Gerry

Gosh, I wonder if the NBTHK would paper this sword. https://www.jauce.com/auction/1241067885

Ah, the horimono carver sometimes leave their name on the nakago with the swordsmith, and quit often it's the swordsmith carving the horimono too. For the bottom sword, Senshu actually left his name incrription on the ridge of the nakago.

Just happened to have 3 of my swords with dragon horimono out, so I thought I'd share a picture of the 3 different types of dragons, from top to bottom: Jinikubori, Hitsunaibori, and Hinaibori. The bottom dragon was done by Mukansa carver Kokeguchi Senshu. I'm missing a sukashibori one to finish the collection...

Just to add some reference points for you on the koshirae, if you're doing it through Aoi, then it's probably Nosyudo, which generally does good work. I've had 5 koshirae done with them in the last 2 years; one daisho set with antique tosogu, one custom hand crafted shikomizue, and 2 katana koshirae with modern fittings. The koshirae with modern fittings I commissioned in early 2024 cost me only 150,000 yen through Aoi for everything, which at that time was only about $1K USD, a bargain in my opinion. The whole koshirae took about 4 months to complete. Then as 2024/5 went by and more gaijin were buying swords because of the low yen and commissioning koshirae with Nosyudo, the wait times stretched out to about a year, and the prices went up slightly. I eventually went direct with my commissions at Nosyudo, and Koji-san there was very easy to work with. He always threw in free matching sageo tied to the saya and a sword bag. The shikomizue they made for me is a work of art, with a hand scraped exterior and custom metal fittings with bonji characters and a locking mechanism.

Ah, thanks everyone for sharing all the data on dated Hizen swords, and it seems that they aren't too rare at all.

I've been looking at purchasing a Hizen katana either from the Tadahiro or Masahiro lines, and notice that I don't ever see any date inscriptions on the nakago. Is there a reason for this, or has anyone seen dated swords from these Hizen smiths?

I think many people on this forum saw Aoi's listing for this ubu signed/dated Kamakura tachi, but how the auction ended was really odd. I'm not sure if the only 2 competing bidders are on this forum, but one went from 8.1 M yen straight to 71.23M yen, and the other followed! Tsuruta-san is definitely twiddling his fingers and smiling. https://sword-auction.com/en/product/31779/as25765-tachi-bizen-osafune-ju-shigemasa-december-1334the-46th-juyo-token/

Mine is from a different year, and doesn't state the swordsmiths name on the nakago, but has the same habaki, and a high end shirasaya.

Here's the only 2nd ever koa isshina mantetsu sword I've ever seen with a gunome temperline: https://www.jauce.com/auction/b1230588478?allow=1 The other one I've seen is one that I owned, and I sold it in 2021 for only $2500. I should have found a way to sell it in the Japanese market, where koa isshin mantetsu blades apparently command exorbitant prices!

I received this EMS shipment from Jauce. It's been 3 weeks, and I haven't received anything from USPS about paying for a tariff.

I just wanted to share a data point about the tariff situation for importing swords from Japan. I just received a sword via Japan EMS/USPS, and besides paying what seems like a normal EMS charge for a sword, I haven't been asked to pay for any additional tariff fees, as I had to when I used UPS for the same purpose last year.

Oh my, they confiscated a Yasukuni-to based on the same in the tsuka? Gosh, I'm very sorry to hear that. Was there any way for you to appeal their decision, or was it non-negotiable?

Oh, the sword was actually quite nicely repacked, and I couldn't find any signs of damage to the fittings or sword. I was initially concerned that they would have lost the NTHK origami, but those were included in the inner box as well.

Hi Everyone, I was pleasantly surprised 30 minutes ago by a ring on my doorbell from the USPS, with what looked to be a very long box. Lo and behold, my shingunto surprisingly made it to my doorstep, despite the USPS tracking data showing no updates. Inside, there was "US Fish and Wildlife" tape all over the contents, and for some reason, it seems like the fish and wildlife department had my sword for 2 weeks. Not sure why that was so, and I'm just glad that the sword made it to me in one piece.

I appreciate everyone's encouragement and pointers on how to deal with my lost sword. I've created a case with the USPS Inspector General's office, and also left a message for the USPS Chicago Consumer Center about my missing sword. With regards to using UPS for shipping swords to Japan, I have used them before without issue, but it's actually dependent on whether the sword dealer/shipper is registered to use UPS. Unfortunately, not many sword dealers are, so EMS has become the more common choice of courier service from Japan.