Hitler's Third Reich and World War II in the News is a daily edited review of WWII articles - including German WW2 militaria - providing thought-provoking collection of hand-picked WW2 information.

WW2 category: Japanese flags :: Latest WWII news reviews.

Japanese TV crew seeking for Japanese WWII flags visits Military collectibles shop     fayobserver.com :: 2009-10-08
A Japanese TV crew is in Fayetteville tracking good-luck flags captured on the Pacific battlefields. Yasuyuki Ambe visited Ed Hicks, an 82nd Airborne Division veteran, at Warpath Military Collectibles. Hicks has several WW2 flags - along with helmets, uniforms and weapons - in his shop: "They were picked up in the field, then brought home ... till the family members decided to sell them, or the veteran himself." Some of the Japanese flags in the shop are for sale, others are not. Flags might fetch $50 to $150 or much more, documentation is the key. The good-luck flags have a red circle on a white background and are inscribed with Japanese characters.

Japanese World War II flag from Iwo Jima is veteran's battlefield souvenir     suburbanchicagonews :: 2009-07-05
Gordon Schnulle served as a machine gunner in H Company, 3rd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division during the Second World War, experiencing the entire battle for Iwo Jima. The fighting was so cutthroat that his company of 266 Marines decreased to just 39 by the end of the battle. "It was one of the scariest moments of my life when the Japanese came crawling up around our foxhole," Schnulle recalls about the day he shot and killed an enemy soldier and seized his Japanese flag, and had it signed by the 39 men. Recently he donated the cotton flag (an official government flag of Japan, 40inc by 27inc) to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va.

Japanese World War II flag returned home     stripes.com :: 2009-03-15
A lot of things need to line up for something to come full circle after 60 years. A Japanese family now has in its possession a reminder of that. During a ceremony at the American Embassy in Tokyo, members of the Kosakadani family were presented a Japanese flag that belonged to corporal Masayuki Kosakadani, who died during World War Two. The flag - brought to the United States as a war souvenir - was brought back to Japan by Air Force Col. Charles Eastman, who got the flag from Casey Breslin. The Kosakadani family hopes to write letters to the Americans who helped return the flag.

Dan Oke is trying hard to return a World War II flag to Japan     Article no longer available from the original source. :: charlotteobserver.com :: 2009-02-03
Dan Oke is taking special care of a piece of history he knows doesn't belong to him. He has a 20-by-30-inch, white silk Japanese flag with a red circle in the middle. He saw it among other WW2 mementos while cleaning out his late father's garage. His father - in the U.S. Army from Dec. 21, 1942, until Dec. 21, 1945 - brought the flag home from Luzon, but that was all Oke knew of its history. When his father passed away he found himself with a Japanese flag that had writing all over it, a few bullet holes, and some stains that may be blood. In 2008 he started the project of tracing its origin with his Japanese co-worker Nahoko Satonaka.

Flag signed by the Japanese war cabinet members given to Veterans Museum in Chehalis     Article no longer available from the original source. :: chronline.com :: 2008-12-09
World War II veterans and those who wished to honor them met at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis. Among the participants was Bernard Langdon, who served in the Army at Sugamo Prison, which housed Japanese war criminals. He donated a flag signed by about 23 Japanese members of the war cabinet to the Veterans Memorial Museum. The guards would take the flag to various prisoners and have them sign it. "It was not sanctioned. The jailers hid it for me in their coats. The signatures have faded badly." Langdon also donated a collection of artwork drawn by Japanese prisoners depicting life in prison to Ohio State University.

Returning World War II Japanese swords and flags to their owners     monroenews.com :: 2008-07-08 :: WW2, Nazi, Samurai Swords
A relic from World War II belonging to a Japanese family may find its way back home thanks to Ken Buckingham. He has had a Japanese flag with messages on it for 60 years, but recently he sent it to Yasuhiko Kaji, who has amassed a huge collection of Japanese militaria from the war to return them to the original owners or their families. Among the items Kaji already has returned are 5 swords, 20 notebooks and 30 flags. He still has over 100 swords and other artifacts that he hopes to return. The flags commonly are signed by family members with messages like "Please take care of yourself. Come back alive."

