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Tokutaro Iizuka founded the Iizuka Sports Goods Manufacturing Co., Ltd.in 1928 in Nippori, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo. We don't know when they started producing ice axes, but according to the industry history issued in 1939, they were producing ice axes by that time. They used the brand name HOPE for a long time before formally changing their name to Hope Co., Ltd. around 1965. Hope went out of business in the 1980s.
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This axe's original owner added fiberglass to improve the strength of the wood shaft. I removed the fiberglass to restore the axe.
↑ 126: Hope Alpinist
↑ 166: Hope Tokyo Alpinist
↑ 347: Tokyo Hope Glanz
↑ 241: Hope Manaslu
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