cluckdaddy76

I would stay away, if you have $400 to spend on tsuba, you can do much better than these four. The two on the right are most likely cast pieces and the two on the left may be authentic (POSSIBLY), but low quality. Personally, I would pass if the lot was even $100, these are not desirable pieces. Jason

This gets even better. The seller ended up pulling the item and relisting at 250,000

Even before I saw the second to last pic, I was not understanding what people are seeing in this piece. Am I completely wrong that this is a modern cast piece? The mei is poorly chiseled and the work on the piece is sub-par. The second to last pic shows a side view where I believe I see a very large seam coming through. Am I missing something or is this just another example of people not knowing what they are bidding on? There have been 45 bids already and is at 151,000 yen right now with ten hours left. Here is the link. https://www.jauce.com/auction/u1232369611 Jason

Just to let others know, this is no longer for sale. Jason

PM sent from my phone, if you did not get it, please let me know. Jason

I think I have seen this one before.... Dale, you have a great memory for posts. Jason

I may have it, but not sure if I kept it. I had a friend send it to me from Japan and I use DHL. I simply get a message from DHL once it hits customs, I log on to my account and pay them the fee. I used DHL twice last year under the old tariffs using the code I mentioned and did not have to pay. This year I have paid for the three pieces I purchased. Hope this helps... Jason

The duty-free code 9706 is no longer free since the old tariffs were shut down and the new ones went in a few months ago. I just received a tsuba last week and had to pay the tariff. A couple months before that I bought a kozuka and also had to pay. The previous year under the first tariffs I used the same 9706.10 code and did not have to pay anything extra. Jason

Here has been my experience. In the last year, I have made three purchases. Two were tsuba and I paid no tariff using code 970610. My last purchase, a kozuka, was after the first set of tariffs were implemented but then found unlawful. Whatever the new tariff is that was out on all countries, I did have to pay a tariff on this last purchase which is shipping out now. I used the same code that I had used for the tsuba, but this time it was not free. Jason

Just to update, I have made two purchases in the last four months and still have not received a tariff bill. From the chatting I have done, it sems like a flip of the coin whether you get charged. It could vary from dealers charging upfront before they ship to you to customs themselves deciding they do not like the selected code and do decide to charge you. I am on the lookout for a new piece, may be a few months but I will update again once I do. Jason

Here is an iron set of fuchi/kashira with what I was told is a pair of lion hunters/lions. I have not researched the mei.

Thank you for this Hoshi, absolutely amazing work!!!!! I am playing with it now on my phone. Jason

I have several examples of tsuba with stacked sekigane in my collection and I always consider this a good thing as these tsuba are of a good enough quality where they have been taken care of and fitted for a blade more than once.

I am not a military collector but do have one WWII blade in shirasaya with the koshirae separate. I do have one of the openwork style tsuba with mine, I will say the one in this pic does not exactly look like the one I have. I would need better pics of just the tsuba alone to comment more as pics can be tough to judge from alone. This post may be better answered in the military section, there are many knowledgeable collectors who will give you excellent information. Jason