Yves

In my search to buy a new made katana from Japan, it seems that these can only be shipped via the sea. Anyone ever did this. I'm not really confident that this is ok for something delicate like a sword. Thanks.

Yes, I bought it from them. Very good and high quality items. Price is likewise. They are also very good to deal with. Unfortunately it turns out the tsuba is a tad too small for the katana I wanted to have made. (ca. 7 cm) and originally more likely to be intended to be used on a wakizashi. I had bought it anyway because the tsuba is elegant and subtle.

In my search for information i found a couple of this type for sale.

I wouldn't know. I posted that photo but it is not my tsuba.

Hi, that is also a briljant tsuba and I agree. However it seems that in this style the tsuba are quite small and around 65-70 mm meaning they are more for wakizashi, which kinda defeats the reason why I bought it in the first place. I will however keep it as I really like it.

This is because of a discussion that's going on for the size of the tsuba's needed for a katana. I would be inclined to think that most uchikatana's would require a tsuba of at least 3" (7,5 cm) but when looking for an ancient tsuba it seems that especially those of the Choshu and Bushu schools in late Edo (which is the style I like most) are around 7,0 cm. Was it the norm in that time to have smaller tsuba's or is this something that is related to the schools in question? BTW: some seem to think that a too small tsuba is detracting from the beauty of the katana. Thanks.

I have bought it as I'm really in love with this tsuba and it's waiting to be fitted onto a new sword (nihonto) I have made. The smith will make the tang fit this tsuba.

Tomonobu?

Maybe a dumb question but which craftsmen in tsuba's used a golden seal instead of a regular signature? Does such a seal contain words or is it an image of sorts. It bears some resemblance to this one that is aparently choshu den, Kawaji Han

Hi, Attached a photo of the Tsuba. Anyone can tell me more about it?

Hi Dotanuki, I see, very unfortunate however, since the katana I was looking at was the exact size I needed (2-4-5) and that size is difficult to find as most Japanese are smaller than us. Price was also acceptable with what seems to be a good blade with beautiful hamon. Oh, well, another thing we cannot do/have anymore in Europe it seems.

Hi Yose, Have a similar problem in Belgium. Did you get it resolved? From the seller I just learned that Fedex is equally a problem. Thanks.

Hi, I'm a Iaidoka that after obtaining my 3rd Dan decided to buy my first shinken/nihonto. I finally found a suitable (used) sword in Japan that I wanted to buy. Turns out that it is not possible to get it shipped from Japan to Europe. They guy also said that Iaito and such cannot be shipped anymore either. What is this and is there a solution? I never had any problems getting Iaito shipped and people in our club recently bought iaito's through Tozando. Or is this some commercial trick only allowing big companies like Tozando to sell swords abroad. Very disappointed now and not sure if there is a solution to this problem