Japanese Bone Toothbrush

Another find from my needle ridden alley is this bone handle of a Japanese toothbrush, made sometime between 1888 and 1920. My search to find out more about it started with a translation of the Kanji characters by my stepson, Jordan, and confirmed by Steven Lang at the archaeology department at U Penn. The three Chinese characters read: 齒楊枝 chi yang zhi. Yang zhi is literally “willow twig”, but also an old Chinese word for toothbrush/tongue cleaner (originally you just chewed on a length of willow twig, presumably).

Steve Lang also noticed that the word “JAPAN” was etched, very faintly next to the Kanji writing. I had also thought that the logo etched in the piece was a Dharma Wheel, but Steve clarified this for me, “I think it’s probably a Chrysanthemum symbol. I found an image online that is said to come from a pharmacy catalog from the 1880’s. I attach it to this email. If you zoom in on them they have a very similar symbol with the word Japan underneath and some kanji characters.” He also pointed me to Barbara Mattick, who has written a book on toothbrushes as a way of dating archaeology. I contacted her also and got some good information concerning this item, included here.

“Thanks, Michael, for the additional pictures. I have never seen a brush that is as thick (deep from front to back) as this one, not one shaped exactly like it. The most helpful piece of information is the trademark, which is for the manufacturer, The Imperial Brush Factory of Japan. It originated as the Completion of Work Company between 1888-1900, and was renamed as Imperial Brush Company in 1900. The Japanese history information I have is in Japanese, but a Japanese FSU student was able to translate for me.”