Has anyone seen this brand before?

[orvet]

I got this knife at the flea market, there were two knives in a Ziploc bag and the guy wanted $3 for them. I wanted the other knife in the bag this one was just a bonus. I decided to look at it before I threw it way in the back of a parts knife drawer. It's kind of interesting.

The company name is Mitsuboshi and it is made in Japan. According to Goins' book it is listed as "current" (the book was copyrighted in 1998).
The liners in the knife are a bit lightweight in my opinion for such a ambitious knife. Too many blades for the light weight liners, especially the outer liners, and the bolsters are just curved pieces of pressed nickel silver.

However I thought it was interesting, a seven blade camp knife, and also the fact that it's carbon steel from Japan. I wonder what factory made it in Japan? Maybe it's in 1950s production from what became Kershaw? I sort of doubt that but it's interesting to speculate.

I would be interested to know if anyone has one of these knives in better condition than this, or if anyone has even seen this brand before or knows anything about the company.

[ken98k]

I wonder if it's the same company that makes everything from stereos to cars to heavy equipment.

[deo-pa]

Google Mitsuboshi Cutlery Ltd. They've been around since 1873. Alas, even these "Japanese" knives are now being made in China.

[knife7knut]

Dale: Do you remember those cheap Japanese multi-blades that copied the SAK style and came in those ridiculous pouches that never held the knife properly? There was also a miniature version(I have two of them and can't find the pics)with jigged bone scales that had a distinctive diamond jigging.Mitsoboshi made those.Yours looks like it might be an earlier version of them.

[orvet]

I think I do remember those Ray, I just didn't remember the name.
Japanese knives in the 1950s were probably worse than a lot of the knives currently coming out of China.
It's interesting to look back from the perspective of history and see where they come. Some of the finest knives in my collection are Al Mar knives made in Saki Japan.

That reminds me of a conversation I had with Bernard Levine about cheap knives.
Bernard said that 100 years or so ago Germany was the China of that era.
Germany made knives a little cheaper and undersold the American made products, kind of like China does today.

[knife7knut]

SOME of the Japanese knives of the 1950's were indeed shoddy in workmanship and fit and finish but I think that could be said of virtually every country.A cheap knife is a cheap knife no matter it's country of origin.One only has to look at Ideal in the USA or Richards in England or Elosi in Germany.
I can remember not even considering a Japanese made knife as a collectible piece until I started seeing some of the Parker knives and then Kershaw and of course Al Mar.Ka-Bar even had some knives made in Hong Kong that are of decent quality.
Then it was the Taiwanese knives which were considered low quality and then they started producing better quality stuff.The same thing is happening with Chinese made knives nowadays;they are enjoying a renaissance of sorts.
Of course I have yet to see ANYTHING good come out of India or Pakistan.Time will tell.

[jerryd6818]

Dale, when I first saw the knife you posted, this is what I thought of but yours doesn't have the spoon and fork. (eBay pictures)

Ray -- You hit the nail square on the head right down the line. Great explanation of the import situation over the past xx years.