Japanese Vase: help w mark

I posted this over in the Metalware forum but I'm worried that maybe the members who could help me with these kanji won't see it there. So I'm reposting here. I hope that's okay!

This is 8.5" / 22 cm and likely bronze. The patina looks authentic to me.

Can anyone help me with the mark?

Thank you!!

Other posting: https://www.antiquers.com/threads/another-japanese-vase.83868/

 

Ummm...welllll.... ya see pal, it's like this.....

Many core members here like myself , cross over from forum to forum , and like you, are following several other members , who also visit several of the forums here...so really , one thread about one item will pretty much get seen by most if not all the eyes you'd want on it...!

While it's good of you to add the link to the other thread , you could now get repeat answers on both , and then some may answer one and not the other which can lead to confusion and folks running back and forth......

All said, one thread about one item, is the way we work best , and duplicate threads are usually frowned upon.....

On a personal note... we're still pals !!!!

 

The characters are really stylised, so I'm really not sure. The stylisation looks Chinese rather than Japanese to me, if it were Japanese it would have to be later 20th century. The nearest I get is 局穴框 - but that doesn't seem to make sense (transposing it doesn't help either).

 

Yeah-- in general I know this, but I took the liberty this time. As has been noted before (and discussed before) there's not really a forum for Asian Arts, so the particular help I needed for this one mighta gotten missed. I coulda / shoulda tagged certain members too and that maybe woulda worked.

Thanks for the clear explanation. And to be clear myself, I'm always appreciative of the generous help everyone so freely provides!

 

Thanks @Ce BCA!

 

Love the shape! It's something I would've bought if it wasn't too much simply because I liked it. I wonder if Google lens would bring up anything helpful.

 

Yes-- thank you. I've searched, to no avail.