Mushin

By all means try. But I was outright refused as I could not clearly demonstrate whether the swords were stolen from the USPS facility in Jamaica, Queens, which is Federal property, or at JFK, which is not, or en route into or out of the facilities. Given the jurisdictional issues, I was told repeatedly that the report had to be made to USPIS which could then be shared with the NYPD. Never happened as I could never get a report out of the postal inspectors. And when one case was finally resolved, a report was presented to my member of Congress, but USPIS claimed that the sword was legally auctioned though it clearly happened less than 30 days after the package arrived at JFK and was reported missing, not the 90 days the law requires before it becomes USPS property. Like I said, this advice comes from hard won experience in chasing two lots swords stolen from me and a friend, and then taking on four other cases for some major players on both coasts and in the Midwest. Obviously your mileage may vary but local LEO tend not to take reports of theft from federal facilities for obvious reasons. You would think that this would concern the Post Office and America’s first police force. Unfortunately, that was not my experience.

Mauro, First, let me say how sorry I am this has happened to you. As someone who has been tracking this issue for several years—and who has personally been impacted by these thefts—I can tell you that it is extremely difficult to get meaningful help once something goes missing. Despite what some people may suggest, local law enforcement and the FBI are not going to help in a situation like this. In practice, the only agency with jurisdiction is the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. However, unless a case involves theft from an actual mailbox or an assault on a carrier, these types of losses receive limited attention. The presence of insurance seems to shape their response, and if you don’t have it, they don;t care. It’s also important to understand that this problem extends well beyond Nihonto collectors. Similar losses are affecting shipments of fine art, antiques, and other high-value items. Based on patterns many of us have observed, issues often arise during handoffs—particularly between USPS, Customs, and third-party contractors responsible for air transport. When tracking shows a package “disappearing” for a period and then reappearing elsewhere, it’s often because that segment of transit is handled outside USPS systems and isn’t fully trackable. There are also troubling reports of packages being diverted after labels are removed or compromised. In theory, such items should be routed to recovery centers for identification and return. In practice, if no information about their final destination can be found, the package is categorized as “unrecoverable” and eventually sold through government auction channels. This is supposed to happen only after 90 days, but we have seen packages with swords (including a Sue-Sa/Sa Yasuyoshi wakizashi stolen en route to me a few years ago) end up in the hands of someone who purchased it at a government auction less than 30 days after it went missing. I’m afraid your best bet now is to make lots of noise with your representative in Congress and demand that they deal with USPIS. At the same time, you should carefully monitor government auction sites, as well as Reddit and other lesser-known sword forums, where people who have “legally” acquired these items sometimes seek advice on pricing their ill-gotten treasures. I’m sorry that you—and others—have to go through this. But the truth is we can no longer ship these goods around the world without using AirTags or similar devices to track them throughout their journey. I have long said that Japanese and American dealers need to raise these issues in Washington, but to my knowledge, nothing has come of it. It has gotten to the point where I no longer ship items to or buy from Japan because of the combination of shipping risks, tariffs, escalating transit costs, and unreliable customs brokers. It’s simply too much stress. But if we can’t stop this trend, the long-term impact on the hobby will not be good. So by all means, let your local post office know you’re upset—but direct your real pressure toward your member of Congress. Going forward, if you want to continue operating in this space, your best options are proactive: Put at least one tracker in every package, and ask that shippers you rely on do the same, even if it costs extra Document everything carefully before shipping Build relationships with your representative’s district and DC offices, just in case Sorry this isn’t better news. On the positive side, I was able to recover one of my items by using the insurance payout to buy it back from the person who had acquired it. Hopefully this lovely daito will appear before you have to do the same. Good luck.

Kiril, I wouldn't say "arbitrary drawing," as it implies whimsy and serendipity. I think the attempt to recreate the hamon is more of artistic interpretation or impression, which can be arbitrary but I wouldn't say that Cezanne's still life's were arbitrary. That said no two artists will see and interpret the same subject in the same way, pretty much the same way no two people see all the activity in the same way.

Jacques, where did you see a claim that these traits were exclusive to Shinto Kunimitsu? He said "commonly found," which is correct. Is this a language issue. or are you just being provocative? It's guess you are right: it's pointless to fight human stupidity...

Spent years in the former Yugoslavia and so I speak Serb Croat! My Slovenian, however, is nonexistent. Again, thanks!

Hvala, Brano!

Thanks, Grey. Got it. Now only looking for DTI 2014. Thanks!!!

Hi there! I am looking to buy the DTI catalogues from 2013 and 2014. Thanks!

Jussi has provided this information over the years and it should all be here somewhere on NMB

Yup, and it's priced that way. I haven't translated the sayagaki myself, but if as Tsuruta says that Tanobe thinks the blade is considered one of Shodai Yosozaemon's best works, that is saying something.

Sorry, don't see Bizen unless the nakago was tortured and disfigured, which I don't see. And I don't see Heianjo Nagayoshi either. Like Robert S said above, either a fake or some other obscure Nagayoshi

Good question. Many of us would like to know the answer to that because there were several excellent examples that were passed over. “Why” is the big question. Some have theories, but there is no definitive answer. The current Honbu and their decisions are a mystery to the most ardent NBTHK watchers. But in your case, I think you have to be realistic. Besides, since Washington’s introduction of global tariffs, shipping swords back from Japan has been extremely problematic. I think patience is the best approach now while watching how the next few Juyo sessions go. So far, we have seen few surprises from what has been recently awarded Juyo and more from those that have been rejected.

So, Michael, In recent years, Kanenobu has become a new go to for attributions for a nice but not top class Naoe Shizu blade. But this is different from Shigaseki Kanenobu, who is not as well-regarded by collectors or the Honbu. As Jussi pointed out there are only three Juyo awarded to the smith. And I am not sure that Jussi has the data of how many TH and Hozon papers are out there awarded to him by comparison because of the massive volume of swords produced during the Muromachi, especially in Mino. I think you should reach out to folks who watch the trends in the Shinsa team to see how much they might have opened to great works by Muromachi Sengoku-era Mino smiths. I would suggest perhaps, Ray Singer or Hoshi or even Markus. I would hate to see you go through the stress and expense of shipping a blade into Japan and then paying somebody to submit it on your behalf if it’s going to not make it past the first round only because of institutional bias. And then having to wring your hands while waiting for your sword to come back. Darcy used to have an algorithm and formula he would use to assess a sword’s chances of making it through Juyo and then Tokubetsu Juyo, which I don’t know if he handed off to anybody before his passing. All I can say, based on what I am seeing, is that the last Shigaseki Kanenobu that passed Juyo was a katana in session 58, at least 23 years ago. Don’t want to rain on your parade or dash your hopes, it just doesn’t bode well. But to be honest, a sword doesn’t have to pass Juyo to be a Smith’s masterwork and some of my favorites blades only have Hozon papers, and I am ok with that.

No, he is not as far as I know but if you are interested DM with your email and I can connect the two of you. Robert Hughes should be here and he possibly can help get Tanobe-sensei to take a look at your research question. Fingers crossed!

Might also want to try reaching out to Bill Miller in Atlanta. If I am not mistaken, he has one of the biggest Satsuma collections in the world. Then there is Tanobe-sensei, who is also from he area and a collector of Satsuma blades. Robert Hughes might be able to help you direct questions to Tanobe. Best of luck.