Recent shipping issues

[Stephen]

From Daimyo

 

Dear Stephen san

 

 

 

Thank you for your message.

 

Yes , sword has problems when ship.

 

Please tell me your country.

 

 

 

Thank you!

Best regards,

Takako

[Darcy]

Well this is quickly turning into a real horror show.

 

I never brought swords out of Japan in luggage, but I brought Hocho once. I declared them at customs as commercial goods entering Canada and they took my luggage away. Said I'd need to arrange a customs broker since it was commercial goods. So I had to leave it in Vancouver and have it Fedexed to me after. Anyone hand carrying a sword for someone else as a commercial service can potentially run into the same problem so anyone doing that, you should really look into the situation.

 

Probably we're going to either end up in this situation of hand exports or else have to band together and arrange a monthly exportation. God forbid the hell when the Big Box o' Swords ends up in the wrong place.

 

The direct flight thing from EMS is a real joke. I mean, technology just gets better and better but they seem to be more and more limited. Airports are supposed to be secure from terrorists but seems to be pretty easy for workers to steal stuff.

 

That big warning sticker is horrible too. That's going to get someone's importation rejected. Why not just stick a massive skull and crossbones on it.

 

Meanwhile all of these idiot governments/corps freaking out over a sword do not care about kitchen knives which are concealable and extremely deadly and are used every day for murders. Kamakura period tanto though? OMG DEADLY SWORD. And then not to mention the real corporate killers, all of these countries allow importation by the metric ton of cigarettes which kill their citizens by the hundreds of thousands annually. The difference? They get their cut on the tobacco.

 

Trying to protect us all from swords that we are too afraid to touch for fear of leaving a fingerprint on it. I remember the last corporate idiot (from Google) I was arguing with trying to explain that it was not a weapon. That it *was* a weapon but not for the last 500 years. That a sword that is a 700 year old antique and worth six figures was not something that anyone in their right mind was going to walk around stabbing people with. Honestly there are easier master plans than this, I will mortgage my house and sell my children in order to buy a Kamakura blade and then once it arrives safely via Fedex I'm going to go to the mall and chop people up. Really now.

 

I tried to explain to the Google idiot that a baseball bat was a weapon by their definition, they say it has legitimate sporting uses, and I say so does a sword. A baseball bat is a club. Not only is it a weapon but it's one of the originals. So, Google won't let me run adwords because I am an arms dealer in their evaluation. Actually I think it was because I was selling weapons that might be used in the commission of a crime, or something like this.

 

I'm curious about rocks. You can throw them and hurt people. Should get the mineral collectors sites banned too.

 

Every year the world just gets a little bit more stupid.

 

I don't know, we could just eventually be completely boxed in by this. The idiots will probably allow us to dull the edge and ship it because then it's not a bladed weapon and would probably recommend that to us.

[c2tcardin]

Well said Darcy, I agree it's getting ridiculous. Does anyone know or has anyone run into issues getting Iaito out of Japan? I have a new one coming soon, hopefully. I'm hoping it doesn't get ruled a pointy object or something stupid like that, or that the fresh lacquer doesn't have an offensive odor!

[Jean]

Same applies to you my friends, martial artists, senior black belt in Judo, Karate, viet vo dao, taekwondo.... You will be prevented from flyîgng because your body are weapons, stiff fingers are Yari, fists are club, hand edge is To....

[c2tcardin]

My Iaido obi is white, that should sufficiently confuse the TSA folks. LOL

[Kronos]

I will mortgage my house and sell my children in order to buy a Kamakura blade and then once it arrives safely via Fedex I'm going to go to the mall and chop people up.

 

Tbf after you've chopped up a mall you won't have much use for a house or kids and at least you'll of done it in style

[Loco Al]

:lol:

Sorry, but I just have to laugh out loud. This recent turn of events regarding shipping of swords out of Japan only helps to confirm what a strange proclivity this passion is for acquiring Japanese swords. I have often thought so myself, and one of my fine art (paintings) collecting friends told me that he thought it was a "peculiarity".

 

Perhaps soon you will all be branded as a deviants for wanting to acquire a Japanese blade, and this will be considered to be a definable perversion by mainstream art collectors.

