Lareon

Terrible news and I wish Tomoko, her family and yourself all the best. Tony

Just to add. Paul Martin isn't offering his services at the moment until post covid

keep us updated on what you discover

yes, why would anyone trust you with their items if you refuse to even provide name / fees/ information?

fully traditionally no. by hand? yes it was made by the smith on the nakago. the nagoya arsenal stamp is an indicator that it isnt a traditionally made blade. you do get the nagoya stamp as well as a star stamp which is the exception but you're in another price bracket then. it's still a nice sword though and has a nice quirk with the tachi mei

It simply means the signature is on the opposite side compared to a normal katana mei. a tachi would usually be worn facing downwards where as a katana facing upwards so the mei would be on the opposite side.

just be less specific and to be used as part of a display?

This one is beautiful

Same I oil mine maybe twice a year but if I take it out and do anything with it I always will clean it and apply oil again. I usually then do a check a few days later to clean off excess

It's here. Nagoya arsenal. Holt's auction right?

you can argue it has no hilt and no handle, it isn't long although long is a vague term. is it still a sword in spirit? maybe but now we're getting into metaphysics and a ship of theseus scenario

the worst part about importing into the uk is parcelforce, i hate them with a vengeance

well it's clearly not a dagger, its questionable whether its even a sword at this point and more of a curio/antique. not sure anyone is going to be able to give you a definitive answer on the legal side of this. do you have someone outside of victoria you could import it to? then just have them mail it to you? you get round the importing aspect then looks like you'll still need to be a member of a registered collectors club, but that probably isn't difficult.

In the uk there is an exemption for traditionally made Japanese swords or Japanese swords made before 1945, is there a similar exemption?

this is what im using

That is a nice one yeah, expensive though. think i would pay a third of that price

first time i saw it i thought the tsuba was cast, on second look it was decoration

Yeah with everything off The handle is called the tsuka. The hand guard is called the tsuba. The scabbard is called the saya. The fittings all together are called the koshirae.

No leave it alone. Don't clean anything or touch anything In general. Don't rest anything on hard surfaces of possible. And try not to touch the sword with your bare hands. The oils on your skin are damaging. There are some care guides at the top of the forum in the links. Definitely no rubbing or cleaning Some clearer photos of the signature would be good. Other people will be along though who can tell you more than myself Can you also take a photo of the whole sword without fittings in one shot. So the shape can be seen

The mekugi ana is the hole that the mekugi (bamboo peg) goes through. The nakago is the tang of the sword. The mei is the signature. Someone who reads Japanese better than myself will be able to translate it.

Can you get a clearer shot of the signature?

Well interesting. That looks like a folded nakago. Orikaeshi It's one way to keep the signature when shortening the nagako. The filled semi circles are the old mekugi ana

For now I'd hold off until some others have seen the sword and can give their opinion.

The button would be from a ww2 sword but since it's not ww2 it won't have a button so you can ignore that. I was hoping when you pulled the peg out you could see through so there were no obstructions to stop you taking the handle off.

Yes that link is fine Thats not a ww2 sword.