seen it on a 1950s Gretsch. (And oddly, it doesn't happen to every 64 - 67 Gretsch. But it happens to a lot of them!)

Fortunately, the new Japanese-made Gretsch reissues are great guitars. They look fabulous, they sound great (and you can always switch out the pickups for TV Jones pickups if you want a more vintage sound) and, of course, unlike the vintage ones, they aren't falling apart.

If you're looking to buy a White Falcon, a new reissue is the way to go.

Good luck.

Carl

Hi Carl,

Thanks so much for the Gretsch lesson. Unfortunately I am not so great on guitar so the only way I could justify buying one is if I had a lot of money to burn. You obviously have great knowledge about guitars - I could listen to you all day!
I believe Japan now makes a Chris Cheney (from The Living End) replica-type guitar that is a little cheaper so fans and wannabe musicians like me can experience what it's like to step in his shoes for a day...hehehe.

Just going back to the flag, a book called Bringing Mulligan Home is a fantastic read about a man's research into his father's WW2 experience by tracking down some of the men he served with. If you were motivated to find out more information, you could possible track down some of the men he served with (or families) who may be able to provide some information. Just a thought.