Is this Mt. Fuji seal kendama the precursor of the Fuji and Shin Fuji?
Sound like a wonderful day and a great experience, thanks for sharing!
I believe that is correct. I think the timeline looks something like:
mid-Late 80s/early 90s: Mt Fuji Seal and probably the Sakura Blossom seal were produced (among other kendamas, those two are notable though)
somtime in the 90s: the Fuji and Sakura Models were produced. Usually with a straight gold seal (there were some with straight silver seals at the JKA office though). (again, other damas were produced as well, but these two are the notable models for our purposes)
Then the Shin Sakura and Shin Fuji were released at some point, which more or less defined the contemporary ken shape.
Sam, I took some other photos, but mostly on film, which I havent developed yet. If I manage to get digital copies I'll try to remember to post them here! There will likely be some footage of the collection in some of the KendamaUSA edits coming out in the next little while.