jeeploverkeith Posted March 8, 2011 at 03:34 AM Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 03:34 AM http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m582/jeeploverkeith/IMG_20110303_131215.jpg posted this before but it did not show up dont know y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted March 8, 2011 at 10:07 AM Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 10:07 AM This is a Japanese flag taken from a soldier, dead or alive, during World War II. As such, it's a somewhat inauspicious souvenir. You'll usually find two or three of these on sale at ebay from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanglu Posted March 8, 2011 at 11:28 AM Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 11:28 AM The simplified writing on the flag dates from after the war though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted March 8, 2011 at 11:36 AM Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 11:36 AM Which characters did you have in mind? I'm not familiar with the basis on which kanji were simplified after the War, but I suspect that, as in China, some characters were simplified based on handwritten forms long in common use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanglu Posted March 8, 2011 at 11:59 AM Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 11:59 AM I was thinking that, but for example 战, 爱. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeploverkeith Posted March 8, 2011 at 01:18 PM Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 01:18 PM i have a guy who will transulate japanese for me he said this is not japanese but chinese he could read part of it but not all he said in school in japan they are taught chinese if more pictures are needed let me know No part of these so many Chinese characters make sense as a Japanese. Also no Japanese name, sender or receiver, appears in this flag. On the other hand, the four chars at the bottom reads 抗戦為生. Perhaps it means 'Born to fight resistance' in Chinese. It corresponds to the left 喜親為生, 'Born to please his/her parents' The character 矣 is used only in China. We Japanese learn Chinese classics such as Confucius as European student learn Latin, but we are told that we should ignore this character. I guess the line 喜親為生様矣大情可夢 says 'The strong emotion that you were born to please your parents might be a dream.' Other large character says 不??死日 We Japanese don't use the second character. Perhaps 'Don't fear the day of death' or similar meaning. 愛情可爰 Perhaps 'The love might be tepid' in Chinese. 可望度生 'You may hope (religeous) enlightenment on life' I guess it was, say, a display on the wall of Chinese army base, cursing the Japanese flag and demanding men be ready for deadly fight against Japan. HERE IS WHAT I GOT FROM HIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iriya Posted March 8, 2011 at 02:14 PM Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 02:14 PM This is definitely Chinese. There's not a single kana character, and there's no reason why the Japanese would write everything in Classical Chinese (especially with China specific character simplifications, as it's been already noted). But I'm not even sure if it's even Classical Chinese at all (I know pretty much nothing about Classical Chinese). I'm almost positive that 抗战 here refers to 抗日战争, literally "war of resistance against Japan", that is, the Second Sino-Japanese War. So I guess that makes the origin of this flag clear? Oh, and it's 不怕死日, "don't be afraid of the day of death", you guessed it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeploverkeith Posted March 8, 2011 at 02:54 PM Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 02:54 PM I DID NOT GUESS THIS MY JAPANESE TRANSLATOR DID IT FOR ME HE SAID HE CAN ONLY READ A LIMITED AMOUNT OF CHINESE IF MORE PICTURES ARE NEEDED LET ME KNOW sorry about caps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted March 8, 2011 at 03:05 PM Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 03:05 PM Maybe post some close-up pictures of some of the text and we can argue some more :-) There's not a single kana character, and there's no reason why the Japanese would write everything in Classical Chinese I believe that Japan used Kanji exclusively for official documents for many centuries. [Well, kanbun actually, but that's pretty close.] I'm not sure what year that changed, but it wouldn't surprise me to have a military flag still use the "most official"writing. What I don't understand is that if this is a Chinese anti-Japanese flag, why would they basically use a Japanese flag? It seems strange to me to basically hang up your enemy's flag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeploverkeith Posted March 8, 2011 at 03:46 PM Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 at 03:46 PM http://s770.photobucket.com/albums/xx341/idkgivemeone/ these are the pictures of the flag the little flag is kanji on it it says 祝 celebrating 戦勝 victory 武運長久 may your luck in combat last forever 東京 松永店員一同 Tokyo, from all employees of Matsunaga. so someone please tell me what the flag in chinese says Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeploverkeith Posted March 9, 2011 at 02:26 PM Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 at 02:26 PM this is the forth forum i have used to try and translate this flag looks like i will never know what it says Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted March 9, 2011 at 11:31 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 at 11:31 PM If it is really important to know what it says, I suggest you hire a professional translator / translation service to translate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeploverkeith Posted March 16, 2011 at 04:28 PM Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 at 04:28 PM ok looked into a professional translator 500 dollars cuz they say it is poetry on the flag and would take very long to translate. if anyone can do it please do i do not want to spend that kind of money will not spend that kind of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeploverkeith Posted March 19, 2011 at 02:36 AM Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 at 02:36 AM ok got something cool seems to explane somethings http://www.eastasian.ucsb.edu/projects/taiwancenter/publications/ETS/ets-v19foreword.html check out this link then tell me what you think of flag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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