THE RIVER Gate-fold sleeve 2LP: the Hong Kong release (continued)

Machine-stamped matrix number on Side A of Disc 1 of Hong 
Kong (upper) and Japanese (lower) releases

As described in the last post, I had suspected for long the authenticity of THE RIVER Hong Kong release and even considered it as the piracy product cannibalizing the Japanese records. In fact, the Hong Kong vinyl discs are almost NOT distinguishable from the Japanese ones. For instance, shown right is the matrix number stamped on Side A of Disc 1 that looks identical between the two releases. The same is also true for the other three sides of double LP, which most likely signifies the Japanese origin of these Hong Kong vinyls.

If the Hong Kong release is genuine, how could this be explained? I recently read an interview article with an Ex-executive of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), who joined at the foundation of the company in 1968 and has retired in 2002. Early in his career, he worked at the CBS/Sony Hong Kong Office and reminisced in the interview about back then. According to him, since the establishment of the joint venture (i.e., CBS/Sony Records Inc.) between Sony Inc. (Japan) and Columbia Broadcasting System Inc. (current CBS Inc., USA), it had been the Japan side that held marketing right in the Far East countries including Hong Kong. So, the staff at the Hong Kong Office had to arrange the import of vinyl records pressed in Japan, but not anywhere else, for albums that were to be released there by this music label. From his interview, it is evident that there were no CBS/Sony vinyl records, at least back then, that had been pressed in Hong Kong, and therefore it's no wonder that the vinyl records of the Hong Kong set have Japanese origin.

Then to look for a proof for this, I have made close re-examination of the dead wax matrix codes, and found a small signature implying that these Hong Kong discs are indeed Japan-pressing for export. Industrial products made in Japan, including vinyl records, are often marked "JIS", a three letter acronym that stands for "Japanese Industrial Standards." JIS logo has long been used as a mark affixed to products that are produced at the government-authorized factories in Japan following the standards. This logo is found on the dead wax of Sides A and C of Discs 1 and 2, respectively, of both Hong Kong and Japanese releases (Note: Machine-stamped JIS mark on these vinyl records is the old one that had been used until September 2008 and differs slightly in style from the currently used symbol).

Hand-scratched "JIS" mark on the dead wax of Side A, Disc 1 of the
Hong Kong vinyl (left) and the intact mark on the Japanese disc (right).

What is interesting, comparing Hong Kong and Japanese discs, is that JIS marks are crossed out by a double line on both Discs 1 and 2 from the Hong Kong set while the symbols remain intact on the Japanese vinyls. The following are what I guess to interpret this: (1) CBS/Sony Japan has made at least two master or mother plates for pressing this double album, from which one was used to press the vinyl records for export to Hong Kong; (2) For international export, a JIS symbol on a virgin master or mother plate must be scratched out before being used for vinyl pressing, because the pressed records were to be released commercially as Hong Kong products. I do not know other examples where Japan-pressed vinyl records of Springsteen are officially used for the release in countries other than Japan. Whether or not my speculation sounds likely, there is no reason now for me to be suspicious about the Hong Kong release any further.