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I just received an email that it was held for verification from the CBSA. They just wanted proof it was old and how much I paid for it. Good thing it wasn’t lost, I guess it was sitting on a shelf waiting to be processed. I think I was just unlucky and they just randomly picked a package to hold, hence the delay.

Hey NMB, I imported a tanto from Japan, had it de-registered and shipped via EMS/Japan Post in about a month, but now it’s been sitting with the status of For a month and counting. Any actions I can take? Or does anyone else have any past experiences regarding how long I should expect to wait? This is my first time ordering from a Japanese dealer, so I am just curious regarding the overall timeline I should expect. Is a month for customs out of the norm?

Agree with others on this thread. It's a real antique sword, no doubt about that. I will say one thing that gives me pause is that since it is from a Japanese dealer, it should've been no trouble for them to re-submit for Hozon. So one must wonder why it was not resubmitted for hozon (or if it was, why it failed). Either way, great sword, I'm not qualified to judge whether the mei is authentic or not.

I would personally pass on that one as well due to the chips in the hamon. Just wait for the right sword, they will come up. The one I got was not too different from the ebay link I sent you, it had a minor fukure but was otherwise in great shape with no rust and no chips on the hamon. Given that these are newer swords it's a lot easier to find one without flaws compared to koto or shinto. I would wait for the right sword.

1750 is a lot for a showato, even a kai gunto. Imo the acid polish (which showa22 is known for) is terrible and ruins the blade. Also they like to take blurry pictures to hide imperfections. I picked up a kai gunto (also off of ebay) for 1200 out of Japan earlier this year. I believe it is a showato as well (not 100% certain) but regardless it was in better condition than what's seen in the pics here. Tip: You can check the "sold listings" in ebay to check the prices of other kai gunto. I see many that have sold for less without the pits in the blade. eg: https://www.ebay.com/itm/226264810677

Looks to me like Kiyonobu (similar to this other example I found online here: https://griffinmilit...-shin-gunto-sword-2/) However I’m not familiar with the smith so I’ll wait for others to chime in. Sword is somewhat rusty but to me I think it looks like a decent gunto. The one thing I find odd (and this might just be nothing) is the curvature looks quite steep for an arsenal blade compared to the ones I usually see. Interesting.

I think nobody mentioned one of the important factors: zaimei vs mumei. A signed nihonto can be worth a lot more than an unsigned one attributed to the same smith. But again it depends on the exact sword. Age is also not necessarily the sole determination of price even though koto is generally more valued than shinto because I would gladly take a saijo saku shinto over a mediocre koto. For your example of 8000 tokubetsu hozon vs 28000 tokubetsu hozon, we could compare something like a signed rai kunitoshi tanto like this one (approx 28k) to a cheaper katana (approx 10k) by a later member of the same school. As you mentioned, they are both Tokubetsu Hozon. Basically I think papers only help value at the bottom end. What that means is if you have a cheap juyo it likely won’t be less than x (maybe 15-20k) simply to being juyo. But with a more famous smith (Rai Kunitoshi is one of the best Koto tanto smiths) it would be worth far more than a bottom line juyo even with worse papers. Basic answer is, it depends on the exact sword, who made it, what type of signature it has, when it was made (whether it was during a smiths peak or not). There’s a whole bunch of things that determine value and i’m sure I’ve missed a bunch myself. I’m only getting into this hobby.

Hey guys, Not sure if this belongs in this section or not but I have been waiting forever for Markus to put his books on sale. If anybody else is in the same boat, Markus is doing a 50% off sale again till September 15th https://markussesko....-end-of-summer-sale/

Brain that would make sense. Get rid of the wartime fittings and the sword becomes infinitely easier to register and pass off as traditionally made.

EL, I own a showato in Type 98 shin gunto koshirae. But for your particular sword I cannot tell what the original fittings was (and I’m not sure if anybody can). Showato could come in many different types of koshirae. At most I can take an educated guess. Based on my own experience (so take this with a grain of salt) this would’ve been either in Type 94, Type 98 or Type 3 fittings. I personally would not be surprised if I saw this sword in shin gunto fittings. I’m ruling out naval fittings and type 95 NCO fittings because machine made kai gunto typically have an anchor stamp and were made of stainless steel. It’s also not a Type 95 since Type 95 NCO swords typically have numbers stamped into the blade. I’ve seen many variations of the Type 98/Type 3/Type 94 that I really couldn’t say for certain which this originally came in. I’m not even sure if there is a usual story for how a sword ends up losing its wartime fittings but the most I can say is that it is a possibility that it once had type 98/94 or type 3 mounts. As an aside I’ve got a star stamped gendaito in modern mounts (no idea where the wartime mounts went either), so if anything we’re actually in a similar boat in terms of not quite knowing the history of the sword. In case you are interested in seeing more information about wartime swords, this page has some: http://ohmura-study.net/211.html

That part was (apparently) a poor attempt at humor. I’m not saying that they hid the fact that this was a showato. I’m just referring to the fact that John said they did in the past for other swords (as a tongue in cheek joke). Your sword likely didn’t come with stamps since many showato were made before the stamps became mandatory. In fact I have a showato myself that doesn’t have stamps. Aoi did not lie to you at all that this was a showato.

I was definitely not aware that Aoi grinds off the stamps (that sounds sketchy as hell). I was under the impression that non traditional made swords in Japan were illegal which is why it is actually quite shocking to me that Aoi would sell one. Since the original poster said Aoi had to deregister I assumed that it was a registered nihonto, but it seems I was mistaken there. John, I looked a little further and I think I do see the characteristic shadow of an oil quenched hamon, so it is a showato. You have my thanks for correcting me. Unfortunately EL there’s really nothing else I can tell you about this blade given that it is mumei (and likely had all of its stamps ground off). Maybe someone else on the forum might be able to chime in. edit: The stamps ground off part was a joke. I’d like to make it clear that i’m not suggesting one way or the other regarding this particular sword.

This looks like aoi's description? If it is from aoi 99%chance it is a nihonto. Especially since you bought it in Japan. Swords in Japan need to have a registration certificate, and if they do it means it is a nihonto as a general rule of thumb. I don't think they are saying it is a showato, they are just saying it is showa era (which isn't the same thing). edit: Maybe the defititions here can help: https://www.Japanese...ndex.com/showato.htm edit 2: It appears that this is an illegally registered showato? I’ve never seen this before but please ignore my reply.

Kirill, I bought my first 3 blades from ebay and I don't think I've been bitten too bad, just that they aren't very interesting blades (the forum says that it's the stuff that doesn't sell in Japan). I did buy a showato without knowing what those were at the time though (but at most it's a waste of 700$, I don't think I could've gotten a real sword for that amount anyway). I am planning to check out some sword shows eventually, likely next year, so this is definitely good advice. Thanks Adam and Peter as well. I'll check those sites out. Question: Is the inverse true? If a site doesn't have English does it mean they won't bother to deal with you? Or do you just have to use google translate?

Thanks for your replies. As a follow up question, apart from aoi, what are some other reputable Japanese dealers that deal with gaijin? What dealers would NMB recommend? I've looked through the ones in the commercial 1-4 section. Just curious are there any others not mentioned there? Thanks!