Japan Kamakazi Flag (possibly) Okinawa

[jonsey2001]

I have had this for at least 5 or 6 years. And when I worked for a global company I had asked a coworker in Japan to translate this for me. I am sharing looking to see if I am correct in assuming this is named to one of the last brave pilots to make the great sacrifice for his Emperor.

Cheers, George

[Rogi]

Possibly some info. on Kazuo Tanaka,

http://senri.warbirds.jp/19english/izoku/15/izoku15.htm

hope that helped a bit

I believe the flag is a funeral offering (not sure of the exact terminology) but double check the site, there is a good bio about his life)

and at the end of the page there is a description of his acts on his final mission.

from the site "body-crashing attack" against an enemy ship."

Most likely a Kamikaze

The site is really well done and has a lot of great history :)

Edited January 4, 2014 by Rogi

[jonsey2001]

That is the site that I also found. Talk about a neat story. And a great item to possess. I am considering lending it to Battle Ship Cove here in MA in the summer. Thank you!

[Rogi]

It would be a cool item for them to have Just make sure they know you are lending it and for how long

Do the dates of Okinawa and the article correspond?

Edited January 4, 2014 by Rogi

[fukuoka]

Hate to throw cold water on your enthusiasm, but something seems off about this flag. First, the personal name of Tanaka is not followed by 'kun,' which would be rather rude. Second, why is the prefecture name so prominent? Of the hundreds of flags I have seen/handled, this is strange. More importantly, however, the Japanese script, though accurate, does not appear to be of a native writer. A few characters jump out as being unbalanced, most notably 'ken' (prefecture).

Immediately following the war, a number of these flags were faked for and by American servicemen. Although interesting in their own way, they are not legitimate war flags. Tanaka Kazuo, by the way, is a common name.

I may be wrong, of course. Try posting the pics and description at this forum and see what some experts have to say.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59

Best,

Rich

Edited January 4, 2014 by fukuoka

[jonsey2001]

Thank you Rich! I view it as constructive. When time permits hopefully tomorrow I will create an account there and see what I can learn from it. I will take it out of storage to snap a couple pics of the writing on the flag. It has the names and dates of the journey. To be honest if it is a tourist trinket from 1940's I will be just as happy.

Kind regards! George