Keith Glein
Mark WP #44 is comprised of the symbol 'Naka' 中 under a roof.
This version of the mark has Naka 中 at a right angle oreintation to the roof.
This float measures 3 inches in diameter.
Very rare version of Kanji Roller WP #155 'Miyako Yama Ka'.
There are only 3 known example of kanji roller WP #155 in the smaller (standard) size. Most of them are in the skinnier 7 inch size.
This kanji roller is a beautiful blue-green color that has more of a bluish tint.
There are two minor 'smiley face' cracks in one of the ears. This is a fairly common occurence in kanji rollers.
I was told an interesting story from the seller who received this float as a gift from an elderly man on Kodiak Island. This elderly man told the seller that he had found the kanji roller during WWII. He was just a boy at the time and his father was away with the Marines in the Pacific campaign.
It's hard to find mark WP #235 'Batsu' 伐 in this smaller 3 inch size float.
All symbols of this intricate mark WP #235 appear to be on the seal.
This float has excellent provenance. It was beachcombed on Kunashir Island in Russia by Olga & Dmitry Sokova.
This 'Shi' シ mark is quite interesting. All three strokes begin inline (i.e. align to a single line). This may be consistent with an "old style" katakana script of the Shi symbol.
This may be an older pre-WWII float.
It's a nice green color.
This float has excellent provenance. It was beachcombed on Kunashir Island in Russia by Olga & Dmitry Sokova.
This 18 inch float is a very unusual golden olive color.
It has no maker's mark but has two repair patches on the float.
The seal button is near perfect with no chipping that can be seen or felt. There's also some remnants of tar around the edges of the seal.
There are lots of bubbles in the glass.
It measures about 55 1/2 inches around.
Rare undocumented mark that has Sa サ on one side of the seal with Se セ on the other side. Both of the symbols are quite close to the edge of the seal.
This is the only float that has both Sa サ and Se セ mark that I've seen but I've heard that there may be others who have seen this mark previously. No public photos, though.
The float itself is nicely netted and it measures close to 5 inches in diameter. It also has a fine amber swirl emanating from the seal.
It's not easy to find a float marked with WP #340 'Made In Japan DG'.
As you can see, this mark has the classic Made In Japan around the edges with DG stamped in the middle of the seal.
This float measures 4 inches in diameter.
The float itself is slightly out-of-round and is a nice heavy glass construction.
It's widely known that mark WP #116 'TO in a Diamond' comes in many beautiful colors. There's also a version of this mark that comes in the standard blue-green color.
These blue-green floats are a little large than the colorful versions of TO; measuring about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
This particular float has a well-centered stamp that shows all points of the TO mark.
The float is slightly out-of-round and is made of thick heavy glass.
Here's an undocumented mark that has the symbols Chohokei Ichi with two single dots; one above and one below.
The Chohokei Ichi was the mark of the Nichiro Fishing Company.
This float has excellent provenance. It was beachcombed on Kunashir Island in Russia by Olga & Dmitry Sokova.
WP #322 is one of the marks that uses the hiragana letter 'No' の. It also has a hash line next to the No の symbol.
This stamp is on a 3 inch float.
This float has excellent provenance. It was beachcombed on Kunashir Island in Russia by Olga & Dmitry Sokova.
This Tako Jig is a grey plastic stem with colorful streamers. It doesn't show much use. Tako means octopus in Japanese.
This Tako Jig has an orange plastic stem with colorful streamers. It doesn't show much use. Tako means octopus in Japanese.