The following is a compilation of research from different thoughts on Occupied Japan markings.  There are varying opinions on the history of this marking.

The unofficial occupation began when Emperor Hirohito broadcast the unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945.  Officially accepted by General Douglas MacArthur on board the U.S. Battleship Missouri September 2, 1945, the new Japanese Peace Treaty was signed and became effective on April 28, 1952 restoring full sovereignty back to Japan and thus ending the Allied Occupation.

My father was in Japan during WWII and he says the economy had become so bad after the war that our soldiers could not even buy  food and supplies because, back home, people would not buy anything made in Japan because they were the "bad guys."

As Japan needed to rebuild their economy after the war, part of the agreement to allow them to export goods out of the country was they had to mark 50% of all items with "Occupied Japan" or "Made in Occupied Japan."  They could do this with a paper label, cloth label, engraving, handwritten or stamp.   You may come across things like a salt and pepper set, where only one of the pair is marked OJ and the other will just have "Japan" on it.

During the year after WWII, Japanese manufactures were banned from exporting although American authorities occupying controlled territories permitted the sale of items "Made in Occupied Japan" that were regulated through the years 1946 and 1947.  After the regulation was lifted, much of the same tooling was used so the marking continued until about 1955.  It took months before Japan could re-tool the manufacturing process from war to peacetime. The Japanese had to conform to a strict U.S. Government identification process for exporting all manufactured goods.

Goods produced for Japanese market did not require these markings and thousands of products slipped through customs that were not marked properly.  Not every customs agent looked beyond the top layer of the box.   They opened the top and looked in and saw the top level had the marking "Occupied Japan" and let it pass through.  Still, many items were refused and returned to Japan by custom agents and business owners because they were not properly identified as being made in Occupied Japan.

They exported every thing you can imagine, but during the last 2 years, 90% of the items were kitchenware, which is why we have so many china, dishes, vases, etc.   Many of the figurines were cheaply made, and looked it. But the Japanese had a wonderful talent for mimicry - you will find pieces that you would swear are Dresden and when you turn them upside down, you will find "Made in Occupied Japan!"

It's a piece of history from an era long gone.  Little did anyone foresee adding the word "occupied"  would create an entire new area of collecting. Unmarked pieces, which otherwise were exactly like the marked versions, are generally valued about 50 percent to 75 percent of the marked pieces according to the book "Today's Hottest Collectibles".  I  belong to the diehards that believe if it's not marked, it isn't OJ!

Beware of rubber-stamped marks on glazed ceramic pieces. This may indicate a reproduction. Sometimes the mark is added to previously unmarked glazed items to make them appear to be legitimate. If fingernail polish removes the Occupied Japan mark, the piece is fake because the original marks are under the glaze.  Don't try this test, however, on an unglazed item.  Beware of the counterfeitters who thought of that and put nail polish over their stamp.  Another school of thought is the mark was always put UNDER the glaze and that sounds good to me.

The collectibility of OJ is that it covered a specific 6-7 year period in our history. There are many fakes out their now, especially those that portray black persons, so you need to be careful.

Bisque pieces are most highly prized and much harder to identify for authenticity. Warning: Do NOT ever wrap any bisque item in newspaper or colored wrapping. The bisque will absorb the print and is near impossible to remove. It will ruin the piece.

I have been collecting 40 years and have watched the prices go up and down with the economy.  I pretty well stopped collecting when the counterfeits started to appear in the 80's when the price was at its peak.  In process of downsizing I have sold a few and am surprised to see how many go back out of the country.