JohnL

Indeed, the issue is EMS won't accept swords to destinations where there aren't direct flights from Japan. As it is the seller has already sent it by surface mail so in a month or two my sword should be here. Thanks again to @Darkcon for the offer to assist, very much appreciated.

For anyone else interested I've spoken to Kelly however he has had similar issues with EMS and FedEx will only ship swords if you have a certain type of contract with them which not everyone has. He did mention that sending by sea is fairly bulletproof as long as everything is packed well.

John, Thank you very much. That's a very kind offer, I'm waiting to hear back from the seller once the sword is returned to him. I'll pm you. Many Thanks, John

Thanks both for your input. If there were a member of the forum happy to act as a go between then I'd certainly be willing to pay a generous handling fee. I've asked the seller to try and speak to FedEx again in the interim.

Hi all, EMS have apparently refused to transport a sword that I purchased in Japan to Cyprus (I'm not entirely sure what the reason is yet and am waiting on the sword to be returned to the seller as it was stopped at the point it was meant to be loaded onto the plane ). Antique swords are completely legal here, the sword has an export licence and all the paperwork appears to be in order so I'm not sure what the issue is. The seller has spoken to both UPS and FedEx in Japan who have said that they don't transport swords to the EU but this can't be true as I believe that Aoi use both couriers. I've read a lot of similar threads on this forum and see that this happens relatively frequently, does anyone have any idea of the quickest and easiest way to get swords to the EU from Japan when EMS are being awkward? There was some mention of other members of the forum providing forwarding services - is anyone still doing that? Many Thanks, John

Yes I think we are saying the same thing. Unlikely to have been a tsuba of huge value, sentimental or otherwise, but for all that it is quite attractive.

I really like the tsuba too, though doesn't it seem unlikely that someone would have a family heirloom tsuba drilled for a retention strap?

Thank you @Rivkin for the really interesting answer. Which style do you see it as a close match for? I'll see if I can find other examples of that style to compare.

Could anyone recommend a good book for learning about the Soshu tradition? I'd imagine there's a more than significant chance that the piece I bought is gimei but I'd like to use it as a starting point for research. Is there anything in the images that might point to this being Soshu or otherwise? I've attached some closer images in case those might help.

He did see this piece but was looking for a tsuba without hitsu-ana from what I remember from a different thread

Hi, Whilst I can't help with the translation I've edited the photo to make the mei hopefully a little easier to read

Hi all, Could anyone assist with translating the below please?

Thanks Steve. I will look at the faq and your suggestions.

Thanks very much guys, appreciate the input. Does anyone have any good resources for trying to find out more about the Smith? I've looked for other Soshu Masahiro mei to compare and none of them seem quite right.

Thank you David. As you can no doubt tell I am very much an amateur. Is there anything that might be indicative of the period this was forged in?

Hi all, I have just purchased the sword in the below images and I wonder if anyone could possibly help with translation and perhaps any other information as to its authenticity and quality? Many Thanks, John