MikeyJ

My success rate for receiving items shipped from Japan to the US is 85% over the past two years. About one year ago a Tanto was last seen "EMS submitted to US Customs" (JFK). US Customs said they never received it. After a lot of finger pointing, EMS paid the claim (to the seller, not to me). It was a hassle, and seller wasn't helpful at all. Never bought from his shop again. Second item was a nice Koshirae pole for a Naginata, shipped via FedEx. It was last seen "arrival scan Nashville." FedEx said it must have been lost in their warehouse, FedEx paid the insurance claim (to the seller), which was only for a fraction of replacement cost. My takeaways, 1) use well-established dealers only, 2) make sure the insurance value is US replacement cost, 3) pay with credit card so if necessary you can dispute charge (for example, seller keeps your payment, and also keeps insurance payment for an item you never received).

Sorry for my confusing post, while I am indeed a very novice collector, this is not my first Nihonto. It's my first time purchasing from this shop, and my first Naginata. And you were spot-on, my first Nihonto (2-3 years ago)was an archetypal (Shinto) katana. Luckily I had connected with a well respected dealer and he steered me to a choice that I am still very happy with.

I'd really appreciate hearing your first-hand impressions of the shop. I went ahead and took the plunge on a papered Naginata from their website (image below). I worked with Nobuo Shimada and he was very helpful and an excellent communicator.

I'm close to making my first purchase from https://www.yamasiroya.com/. From my research Yamashiroya appears to be a well established and well respected shop. Before I take the plunge, I'd appreciate any input from the sage members of this forum.

Good to see another fine Tennesseean on board!

Bradley, I like the dragon design too. I debated about bidding on it at 450,000 yen, but opted out when it hit 500,000, and was surprised to see a non-NBTHK yari in a modern Koshirae go for 801,000.

AOI listed the Yari (below) in Shirasaya at less than 400,000 (if memory serves, can't find original posting), no bids. A month later its re-listed with a giant (modern) "big dragon" Koshirae and it sells for 801,000. The unpapered Naginata (below) with a similar modern "big dragon" Koshirae is currenty listed at 600,000. Whoever is making these Big Dragon Koshirae for AOI needs to start his own business! https://www.aoijapan...ords-appraisal-club/ https://www.aoijapan...n-no-kuni-yoshihiro/ ≈

Thank you for sharing this, it all makes a lot more sense to me now. I was looking at https://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html and at https://www.Japanese...ndex.com/mishina.htm and not connecting the dots on the number of "Tangos" in the Mishina school.

I don't have the experience to make an intelligent guess as to what NBTHK meant, so I appreciate your perspective! I didn't think "Tango (no-kami) Kanemichi" had been used by any generation except the founder, so I was "hoping" it was attributed to the him specifically. But as you point out, seems like they would have included the known dates Tango no kami Kamemichi was active

Wally Hustetter is worth contacting. Wally's old school, so a brief email, followed by a phone call is the best way to connect with him. https://shiningmoon13.com/about-wally/

I would appreciate insight on the specific translation and meaning of the NBTHK (Hozon) for an unsigned katana I purchased a few years ago. I believe the the attribution (below) is to "Tango no kami Kanemichi." Can anyone please confirm this translation? Second question, if translation is "Tango no kami Kanemichi" does that mean the attribution is to that specific individual, or is it more likely just a general attribution to the Mishina school? (I understand that it is difficult to distinguish 1st and 2nd generation even when signed). Thank you!

I think it is OK for dealers to fit a yari/naginata into an existing Koshirae as long as work is performed by a skilled craftsman, which has been my experience with AOI. If there is some kind of cultural taboo then I don't know it.

AOI put this same blade (in Shirasaya) on auction earlier this year, it didn't sell. So I think AOI had the blade fitted to a pre-existing Koshirae made for a longer bladed yari. I agree that the Koshirae is attractive, though I think it was made in modern times.

