Since the kabuto lining is intact, I used an endoscope to take photos of the inside of the center segment of the hachi. I didn’t think much of the photos when I first reviewed them, thinking all I saw was scratches but no mei. But today I took a closer look and it seems like one of the photos, when rotated 180 degrees and enlarged, has “scratches” that match the mei on the kabuto appraisal (Yoshihisa)! See the attached. I feel like some kind of nerd Indiana Jones! 😂
What are the characters below Yoshihisa? Thank you, Uwe, for inspiring me to take a closer look at the endoscope photos. And thank you, Jon M., for guiding me on where to look for a mei.