Japanese made Cowboy Buckle--with unusual marks

[jesses]

Looking for any information on this very heavy trophy style western buckle. On the front it features 10k horse heads and a "let er buck" image of a cowboy on a horse, with scroll engravings. Text says "W.D. Hays" and "Yakota Air Base." Back is marked Sterling 950 with what I believe is a common mid century Japanese export mark. There is also a hand cut signature or inscription in what I believe is Japanese. Yakota Air Base is in Tokyo and that and the style date this buckle to sometime after 1945.

I am looking for any information about the maker or the age of the buckle and for any other thoughts, observations or information you might have on this very unusual buckle. Pictures follow--sorry they are sideways.

[jesses]

Thought it might be helpful to post a close up of the marks, so here you go:

[davidross]

The mark on the back of the buckle has the name of the maker/engraver. I believe it reads:

黒川正弘 作

KUROKAWA Masahiro (made by) I have not been able to find any other reference to this maker, so this is only an educated guess.

The piece was surely custom-ordered, given that it is unusual and personalized. W. D. Hays may have brought with him to Yokota an American buckle that served as the model for this one. The fancy curlycue foliate design to the front is similar to the engraving work seen on 1950s-60s Japanese tourist / export small silver items (cigarette cases, lighters, compacts, pillboxes, etc).

There is a wealth of information on the Internet about Yokota and the various US commands that were stationed there from 1945 on. It might be easier to track down W. D. Hays through veterans' groups than to positively ID the Japanese maker of the buckle. A large base like Yokota would have had its own publications in English, and someone with access to them and the time to pore over them might be able to find an advertisement for a jeweller catering to US personnel.

Good luck with further investigation and please post any additional findings here.

Regards
David R

[jesses]

Thanks for your comment. You are right to point out the similarity in the engraving to Japanese silver zippo type lighters. One of the things that shocks me about this piece as compared to most such lighters is its weight--almost ten ounces. Additionally the bucking horse is in gold and shows amazing detail. Your suggestion that the maker was working from an American model is a good one. I have looked for a wd hays online and found someone who was an officer late in WWII in the army air forces but could not find a connection to yokota. I will have to start looking for newsletters and yearbooks for yokota post war. Thanks for your help and generosity in sharing your knowledge.