I guess that's not really surprising. I'd really like to find out something (anything) about Mr. Endo and his company. Between the 1920s and around 1940 he, or his company, filed numerous weapons-related patent applications, including a great many directed to those using carbide to generate gunfire sounds. For that kind of legacy, his memory should have been better preserved. I'm certain information still exists in Japan somewhere, either in historical records unknown to me or with his decendants. Also rather unfortunate was the total wartime destruction of the area in Tokyo where his company was located.
Yep, you're running into the same problem I did when I first started looking back in the 90s. I'm sure his decendents/relatives are still around in the Takazaki area, but how to locate them and make gentle inquiries are the real issues now. On a related matter, I had a Japanese friend who was able to make contact with some relatives of Mr. Kaneyama whose small company made training rifles. Through this contact, I was able to gain some interesting information about him and his former company. To date, I've had no such success in searching for Mr. Endo. Such is lfe, I guess.
