Company Logo & Name (Part 1)

次回、この記事の日本語版を投稿します。

One of the distinguishing features of vintage Japanese bicycles from the 1950's is the number of company markings found on a single bicycle.  Nearly each part bears the manufacturer's name or logo, sometimes more than once.

I recently was contacted by S-san who is the proud owner of a very well preserved Hikari Bicycle made by Dai Nippon Kikai Kougyou . This was quite interesting for me as two years ago I acquired an NOS (New Old Stock) Hikari frame and I am still working on finding parts for this Hikari frame. S-san was kind enough to send quite a few photos and I thought this would be a fine example to show how bicycles of the 1950's, particulaly the earlier portion, branished the manufacturer's name and/or logo.

Before we begin, for our friends who are unfamiliar with Japanese characters, the character, which happens to also be the logo for Hikari,  is 光 and has the meaning of "flash" or "lightning". Some of our friends familiar with the word Hikari will know that it is also the name for one of the bullet trains.

Let's take a look at S-san's Hikari bicycle.

We will start in the front and work back.  From the two photo below (click to enlarge) we can derive eight markings. 
(1) In the red reflector portion (One on each side for a total of 2)
(2) The heads of the hexagon bolts used to attach the fender ornament to the fender are each embossed with the Hikari logo. (One on each side for a total of 2)
(3)At both ends of the pinstriping is a Hikari mark (Two on each side for a total of 4)

Fender stay bolt heads embossed with Hikari logo.

Logo on front hub. (1)

BE rim has the logo on each side of the valve stem (2).


Each fender stay has the logo (2).

The bottom half of the front fender has a total of 11.
The heads of the hexagon bolts used to attach the fender stays to the fender are each embossed with the Hikari logo as seen above. (Two per fender stay for a total of 4)
At both ends of the pinstriping is a Hikari mark (Two on each side for a total of 4)
Each of the two fender stay badges has a mark (2)

Chrome plated crown cover mark on each side (2)
Just as we saw on the fender, the ends of the gold pinstriping on the fork have the Hikari logo (4)
Mark on each side of the stirrup brakes (2)

We've only looked at the front wheel portion and already have a total of 31 markings.
We will continue in the next English post.
Next week will be the Japanese version of this post, I will be back soon with another post in English until then "stay trued and happy wheels"!