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I bought a zaimei Hasebe Kuninobu tanto, although not at DTI per se. Sokendo sold it to me after DTI as it wasn't there. To build on what @Hoshi said, there was a wide range of asking prices, with pricing on higher end swords seemingly higher than last year. There were a couple of nice Juyo swords of interest to me that had asking prices of 15M and 18M, which I thought were substantially overpriced. But by Sunday they seemingly had sold as they were no longer on display. Of course, we don't know what price was actually negotiated. I saw some solid TokuHo and "lower" Juyo swords at decent prices--mumei Aoe with nice koshirae and the like. And some dealers were volunteering discounts of 10% on any expression of interest.

Even though I recently bought a blade in Japan, I would not try shipping it to the U.S. right now. As noted, EMS is not an option. UPS is reportedly destroying some international packages (link to article), which is not a risk I will take. OCS may be an option, but I don’t know if they have a U.S. customs broker. Then add in the usual chaos, volume, and theft of shipping around the holidays. I asked several dealers at DTI how they were shipping to the U.S. Answers varied from “UPS is no problem” to “OCS” to “we cannot right now, but maybe we can ship it next year.” The answers did not give me much comfort. And even if they can ship, tariffs still add 15%. I will just have my blade held in Japan unless things improve soon. Maybe I will make a special trip to Japan next year just to bring mine back personally. In that case, I should buy a couple more to make the trip worthwhile.

I could be mistaken, but I do not recall seeing this Rai Kunitoshi at Eirakudo’s booth—and I visited there several times.

I will be there both days.

I recommend asking Aoi to arrange a sayagaki from Tanobe sensei while you wait for the export to be approved. It is a nice sword, and adding a sayagaki would be a great addition.

Thanks @ROKUJURO. That’s a typo. My fingers were typing faster than my brain!

Catalogue

Thanks. If I remember correctly, I had a naked bulb on the mune side and within a couple of feet of the sword. I held the nakago of the sword and kept adjusting its angle relative to the lens as I took photos. That's probably one out of 20+ I took in that position. Photos of the other side of the sword were also good for showing the activity in the boshi, but it shows the reflection of the phone.

I am always impressed with the good photos of nihonto that some people are able to take. I’ve tried playing around with it a bit, but it seems like the fancier I try to get, the worse the photo. So I’ve resorted to just using my iPhone. Dust, reflections, lighting—all so frustrating. Just when I think I have a decent photo, I notice something is off. And good luck capturing a boshi!

I just reserved my room. This is a great show, and I am looking forward to attending it once again.

I have my collection insured on a dedicated collectibles policy, which is cheaper for me than a homeowners insurance rider. I’ve used this program for many years, and it is nice peace of mind. Any item valued over $10,000 needs to be listed individually. Anything over $50,000 needs an appraisal. Otherwise, they insure for the value you want. Historic Firearms, Collectibles, and Sporting Arms Program

I am a novice Japanese learner, having used Duolingo and tofugu.com to learn hiragana and @Ray Singer flash cards for swordsmith and province kanji. As others say, learning hiragana helps a lot with pronounciation. I am on to katakana next. Before learning hiragana, I initially learned basic phrases through Duolingo and memorized them phonetically so that I could say basic things while ordering food or purchasing something in Japan. That worked well enough for most tourist situations, but I was lost on reading anything.

Thanks for sharing your experience in detail @MEENag. Sorry to hear it took so long and was so frustrating, but I hope receiving your sword makes it all worthwhile in the end.

Duties and tariffs are different things. The referenced HTS Code has been in place for some time, and it has exempted antiques over 100 years old from the imposition of duties. I have not seen the signed US-Japan trade agreement to see if it uses this HTS Code to exempt antiques over 100 years old from the imposition of the 15% tariff. The first executive order in April did not have this carve out. In other words, if the signed US-Japan trade agreement does not have an exception for this HTS Code, US buyers/importers may be in a position where, technically, antique blades are exempt from duties but not exempt from tariffs. Of course, actual enforcement of the tariffs and on-the-ground confusion over whether the HTS Code applies is another matter.