Japanese?

[hawaiiandigger]

Found this in an old bottle dump in Hawaii. Dump is from around 1880-1915, any info on it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

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[Breezie]

What does the script read? Breezie

 

[Retired Sarge]

Mirrored the picture and adjusted the color, now maybe someone on here smarter than me can make head-or-tails out of what I "Think" I figured out.

Mike
TSgt, USAF Retired

 

[Kieth-Tx]

Looks Japanese to me also.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Chinese? We have some Japanese members that may be able to help.

 

[Breezie]

Takagi's Se'Shintan: Takagi has been making tankless water heaters since 1952. The word Shintan is Japanese for fuel. It would translate from Japanese to English as: Takagi's (the namebrand) Tankless Water Heater. So the piece you found is probably part of a water heater.
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/takagi_tankless_water_heaters.html
http://www.takagi.com/
Breezie

 

[DCMatt]

I think the word is SHINPAN, which can be a name, or is a place in Japan, or is the Japanese word for a judge at a sumo match.

I can't quite make out the kanji characters in the center. Can you clean up the piece a little more and post another pic?

Very interesting piece. Is it broken off something? On which island did you find it?

DCMatt

 

[DCMatt]

I looked at this a little more.

It could say Takagi's Seishinkan. A seishinkan is a martial arts dojo. It looks like a device for embossing, but I can't figure out how it would work or what it might emboss.

If you can provide more clues, I will continue researching.

DCMatt

P.S. If it does say "TAKAGI'S", the apostrophe S is a very western thing. That would lead me to think the item is post WWII.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It looks like a device for embossing, but I can't figure out how it would work or what it might emboss.

Because the letters are a mirror image, it must be a stamp or embossing device but I cant see how it would work either.

I resized the pic for those of us without large screens.

 

[aaaaaaa]

I'd say Breezie definitely got it.. TAKAGI'S SE'SHINTAN..
Doesn't seem like the characters in the middle say the same though.. hmm..
You could try making a rubbing of it.

The kind of axe-shape part looks like it should rotate round the pivot in the middle.. I'm guessing it's too corroded to do this now?

 

[hawaiiandigger]

Thank you all very much. I will try to clean it up alittle better. This was found on Oahu.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I'd say Breezie definitely got it.. TAKAGI'S SE'SHINTAN..

Good guess by Breezie but I think the dump is older than 1952 and why would the letters be reversed in a mirror like image?

 

[Breezie]

I'd say Breezie definitely got it.. TAKAGI'S SE'SHINTAN..

Good guess by Breezie but I think the dump is older than 1952 and why would the letters be reversed in a mirror like image?

It looks older than 1952 to me too. The Takagi Machinery Company was established in 1946 in Fuji-city, Shizuoka, Japan, but started making the water heaters in 1952. It still looks older than 1946, but I've found Buffalo Nickels in the same area at the same depth as Civil War bullets, so maybe this machine part found its way into the dump. I think if it is cleaned, we can make a better assessment. Breezie

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I'd say Breezie definitely got it.. TAKAGI'S SE'SHINTAN..

Good guess by Breezie but I think the dump is older than 1952 and why would the letters be reversed in a mirror like image?

It looks older than 1952 to me too. The Takagi Machinery Company was established in 1946 in Fuji-city, Shizuoka, Japan, but started making the water heaters in 1952. It still looks older than 1946, but I've found Buffalo Nickels in the same area at the same depth as Civil War bullets, so maybe this machine part found its way into the dump. I think if it is cleaned, we can make a better assessment. Breezie

How do you explain the mirrored image? You cannot read the writing until it was reversed by ffuries.

I didnt know if it looked older or not but hawaiindigger said the dump was 1880-1915. But DCMatt thinks its post WWII by the apostrophe..

 

[Breezie]

author=bigcypresshunter: How do you explain the mirrored image? You cannot read the writing until it was reversed by ffuries.

This is a WAG, but I think it was embossed backwards by mistake. Back during the days of tintype photos, the image was reversed. I have a tintype of my ggrandfather, who had his LEFT leg amputated because of gun shot wound during the Civil War. He received a government wooden leg, and as you can see from the photo, the spindly 'stick' leg is the RIGHT one in the photo. The same thing often happened in the 1950's. Below is a pic of me at the beach, which was taken in the 1950's. So perhaps the stamp die company received a reverse image of what they were supposed to emboss. (I told you it was a WAG lol) Okay, one more theory: How about this is the actual die, which was used to create the embossed piece? Breezie

 

[aaaaaaa]

I'd say Breezie definitely got it.. TAKAGI'S SE'SHINTAN..

Good guess by Breezie but I think the dump is older than 1952 and why would the letters be reversed in a mirror like image?

Heh yes.. I meant the text looks spot on.. No idea what the thing is or why the text is reversed...
I had also considered whether it was a mistake.. It would be interesting to get a clearer copy of the Japanese characters, to be able to determine if they are also mirrored..

 

[DCMatt]

Takagi's Se'Shintan: Takagi has been making tankless water heaters since 1952. The word Shintan is Japanese for fuel. It would translate from Japanese to English as: Takagi's (the namebrand) Tankless Water Heater. So the piece you found is probably part of a water heater.
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/takagi_tankless_water_heaters.html
http://www.takagi.com/
Breezie

Shintan is a Japanese word for fuel, but it specifically relates to wood or charcol. Nenryo is the generic word for fuel.

If it says SE'SHINTAN, I can't find that or anything close to that in any of my Japanese - English dictionaries.

I've tried to decipher the kanji characters but they are not clear enough to read. Besides that, my kanji reading ability stinks.

I have no clue what this thing was/is. I'm hoping a cleaner, clearer pic of the item will tell the tale.

DCMatt

 

[hawaiiandigger]

To all of you who have commented and did research. I owe you a really big apology. I was trying to clean it up and it broke apart. I am very sorry leave it up to a rookie to screw it up. Thanks for your help.

 

[Breezie]

Don't feel badly, I've done the same thing more than once. After cleaning, were you able to see any more of the script? Breezie

 

[hawaiiandigger]

Breezie,
I was not able to improve any of the writing on it. I made it worse. Thanks for your help. Happy New Year !! Aloha, Hawaiiandigger