I think I have the same one and it’s paler taller sibling…Found in an area with other old Japanese bottlesView attachment 258751
Finds cleaned up really nice.
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This bottle is a Chinese medicinal ginseng liquor. Took me and a friend a bit to translate (I can only read Japanese but he knows the Chinese readings). The embossing and translation is below since I suspect this is a not super rare bottle. Machine made.
Top Line: 裕生堂
Right Column: 舖在金山正埠華盛頓街
Middle Column: 自製参茸藥酒
Left Column: 門牌ハ百六十四號
Store Opened in San Francisco Chinatown,
House Made Ginseng Medicinal Wine
864 Washington St.
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I also picked up this broken but variant Mitsuya Cider bottle. I wonder if it was a cork or a crown top. It also has an unusual rounded heel like some wine bottles. View attachment 258755
I suspect this is an early type or maybe one that predates my expectations. This company began using the three arrow mark and the Mitsuya name in the mid 1890s with the earliest embossed bottles (as far as I know) being released in 1907. So, it's possible that this bottle is from before 1907 or after 1907. Either way, it's from at least before c.1915.
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Next is a Dorikono bottle (English advertisements call it "Durikono". This product was very much like calpico is now but with a different, slightly bitter mixture. This is one of the few bottles that came manufactured with a frosted look, its not haze. First released in the late 1920s, it quickly became a best selling product in Japan with ads soon appearing in Hawaii and California. It was praised as a general revitalizer, hang over cure, and cocktail mix. I believe this is the pre-war variant with no embossing on the body. There is an embossed variant but it is read left to right, only common after 1949. Dorikono was actually sold right up into the early 1980s.View attachment 258757
Lastly is a small food jar, likely of Japanese origin. It may have held Tsukudani which is a category of foods which were preserved by cooking it over a long time in shoyu which is salty. Not sure how else to explain it. Look it up if you are curious. But after much thought, its also possible that it held glue or paste. Not sure and probably will never be. Either way, it's a jar in a killer color.
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