ok, here we go. The more I think about it from every angle, the more I'd like to discuss this. I hope some others have some input.
not the best photo, i know. I will have better photos when I get my personal collection online. I would love to document more guitars such as this
This is [strongly believed to be] an early Matsumoku made guitar. The neck plate is the traditional 'Steel Reinforced Neck' neck plate. I had always thought this neck plate to have been ONLY used on Matsumoku guitars, but I believe recently I'd seen it used on several rare Ibanez guitars. This could be that Hoshino Gakki had some outsourced to Matsumoku. I will converse with some of my collector friends and see what they think about that idea.
of course I could just be totally incorrect about seeing the neck plate on another guitar.
Points that may lead one to believe this is Kawai:
*headstock shape similar to, but not exactly as the known kawai models
*bridge often used by Teisco/Kawai
*wide chrome truss rod cover often used by Kawai
*lack of zero fret --which is sort of 50/50 shot anyway on old MIJ
I love the chance to think about this and discuss it. Thanks for the opportunity!