 

Now, before all you deviant nihontophiles get your knickers in a knot: I have a sword in Japan that was recently submitted for shinsa. It is an expensive sword. A dealer in the States arranged the submission for me. I am not too worried that he will not be able get it back to the U.S. safely later next year. After that, it should not be impossible to get it back to Canada. I'd be prepared to go collect it myself, if I had to.

 

If this is going to be the coming trend, shipping companies considering antique swords to be prohibited and peculiar items, then I will have to think twice before I ever consider the purchase of another sword. This is a reality check for me.

 

Alan

[Lee Bray]

Just throwing this out there: there are direct flights between Hong Kong and Japan and direct flights from HK to most other destinations. Theoretically, that would make EMS a feasible shipping option provided there was a middle man in HK.

I wouldn't object to forwarding parcels if anyone wanted to go that route, bearing in mind that the shipping would be approximately twice as much and I wouldn't mind a couple of quid for my time and effort.

Not putting this out as a 'business' idea, just maybe to give someone peace of mind.

[Pete Klein]

Lee - I've been thinking the same thing. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and a few other cities have direct flights from Japan so some bright boy could start a business re-shipping items. I would imagine there are some out of Europe as well. Doing luggage transfers would be more difficult as there is timing involved with the release of the swords at the airport but it's already being done by some dealers.

[jlawson]

Pete, can you imagine someone doing this with the checked bag concept? I don't want to even think about the liability of having several other peoples swords wind up missing because the baggage handlers got "nosy".... One mistake and their "business" is over as the Airline would likely only give them $500 per package for a lost bag.

 

Another option though: I have taken a private charter out of Japan, once to Shanghai and another time to Hawaii. In that scenario I could load up a bunch of peoples swords and then ship them via Fedex when I landed etc. However that "trip" costs about 28k. You would have to bring back ALOT of swords to offset that cost. :-)

[Kronos]

As long as you could get some form of insurance in place so you're covered if you're luggage were to go missing then it's financially a good business plan for somebody, valuation would be the hardest thing to sort out as how do you get accurate values for everything that an insurance company would accept?

[Jean]

James,

 

Why don't you insure your swords on face value, meaning invoice?

[Kronos]

James,

 

Why don't you insure your swords on face value, meaning invoice?

 

Face value does not equate to market value. If Dr Compton would of done so in the 60's with all the $50 Juyo's he picked up I doubt he'd be very happy if he ever had to claim

 

Also if you're offering a service for people to send things for shinsa and polish most will have unverified mei and be too out of polish to tell whether the Kotetsu they sent you is a Gimei worth the $2000 they paid of many multiples of that. Not sure what options there are in the business world.

[Jean]

James,

 

My swords equal invoice value when I bought them and reflect the price market at the time of purchase but for two (my Hosho and my Tametsugu which I bought under the market value). Now market value can change three to xxx times a year, so the best way, if you have bought a papered Japanese sword in full polish is to have it insured at his face value. I suppose this is why you want them insured. You can always adapt the insured value each year. Dr Compton collection is a very very bad example for a lot of reasons :D

[Darcy]

About stuff going to the USA I think you are fine without the direct flight, I think (guess) that this requirement is going to be a direct flight to a hub in your country. As an example, say if you are in Poland and there is no direct flight *to Poland* then you're not going to be able to receive a sword. In the USA should be fine as long as they continue doing this.

 

About 5 years ago EMS stopped shipping swords out of Japan but that did not last long. There is some talk about this going on in Tokyo at the moment and apparently they did complain about it and got it overturned after some complaints placed at high levels. So there is at least some history to look back on.

 

I could though see this boiling down to an old school specialized courier service.

 

The funny thing to me is that the Japanese are the people the most concerned about these being "weapons."

[Robert Mormile]

All:

 

Ok, so is the consensus now that shipping via EMS out of Japan is still valid and acceptable as long as it has the silly-sticker affixed to the box by Japan Post? By the above statements from James Lawson, it seems that he received 3-4 swords from Japan recently without issue. Is that correct?

 

I would also assume that US Postal Service (as they interface with EMS / Japan Post) would be willing to ship swords to Japan as well…

 

Many thanks.

Robert

[cabowen]

EMS out of Japan seems to be ok as long as there is a direct flight to the destination country. USPS works to Japan.

