CHINA UNDER JAPANESE OCCUPATION.
Triangular shaped red wool flag with blue cotton sleeve and light blue patterned fringe, the canton with Chinese characters, 48 x 50 inches, c.1938, minor fading and loss.
Provenance: acquired by Ben Zaricor via internet from a Japanese antiques dealer, early 2000s.

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) was fought over Imperial Japan's desire to dominate Asia and access China's vast natural resources. Hostilities began in 1931 but did not devolve into a full-scale war until 1937. Once the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the Sino-Japanese war was subsumed into the larger global war, and only came to an end after a defeated Japan signed the Instruments of Surrender.

This flag is a memento of the Japanese occupation of China. It is a 'welcome flag' from the reluctant occupied Chinese citizens to a Japanese army airfield defense commander, Sigeru Sato, whose name is at the center, with the words 'Local Defense' and the names of a village chief and other leaders at the lower right. Sato also served as defense commander in the airport of China's Shanxi province.