Curgan

Impressive. It was a most pleasant surprise for me to see the advancement of nihonto appreciation in Poland. You set an example for many european countries. Keep up the good work

Welcome Lokke! And my copliments to your father-in-law :D Remeber to ask him to instruct you on proper sword care, if you don't have a knowledge of swords in general. As for your questions: 1) US Members will help you better than me, but if the paperwork is OK I think that you 'll pay approx. 3% import duties. Just let your father-in-law know when you are leaving as the export licence might take a month or so. 2) I think checking the swords in with you is your best option. A hard case with a locker and great packaging would be a must though. However you should check with the air company first. Again US members are more reliable. 3) Mounting is not necessary, but since you are in Japan (and the father-in-law might pay for it), why don't you have it mounted? It is an expensive procedure by the way, if it is to be done the traditional way and with antique fittings. OTOH the US have many great mounters where you can send them the sword(s) if you decide not to mount it right away. 4) Yes. Discard it only if it infected with oil or rotten. Usually the blade is displayed in shirasaya and the koshirae in a tsunagi. 5) Tanto are under the same legislation as the katana and mounting is completely personal. I 'd go for a daisho though. Just my 0.02 $ until a more proficient replies.

This is where "usually" goes. My guess is that you use a live blade iaito as these most often come without horimono, right?

Typical Japanese decorative swords. Training swords usually have bohi.

With the radiation leak all of us could use a prayer on our behalf...

He must have been a jolly little fella, if you get my point

The design looks like a kimono in a stand with the straw hat on top, can't imagine it on a sword though (or else it must have been owned by the most disreputable samurai).

You should be prosecuted for this. This is a steal! Seriously now, a great buy and it seems to be in perfect condition.

I recommended Randy Black, because I did business with him and was satisfied. DmcD has a great reputation and is a polite person as far as I know from my experience. Browsing through his site, I believe Grey's proposal is a "no miss" one as well.

It is good that so far none of the members or their families were harmed. Unfortunately news speak of a count measured in hundreds at the best case... P.S. I don't know if it's the right time to mention this, but it amazes me that a (large) lot of (mostly) strangers scattered around the globe worry for each other like family (just like the fun this group seems to have, when finaly meet each other)... I guess this is something this forum is about...

In Europe I would wholeheartedly recommend Kevin and Zenon van Damme. In the States there are many good craftsmen. Among them Randy Black does also good work, but he can be non traditional in making koshirae as well.

Our thoughts and sympathy to all in Japan. Hopefully they are safe...

A stunning set for stunning koshirae....

I 'd go with it Cory, as Cris is a most reliable professional and this is a most tempting offer... or even better visit a sword show and shinsa myself! On the other hand, ofter lurking both threads, I 'd like to encourage you on your endeavour for knowledge and urge you not to get discouraged by an occasional harsh reply or two. It's all part of the initiation process :D For some this is just how they react towards everybody. The community as a whole is generaly very, very, very supportive, although sometimes they can be bitter. In the cases it is not an educational trick, many a folk have tried luring them into evaluations in order to sell their swords and they have seen more sword mishandling than they can take. As you 'll experience -if you have the patience to bother enough- the more your knowledge increases the less you 'll tolerate it too... As you might have understood from my post I am a newbie that managed to survive the first cold shower...

The kitagawa school. Soheishi Soten, an inhabitant of Hikone in Ohmi Province (=Now Shiga Pref.) mostly produced tsuba. He was good at expressing Samurai warriors in armor and mountain hermits by engraving or by inlay on iron ground. (http://www.shibuiswords.com/tsubaco.htm). The school was founded by Soheishi Nyudo in Hikone (Goshu) during XVII century. See as well and this interesting article http://about.nsw.gov.au/collections/doc ... -soten-sh/

Thanks a lot! Quite an eye you have! My four seem to be useless!

Dump of me, but still can't see it. I spotted something in the middle of the blade but I am not sure. Could you please help me a bit?

Great eye Grey! Where did you spot the hagire?

I dont think you can go wrong on any of these. Contact the seller and request more pics. As for the tameshigiri thing. I believe it has to do more with the swords age. An antique blade should not be used in order o ensure its preservation

Thanks Cyrus, truly amazing pieces!

Moss: I wrote "low end and not traditionally restored". Lee: If I remember correctly he stated (or admitted it) without much fuss, just like he had low end pieces. It is hard to determine whether it is saiha or not, although, judging from the overal quality, I 'd vote for yes.

I 'd love to see more pics for those of us who can't visit the States!

The seller is actualy a team. Their frontman has studied grafistics or something similar. Thus the great photography. They posted here a while ago when they started their business, but they were strongly critisized because they had low end pieces and not traditionaly restored. Their frontman was a kind and -at least appeared to be a- honest guy.

BTW what is the cover's length?

Actually Sanjuro signs as Keith G... My objection is being harsh to each other with no particular reason. It was clear from the first post that you bought the sword like this and I accept it. No fraud will pass the hawks of NMB. Keith was unjustly harsh to you, while his comment was generally valid about mismatching types of gunto koshirae... Flame wars always distrackt from the point. PS I 'd like to see more of this bitterness to sellers trying to cheat the public with obvious misdescriptions (a fellow australian comes in mind) rather than people asking for opinions...