We have no idea any history info on the set. my grandmothers condition has deteriorated in the 2 years since i recieved it. she is unable to remember or speak. she is the only one with any info on it and apparently her info is lost forever. ill find out today if it is pottery or porcelain. i did send the pics to replacements.com and excited to hear their reponse thank you

The mark certainly suggests it was either for export, or for sales to foreign market stationed in Japan. Did any of your relatives do a stint there on active duty with the military? It looks to be a nice quality, and I am not at all familiar with the maker, either. The only thing I can add to the comments are that it's not unusual to find tea sets actually sold in the country of Japan to have a setting for five. It doesn't mean that it's less than a complete set (like for six or eight). When my mother would go marketing or buy china, it was pretty common for the vendors to throw in a freebie to bring the number up to five. I have several sets of china meant to be sets of five. It was an auspicious number.

I believe it's a Sevres wannabe....a repro. It's not hand painted and just a little too gaudy for the real thing. There are companies that specialize in making repros of various fine porcelains. No one with much knowledge would be fooled but sitting in a glassed in china cabinet it could pass. It likely had a paper label as well as the mark you see on the bottom Here is a link that might be useful: The real thing

Do you have a photo? Servicemen brought or sent a *lot* of beautiful china tea sets to the United States from "Occupied Japan" after World War II. My uncle sent them to all 8 of his sisters & both sisters-in-law & his mother! My mother (an in-law) got one with gold & silver-gray flowers, & my Granny got one with evergreen trees. If you held the tea cups up to the light, you could see the imprint of a geisha in the bottom. Best luck with your tea set, & thanks for the trip in the way-back machine!