[jlawson]

That is correct EMS still works. I can verify. However I have had things in limbo for some time with EMS in the past and their tracking doesn't work very well and sometimes not at all. It is a bit of a risk shipping with them but seems to be the only choice right now.

[Robert Mormile]

Ok, thanks gentlemen.

[NihontoSeeker]

Ok AoiArt says FedEx won't ship my sword as they consider them weapons so they want to declare it a kitchen knife and ship it at a value, a fraction of what its worth.

I will not buy from Japan anymore till this B.S gets fixed.

Wake up Japan we can't buy if you won't ship fools!!

I've 4 swords in Japan......4!!!!!!!!!!! Am I not going to get them back!!!! I want my freaking swords back Japan.

What a mess. Wake up everyone, this is an emergency.... Who is doing what? Who's writing letters? You big organizations should be taking charge of this massive problem. If we are to grow, changes need to happen right now.

I am with Ron Watson,

I am ready to go to war, war is not polite.

Reuben

[Brian]

If the dealers in Japan don't get together and petition the Govt or postal services, then they deserve the loss of earnings. This is the job of societies such as the NBTHK and NTHK too. They can't sit back and hope it resolves itself.

And it is all pathetic anyways. What possible risk is a well packed sword in a parcel. Is it going to jump out and hijack a plane? Is it any different from shipping a kitchen knife, sharp stick or golf clubs?

Perhaps the JSSUS, NCJSC and/or UK Societies would draft a letter to FedEx head office? Japan Post too. Is anyone going to do anything?

 

Brian

[Alex A]

What if we all write a polite letter?

[watsonmil]

Dear All,

I believe UPS still allow swords to be shipped ( not sure about out of Japan ). Having said that UPS INTERNATIONAL shipping is not only expensive, but service is horrible. I currently have a very rare firearm being shipped out of France to Canada. Although I SPECIFICALLY asked the Auction House to ship :

"colissimo international" (= EMS) of "la poste", the french state postal service, with insurance ... they instead shipped UPS. Now tracking the parcel tells me it is in Winnipeg, Canada awaiting Customs release. They also told me that since they were given a PO Box instead of a Physical Street address they would have to make at least one failed delivery attempt ( even though I was at that moment talking to their Customer Service Dept. ) and gave them my PHYSICAL STREET ADDRESS. No, ... " Sir " the rules state we must make one attempt at delivery before contacting you before changing the address listed on the package. I asked do you deliver to a POST OFFICE, ... answer " NO " .... then why would you make a delivery attempt ? " It's the rules .. Sir ".

Ok, ... I said how be I drive the 100 miles to Winnipeg and pick the parcel up in person. " Yes ... that would be fine, but we have to make a failed delivery attempt first ". ! I said well the tracking says my parcel is in Winnipeg .... according to the young man I spoke to YESTERDAY whom I could barely understand. No Sir, ... your paperwork is in Winnipeg, ... but your parcel has not yet arrived. I then said, ... " let me speak to your supervisor ", ... and I can hear a foreign language being spoken. It turns out the UPS Customer Service Office is located in the bloody Philippines ! After waiting 30 minutes to speak to a supervisor the young man advised me that he was still busy ... did I want to hold ? I told him to run over and tell his supervisor to get off the bloody receptionist and make a little time for me. After waiting another 15 minutes on hold, I told him once the supervisor is finished with the receptionist to have him call me. I'm still waiting, .... he must have more " Staying Power " than a Porno Stud !

I will NEVER ship nor allow anyone shipping to me to use UPS again. Speaking " NICE " to idiots like Customer Service Reps or Politicians or Bureaucrats is a waste of time ALEX. I've ALWAYS found going for their throat solves many problems as they do not expect this, ... and you have suddenly turned the " authoritative attitude " to one of ... " Jesus maybe I should listen to reason and use common sense " Unless you speak up LOUD and CLEAR ... no one will take you seriously. Write your letters but ... make it clear you are pissed off and not some woosie nice guy ! Nice soft words are for diplomacy, ... Diplomacy I believe is governed by those carrying the bigger stick or who possess the guts to go above dealing with stupidity and say so in no uncertain terms. No guarantee you will win, but at least you will feel just a little taller for having stood up for yourself ( although my batting average is pretty damn good if I must say ).

