October 10, 20196 yr #1 Here is a prime example of a souvenir piece sold to GI's during the Occupation period. Slightly smaller then normal. Raw silk body. Top has the "Good Luck For Bravery" saying and lots of signatures. To always see these and what makes them stand out is they almost always have Hideki Tojo's "signature". A fantasy souvenir that was made to sell to GI's......Similar to the Seabeemade wartime flags.
October 14, 20196 yr #3 It also looks like what ever these entries are were all applied at the same time... two, maybe three variations of ink... everything lined up in the same direction. I can't speak for all of the flags out there, but it seems a lot of the real ones were signed in a much more random fashion.
May 8, 20206 yr #4 Many of them also have an inkan or seal (I have seen them with a single stamp or no stamp, but you usually see 2 stamps), one up around the 10 o'clock and the 1 o'clock position. The stamp is almost always the same one used when you see 2 seals (oval in shape and stamped with red ink.) That is interesting because 2 stamps on a flag are normally 2 separate, distinct seals. In general, you normally see the same inkan stamped twice when the first one was a poor stamping (and this is not that common.) Based upon the examples that I have seen over the years, the seal is not always the same from flag to flag. That would seem to indicate that these were made at various places or times, although it could also indicate that there were different seals for the maker to choose from..... Based upon foggy recollections, none of the seals have ever actually been an actual shrine or temple seal. Mike
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