Alex A

Found a video on the Akamatsu Taro smiths

I tried this with my Son, thinking he would think its cool, then he told me it was junk Some great advice above, enjoy the hobby and take your time learning, learn as you go along (before you buy), rinse wash repeat

I don't know Ian, perhaps they should have just stuck to "antique spy tool" , although possibly also used by the average "peeping Tom" Looking at it again, I cant help wondering if it also could be just an hidden weapon.

https://www.aoijapan.com/ninja-goods-in-cigar-case A first for me.

I will pm you some over later today

Mike has done work for me in the past, friendly, reliable and does a great job.

Reminds me of some I once owned Ed.

Im so sure id bet a fiver.

Will do Malcolm, il get there in the end, thanks.

Be good to know what that 2nd sword was ?, Bizen Sukesada ? anyone know Mike for an answer?

Aye, they don't like it when when folk try and save money

Hi Chris, Not so much a "bad" experience, just a bit of disappointment and a few hassles thrown in. To cut a long story short, a TH sword arrived from Aoi in excellent polish, but some rust in the Bo-hi. I'm not talking full on "in your face", but under light, enough to distract. Aoi art have been good about it, apologized and offered to pay to get it polished in the UK. Tsuruta San then stepped in and offered full refund, even though its a consignment piece. Ive been dealing with Aoi a good while now but this is the first time I have returned a sword. As said many times, buying from images can be difficult. I spoke to a few gents at the weekend, gents with a lot more experience than me. After taking on board what they had to say I felt it best to return. I would need the bo-hi polished for me to be happy, but at a risk, as bo-hi go deeper. There is also a worry about rust returning, sometimes its there for good. I'm a few quid down on return postage and import VAT. It occurred a little earlier that I might be able to claim the VAT back, thought it may be as simple as speaking to someone at HMRC and giving them the card details and vat bill you get through the door and providing proof of return, but OH NO. You need to fill out a BO286 form with LOTS of details such as "customs black and white charge label on the box" and "customs declaration form from seller, also on the box" and "evidence of refund" etc etc, all stuff that's in the bin or heading back to Japan in the same box covered in brown tape ,I'm an idiot. Anyways, no hard feelings. I'm usually a pain in the ass when it comes to buying swords with questions and stuff, obviously this time I wasn't a big enough pain, live and learn.

Thanks Jay, left it with the Misses to post, lets hope all goes well, don't need any more palava with this one

Hello, can someone please confirm this as Aoi arts address, I read somewhere that they were moving. I need to ship an item and tomorrow is the only day I will get the chance. No point emailing them as they are not in until tues. I got this address from the site. Aoi Art 4-22-11 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 151-0053 Japan

Sorry Chris

Look on bright side Chris, miss three or four of these and you will have enough for a WW2 Koshirae with a gud un

Well, the smith certainly didn't go out of his way to recreate a Koto masterpiece, tourist piece maybe

A chance to own a large Ko-Katchushi, pity its not sold separate.

Yes Chris, I was just referring to the sword. Im not convinced in either direction with regards age, thats up to the new owner now.

Easier for him to judge than us, difficult from images, but educational nonetheless, and funny

Old is a broad spectrum, I have a pair of "old" socks that are almost 8 years old

He left it open to the buyers imagination by stating "Old", Description bottom of page Age.................. Old

Sometimes I need to remember that not everyone over the years thinks like us lot , why did he not have a Dotanuki or a Tadayoshi??

Hi Chris, I could have worded that better. I didn't mean that you stated it was "low end", I meant I agreed with you that it may have been handed down. It was me that stated "low end", flaws, mumei, etc Maybe the owner was proud, we will never know.

Hi Chris, that's what I was wondering about. I would ASSUME an officer would have a far better quality sword. It crossed my mind that this sword may not be original to this koshirae, but just a thought, don't know. Then it crossed my mind that why would an officer carry such a low end sword?, unless it was handed down, as you point out.