Japanese banner at home

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the Japanese banners I repaired and mounted.

Here's a photo of the longest banner, happily hanging on its wall.  What a wonderful location!  It looks almost like the banner was made to fit the stairwell - or vice versa.

Thanks to the owner for sharing this photo with me.  I'm pretty pleased with the outcome!  

Japanese banners

A friend of mine, who has done a substantial bit of world travel, asked me if I could repair four World War II banners they had purchased in Japan, and prepare them for hanging.  They are silk, and I decided to back each one with a light-weight silk.  Three are 21"-25" wide and 80" long, and one is very long, 25" wide and 126" long.

This is more than a little off my usual path, so research was called for.  I found great info at this site:
http://militaryantiquesmuseum.com/military_antiques.php

Banners - nobori - have a history of use in war and ceremony.  This website calls them "going off to war" banners:  "These commercially produced colorful banners were pre-printed with military designs. The family and friends would then personalize them with patriotic slogans and/or the soldiers/sailors name."