 

... Ron Watson

[Veli]

EMS out of Japan seems to be ok as long as there is a direct flight to the destination country. USPS works to Japan.

 

EMS out of Japan is ok as long as there is a direct flight to the destination country, operated by a carrier that happens to have a freight contract with EMS on that specific route - as I bitterly learned...

 

BR, Veli

[Stephen]

Have to post this, Kunitaros service mailed out my sword Monday 15th Nippon time, it arrived at my house at ten AM today the 17th....I can't get a sword across three US states in that time, and if its coming out of NYC..well as they say FORGETABOUTIT!!!

 

NOW to open the package!!

[kunitaro]

Really !?!?!

[kunitaro]

That is the quickest ever !!!

 

BTW,

Regarding to the issue,

 

We have no problem shipping to US from Japan by EMS now.

We are having problem shipping to many countries in Europe from Japan by EMS.

We discussed this matter with JP post Fukuoka , they said that after privatize of JP Post, they use commercial carrier company by contract. so, they follow the carrier company's regulation.

the combination of Privatized Post office and increase of International security system after 911….

Maybe our Japanese swords issue is too small for world economy issue.

 

and I can send the sword to Japan from Holland, but maximum length of 100cm,

so, I couldn't send a long Tachi, Nagasa 89cm and more than 30cm Nakago.

FedEx and DHL didn't take it because of "weapon"….

I tried many Japanese carrier company. but nobody wanted to handle it ( in Holland)

so, I made an appointment with a manager of Shosen-Mitsui (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsui_O.S.K._Lines) Holland, one of the biggest transport company in Japan.

and I explained this problem and good transportation between Japan and other countries is important for preservation of Japanese sword.

They agreed, and I advised how to import etc, once that know how to handle, they have branches the most of city in the world, and they cover the most of air and sea lines,

They transported my long tachi from NL to Japan in 3 days, arrived at Fukuoka airport.

The cost was almost same as FedEx.

But, when I tried to send from Japan(Fukuoka) to NL, they charged more than double,,,,,,

so, I still have to discuss and arrange safe reasonable system with them.

Maybe create one regular shipment between Europe and Japan.

[watsonmil]

Dear All,

Well, ... I think this ole boy has just about had it. Since I last posted regarding UPS shipping of an ANTIQUE FIREARM out of France to Canada, ... I have been engaged with trying to arrange shipping. Jean our moderator ( in France ) has been of great help to me and I thank him profusely. There are no laws as far as I can tell that would be broken, ... but tell that to an f...ing bureaucrat or shipping courier. I will be seeing my Grandson over the next few days, ... and I think I shall at the very least advise him against taking over the collection. This shipping issue that MOST are having is just the tip of the iceberg. Governments will not be happy until they have completely destroyed our hobby and related hobbies ie. " Antique Weapons ". Yes we can write letters, .... but the day of dealing with government and/or bureaucrats has pretty much come to an end. They are now so isolated from US/WE that the days are rapidly coming to an end where you can sit down and use reason. The majority of people do not give a tinkers damn and it is the majority that governments are formed from, ... not rational thinking nor an even handed approach to everyone.

Perhaps I will regret posting this " rant " as I'm not exactly promoting our cause, .... but never the less it is the truth as I see it.

 

... Ron Watson

[Gakusee]

Has anyone recently (in the last couple of months) shipped from the UK to Japan and from Japan to the UK?

 

Paul Martin suggested to me last month that sending from Japan back (to the UK) is best done via FedEx. When sending to Japan the best option is Parcelforce Global Priority, according to Paul. However, I have seen a lot of negative publicity in this discussion thread around FedEx and that they would not send swords out of Japan as of late.

 

It seems that EMS has a direct (International EMS Guarantee) service to the UK but, again - has anyone used them successfully to receive swords in the UK?

 

Thank you very much,

Michael S

[paulb]

Michael

A friend of mine bought a sword at the DTI and has received it this week via EMS/parcelforce without problem. It took a little longer to clear customs than with FeDex of old but otherwise had no issues.

As always the key is supplying the right information and a lot of it regarding proof of antiquity tarrif codes etc.

Regards

Paul