🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (1)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (2)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (3)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (4)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (5)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (6)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (7)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (8)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (9)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (10)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (11)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (1)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (2)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (3)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (4)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (5)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (6)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (7)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (8)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (9)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (10)
🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool product image (11)

🎎 Antique Japanese Wooden Masu Scoop with Handle – Early Showa to Taisho Era Merchant Tool

$176.15 CAD

🎎 This fascinating artifact is an antique Japanese masu scoop—possibly referred to as a fukumasu (福枡) or "luck box"—used for precise measuring of dry goods or liquids, most likely rice, miso, or sake. Crafted in hardwood and secured with iron brackets and square nails, this item features a long tapered handle for ergonomic utility, designed for scooping and leveling goods in a commercial or market setting.

Stamped clearly on multiple sides with the traditional capacity mark "一合用" (ichi-gō-yō, “for one gō”), this box adheres to a standardized merchant measurement of roughly 180ml. The rectangular maker’s mark and 商標 (trademark) inscriptions point to regulated commercial use—common during the late Taisho (1910s–1920s) to early Showa period (1930s–1940s). These regulatory engravings are rarely seen in postwar items and reinforce the authenticity and age of the piece.

The tool exhibits a robust patina with deep-set wear, oxidation, and possible remnants of its past contents. While structurally sound and well-joined, the scoop is best appreciated today as a decorative relic of Japan’s working past—ideal for collectors of folk tools, Showa-era artifacts, or vintage kitchenwares.

Specifications:

  • Weight: 180g

  • Box Dimensions: 8.3cm x 9.2cm x 5.5cm deep

  • Handle Length: 30.5cm

  • Construction: Hardwood with metal brackets and square nails

  • Condition: Heavy wear, stabilized with time; richly patinated; display recommended over functional use

Welcome to the Japan Antique Roadshow. My name is Kurt Bell, and I'm delighted you've taken time to share a little of Japan with me. This item is one of many treasures I curate and share from life here in old Japan. Join me online via the links below, and thank you for visiting. (KB)

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CREDITS:
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Tags:
#JapanAntiqueRoadshow #Masu #Fukumasu #JapaneseScoop #MerchantTools #ShowaEra #TaishoPeriod #OldJapan #Mingei #JapaneseVintage #RiceMeasuringBox #AntiqueWoodworking #Softypapa #GoingAlone #KurtBell

Quality Guarantee & Returns

  • Quality is guaranteed. If there is a print error or visible quality issue, we'll replace or refund it.
  • Because the products are made to order, we do not accept general returns or sizing-related returns.