Mori's Translation of Japanese Characters on Antique Rollergun Nameplate
(Author and Research by John Warren)
Masahiro Mori is a spearfisherman in the Southern California  who lives in Los Angeles.  He speaks and reads the Japanese language. The following information is supplied by Mori on the translation of these Japanese characters. It is interesting to note that Mori has also seen one of these antique guns in Okinawa.
Lable on Early Japanese Rollergun
Masahiro Mori's translation is as follows:

The Top line reads,... "Tok'kyo Shitsu Gan-Chu", which means that it is currently under process of being registered for design, or simply Pending a Patent.

The 3 large characters on the bottom reads, " Tai-Ryo-Go" This is the model name of the gun. "Tai-Ryo" is a teminology that the Japanese use when the fish are wide open. When my father describes a time when the fish were all over the place, he says that today, the fish were "Tai-Ryo". The "Go" in "Tai Ryo Go" for this application is used as meaning "model" . "Go" is also used as distiction between vessels or machinery. For example, if there are several submarines of the same type, they may be called 1-Go , 2-Go, 3-Go, etc.

The last character on the bottom right hand side reads "Gata" The closest translation I can give is "Type". For example, a person with type "0" blood is called "O-Gata" in Japanese.


In my own research on the Internet, I have found a reference to the word "Tairyo", From a website about a sushi restaurant on Guam is the following information about the Japanese word TAIRYO. "The word "Tairyo" loosely translates into "big fish harvest," and that's really what you are getting here at Tairyo Sushi Bar."


Back to Index Page for Blue Gun. button icon