Japan

2011 50 x 50 x 3.6 cm | 28 kg – Multi-layer fused glass with pigment inclusion

The Hinomaru, circle of the sun, seems to have appeared during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) during which it was frequently used on the masts of ships. It undoubtedly draws its origins from the divine filiation of the emperor to the goddess of the sun: Amaterasu. Legend has it that it was the Buddhist monk Nichiren who offered such a flag to the shogun so that he could fly it above the troops going to fight the Mongol invader. During the Meiji era (1868-1912), the Hinomaru was used systematically without being formalized as the official flag of the archipelago. During the Second World War, the imperial army adopted the variant – now abandoned – of the rising sun and its sixteen rays. From the use of the Hinomaru during the Meiji Restoration, but also from the symbolism used, an ambiguity arose: is this flag the symbol of the emperor or the nation? It was not until August 13, 1999 that the Hinomaru was officially recognized as the national flag of Japan.