PietroParis

You can post your figurine (maybe a netsuke?) in the section "Other Japanese Arts"

Buyee has a minimum fee of 500 JPY when you win an item. On top of that they grab a few percent more of the price by applying they own exchange rate. Add local shipping to their warehouse, international shipping (to France, in my case), VAT and custom fees and an item bought at the nominal price of 3400 JPY (i.e. about 26 EUR at mid-market rate) ended up costing 71 EUR.

It is well known that you CAN bring your sword on the plane...

Namitoshi on Facebook by a fellow NMB member:

https://www.tessier-sarrou.com/catalogue/116199?

That's a fair point, but ice goby don't seem to have split tail either:

I had noticed the Umetada on eBay, kudos for offering it at a discount to NMB members!

I checked some pictures of Shirouo, I would still vote for eels.

They say 江府住 Kofu ju (also read Efu ju), i.e. "from Edo".

Indeed, it's not the same set. For example, the bird on the kashira looks up in the first picture and down in the second. THAT would be really magical...

Others might correct me, but I think that the NBTHK paper says "Mumei - Nara (奈良)" and the signature on your tsuba reads indeed 光政作. There is one Mitsumasa using these kanji in Markus Sesko's genealogies (courtesy of google books): https://books.google.fr/books?id=vNwvaPSEnCMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=光政&f=false

If I have understood correctly what you write, I'm afraid that "training" with an antique sword will not get a sympathetic reception in this forum...

It was “A fistful of dollars” that plagiarized Yojimbo, not “For a few dollars more”. Indeed, Kurosawa sued Sergio Leone who then had to share the proceeds with him.

Others more competent than me will be able to comment on the sword, but I'm sure the first things they will tell you are: 1) don't place the blade on a hard surface; 2) clean those fingerprints with a microfiber cloth; 3) a picture from above of the full bare blade (including the tang) is needed for identification. Cheers!

The "tsuba" on the shelf have little feet though...

Sure, the USD-CAD mixup is completely understandable and it's not the point here, I showed the exchange rate only because you seemed to find it important in your reply to Brian. I suggest that you focus instead on the second part of Brian's post. A blade used in practice will almost inevitably be subject to scratches (e.g., when sheathing/unsheathing) and moisture (breath, sweat!) which in the not-so-long term will cloud its artistic features. One is then left with the choice between leaving it in its ruined state, or having it polished again. However, a new polish will remove some metal, and bring the sword one step further away from its original state, and one step closer to tiredness and "death". What you should understand is that collectors here don't view themselves as "users" of their sword, but rather as caretakers who accompany the sword in a short leg of its journey through the centuries. Perhaps "Samurai of the day wouldn't hesitate to do katas with such a blade", but they could get a new one from the smiths of the day if they ruined it. Today, a 700yo Juyo blade is irreplaceable. You might not agree with this point of view from your "modern warrior perspective", but once again you won't find much help or sympathy here if you keep talking about doing kata with an antique blade.

Ahem....

It looks to me like it's full of casting bubbles, see e.g. the bottom-right part of the seppa dai, or the surface of the fake "plug" on the kogai hitsu ana (the right one).

I suspect you misunderstood my comment, it does not really matter here why you cannot spar. What I meant is that, in general, a 700yo Juyo-level blade should not be sparred with by anybody, nor should it be used for any other kind of practical exercise. If I misunderstood your sentences about "kata purposes" and "use it on foot", so much the better. Otherwise, I don't think this is a topic that will find much sympathy in this forum.

Somehow I doubt that the sword lovers in this forum will be reassured by the fact that you can’t spar. They worry that you would want to use a 700yo Juyo-level blade for any kind of practical exercise. At least that is what your sentence below suggests: “If I’m going to buy something I have to be assured of its practical abilities, for kata purposes. This was previously a tachi though has been shortened down, correct? So I’d be able to use it on foot as I’ll never get a horse.” To give you an example, I’ve heard that serious collectors in Japan would stuff a paper napkin in their mouth when examining a high-quality blade, to avoid damaging it with their breath...

This older thread might add some context to the question:

Here is a kozuka by your guy: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/215827

It's 奈良 Nara 英政 Terumasa + kao P.S. sorry I updated my post before I saw John's reply just below

Doesn't the signature on the fuchi shed some light on the mysterious fittings?

I case anybody doesn't know it yet, that book is available for free here: https://archive.org/details/japanesenameshow00koopuoft