Keio 1, July 5: The Name Written on the Flag
The date is written on the back: Keio 1, July 5. In the Western calendar, that is August 25, 1865 — the final years of the Edo period, less than three years before the Meiji Restoration would end the shogunate and begin the transformation of Japan into a modern state. The person who inked this date onto this cloth did not know what was coming. They knew only that someone had died, and that a flag needed to be made.
The inscription reads: "Keio 1, July 5 – Shaku Gyokuro Doji – Chojiya Kinshichi." The prefix "Shaku" is a Buddhist honorific used in posthumous names — kaimyo or homyo — given to the deceased at death. "Gyokuro Doji" is the posthumous name itself. "Chojiya Kinshichi" is likely the name of the person or household that commissioned the flag — a merchant family, perhaps, given the "ya" suffix that typically indicates a shop or house name in Edo-period Japan.
The Triangular Flag: Sashimono, Memorial, or Both
The form of this textile is triangular — a shape with specific meanings in Japanese material culture. Triangular flags were used as sashimono, the small banners worn on the back of armor to identify warriors in battle. They were also used in Buddhist and Shinto ritual contexts, as votive offerings, memorial objects, or processional banners. The distinction between these uses was not always clear: a flag made for a memorial purpose might take the form of a sashimono because that was the form available, or because the deceased had a connection to martial culture.
This flag carries applied kamon — family crests — in two different designs, which complicates the interpretation further. Two crests might indicate a marriage between families, a dual affiliation, or simply the decorative conventions of the maker. The vivid fabric and the careful application of the crests suggest that this was made with intention and care, not hastily assembled. Someone took time with this object.
160 Years in the Fabric
The deterioration of this flag is significant — tears, worn areas, staining throughout. The fabric and stitching are extremely fragile. But the deterioration is not damage in the ordinary sense: it is the physical record of 160 years of existence, of storage and movement and the slow work of time on natural fibers. The flag has survived from 1865 to the present, which means it has survived the Meiji Restoration, the Taisho period, the militarism of the 1930s, the Second World War, the postwar reconstruction, and the decades of rapid change that followed. That survival is itself significant.
Objects from the Bakumatsu period — the final years of the Edo shogunate — are rare in any condition. Textile objects from that period, which are inherently fragile, are rarer still. A textile object with a specific date, a specific name, and a specific purpose is exceptional: it is not just a material artifact but a document, a record of a particular moment in a particular life in a particular place in Japan in 1865.
Size and Condition
Approx. 84.5 × 58cm / 33.3 × 22.8in. Tears, worn areas, staining throughout. Fabric and stitching extremely fragile — do not wash or clean. Handle with great care. No cleaning or restoration performed. Vintage odor present. For collectors of Bakumatsu-era historical materials, researchers of folk culture and religious practice, enthusiasts of antique Japanese textiles, and those seeking a unique interior art piece. One of a kind.