I own a Tegai papered nihonto. Recently sent it out for remounting. This sword has been kept on a rack in shirasaya. It was shipped wrapped in plastic, in saya, wrapped in bubble wrap, in styrofoam casing, and a box.
The box arrived undamaged. The person making my says and tsuka reported finding a 2/12 in hair line delamination crack in the spine. He says it appears older with patina.
I maintained this blade regularly with cleaning. I have studied every inch of the blade and noted the flaws. Never have I seen this crack along the spine. If that even possible? This is a papers blade from 2022. Would have passed shinsa with this crack? Is this a fatal flaw and destroyed the value of my Nihonto? If it's new what could have caused this?
