1945? Suzuki mandolin

[ros01]

Hi all,

Last time I posted a Soviet mandolin my brother bought while traveling. It's my turn! I'm in Tokyo and got this mandolin at a flea market this morning. The vendor didn't speak English, but he said it was made in 1945. He may have gotten his numbers wrong, but it's possible. Quite worn, but beautiful wood inlay around the edge and rosette, and the butterfly on top. Mother of pearl fret dots. Original case. Sorry no bowl photos yet, but it's a definite deep, narrow bowlback. Oh, and it's small. Maybe 2 feet long.

The label inside, which looks original, says, SUZUKI VIOLINS KOJO. Masakichi Suzuki. Nagoya, Japan. No. 703.

Any ideas about what that might verify in terms of age? I know Suzuki did some splitting up after the war, and I googled the Kojo name and didn't turn up much. Thanks!

[billkilpatrick]

significant year ...

my bowlback is 2-feet long as well - i would have thought that was standard size.

unrelated - aside from being made in "interesting times" - but i saw a mandolin on ebay u.k. a year or so ago that was made in a japanese p.o.w. camp. where there's a will ... there's a way.

youtube is down at the moment for maintenance but when possible, i'll ask an e-friend in japan to have a look at the case, to see if it's legible.

[ros01]

Shows you how little I know about mandolins. I guess 2 ft is standard, but it feels tiny to me.

The writing inside the case lid is apparently just a former owner's name and address. I had the clerks at my hotel look at it for me. They were all very entertained.

Big photos if you click on the ones on my blog: http://mayandme.blogspot.com