Sake bottle for battleship Kongo - please translate maker's mark?

[leproc]

Hello!

This was a recent purchase I got from a reputable Japanese militaria seller. It is a sake bottle that is commemorating the "return to country sailing" of the battleship Kongo. This was done because the battleship Kongo was created in England and was the last IJN warship to be created in a foreign country.



My question is this: there is a maker's mark at the bottom. I got a picture of it, but I can't read it. If anybody can read the maker's mark, could they identify who it is and, if possible, supply some information on the person? If you need a better picture of the mark, please let me know and I'll take a picture of it myself.



Thanks!

[GHP]

....I got a picture of it, but I can't read it. If anybody can read the maker's mark, could they identify who it is and, if possible, supply some information on the person? If you need a better picture of the mark, please let me know and I'll take a picture of it myself.

Your photo did not post. Please try again.




--Guy

[leproc]

Your photo did not post. Please try again.




--Guy

It didn't post? I'll do it again! The picture is a bit large, so these are the links:

https://i.imgur.com/lYE8fOL.jpg

It's the bottom of this:

https://i.imgur.com/AK3jybQ.jpg

[leproc]

If you can't see the photos, please let me know.

I just would like to find out whether this sake bottle was made by anybody notable. This is my first time finding something like this after all.

[GHP]

盛園
陶製

Morizono
Ceramics



—Guy (with wife’s help)

[leproc]

盛園
陶製

Morizono
Ceramics



—Guy (with wife’s help)

Thank you for translating it. I don't know if you can help me with the next part, but I (so far) can't find any reference to a Morizono Ceramics. Of course, I'm also aware that Japanese ceramic makers are a bit of a niche topic.

Thanks for the translation anyways.

[GHP]

Thank you for translating it. I don't know if you can help me with the next part, but I (so far) can't find any reference to a Morizono Ceramics. Of course, I'm also aware that Japanese ceramic makers are a bit of a niche topic.

Yeah, me too: I could not find anything on the internet (English or Japanese) that did not pertain to a ping-pong player named Morizono.


--Guy

[leproc]

Yeah, me too: I could not find anything on the internet (English or Japanese) that did not pertain to a ping-pong player named Morizono.


--Guy

Yeah. I'm going to try and establish contact with the seller in order to give me more information.

He's pretty trustworthy after all - https://militarysakecups.com/

I just hope I didn't buy a fake or reproduction. That being said, the sake bottle itself does look old and I don't think Kongo is that famous as a vessel, despite contemporary promotions. She's not the Yamato or one of the legendary carriers after all.

The main issue I can see is that I can't find many online examples of bottles like this, unlike the other ship launching items that are blue and white porcelain or metal.

As dumb as it sounds, could there be a chance that I accidentally put it the wrong way?

Thanks!

[GHP]

Yeah. That being said, the sake bottle itself does look old and I don't think Kongo is that famous as a vessel, despite contemporary promotions. She's not the Yamato or one of the legendary carriers after all.

Lawrence is extremely knowledgable. I’ve purchased from him and have corresponded with him many times. You can rest assured your tokkuri is authentic. I looked at it and it looks good.

軍艦金剛
Gunkan Kongo
Warship Kongo


—Guy

[Jareth]

Yes Lawrence is the BEST! Totally trustworthy & knowledgeable!!

[GHP]

Leproc,

I just took the time now to decipher the kanji on the left side of your tokkuri, 廻航.

The entire sentiment is:
軍艦金剛廻航
Gunkan Kongō Kaikō
Battleship Kongō Cruise

• Gunkan literally is "military ship". I used "battleship" since that was her class.

• Kongo literally is "gold hard" but means diamond. There is a Mt. Kongō, from which she is named; also a Buddhist sutra called the Diamond Sutra 金剛般若波羅蜜多経, Kongō hannya haramita kyō, shortened to 金剛経, Kongō-kyō

--Guy

[leproc]

Leproc,

I just took the time now to decipher the kanji on the left side of your tokkuri, 廻航.

The entire sentiment is:
軍艦金剛廻航
Gunkan Kongō Kaikō
Battleship Kongō Cruise

• Gunkan literally is "military ship". I used "battleship" since that was her class.

• Kongo literally is "gold hard" but means diamond. There is a Mt. Kongō, from which she is named; also a Buddhist sutra called the Diamond Sutra 金剛般若波羅蜜多経, Kongō hannya haramita kyō, shortened to 金剛経, Kongō-kyō

--Guy

Thanks! That really does show that this is from the battleship Kongo. There was actually another Kongo, but the seller said that this style of sake bottle wasn't made during that era.

Also, the earlier Kongo is from the infancy period of the Imperial Japanese Navy, so they probably didn't embrace ship launching souvenirs at that period.

[leproc]

Lawrence is extremely knowledgable. I’ve purchased from him and have corresponded with him many times. You can rest assured your tokkuri is authentic. I looked at it and it looks good.

軍艦金剛
Gunkan Kongo
Warship Kongo


—Guy

Yes Lawrence is the BEST! Totally trustworthy & knowledgeable!!

Thanks, you guys!

I recall he's on vacation for a bit, so I'll establish contact to ask him if he knows anything about the maker of this tokkuri. It was definitely a lucky buy from him and I feel more confident about my purchase since you guys trust Lawrence and his expertise. I just him too since my dialogue with him shows that he's very scholarly, but other people vouching for him increases that confidence.

He was actually working on downsizing when this cup came in our conversation. The nicer pictures actually were ones he sent to me. He wanted to keep his carrier items, but wanted to downsize his battleship stuff. It kind of makes sense because the IJN battleships didn't really do much aside from the Kongo-class battleships (fought all over the place) and the Fuso-class battleships (blown up at Surigao Strait).

[GHP]

... I [tr]ust him too since my dialogue with him shows that he's very scholarly, but other people vouching for him increases that confidence.

Lawrence has a PhD in Chinese history and his area of expertise is ancient Chinese porcelain. He got into selling Japanese sake cups, etc. as a hobby-business in grad school. He's fluent in Chinese (native), Japanese, and English, which is why his English translations of his items are very good.


--Guy

[leproc]

Lawrence has a PhD in Chinese history and his area of expertise is ancient Chinese porcelain. He got into selling Japanese sake cups, etc. as a hobby-business in grad school. He's fluent in Chinese (native), Japanese, and English, which is why his English translations of his items are very good.


--Guy

Wow! I didn't know that!

Maybe he should mention that on his website .