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I'm watching The Demon Slayer (Hepburn: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Japanese: 鬼滅の刃). I'm currently still watching Season 1 and I haven't finished it yet, but I have a question. From the very start of the anime in episode 1 where Tanjiro was carrying his little sister through the snow trying to save her, he always have earrings with the Rising Sun flag of the Imperial Japanese Navy in world war II painted on it. My question is, why does he wear it? Does it help in his battles? Where did he get it from? And, does anyone else wears it, or is it unique to him? Also, he hasn't become a Demon Slayer yet in Episode 1, so does the earrings have nothing to do with the Demon Slayer Corps? Or, is it the opposite, that the earrings mean he is destined to become a demon slayer? I noticed the Imperial Japanese navy earrings right away in Episode 1, and had been wondering about it ever since. Can anyone answer the above question? Thanks in advance for any explanation!

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  • You men this flag? It's not the same as what is on the earrings.
    – sundowner
    Commented Jul 22 at 2:57
  • @sundowner Yeah, probably not exactly the same but extremely similar. Both have a rising sun in the upper middle, with light rays extending outwards from the sun.
    – Ghibli Fan 007
    Commented Jul 22 at 5:19
  • They are hanafuda. They are not related to the imperial flag, but have such similarities that some countries forced a re-animation of the earrings in their country so they don't look like that, since they remind people of the atrocities committed by Japan in WWII.
    – Austin Overton
    Commented Aug 15 at 17:04

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!!POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Now that we have the warning out of the way…

As far as I remember (watched every episode of the anime), these earrings are only ever shown to be worn by three people:

  1. The first person is a demon slayer that lived a very long time ago. He is said to be the only person that ever injured Muzan Kibutsuji. His name is Yoriichi Tsugikuni.Yoriichi
  2. The second person is Tanjuro Kamado, Tanjiro’s father. Tanjuro
  3. The third person is Tanjiro Kamado. Tanjiro

These hanafuda earrings don’t mean anything. In the story, these earrings are a family heirloom passed down through the generations, meaning that they used to belong to Tanjuro, his father, his father before them, etc.

Note that they were originally worn by Yoriichi, before being given to close friend Sumiyoshi Kamado, who then proceeded to hand the earrings down. This is to say that Yoriichi is not related by blood to the Kamado family (credit to @wondercricket).

As mentioned in the (question) comments and the link, they are not a reference to the Japanese navy flag.

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    While not wrong, the way your answer is written implies that Tanjiro is related to Yoriichi; which is incorrect. Yoriichi was close friends with Sumiyoshi Kamado which who received the earrings and then passed down
    – Wondercricket
    Commented Jul 22 at 17:42
  • @Wondercricket Ah, thanks. I didn’t remember that from the anime, or maybe it wasn’t mentioned. Updating the answer now.
    – DaemonsMercy
    Commented Jul 22 at 17:44
  • Thanks a lot! Your answer is very helpful and just what I wanted. So the earrings had nothing to do with the Imperial Japanese navy flag in World War II. I didn't know that. Again, thanks for the great answer!
    – Ghibli Fan 007
    Commented Jul 22 at 18:00

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