I studied Japanese as an undergraduate. I can't read the Chinese characters, but I can tell you that they are in the archaic style (roughly analogous to Middle English). Possibly a maker's mark.
No doubt, you may already know that the star and anchor indicate the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Sorry I can't be more specific, but perhaps that'll give you a starting point.... Seems a bit shallow for a rice bowl. May be a sauce bowl (for wasabi or soy sauce, etc.)
ETA: I can read a portion of it, I believe it's the number "37". May be a date.
ETA2: I recall that traditionally, the Japanese dated things according to the reign of an Emperor.
For example, Hirohito, who was Emperor of Japan during WW2 was known as the "Showa" Emperor, and Showa 37 would mean 1962, which is obviously incorrect.
The Taisho Emperor only reigned from 1912 to 1925, so there is no such thing as a Taisho 37 date.
The best determination I can make is that the bowl in question is earlier than WW2, from during the reign of the Meiji Emperor. Meiji 37 would be equivalent to 1904.
Archaic Chinese, which is the style in which the characters on the bottom of the bowl, isn't commonly used in everyday life in either modern Japan or China. Highly educated types would be able to tell you more. I'm just "baka gaijin", at this point. My last Japanese class was almost 20 years ago!
Last edited by 318is_Parabellum; 01-14-2014 at 03:38 PM.
Reason: More info.
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