JAPANESE GOOD LUCK FLAG REPARATION

/ The Coastal Crone

 

THE JAPANESE GOOD LUCK FLAG

A special ceremony was held July 20,2023 at the USS Lexington Museum; below is a portion of the program.

“A flag donated to the USS Lexington Museum in 1994 was recently identified as belonging to a Japanese soldier named Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, killed in action during World War II.  Known as Yosegakki Hinomaru, or Good Luck Flags, these types of flags were signed by family and friends of Japanese service members prior to leaving home for war.  For Japanese families, the Good Luck Flags are often all that remains of their loved ones killed in action, and the return of the flag is seen as the return of their family member’s remains.

USS Lexington Museum is working in partnership with the OBON SOCIETY to repatriate the flag back to Japan for the flag to be reunited with the soldier’s surviving family members.  OBON SOCIETY is a non-profit organization that over the past 13 years has repatriated more than 500 flags back to Japanese families and communities.  The organization’s founders, Rex and Keiko Ziak, will act as representatives of the family to accept the flag and bring their long-lost patriarch home, including a ceremonial reuniting with his wife who recently passed at the age of 102.  Representatives from the USS Lexington Museum will accompany OBON SOCIETY to escort the flag on its journey back to Japan and the family.”

MELANIE TEMPLIN, left, Historian/Registrar; RACHELLE BANDA, right, Special Events Coordinator

As part of the ceremony, the flag (encased in a frame) was taken down from its place in an exhibit and presented to the representatives of the Japanese family.  Our daughter, on the left, is the Historian/Registrar for the USS Lexington Museum; the woman on the right is also an employee.  Those in the back in yellow shirts are volunteers for the museum; many are veterans.  The Japanese soldiers would have been able to fold the flag very small and keep it near their heart underneath their uniforms as they went into battle.

As the flag was removed from the exhibit and brought down for presentation,  a Japanese song about love and loss was played.  It became popular first in Japan and then hit the top of the charts in 1963 in the United States.  I remember it well

Below is a link to the ceremony held in the hanger bay of the museum.  It is about an hour long but is well done and symbolizes the friendship  and strong ties between the two countries today. The flag was returned to members of the Mutsuda family in Japan a week later.  I will have a post about that soon.  War brings loss and pain for the families on both sides.

 

 

25 thoughts on “JAPANESE GOOD LUCK FLAG REPARATION”

  8. What interesting customs, from carrying such a flag into war, to receiving it back as a token of a lost family member. I’d never heard of any of this. It’s good that the organization was formed, and that its people have found a way to make more such reunions possible. I was so surprised by the song ~ of course I remember it. I enjoyed it when it was popular, but never knew anything about it but the tune!

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  9. It was an interesting custom, but I suppose it is not unusual to want to have something for “good luck.” I remember reading that astronauts often take something with them. This was unusual that so many did the same thing. I had never heard of it before either.

    I am glad you remember the song. It was the perfect song. Funny that it was so popular without knowing the meaning of the words. Aww…we were young then!

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