dougb and beaverstuff: Thanks very much for your help finding a decal image!!! I'll email your friend ASAP, really appreciate it.

For good measure, here are some photos my Ishiwata pride and joy... it's my 57 cm home-built touring bike, dubbed Steely Dan. An eclectic (read: frugal) mix of Suntour Barcons, Campy brake levers, Shimano LX derailers and canti brakes, Truvativ crank, Shimano 105 hubs, and Mavic MA3 rims. I got the frame off craigslist in Feb 2005 from a guy in Cincinnati, and from the looks of it, it had never been built up. It's a great bike to ride 10-20 miles every day; I'd never experienced a really good quality steel frame before I hopped on this one.

The origin of the frame is a bit of a mystery to me. It's labeled "Backroads Mistaya" on the top + down tubes, while the head tube says "Backroads Adventure Touring". My boss used to live in California and said Backroads was a company that organized guided bike tours out there, but I don't know what this means about the age or original purpose of the frame. The frame has the usual braze-ons, plus a THIRD water bottle holder UNDER the down-tube. The coolest feature is a spare-spoke holder brazeon on the right chainstay, which holds two spare spokes for when you need 'em. Clearly this frame was built with a focus on the details, but by whom?

As you can see, the decal has suffered from frequent snow, rain, mud, and Simple Green.

This is a great thread. I had no idea there was anyone else out there who'd wondered about Ishiwata, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who appreciates it