"May Your Military Fortunes Be Long Lasting"

Collector Interview #5

Today we will be talking to Paul Garnier about how and when he first became interested in collecting Japanese military relics.  More specifically we will ask about his interest in Good Luck and related Japanese flags of the World War Two period. I have known Paul since at least 2006, where we met on one … Read more

The King of Beasts! Literary Titan Interview with Michael Bortner on his Book Battle Carried:Tiger Art Good Luck Flags

Battle Carried examines the history and meaning of tiger imagery of good luck flags in Japanese culture. Why was this an important book for you to write? Battle Carried was important for me to write because it took into consideration two primary subjects that I had been passionate about since childhood: Japanese good luck flags and the … Read more

Collector Interview #3

Today, I would like to introduce you to Japanese samurai sword collector, Chuck Scarl.  I first met Chuck about ten years ago at one of the two large collector’s shows in the United States.  At the time, he was interested in unusual Japanese good luck signed flags and senninbari belts with custom painted art on … Read more

Good Luck Flag Historical Study

(I wrote this article for the Japanese military collector journal, “Banzai”. I recently updated it and have posted it to FOWM.) Nearly every collector or dealer of World War Two era Imperial Japanese militaria is familiar with the good luck signed national flag (hinomaru yosegaki). Along with the samurai sword, the profusely decorated Japanese character … Read more