Wayne Downey uncovers Japanese flag uncle got during WWII     Article no longer available from the original source. :: bentoncourier :: 2007-11-27 :: Japanese flags
Wayne Downey talks about the Japanese flag his uncle Arnold Walton got from a medieval castle after the Battle of Okinawa in June 1945. The Japanese flag was signed by over 20 Marines from all over the America and Downey would like hunt down the veterans or their families and send them a picture of the flag and then see where the story leads.

Jewish antiques dealer selling Nazi memorabilia like swastika banners     Article no longer available from the original source. :: thejc :: 2007-10-19 :: Nazi Memorabilia (Controversial Sales and Auctions)
A London antiques dealer has defended selling Nazi memorabilia, including German caps. Leon Shrier, who owns Leon's Militaria, said the Nazi militaria was "not my favourite", but they "show various aspects of the war" and that "hiding history or not explaining it doesn’t help" and "my customers are genuine collectors". He said that many other dealers sold Nazi items: "Today Wallis and Wallis are having a sale of German items, including silverware with AH on it... If you look at magazine such as The Armourer, you will see lots of adverts from dealers showing swastikas, Iron Crosses and SS stripes - my advert doesn’t."

War relics returned to Japanese soldiers     scrippsnews :: 2007-07-07 :: Japanese flags
As Yasuhiko Kaji shuffled through the boxes of flags, diaries, senninbari and pictures that he has collected over the past 30 years, he came across an illustrated Japanese flag. He has sent this flag's photograph twice to the government of Japan, which has a department for war victims, but it has yet to find the soldier who owned this flag. Kaji amassed his entire collection of Japanese artifacts from WW2 in the hopes of returning the militaria to the original owners or their families. Even when the flag has a name, it can be difficult to trace because 5-7 million Japanese soldiers were drafted and the ministry will sometimes find 6-7 soldiers with the same name.

Japanese flag taken down from the summit of Mount Suribachi     theledger :: 2007-06-29 :: American WWII Flags
Linda Byak will take a special item to be appraised at 'Antiques Road Show'. It's a Japanese flag taken on Iwo Jima by her late father who led the most forward patrol moving up Mount Suribachi. In its place other Marines raised an American flag. "I just want someone to authenticate it and tell me what the Japanese writing on the flag says." Her father, Sherman Watson, a sergeant in the Marines, led 3 other men to the top of the mountain as his company fought its way up the steep sides on Feb. 23, 1944. Reaching the top the patrol removed the flag and was called back down the mountain by the platoon leader.

Tokyo teachers punished for refusing to honor national flag, anthem     iht :: 2007-02-10 :: Japan: WWII-era and Aftermath
173 teachers filed a lawsuit against the Tokyo metropolitan govt after being punished for refusing to sing the national anthem and stand for the national flag, which they say are symbols of Japan's World War 2 militarism. Their salaries were cut after they refused to comply with a 2003 directive ordering teachers to honor the anthem and flag during school ceremonies. Supporters of the flag and anthem argue that Japanese children need to learn national pride, but some say the "Hinomaru" flag and "Kimigayo" anthem are relics of Japanese militarism.

Historical Treasures - Looted Japanese WWII flags     the-signal :: 2006-12-13 :: American WWII Flags
Inside the shirt of a Japanese military officer; in a submarine and in a military building near Nagasaki after the second atomic bomb was dropped. These were all places of Japanese flags - flags now owned by Mike Swarbrick. His father, James C. Swarbrick, was a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant, who snagged them as memorabilia. The flag with the design of Japan's national flag was taken off a military building in a town near Nagasaki. "My dad was on Nagasaki, like a week or two after the atomic bomb was dropped. And the military commanders said 'Just don't pick up anything and put it in your pocket,' because obviously they didn't even know what radiation was at that point."

Berlin: Nazi rallying with giant swastika banners     spiegel :: 2006-03-07 :: Nazi Movies & Nazi Videos
An alarming sight in Berlin: The city's central "Lustgarten" square transformed into a Nazi rallying ground complete with giant swastika banners and a ranting Führer. But Germany's first comedy film about Hitler was bound to break taboos. Tourists stared open-mouthed at the scene in central Berlin: huge red banners bearing the Nazi swastika fluttering in the winter sun outside the city's cathedral, Wehrmacht soldiers in their steel helmets standing guard between the imposing pillars of the Old Museum and a crowd of hundreds cheering their Führer with enthusiastic Hitler salutes and chants of "Sieg Heil!"

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