Alex A

That would leave importing a showa/shinsakuto as a bit of a concern. Just noticed the use of the word "generally", that would indicate exceptions.

The last sword i bought, the seller taped an envelope to the side of the box marked "CUSTOMS", in large black letters, inside i presume was a full explanation in plain English. A good idea, seems they opened it and took note

20% off everything up until the 10th march, code SUPER20

Cheers Paul.

Is it possible to get an o-suriage blade such as this papered?, a blade with so much taken off, im unfamiliar with what they will accept, a bit curious.

Interesting Jon, i was wondering if it could have been an early katana, rather than a tachi. Early muromachi katana where a similar shape to tachi, but looking at the sori, i think your right, maybe an earlier sword.

Hi Adam, the lanes isn't the best place to shop for nihonto swords, especially your first sword. Very expensive, rarely papered, descriptions and photos lack necessary details. If you do buy from there then your best travelling down to view the sword. I bought a sword from there some years ago, the guy told me it was flawless over the phone, it arrived with an opening (small, but obviously worth a mention), as you can imagine, this could ruin ones afternoon, be careful.

Mariusz, ever the perfectionist, its a nice sword.... Enjoy................

How old would the stands be Guido?, i particularly like the second one. This is a common 70/80s type, picked it up for £80 (if i remember rightly) delivered from Japan, does the job for now.

I like it John, unusual, first time i have seen an hardened edge along the mune, wondered what i was seeing at first view, thought it was some new kind of reflection photography :D, nice tight hada . Good that it comes with a period koshirae (uchigatana style). I would get it papered early to assist with a future sale. I can see why you went for it, nice one.

Beautiful sword stand, one could get into financial difficulty brousing this site, theres just too much "want"!. :D

Occasionally you see some very nice lacquered kake from Japan on Ebay at a reasonable price. Ps, be careful when buying, too many spare spaces=the need for no spare spaces= -$$$$

Hi Kenneth, "the craft of the Japanese sword" springs to mind. You will get a deja vu feeling from reading these introductory books, but still well worth owning. From then on you will buy where your interests lie.

Cheers for pointing out Denis.

You might be right Denis but my first thought was that oil left on the mune might have soaked into the felt causing a reaction to the glue, its difficult to think of any other reason for it. A tricky one. It wasn't displayed near a radiator was it?

Hi Denis, out of curiosity, was there oil on the blade?, maybe that caused a reaction.

How can one not like Aoi art. Do your homework and ask all the necessary questions, if your not happy then send it back. Ive dealt with them three times, found them to be very helpful, no problems getting more close up pictures and more info. I once bought a Tadakuni wakazshi, they thrown in a "touch up polish"?, was very pleased. There is a dealer out there that makes Tsuruta san look like a saint, they never seem to get mentioned here, so best i dont mention it either. Seems a shame that some dealers can get more bad publicity then the ones who really deserve it. Running a business like Aoi, its impossible to please all customers all of the time.

When it comes to spending big bucks on any expensive antique provenance is everything. A well educated guy with plenty of money can obviously take a risk, but why take a risk?. We know that the NBTHK and NTHK papers are only the opinions of educated folk, but they are widely accepted as provenance. The sword you where talking about without papers, maybe the dealer guaranteed papers for the client. I watched a documentary a few weeks back about a painting that had been declassified as being by Gainsborough. An expert in Gainsborough thought the decision was wrong and tried throughout the show to disprove the decision and get it reinstated. The scenery was typical Gainsborough, there was even two characters in the picture that where a match for another Gainsborough picture, apparently artists do this quite often. The expert was sure, but the test on the blue used proved it was cobalt blue, a later type of paint. Anyway, gone off topic but watching this show made me realize the importance of provenance. Ps, turns out the picture was not a copy, but a Gainsborough drawing that someone over painted in a gainsborough style some years later. Even so, now its back in a Gainsborough museum with a nice new value$$$$$, hope you get my point. Apologies for wondering off topic!

A wise move asking for assistance. Out of curiosity, what was the asking price?

Hi Gheorghe, id be surprised if the guy said he can use it. You have two options, leave it as it is and save your money, or new ito/same. Id be tempted to leave it as it is.

Muscle cars, my brother sold a 68 Dodge charger RT 10 years ago for £8000......now would be at least £35000 , an interest topic one day.

Hello Gheorge, please DONT make a new hole in nakago, bad idea. Keep your blade original, "rehabilitate", as you say is the best option, but only if really necessary. Buying a used tsuka to match a blade is not the way to go, likely a bad fit.

New folk wont have knowledge, so if they have bought a sword with papers they have either been lucky or sensible. Im not sure how one might think he could turn a profit when he knows nothing at all about what hes buying. He might get away with one willy nilly purchase, but to go down this route several times without gaining further knowledge would be a stupid thing to do, rich or not. Hopefully the first purchase would satisfy the curiosity, if thats what it was, curiosity. Its only the educated that can take the risk on unpapered blades, this whole hobby being based on knowledge. It is a rich mans hobby, i wont be spending much more money on swords, think its unwise. Now i have started to get a little more knowledge i may look at cheaper swords without papers, or sell to move up a bit, theres only so much time i will drive round in a crappy old fiesta LOL.

Excellent Markus!, thank you very much. , that's the book I will be after next.

Same question in "facts and fundamentals".