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@Lewis B Are you willing to share a link? I think it would be helpful to see more of the sword in question to better understand the context.

When I was about 19, I was working a summer job for my former high school history teacher. He learned that I collected militaria. One day near the end of my shift, he explained that he had a Japanese sword and a German rifle in his garage that had been there for decades. Long before I went to high school, a tornado destroyed the old high school. He said the sword and the rifle had been on display in the school at the time (clearly times have changed) and no one came to claim them after the tornado. So he took them home and they sat in his garage. He decided to give them to me. I did not know anything about the sword, so I took it to a local militaria dealer who explained that it was a traditionally made blade predating the war but in military mounts. It was in rough condition—tired from too many polishes and it probably had been used to hack something by the soldier who brought it to the US. I later traded it for a nice Luftwaffe gravity knife that I still have. I still have the rifle—a matching Mauser K98. It took another 30 years before I acquired another nihonto.

49, so solidly in the average

I saw a couple of rather large wads of cash being exchanged, so some clearly came prepared to pay that way. At least one dealer offered to take a sword back with him and then ship it to me after the show. Had I come seriously prepared to purchase, I probably would have brought a large Pelican case and flown a sword home as a checked bag. That’s how multiple dealers had brought their swords.

There are a couple of Ichimonjis. Bill Rannow has a really nice Ko-Ichimonji that was well out of my price range. Nothing by Norishige (at least that was displayed).

It is such a great show. Lots of fantastic blades. The highlight has been meeting NMB members (apologies if I am missing anyone): @nulldevice @Kyoto-13 @GeorgeLuucas @Rivkin @yurie @Toryu2020 @Mark @Grey Doffin

Some important questions are: (1) does the dealer offer a shinsa service, (2) is it likely to pass TH, (3) are you prepared to wait about a year for the whole process, (4) what value increase would TH bring? I probably would not pursue TH because of the wait, if it were my sword. But it certainly makes sense to do it while it is still in Japan if you are inclined to pursue TH.

Generally speaking, dealers with an English language option on their webpage expect/hope to deal with you—they are purposefully including you among their potential customers.

Thanks for sharing—it is good to know the current wait. With the relatively weak yen, I would guess there has been an increase in international buying that has added to the backlog.

That’s awesome. 785g even with the futatsu ji-hi (dual grooves)! I can see why you think it feels powerful in your hands—because it is! It is a great sword, especially as your first. Congratulations.

Now that I am back from my trip to Japan and somewhat recovered from jet lag, I wanted to share what I saw at The Japanese Sword Museum. The permanent exhibit is pretty small and limited about the sword making process. It is informative at a basic level, although it has nice examples of each stage of the process. The temporary exhibit for this month was swords and fittings that had been newly designated Tokubetsu Juyo Token, along with a handful of swords from the museum’s collection. The list of items exhibited can be downloaded below, and you can get more information on each one by scanning the QR code at the top right of the page. As a fan of Koto swords, I was thrilled to see this exhibit. It was so cool to see so many top level swords by top smiths in one place and easily compare them. My wife even enjoyed it, asking me to show her the differences between jihada. Unfortunately, they did not allow pictures in the exhibit area. The museum building is really nice, and they’ve made it fairly easy to see the swords despite them being behind glass—much easier than at the Tokyo National Museum. I really enjoyed the visit. Scan Jul 14, 2024.pdf

Japan Post EMS insurance limit is 2,000,000 JPY, and that costs under 5000 JPY to obtain. But a sword valued at more than the insurance limit obviously carries a risk of loss during shipping unless there is supplemental insurance. And then you need to ensure that the supplemental insurance covers items lost or damaged in transit.

I am hoping that @Jim Manley can add more details. This is troubling, especially as a Salt Lake City resident expecting two swords from Japan in the next month. Thankfully, I have previously received three swords from Japan via EMS without issues. Once they cleared customs in Chicago, they were all delivered to me the next day by a post office employee separate from my regular mail carrier. I will have the two swords added to my valuable property insurance before they ship, since their individual values are greater than the EMS insurance limit. Of course, that would not replace these swords that are irreplaceable, but I can at least protect against the financial loss.

I did not meet Tsuruta-san, unfortunately. There were two younger people working there (I did not get their names). The woman was busy packing boxes for shipping and answering the phone. The man helped me, spoke decent English, and was nice, although he wasn’t as knowledgable as the woman and asked her for information several times. I liked that he was accessible for questions but he did not stand over me or rush me as I examined the swords. Aoi is also a fairly small shop (and a bit cluttered) with a seating area for examination and a few display cases with swords. Most of the inventory is in a storage room. I had previously told them the three swords I would like to see. Those three were out of the shirasaya and waiting for me to view on my arrival. The man also provided me with an iPad that already had the Aoi listings for the three swords. They were well prepared for my appointment. The others I visited: Japan Sword was tidy and had several American tourists in it. It was bigger in size than Aoi and Yamashiroya. I did not ask to view anything there. The salesperson was speaking good English to the tourists. Ginza Seikodo is very small but tidy, with few swords on display. Unfortunately, Saito-san was not there, and I did not ask to view anything. Ginza Seiyudo was about the same size as Japan Sword. You ring a bell to be let in, and they have signs stating the store isn’t for browsing. There was one sword I specifically asked to see. A younger man took me to a private viewing room in the back and let me examine it. He also showed me a couple of other swords they thought I might like. It was very professional feeling, and he spoke decent English. I only had one day allocated for sword shopping. With the stores being spread out around the city, and my desire to see specific swords at Aoi, Yamashiroya, and Seiyudo, I unfortunately had to limit the number of other stores I could visit and limit my time in each store.

I had looked at his inventory online before visiting. I was focused on seeing one sword there before going to an appointment at Aoi Art, so I did not have time or ask to see more.

For posterity, I can now report that I visited Yamashiroya a couple of days ago. The shop is relatively small, but there is an area with seating to examine swords and several display cases of inventory. Nobuo Shimada, the owner, only speaks a little English, but Google translate filled in the gaps for us. He is very nice and accommodating. I would not hesitate buying from him.

I’ll be there Friday and Saturday. I haven’t been before. Looking forward to it!

Thanks, Ray. What confuses me is that the koshirae and the nakago are both depicted. If it is a replacement, does that mean they were submitted together originally?

The NBTHK Juyo origami for this wakizashi and koshirae is not something I’ve seen before. I’ve read about swords and koshirae being submitted for shinsa together and receiving origami for them as a pair, but I have not seen the origami they receive. Is this such an example? For reference, it is from this Aoi Art listing: Listing

It is all very beautiful!

Thanks for the reminder, Brian. $5 a month is a great price to support the exchange of information here.

Danke, Uwe!

Would someone be so kind as to translate this saidan mei? Thank you.

Congratulations, Mike! I like your choice a lot.

I don’t have information about them beyond what’s online. But I plan to visit the store in a few weeks when I visit Tokyo. I’d be happy to give you a report then.