Navy Related Off-To-War Banner

June 6, 2021

I have collected Off-To-War banners, off and on, for a number of years. They are colorful, have some beautiful art painted on them, and often take up only limited wall space. While they are not as popular as their good luck flag "cousins", they nevertheless played a big role in the Japanese send-off ceremony culture of the World War Two era. This banner was in my collection at one time, but I recently sold it. The owner was being celebrated into navy service. Navy related banners seem to be much tougher to find than army related examples.

This Off-To-War Banner measures approximately 27." wide X 118." long. The heavy silk-satin material is in great condition, with only minor fraying near the bottom edge. The top art panel shows a Japanese national flag, crossed with a Japanese battle flag. The two are lashed together by a gold painted tassel. The kanji character for celebrating a soldier going off to war is prominently displayed in red paint near the top of the flag poles. A beautiful combination of sky blue and aqua blue are decoratively splatter painted around the crossed flag display. Further decorating sides and middle of this nobori are the outlines of large cherry blossoms and navy anchors. The anchors are outlined in sky/aqua blue, while the cherry blossoms are outlined in pink.

Running the center length of the banner are black painted kanji characters that say "Celebrating Enrollment- Sasebo Naval Unit- Mr. Tanaka Keijiro. [From] Noguchi Sei”. Along the bottom edge is a black oval stamp with the word "Joint" stamped inside it; probably for "Joint Military Intelligence". This is an indication that the banner was cleared by the military and free of any strategic information. I have never seen this before on an Off-To-War Banner.