Japanese Figurines / Occupied Japan

Post war Japan produced millions of ceramic items that were sold in the American Market. Many of these figures were marked Occupied Japan, some like these were simply marked Japan. Occupied Japan markings were often used immediately after World War II because of the poor quality of the items being produced. Companies such as Noritake did not want their name associated with the sub standard items that were being produced directly after the war, as an alternative they (and others) used the Occupied Japan mark.

Over the years Occupied Japan items have been alternating cheap and cheaper, todays markets are equal to cheapest. There just does not seem to be any demand for these items. If they sell at all it is for small change, figurines like these will bring a dollar or two each.