I've been lurking on various dealer websites for the past 6 months looking for a nice yari in Koshirae. I see one on auction at AOI (link below) that made me curious about the proper length of saya compared to the blade. In this case, the blade plus Kerakubi is about 26 cm, and the saya (Koshirae) is 42 cm long. So the blade only runs up about half of the saya. I haven't handled enough yari in Koshirae to know how common this is, but in the dozen or so I've seen the saya is only slightly longer than the blade. https://www.aoijapan...ords-appraisal-club/

Very helpful post. Interesting that the article states AOI's "online selection is not the greatest at the moment", but it seems that AOI typically has as many or more items listed for sale online than any of the other sites on the list.

I would be more comfortable if it was on Hold, or even Accepted - at least I'd know that US Customs had it. "Sword" is on the invoice - "Antique Japanese Sword...Over 100 years old" so I'm guessing it's on the label too, though I haven't seen the label and the shipper went dark on me a week ago so I can't ask him.

Thanks for your response, it was presented to US Customs at JFK, ultimate destination is Nashville.

Good point, the USPS showed the same information as EMS - presented to US Customs May 27. No further update. Typically right after "Presented" to US customs is "Accepted by us Customs" then "Held by US Customs" then "Released by US Customs" and so on all the way to "Delivered by USPS" I understand there is sometimes delay at Held by US Customs, but in this case it was never Accepted by US Customs - so my question - if US Customs does not have it, who does (for the past 20 days)? At first I thought there was a problem with paperwork, but I "think" in that case it would have been be marked "Rejected by US Customs" - but I have never had that happen so I'm not sure. So now I guess either lost or stolen, or maybe Customs is holding it, but forgot scan it "Accepted" and then also forgot to scan it "Held"?

There isn't any USPS tracking, it hasn't been accepted by US Customs. EMS tracking says "Presented to US Customs May 27" - no updates since.

Oh man, that is not what I was hoping to read about. Just this last week I had a FedEx shipment from Japan (Koshirae for a Naginata) go missing after clearing US Customs - the last scan was at the FedEx terminal at the Nashville airport. I'm in the process of working with the sender to get a claim filed now. A

I apologize in advance for submitting yet another newbie question related to shipping. In my very limited experience with EMS shipments of Nihonto, there is only a little time separating "presented to US Customs" and "accepted by US Customs." There may be a problem with my most recent shipment. According to EMS tracking, the packaged status has been "presented to US Customs" since May 27. There is no EMS update showing accepted or rejected by US Customs. So I emailed the shipper, and he said he would ask EMS to resolve. Since then, one week has passed, no update from EMS and the shipper has not responded to my follow-up email. EMS still shows status as "presented to US Customs on May 27." Is this normal, and if not, is there a course of action any of you more experienced folks recommend? Thanks for any insight. Mike

When my family moved from the US to France in the mid 1970s my parents let me pack a small chest of my favorite toys. Like most little American boys in that era, some of my favorite toys were toy guns made of plastic. French Customs confiscated them all, and I never got them back.

That may explain it, the cost was 200,000 yen, plus shipping.

I guess what is confusing me is that I have bought numerous tsuba from Japan (including AOI Art) and never had a dealer say that it needed special permission from Cultural Affairs. I've also bought kogatana, kuzuko, fuchi etc. - some papered, some not - from reputable dealers in Japan, without the need for permission from Cultural Affairs. My understanding has been that Cultural Affairs had to be notified only for nihonto. When I questioned the dealer about the need for special permission, he said that it only applied to EMS shipments, which seemed odd since all of my other tsuba were shipped by EMS without the need for any special permission. Then the next morning I got receipt that it had been shipped by UPS. Overall a puzzling transaction, causing me to challenge my prior understanding of what triggered notification to Cultural Affairs.

Thanks, that's one of the items I've been watching on Ebay. I let a similar one slip away last week. I haven't been watching the market for tsuba for tanto for very long, but it seems like the Japanese dealers don't have very many listed on their websites right now.