Japanese WW2 tengui
 

My grandfather was an allied solider in WW2. He brought back what I can only assume is a tengui with the red sun on it and a ton of japanese characters surrounding the sun. If I post a picture of this can anyone help me translate the writing?

might as well..i've seen other ppl who translater others things before...http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/wink2.gif

I couldn`t see it, I`m afraid. I believe they were mass produced using some basic screen printing process and dished out to factory workers to "boost public morale" towards the end of the war. There are quite a few around in the west. They`re unlikely to be for Kendo, but you never know.

Don't use it though...

Apart from the bad karma it carries...the chinese will look at you funny because its akin to someone walking into a bar mitzva with a nazi flag...and WWII is something the Japanese would rather forget about.

this tenugui was taken directly from the battlefield. I would never wear it. Besides it has the blood of its owner on it still. eww....

As soon as my old man remembers to bring his camera I will post it.

Thank you everyone for your help.

It reminds me of what I've seen in photos of Kamikaze pilots - they used to wear a white cloth around their heads with a red sun and lots of writing - wonder if it could be one of those.... how about taking it to a museum for someone to identify, as even if you do get a translation of the script it might not tell you much about who had used it. Eg, they will prob know if it was typical headgear of a footsoldier/pilate/whatever.

Typically they will have names and prayers from family members and people from their home town. I know a couple of people who have found flags with similar writings in their grandfathers possesions and tracked down the family in Japan.

this is what my mom told me when she gave it to me. Hopefully I can track down the family of the owner. Maybe they will let me give it to them in person... IN JAPAN!!!

A tenegui covered in blood. The relatives will love that. Don't forget to take pictures.

three words...

I WANT ONE!

hahaha

just some small splatters. looks more brown than red now. I also think some of the blood ate through the cloth over the years and made little holes.

Maybe you can guess at how the splatters came about (machine gun fire, shrapnel etc) and get someone to translate it into Japanese for the elderly relatives.

Don't you get how insensitive your idea is?

not really.

Then go as an American and deliver a reminder of how their relative died in WWII. Don't forget to get souvenir photos of their reactions...

I sorry, I just dont see it that way. Insensitive to me would be to sell on ebay or something like so many other ppl do with war memobelia. In my mind the right to do is either to return it to the rightful family or if they cant be located, give it to a museum so others can see tangible pieces of history...

...and learn from it.


But then again you may be right and I may upset some people. But I'm willing to take that chance because I feel I'm doing the right thing.

That being said I dont want this to turn into a flame war. When I post the pic I hope someone can help me translate it so I can accomplish what I mentioned above.

Cool. Post the pic so you can learn from it, fine. I just don't dig the idea of the returning it, that's all.

Good luck either way.

cool thx for your honesty.

GIT.

Correction...Ginger Git!http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...s/rolleyes.gif

You also get a lot of small rifle flags the same as this, little prayers and good wishes from friends and family, exhortations to do well, war slogans, etc. There used to be one at the local museum that had the names of the platoon on it along with some prayers. Not an unusual thing to see though...

Well here it is after so long...

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...-2-2006-06.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...-2-2006-05.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...-2-2006-04.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...-2-2006-03.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...-2-2006-02.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...-2-2006-01.jpg



The pictures are horrible.
Can anyone read it?