Tsuba Boxes - Mulberry Edged Ones

[Curran]

Where do people get the higher end tsuba boxes from?

 

A scan of ebay and other sources shows only the low end boxes.

I know shipping out of Japan is very slow and expensive right now, but there must be a supplier somewhere.

I couldn't find anybody when I went through the links section.

 

[ROKUJURO]

I think Piers will probably know dealers as he is at the source.

[Curran]

They've been listed online before, but I cannot find the links.

Either that, or they are empty. I'm not finding any for sale.

https://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/199

 

[Curran]

It seems George asked this question before me:

 

All the links to the higher end kiribako suppliers are dead / gone.

I know how to have fitted boxes with shifuku made, but that is $200-$450 per tsuba and takes a long time.

The used mulberry edge ones on Yahoo!Japan are going for a stiff price, and then there is shipping expense (sea mail, or DHL).

 

 

[rkg]

Curran,

 

When I need some more I usually start watching yahoo!Japan for them.

 

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

[Curran]

33 minutes ago, rkg said:

 

When I need some more I usually start watching yahoo!Japan for them.

 

That was my point. The price on used ones seems to have crept into the $50-100 range + current shipping woes. That was surprising.

I wondered what they were costing new.

 

The one supplier I found is asking about $150 for new ones. His prices are probably a very high datapoint.

 

[Chris Colman]

Hi Curran,

Try Token Bijutsu Kogeisha in the links restoration list, they list them but out of stock for tsuba.

The craftsman left Namikawa a few months ago so they no longer produce them.

regards

chris colman

 

[Curran]

HI Chris,

Thank you very much.

 

Edit:   I have visited this site before. They have been out of stock for a long time.

[rkg]

On 12/4/2020 at 10:32 AM, Curran said:

 

That was my point. The price on used ones seems to have crept into the $50-100 range + current shipping woes. That was surprising.

I wondered what they were costing new.

 

The one supplier I found is asking about $150 for new ones. His prices are probably a very high datapoint.

 

 

Curran,

 

Now you've got me curious/I guess I'll have to start watching for them again.  They used to come in waves (collections/stores being liquidated?).  The first ones would go for stupid prices, as would the last ones for some reason I never have understood, but you could usually get at least an OK deal on the ones in the middle (the second mouse gets the cheese? 🙂 )

I wonder why the supply of new decent ones has dried up - no interest (or no money in it) so nobody is having them made up anymore as stock unless its a special order, there are now fewer box makers, or...?

 

If you're only looking for a few, the shipping actually isn't so bad even now (gotta love DHL - faster than EMS, the packages aren't as banged up, etc) - the tsuba boxes don't weigh much and I'd usually aggregate them with some other order and going up to the next kilogram in weight isn't so expensive.  On the other hand, never mind if you're looking to order dozens of them, since all the options between DHL/fedex and the "slow boat" are gone...

 

rkg

(Richard George)

EDIT:Just to increase the signal to noise ratio of this posting, have you pinged Grey Doffin to see what he might currently have?:
 

https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/tsuba-%26-kodogu/t318-tsuba-boxes