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Thanks heaps, Jake! It was love at first sight haha, I have had so much fun learning about it too. So I'm glad y'all enjoy it! And look forward to finding more rat/mouse designs for my collection. As for your guess; I feel like you maybe onto something. Especially considering @Spartancrest's comparison. Such elegant use of contrast and empty space on both pieces. Thanks a lot to everyone for their insights and comments!

I can't think of a single time anything was stopped in check in luggage for reasons of "national treasure" and that is the last thing I would worry about. It's not going to happen, and no-one is going to stop you to check for quality. At the most, they may ask about it, you say "it's under 15cm blade and doesn't require paperwork" and they will let you proceed. I left Japan with a small Jumonji Yari and a yari in shirasaya in my luggage and no-one said a word, even with X-Rays. They didn't even ask to look at them. Don't stress so much.

Thanks, yeah, when I leave Japan in August/September, I'll take these things in my check in luggage. the thing with the "National Treasure" is losing me some sleep. Sure I know that the rusted broken yari I got from a Nominoichi or some Jomon pottery shard, or whatever is not a national treasure. And no reasonable person would assume they were. And even if, I have somewhere a book where all national treasures are listed and shown with pictures. But I fear the Japanese tendency of asking for Form A38 (Idk if this Asterix reference is widespread) will hit me at the airport. I'm German and I find Japan overbureaucratic, on the brink of weaponized autism, that says something...

Any blades under 15 cm do not have to be registered except daggers. Daggers over 5.5 cm are always illegal. Usually, a kogatana does not need to be registered only because its blade length is less than 15 cm. There is no description of mekugiana in the Act for Controlling the Possession of Firearms or Swords and Other Such Weapons.

A few on-line listings (usually for small items like shorter yari) will state something along the lines of “due to small size of item, no registration is needed and we can ship immediately”. Usually, the seller determines this on a case by case basis as they are ultimately responsible for getting item out of Japan. Best to ask them directly as to what they will/can do or not.

It’s difficult to correct you Brian, as the law is interpreted differently by prefecture. The rules as published in Tokyo are relatively clear, but if you try to register a less-than-fifteen cm blade (even with a Mekugi hole) in our local prefecture for example, they will refuse to do it, saying: “Too much trouble.” This I heard directly from the mouth of the chairman of the local NBTHK who tried to register such a blade. So there is some inconsistency. But I do not think it will affect the export of a blade. The trouble is if you ask the authorities for clarity on the matter, they will suddenly go straight-faced and quote the letter of the law. In this case you could find yourself unprotected, so you are back to square one, trying to register such a blade.

Yes. Hamon runs close to the edge. I will bring better pics after delivery.

Thanks all, Hozon papers are from end 2022 and I think it got papered with this repair. best regards John L

Looks like micro-welding to fill a FUKURE. Technically better and more durable than traditional UMEGANE, but the process uses high heat that will inevitably be introduced into the steel. If carefully executed, the affected area might remain small.

Hi Marcin, The blade is definitely old. Better pictures of the bare blade is necessary to tell you more about the blade. It looks like that the hamon runs off the edge of the blade. Also the kissaki is poorly shaped. The ko-shinogi does not run parallel with the fukura. Maybe it's just the low quality of the pictures. Just my observation en honest opinion. Regards, Ed

It’s not just the UK. Even in Japan it is extremely rare to find one without some damage somewhere. Most are in need of repair.

Here is a link for that sword.

Looking forward to it!

I use the term "umegane" here loosely. It really should only refer to metal inlaid into the blade as part of the repair process. In this case it appears that welding has been used to fill a void or flaw in the ji. The last place that I recall seeing this was an Enju daito, with a repair having the same appearance.

Looked artificial to me as well, but seemed melted droplets of metal and then polished. Most umegane I have seen were flat one color.

Wow, thank you everyone for taking the time and responding. I truly appreciate it. I am surprised blunt swords are illegal, but it is Japan after all. I guess I will have to leave the ornamental sword with a friend. SteveM, thanks for the pointers regarding the other two swords I have. I'll look into them. This was very helpful!

Unfortunately this looks very much like a welded "umegane" (a modern repair to fill a flaw in the blade). We've discussed the same type of feature here previously in another sword that was sold online.

Definitely looks like a repair of some kind. That is not natural.

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Dear all, a signed nidai Kashu Kanewaka (Matatsuke) wakizashi (Hozon) has this structure in the ji hada. Not looking like an umegane. Any ideas? best regards John L.

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that mekugi ana plays a part. A blade under 15cm, with no mekugi ana, doesn't need to be registered. Like a kogatana.

Ironically, the genuine swords will probably be easier to ship to Japan, as there is a fairly well-known process to get these through customs and get these registered. You will need the assistance of someone in Japan (Robert Hughes, Paul Kremers, Paul Martin, etc.), but these guys do this all the time.

Thank you Piers, I'll be picking it up Friday and will do a deeper examination then, will remove the barrel to see if the Mei is underneath. It has a touch of damage here and there but is striking, I've rarely seen non damaged complete ones, especially in the UK. As soon as i've had it in hand and taken a closer look i'll post back findings. Thanks for the response!

It depends partly on this end, and partly on where you are sending the blade. You don’t have to deregister it. Your problem will not be with Japan law, unless it’s a national treasure or similar, but with finding a carrier that will take an openly-declared blade. (Or are you putting it into your own check-in baggage?)

Hi, I've written another post about a similar topic regarding export of non-sword antiques a few days ago, but now I was wondering what the export procedures for blades without a torokusho and a blade lenght of just below 15cm are (hence why this knife I am currently looking at probably has no torokusho, Afaik the Japanese law only classifies blades over 15cm as weapons) Does anyone know more about those/ has already bought something similar? Kind regards, Florian