And blue wasn't the most difficult color. "The hardest was actually the one used in our own flag -- red," he says. Japan's flag is white with a red circle in the middle. But until 1999 there was ...

Its meaning was not known until it was identified ... “We knew that the right thing to do would be to send the flag home, to be in Japan and to the family.” The soldier's eldest son, Toshihiro ...

Japan’s enemy at the time, if the authorities found out about it. “I hope the new flag will help us pass on accounts of the vicissitudes of our island’s fortunes and the meaning of peace ...